Fernando Alonso is double world drivers' champion, 2005 & 2006, winning with Renault. The Spanish super star moved to Ferrari for the 2010 season and made an impressive start by winning the opening race in Bahrain. Regrettably Alonso's early season was impaired by a couple of mistakes and poor decisions by race officials, however, he hit form in an eight race period from Germany to Brazil, winning four, second in one, third in two and one retirement.

Alonso arrived at the last race of the season with an eight point advantage over his closest rival, and but for a strategy error of an early pit stop that resulted in emerging into the pack of slower cars and an seventh place finish he is likely to have won the championship. Alonso did not have the quickest car on the grid, and it is widely recognised that the Red Bulls were quicker throughout the season, and McLaren has had a better mid-season package than Ferrari, however, his skills and aggression ensured despite not winning the championship he had a better year than the car warranted.   

When Fernando Alonso won the drivers' title in 2005at the age of 24 years and 58 days he became the youngest ever champion. (The record was broken by in 2008 by Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel broke Hamilton's record in 2010). Alonso holds the record as the youngest double world champion.

Fernando and his wife, the Spanish pop singer Raquel del Rosario, live in Oxford England. He is reportedly a keen sportsman outside of F1- including Football, tennis and practically cycling.

Able to drive brilliantly and to communicate fluently in English, Italian and French as well as his native Spanish he is very popular with F1 fans, although his public disputes with British driver Hamilton created distance with some British fans and media. (Hamilton's actions at the 2009 Australian GP certainly dented his [Hamilton] reputation and perhaps encouraged some to reassess the root cause of the Hamilton Alonso friction in the 2007season, and as a result look more kindly on Fernando).  

Similarly to many F1 drivers Fernando started driving and competing in Karting races. His family had modest financial resources, and without sponsorship a career in motor sport would be impossible. However, he had great success on the karting track; winning four Spanish championships back-to-back in the junior category, between 1993 and 1996 and the Junior World Cup in 1996. He won the Spanish and Italian Inter-A titles in 1997 and in 1998 won the Spanish Inter-A title again as well as finishing second in the European Championship.

After two years successful racing in lower Formulas he was signed to the F1 Minardi team to race in the 2001 season.

Alonso was the third-youngest driver ever to start a F1 race when he made his debut with Minardi at the Australian Grand Prix. The Minardi car was not fast, nor reliable, but the rookie Alonso managed some very impressive qualifying times, better than drivers in vastly superior cars.

Alonso was managed by Flavio Briatore, who also ran the Renault F1 racing team, and in 2002 Fernando became the Renault test driver, promoted in 2003 to race. In his first season he won the Hungarian GP, had four podiums and was the youngest driver to achieve a pole position, finishing the season sixth in the championship.  Alonso finished the 2004 season in fourth place in the championship, with podiums in four races, including a very close second to Michael Schumacher at the French GP, and a high speed crash whilst running in third at Indianapolis.

2005 was an incredible season for the young Spaniard. He finished third at the season opener in Australia, having started near the back of the grid.  He won the next three races in Malaysia, Bahrain and San Marino. (He beat Michael Schumacher at San Marino after an epic 13 lap battle).  Finishing second and forth in Spain and Monaco and winning at the Nurburgring, he did not score in the Canadian or USA races, but won again at the French, British and German races. A failure to score in Hungarian GP was quickly forgotten with second places at Turkey, Belgium and Monza.

Alonso sealed the title by finishing third in Brazil, ending the 5-year dominance of Michael Schumacher.

At the last two GP of the season, the Japanese and Chinese, Alonso and Renault abandon the conservative style evident in Brazil when he was still chasing the drivers' title. Starting from 16th on the grid in Japan, he eventually finished third. By winning in China, Renault claimed their first Constructors' Championship.

The 2006 season was again a magnificent struggle for dominance between the master, Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari and the young Spaniard in the Renault. With just two races remaining in the season the two were tied in equal first place in the point standings.

At the Japanese Grand Prix, Schumacher qualified on pole, more than half a second faster than Alonso in fifth. 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.

