'Fernando Alonso Díaz' (born
July 29,
1981) is a
Spanish Formula One racing driver and reigning, two-time, world champion. He currently lives in
Oxford,
England, and owns a house near
Lake Geneva,
Switzerland.
On
September 25 2005 he won the
World Driver's Championship title at the age of 24 years and 58 days, thus breaking
Emerson Fittipaldi's record of being the youngest F1 champion and is also the youngest double champion. He is nicknamed ''El Nano''.
[1]
Personal and early life
Fernando Alonso was born in
Oviedo,
Asturias in northern Spain. His mother worked in a department store and his father was employed as a mechanic in an explosives factory near Oviedo.
[2]
Alonso has an older sister Lorena. Alonso's father José Luis, an amateur kart racer, wished to pass on his passion to his children. He built a pedal kart originally meant for eight-year-old Lorena, but she showed no interest in the sport as opposed to her three-year-old brother.
He is dating
Raquel del Rosario, lead singer of Spanish pop band
El Sueño de Morfeo. Reports that the two married in November 2006 have since been denied.
[3]
Pre-Formula One
As a child, Alonso and his father, who also doubled as his mechanic, participated in
karting competitions around Spain. His family lacked the financial resources needed to develop a career in motorsport, but his victories guaranteed sponsorships and the required funds.
He won four Spanish championships in the junior category, in
1993,
1994,
1995 and
1996. He also won the Junior World Cup in
1996. He won the Spanish and Italian Inter-A titles in
1997 and finished second of the European Championship in
1998, winning the Spanish Inter-A title again.
Former
Minardi F1 driver
Adrián Campos gave Alonso his first test in a race car in October 1998. After three days of testing Alonso had matched the lap times of Campos' previous driver
Marc Gené. Campos signed Alonso to race for him in the 1999 Spanish
Euro Open MoviStar by Nissan.
[4]
He won his first race at the second attempt that year, at the same
Albacete circuit where he tested in 1998. By the final round of the season he needed to win and set fastest lap to beat rival
Manuel Giao to the championship, which he did. Alonso also took the opportunity to test for the
Minardi F1 team, where sporting director
Cesare Fiorio saw him lap 1.5 seconds faster than the other drivers being tested by Minardi.
4 The following season Alonso moved up to
Formula 3000, which was often the final step for drivers before ascending to Formula One. Alonso joined Team Astromega and was the youngest driver in the series that year by eleven months.
4
Alonso didn't score a point until the seventh race of the year, but in the final two rounds he took a second place and a victory, enough for him to end the season fourth overall behind
Bruno Junqueira,
Nicolas Minassian and
Mark Webber.
4
Formula One
2001: Minardi
Alonso was the third-youngest driver ever to start a F1 race when he made his debut with Minardi at the
2001 Australian Grand Prix. The team was in its first season under the control of new owner
Paul Stoddart and their new car, the PS01, was neither fast nor reliable. However Alonso's qualifying performance was good, at his first race he out-qualified team mate
Tarso Marques by 2.6s. At the fourth round at
Imola he outqualified both of the Benettons, a feat he repeated later in the season.
4
Following some notable performances over the 2001 season had earned him some attention from the faster teams. It was reported in September 2001 by some of the European press that
Sauber were looking to replace outgoing
Kimi Räikkönen with the Spaniard although he was facing competition for the seat from
Felipe Massa and then
Jaguar test driver
Andre Lotterer.
[5] A month later it was confirmed that Massa was going to take the vacant Sauber seat for 2002.
[6]
In September, his manager
Flavio Briatore had begun planning to place Alonso at Benetton. Briatore considered promoting Alonso for 2002, in place of
Jenson Button, but instead chose to take Alonso on as a full-time test driver for 2002.
4 At the final round of 2001 at
Suzuka he finished eleventh — five places outside the points but ahead, on merit, of
Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s
Prost (with a
Ferrari-derived engine), the
BAR-
Honda of
Olivier Panis, the two
Arrows and
Alex Yoong (his new team mate).
4 Four years later, his team boss from the Minardi days,
Paul Stoddart, described his race as "53 laps, pure qualifying pace".
2002–2006: Renault
2002–2003
Alonso became test driver for
Renault in 2002 (Renault having taken over the Benetton team) and did 1,642 laps of testing that year. In 2003 Briatore dropped Button and put Alonso in the second seat alongside
Jarno Trulli.
4
The Spaniard became the youngest driver to achieve a Formula One
pole position at the
2003 Malaysian Grand Prix. Alonso had a 180mph crash at the
2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, the result of missing double yellow flags brought out by
Mark Webber's earlier crash and colliding with the debris. The race was red-flagged. He finished second at his home grand prix two races later, and became the youngest driver to win a Formula One race at the
2003 Hungarian Grand Prix. He finished the year sixth in the championship, with 55 points and four podiums.
2004
Alonso remained with Renault for the
2004 season. In the early part of 2004 questions were asked of Alonso when he was generally out-qualified by teammate
Jarno Trulli. However towards the end of the year Trulli's performance deteriorated and he dropped Renault boss Flavio Briatore as his manager. Trulli's relationship with the team deteriorated to the extent that he signed for
Toyota from
2005 onwards. Alonso ended the year a fourth in the championship standings, scoring 59 points and four podiums.
2005
For the season, he was joined at Renault by Italian
Giancarlo Fisichella. At the first race in
Australia Alonso started near the back due to rain in qualifying but fought his way to third. He won the next two races in
Malaysia and
Bahrain from pole position, and took a third win in the
San Marino Grand Prix after a 13-laps battle with
Michael Schumacher.
McLaren's improving form saw Räikkönen win in
Spain and
Monaco while Alonso finished second and fourth. Räikkönen was on course to win the
European Grand Prix at the
Nürburgring when his car's front-right suspension failed (due to a flat spot on the tyre caused by Räikkönen repeatedly 'locking' it) on the last lap, giving victory to Alonso.
Alonso failed to score in the
Canadian and
United States Grands Prix. He crashed out of the former, and in the latter all the
Michelin runners withdrew due to safety concerns over their tyres.
Alonso took his third pole position and fifth win at the
French Grand Prix. He followed this with pole position a week later at the
British Grand Prix, where he finished a second behind Montoya. McLaren's poor reliability granted another win to Alonso at the
German Grand Prix when Kimi Räikkönen's car suffered hydraulic failure.
He qualified 6th in the
Hungarian Grand Prix but finished 11th after a collision with the Toyota of
Ralf Schumacher.
As the season entered its final stages Alonso finished second three consecutive races, collecting vital championship points. Räikkönen won in
Turkey and
Belgium, but was fourth at
Monza after engine trouble in qualifying, meaning Alonso's lead had been cut by only one point.
Alonso sealed the title by finishing third in
Brazil while Montoya won from Räikkönen. The Spaniard became the youngest Drivers' Champion at the age of 24 years and 59 days old, breaking
Emerson Fittipaldi's record. He also ended the 5-year dominance of Michael Schumacher.
Commenting on his victory, he said: "I just want to dedicate this championship to my family, and all my close friends who have supported me through my career. Spain is not a country with an F1 culture, and we had to fight alone, every step of the way, to make this happen. A huge thank-you should also go to the team as well — they are the best in Formula One, and we have done this together. It will say that I am world champion, but we are all champions — and they deserve this." In the May 2007 issue of ''
F1 Racing'', Alonso said that the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix was his greatest race. He said, "It was a dream come true and a very emotional day. In the last few laps I leaped, thinking I could hear noises from the engine- from everywhere! But all was okay and I can remember my relief when I crossed the finish line."
The
Japanese and
Chinese Grands Prix saw Alonso and Renault abandon the conservative style evident in Brazil when he was still chasing the drivers' title. Starting from 16th on the grid, he eventually finished third behind Räikkönen and Fisichella. The Chinese Grand Prix saw Renault and Alonso win to claim the 1st Constructor’s Championship for the Renault F1 team.
In 2005, he was awarded with the Sports
Prince of Asturias Award.
[1]
2006
Alonso won the first race at
Bahrain, overtaking Michael Schumacher after coming out of the pit lane with 18 laps left, after starting fourth. He qualified seventh at the
Malaysian Grand Prix due to a fueling error
[1][1] but finished second to team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. He won the
Australian Grand Prix after overtaking leader
Jenson Button's Honda.