The 2007 season was terrible for Alonso, he had moved to McLaren to race alongside Lewis Hamilton in his rookie season. Relations with his team mate and the team management broke down soon after the beginning of the season. Revelations about McLaren spying on Ferrari dominated much of the commentary surrounding F1. The on track squabbling with Hamilton, and the team's seeming favoritism towards Hamilton led to an alleged argument between team boss Ron Dennis and Alonso, it is reported that Alonso threaten to inform the FIA that the team's management had withheld evidence from the FIA relating to the spying investigation.  McLaren subsequently provided the new evidence to a second FIA hearing concerning the allegation of spying, and were found guilty of breaking the rules resulting in the largest fine in sporting history.

On track Alonso finished third in the drivers' championship level on points with team-"mate" Hamilton and just one point behind Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen (the closest 1-2-3 in WDC history).

Alonso and McLaren parted company by mutual agreement at the end of the season.

Fernando returned to Renault for the 2008 season, unfortunately the car lacked pace in the early part of the season.  

Several incidents in Alonso's 2008 season are noteworthy:  

In the Bahrain Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton ran into the back of Alonso's Renault, heavily damaging the rear wing of the Spaniard's car, as well as his own nosecone. Stewards did not seek to investigate the incident but critics alleged Alonso braked (or didn't accelerate as expected) in front of Lewis Hamilton causing Hamilton to crash into him. The telemetry data from Alonso's car proved these accusations to be wrong. It was later revealed by McLaren that Hamilton's front wing, which was damaged when he hit Alonso earlier in the race, had broken seconds before the impact and has been identified as the cause of the crash.  

Alonso won the Singapore GP; but a year or so latter the win became the subject of one of the most controversial incidents in F1 history. Alonso qualified 15th and as a result opted to start the race with a light fuel load on soft tyres. He and pitted early when he realised that this would not be successful strategy. However, team-mate Piquet crashed, bringing out the safety car, which eliminated the lead of the frontrunners. When they pitted after the pit lane was reopened, they rejoined behind those who had already stopped. This moved Alonso up among top six, and he ultimately won the race. This was the 50th podium and 20th win of his career.

In September 2009, after being dropped by Renault, Nelson Piquet Jr. said that the crash had been intentional and had been requested by Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds. Alonso was declared to be innocent by the subsequent FIA investigation. The incident became known as Crashgate. The flamboyant Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds resigned from the team. The FIA suspended Briatore from all Formula One events and FIA-sanctioned events indefinitely, whilst Symonds received a five-year ban. Their bans were subsequently overturned by a French court, and legal action continues. Mr. Briatore maintains his innocence. The FIA ruled that the Renault F1 will be disqualified from Formula One, suspended for two years pending any further comparable rule infringements.

Alonso won the Japanese GP and finished forth and second in the last two GP in China and Brazil. In the last eight races of the 2008 season Alonso scored 48 points, which was more than any other driver (over the same period Massa scored 43 points and Hamilton scored 40 points). He finished the season fifth overall, while also enabling Renault to finish fourth in the constructors standings.

If the 2008 season finished with increasing confidence 2009 started poorly and stayed that way throughout the season. The car was poor and the Crashgate scandal that erupted in September 2009 served as a very disappointing backdrop to Fernando's years at Renault. He finished ninth in the drivers' standings, scoring all of Renault's points.

Fernando Alonso's move to Ferrari in 2010 was not a surprise to anyone who followed F1. Ferrari can always attract the best drivers, and Fernando's three disappointing seasons since winning his second F1 championship must have caused him huge frustration. Ferrari understands how to work with drivers who demand attention, and how to manage their demands.

At the Bahrain GP, Fernando Alonso joined an impressive group of Ferrari drivers to win their debut race for the team. (Juan Manuel Fangio 1956, Mario Andretti 1971, Nigel Mansell 1989, and Kimi Räikkönen 2007). Alonso was fortunate to win having qualified third behind Massa and Vettel on pole, the young German would have likely won if not for and engine problem that meant he had to slow and finished fourth.