After poor qualifying at
San Marino, Alonso was unable to pass Michael Schumacher in an encounter that echoed their battle the previous year. Schumacher beat Alonso again in the
European Grand Prix after the Spaniard started on pole. But Alonso hit back, becoming the first Spaniard to win his home race on
May 14,
2006 in the
Spanish Grand Prix.
He took pole position for the
Monaco Grand Prix after Schumacher was penalised by the stewards for "deliberately [stopping] his car on the circuit in the last few minutes of qualifying", denying his rivals, Alonso included, the opportunity of recording fastest qualifying lap.
[1] Alonso won the race.
He extended his winning streak to four races with victories in
Britain and
Canada. Both wins came from pole position, and the British round was his first win, pole and fastest lap treble.
Schumacher's fight back began at
Indianapolis where the German won and Alonso was fifth. Schumacher won the
French Grand Prix, with Alonso in second, and the Spaniard was fifth in the
German Grand Prix.
[1] That cut Alonso's championship lead to 11 points.
Alonso incurred a penalty for an infraction in practice at the
Hungarian Grand Prix which left him 15th on the grid.
23 Schumacher started 11th after receiving a similar penalty.
[1] Alonso looked set for an unlikely win as he overtook most of the field, including Schumacher around the outside of turn five, as he showed prowess in the wet conditions. But he crashed out of the race when a wheel nut fell off his car following a pit stop. Schumacher scored one point after
Robert Kubica was disqualified.
[1]
Alonso finished second in
Turkey, holding back third-placed Schumacher to claim two vital points. But he lost a lot of ground after a controversial
Italian Grand Prix. He suffered a puncture during qualifying that damaged bodywork at the back of his car. He qualified fifth but was later punished
25 by the stewards for impeding
Felipe Massa's Ferrari,
[1] and he started the race from the 10th position. In the race he rose to third place before an engine failure forced him to withdraw. Schumacher won the Grand Prix and cut Alonso's Championship lead to two points.
At the following round in
China, Alonso took pole position during a wet qualifying session but finished second to Schumacher in the race. The result tied Alonso and Schumacher on points in the drivers championship.
At the
Japanese Grand Prix, the Ferraris of Schumacher and Massa qualified first and second, more than half a second faster than the Renaults in fifth and sixth. But during the race Alonso rose to second and took the win after Schumacher's engine failed. It gave him a ten point advantage over Schumacher, needing only one point from the final round to retain the title.
Second place in the
Brazilian Grand Prix on
October 22 gave Alonso the championship. With Schumacher finishing fourth, the final difference was 13 points. Alonso thus became the youngest double champion in the sport's history. Renault also clinched the Constructors' Championship with a 5-point gap over Ferrari.
2007–present : McLaren
On
December 19,
2005, Fernando Alonso announced that he would be moving to McLaren for
2007.
[1] His contract with Renault was set to expire on
December 31,
2006 However, on
December 15,
2006, Alonso was allowed by Flavio Briatore and the Renault F1 Team to test for one day for McLaren in the
Jerez circuit, as a result of his successes with Renault. Driving an unbranded
MP4-21 and wearing a plain white helmet and overalls, Alonso completed 95 laps but, due to the car lacking a timer transponder, his lap times could not be fully determined.
[1] This test session did not mean that his contract had expired.
Lewis Hamilton was chosen as his partner for the season. McLaren are reported to be paying Alonso
£ 20 million (approx $ 39 million c. 2007) in 2007. Alonso debuted with the new McLaren car on
January 15,
2007, in the streets of
Valencia. Alonso has recently taken delivery of his company car, the 150 car limited edition
Mercedes-McLaren SLR 722. Alonso described the SLR 722 as the "prettiest car in the world."
On
8 April 2007 in his second race for the team, Fernando secured his first win for McLaren, and the team's first since 2005 with a commanding drive at
Sepang. A difficult drive at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit on
15 April, saw him finishing 5th behind his rookie team mate who took a podium finish. In the fourth race of the year in Spain his home grand prix he qualified second. He had a first lap crash with Massa which caused some damage to his car and dropped him to fourth. He finished the race third. On
May 27 Fernando secured his second victory for McLaren with a dominating performance at
Monaco, scoring pole position, fastest lap and the race win and in the process lapping the entire field up to 3rd position. At the
Nürburgring he took his third win of the year in a dramatic race affected by intermittent rain showers, overtaking Ferrari's
Felipe Massa for the lead with just four laps remaining. After the controversy at the
2007 Hungarian Grand Prix (see below), however, relations between Alonso and his team have declined. It has been reported in the media that he is no longer on speaking terms with Hamilton,
[17] and it is speculated that he may leave McLaren at the end of the season.