Alonso illustrated his incredible driving skills in Australia, starting on third on the grid in damp conditions he was pushed into a spin and consequently 'rejoined' the race in last place, however, a combination of great strategy and phenomenal driving he finished the race in fourth place.

In China, Alonso's race exhibited many of the Spaniards characteristics: sometimes trying too hard, always battling and never accepting a teammate's equal status. He qualified in third place behind the two Red Bulls, aware of the Red Bull's speed he was very aggressive in anticipating the start lights and jumped the start and was penalised by the stewards with a drive through penalty.  Emerging from the pits in 15th place, he was fortunate that a safety car deployment allowed him to catch the pack. In changing conditions both Ferrari drivers chose to pit at the same time and Massa entered the pit lane in front of Alonso, however, Fernando aggressively overtook the cautious Brazilian, causing Massa to swerve onto the grass and have to wait behind Alonso. Alonso was uncompromising and finished the race, which could have been a disaster, in a creditable fourth place. 

At his home GP in Spain, it was increasingly evident that the Ferrari lacked the pace of the Red Bulls, and Fernando was struggling to out qualify both Webber and Vettel. However, Vettel was plagued by unreliability and Webber lacked Alonso's killer instincts and ability. The season was already becoming a classic. Alonso qualified in fourth and would likely to have finished fourth if race leader Vettel had not had to pit with brake problems and Hamilton had not had tyre failure on the penultimate lap. A second for Alonso was indeed a fortunate result.  

Monaco was a low point for Alonso in illustrating that he was perhaps trying too hard, the car was not quick enough and to compensate he pushed beyond the limit. Crashing in practice and with insufficient time to repair the car before the start of qualifying, he was consequently to start from the back of the grid in 24th place on a circuit that is notoriously difficult to pass, remarkably he finished in sixth place. (He was to cross the line in seventh place, but Michael Schumacher was judged to have passed Alonso under safety car conditions, and Schumacher was penalised giving the place back to Alonso).

The lack of performance of the Ferrari in comparison to the McLaren's and in particular the Red Bulls was evident in qualifying, and in Canada, Alonso once again was driving at the limit of the car to qualify in fourth, he was promoted to third because Webber had a penalty for a gear box replacement. Alonso's third place finish was only his second podium of the season to date.

The race stewards and officials have a tough task, the action is very quick and incidents can occur at any part of the circuit. A great challenge is to match the punishment if any to the offence and do so quickly so that any advantage gained by an infraction of the rules is minimised. In Valencia the race, officials had a bad day.

Alonso once again qualified in fourth place, and during the early part of the race was challenging Hamilton for position. Mark Webber had a very bad accident, and as the safety car was deployed Hamilton first hesitated and then raced past the car, Alonso slowed down and took up position behind the safety car. This created a very significant advantage for Hamilton and others over both Alonso and Massa, who was running just behind the Spaniard. Following their pit stops, the Ferrari's were at the back of the pack. Hamilton had very clearly broken the rules, but the race officials were extremely slow in penalising him with a drive through penalty, by which time the advantage he had built was so great that he served the penalty without loss of position. Alonso finished in a dispirited eighth position. It would seem the delay was caused by waiting for the aerial footage of Hamilton's move, but he was lucky not to have received a far harsher penalty. 

The difficulties related to delayed decisions and unlucky timings were compounded for Alonso at the British GP. If Monaco was the low point of trying too hard, Britain was the low point of bad luck. Alonso had had a very poor start from third on the grid, and had lost a number of places by the first corner. In attempting to recover and pass Robert Kubica he was forced onto the grass and had rejoined the track ahead of Kubica. Alonso explained over the radio to his team that Kubica had forced him on to the grass, while Kubica informed his team that Alonso had illegally passed him by cutting the chicane.  After an inappropriate delay, the stewards penalised Alonso with a drive through for not yielding the position back to Kubica. Unfortunately, bad timing further exacerbated the situation because a safety car was deployed causing Alonso to drop to the tail of the pack once he served his penalty.

After the race Ferrari protested that the FIA had not responded to request for clarification and the FIA stated that the drive through was issued because Ferrari had not responded to their requests that they inform Alonso to let Kubica take back the position. Alonso finished the race in a non-point scoring fourteenth place.

Alonso won the German GP, but his victory was overshadowed by controversy. He had qualified in second place, just 0.002 seconds behind Sebastian Vettel, with Massa in third. Vettel had a poor start and in attempting to recover, he pulled across the track towards Alonso. The move allowed Massa to seize the lead, with Alonso in second and Vettel third.  Whilst Alonso was close to Massa, he was unable to overtake and Alonso looked destined to finish in second. However, Massa's engineer Rob Smedley radioed Massa, stating 'Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message'? On lap 49 Massa slowed down and moved off the racing line to allow Alonso to overtake. Smedley then radioed Massa again, saying, 'Ok mate good lad, stick with him now, sorry'.

Alonso went on to win the race with Massa second.  At the time, team orders were prohibited and many suggested that Massa's actions and Smedley's message were evidence that Ferrari had broken the rules by instructing Massa to let Alonso overtake. Ferrari denied any wrongdoing but were fined by the stewards $100,000 for breaking Sporting Regulations and the matter was referred to the FIA World Motor Sport Council. (The council accepted Ferrari's account and no further action was taken).

Alonso was characteristically aloof from all the chatter surrounding team orders and the race in Germany. (His teammate Massa's season was lacklustre prior to Germany and did not improve after the incident). A second place finish in the Hungarian GP was a little fortunate, but any good fortune was forgotten in Belgium when he was hit from behind by Rubens Barrichello, and having recovered to eighth place, spun off and out of the race.

For any Ferrari driver, Monza is special circuit, the Italian fans are passionate about Ferrari and any Ferrari driver that wins the Italian GP is elevated to hero status. Ferrari had introduced a number of upgrades and the car was performing better than at the start of the season. Alonso's qualifying session was sensational and he took pole with McLaren's Jenson Button in second. Button had a great start and exited the first corner ahead of Button, Button pitted first, and Alonso stayed out for one more lap before entering the pit for an incredible fast stop. Alonso returned to the track wheel to wheel with Jenson and narrowly edged the lead at the first corner. Fernando won the race; he also recorded the fastest lap and with the pole had achieved the hat-trick. Singapore produced another sublime performance from Fernando with another hat-trick, he held off an impressive challenge from Vettel throughout the race and finished just 0.3 seconds ahead of the young German.

The momentum for supremacy swung back to Red Bull in Japan with Vettel and Webber finishing in a one two, however, Alonso was third. The Korean GP was terrible for the Red Bulls, Webber made a mistake and crashed and Vettel had to retire with engine failure. Alonso's win was fortunate and certainly increased the pressure on Webber's championship hopes. Vettel in contrast to his older teammate seemed to revel in the contest and won the Brazilian GP with Webber in second and Alonso third.

Four drivers, Hamilton, Vettel Webber and Alonso could win the championship at the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi, Alonso was the clear favourite with a points advantage of 8 over his closest rival Webber. Vettel's only hope was to win and for Webber and Alonso to finish way down the order. The Ferrari strategists made a terrible error and covered Webber's pit stop without proper consideration of Vettel. Alonso emerged from the early pit stop behind a group of mid running teams, in particular Vitaly Petrov who was in characteristic combative form and would not yield to Alonso. Vettel won the race and World Drivers' Championship. Alonso's seventh place finish left him four points off Vettel to take second.

Alonso had a brilliant season; the car was certainly slower than the Red Bull and often off the pace of the McLaren as well. He completely dominated his partner Massa, scoring more than 100 points more than that achieved by the Brazilian. The mistake at the last Grand Prix cost him the championship, but all the top teams made mistakes at various races throughout the season, and one event should not be taken in isolation. Alonso's team performance overall was excellent, and was regarded by many as the best of the grid.

The 2011 season is likely to be as competitive as the 2010, and Fernando Alonso is likely to be regarded again as favourite. 
 

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