[18] On 7 August 2007 ''
The Times'' reported that McLaren will let Alonso leave the team at the end of the season if he wishes, two years earlier than his contract allows.
[19]
As part of the
ongoing espionage controversy between McLaren and Ferrari, the former were found guilty of breaching the Article 151c of the FIA's sporting regulations but went unpunished due to a lack of evidence. However, following the acquisition of new evidence by the FIA, a new hearing will be held on
September 13. The evidence is understood to have originated from Alonso and test driver
Pedro de la Rosa.
[20]
Controversies
★ At the
2003 Brazilian Grand Prix Alonso had a 180mph crash after missing double yellow flags
[21] brought out by Mark Webber's earlier crash. After his collision the race was red-flagged.
★ At the
2003 European Grand Prix,
David Coulthard and
McLaren managing director
Martin Whitmarsh accused Alonso of giving Coulthard a
brake test.
[22]
★ At the
2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, Alonso was involved in an incident in which he brake tested
Red Bull Racing test driver
Robert Doornbos in the second free practice session. The Stewards decided that Alonso’s actions were “unnecessary, unacceptable and dangerous”, and awarded him a one second time penalty to be applied to his fastest lap time in each of the qualifying sessions.
[23]
★ After a separate incident from the same race, when
Michael Schumacher was asked whether he thought Alonso slowed down on purpose so that Schumacher had to pass him under red flags in practice Schumacher replied, "You said that, I didn't."
[24]
★ In the
2006 Italian Grand Prix, after stewards ruled Alonso had potentially blocked
Felipe Massa in Saturday qualifying and relegated him five places on the starting grid, Alonso stated "I love the sport, love the fans coming here — a lot of them from Spain but I don't consider Formula One like a sport any more".
[25]
★ During the aftermath of the
2007 European Grand Prix Alonso accused
Felipe Massa of trying to hit him off the track when he passed him around the outside of turn 5 in the wet. The two had a huge row in front of the cameras immediately before the podium proceedings. Alonso later apologised.
★ In the qualifying for the
2007 Hungarian Grand Prix, while both McLarens were in the pits, Alonso delayed the then provisional pole sitter (and his team mate),
Lewis Hamilton, for the few seconds necessary to prevent Hamilton from getting another 'hot lap' in. Alonso then went on to claim pole.
[26] McLaren boss
Ron Dennis later said that the problems were caused by Hamilton initially disobeying an order to allow Alonso to pass earlier in the session.
[27] However, Alonso was subsequently given a five-place grid penalty
[28]and his McLaren team were docked the 15 constructors' World Championship points they would have earned in the race.
[29]
★ After the incident at the
2007 Hungarian Grand Prix, rumors started spreading saying that he would leave
McLaren and move to
BMW Sauber or back to his old team
Renault. BMW Sauber made an Alonso move unlikely after they renewed
Robert Kubica's and
Nick Heidfeld's contracts for the 2008 season.
Complete Formula One results
() (Races in 'bold' indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
''
★ '' Season in progress
See also
★
List of Formula One drivers
★
List of Spaniards
★
Alonsomania
References
1.
2.
3. The girls in pole position
4. Who's Who: Fernando Alonso
5. Sauber chasing Alonso
6. Sauber confirms Massa
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17. Hungarian GP — Alonso not speaking to Hamilton
18. Alonso's future at McLaren in doubt
19. McLaren may lose Alonso if he cannot work with Hamilton Edward Gorman
20. Letter confirms drivers had new evidence
21. Double Yellow flags in 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix
22. Coulthard blames Alonso
23. Alonso receives qualifying penalties
24. Schumi hints at foul play
25. Fuming Alonso says F1 is no longer a sport
26. Hungarian Grand Prix 2007 — Qualifying
27. Dennis: Hamilton triggered incident
28. Alonso demoted to sixth in Hungary
29. Alonso punished for Hamilton move
External links
★
The official site for Fernando Alonso
_qualifying_at_USGP_2005.jpg)
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