Because the next racer in our list is the last double world champion we have so far, and the driver who ended Schumi’s 5-year winning streak, I’ll be devoting an entire post to Fernando Alonso. He used to be one of my favorite F1 drivers—but right now, I’m torn between Kimi Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton. Hmmm…
So, without further ado, I present you with the:
2005 to 2006 Formula One World Champion
Name: Fernando Alonso Diaz (or simply just Fernando Alonso)
Nationality: Spanish
Team: Renault
Career Highlights:
Championship Wins: 2
Race Wins: 21
Races: 123, with 122 race starts
Podium Finishes: 52
Pole Positions: 17
Fastest Laps Set: 11
Brief Bio:
Born: July 29, 1981
Hometown: Oviedo, Spain
Nickname/s: El Nano
Double World Champion Fernando Alonso
It was a record-breaking win for Fernando Alonso when he was named Formula World Champion on September 25, 2005. During that time, he was the youngest driver to have ever won the title, breaking Emerson Fittipaldi’s record. Alonso was just 24 years and 58 days old when he was named F1 champ. Three years later, Lewis Hamilton would break that record–but that’s another story.
The next year, Nano went on to become a Formula One double champion. He also became the second F1 driver aside from Schumi to have scored at least 100 points in three consecutive seasons.
Like his short-time rival Michael Schumacher, Nano is also an ambassador of sorts. But while Schumi’s concentrated on being a UNESCO ambassador, Nano is one of the Goodwill Ambassadors for UNICEF. Alonso is also very active behind the scenes in F1. He acts as one of the directors of the GPDA (Grand Prix Driver’s Association).
Pre-Formula One Days
Adrian Campos
Before becoming the double champion we know today, the young Spanish driver had an early start in racing after participating in various karting competitions in Spain. His family fully-supported his decision of being a racer. In fact, his father acted not just as a manager but also his mechanic.
While Nano’s family may not have had the funds to keep racing independently, Alonso’s skill managed to attract various sponsors, and the young Fernando was able to continue excelling in the sport of his choice. In the junior category in karting, Alonso managed to win four back-to-back championships between 1993 and 1996. He also won the 1996 Junior World Cup, the 1997 Spanish and Italian Inter-A championship titles, and the 1998 Spanish Inter-A championship. After entering the European Championship, Nano managed to finish in second place.
Ex-Minardi F1 driver Adrián Campos was so impressed with Alonso that he gave Alonso his first race car in October 1998. Just after three days of driving around the Albacete circuit, Fernando managed to match the laps of Marc Gené, Campos’ former driver.
Fernando Alonso -- Back in the Minardi Days
Alonso started to race for Campos in 1999. He participated in the Spanish Euro Open MoviStar by the Nissan series. Fernando achieved his first victory during his second race, taking the championship by one point from Manuel Giao, his championship rival. In that race, Alonso not only won the championship, he also set the fastest lap in that event.
In his late teens, Nano also became a test driver for the Minardi Formula One team, prior to moving up to Formula 3000. His numerous achievements brought the spotlight to Alonso. And Minardi, spotting great potential in the young Spaniard decided to give Alonso a chance.
Alonso started racing for Minardi in 2001. Fernando didn’t really have a great start with Minardi. While he was definitely a very competitive driver, Alonso failed to score any points in the 2001 Formula One season.
Flavio Briatore, the big boss for Renault (the team that took over Benetton where Schumi tasted his first championship victory) took Alonso onboard his team as a test driver. After doing 1,642 laps of testing, Briatore was so impressed with Nano that he dropped Jenson Button and seated Alonso alongside Jarno Trulli.
2005 Formula One Season:
Fernando Alonso & Flavio Briatore
Alonso’s steady improvement from 2002 to 2004 brought him the championship in 2005. After Trulli’s relationship with Renault soured beyond repair, and he transferred to Toyota, Briatore and his crew brought on another highly-rated Italian driver to the mix: Giancarlo Fisichella.
El Nano demonstrated astounding resilience when during the first race in Australia, he managed to fight his way to third place after starting from the back. In the next two races, Alonso emerged as number one–winning the Malaysian and the Bahrain Grands Prix. But what caught everyone’s attention was how Alonso managed to beat Michael Schumacher in a 13-lap battle in the San Marino Grand Prix.
The "Iceman" : Kimi Raikkonen
Kimi Räikkönen, the F1 Iceman also started showing his competitive side. Kimi went on to win the Spanish and the Monaco Grands Prix. And he almost won the European Grand Prix held at the Nürburgring. Unfortunately for Räikkönen, under-braking as he passed Jacques Villeneuve caused his wheels to lock up, this led to suspension trouble on the LAST lap. He retired, Alonso won.
Alonso was also at the receiving end of Lady Luck’s wrath when he failed to score in the United States and Canadian Grands Prix. A slew of bad luck also caused him the Hungarian Grand Prix. While Nano was able to finish the race, he finished at 11th after a collision with Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher.
During the last few races of that season, Nano managed to finish second in three races. He managed to get the right number of points to keep him on the lead. But Räikkönen was also experiencing a change of luck, managing to win the Grands Prix at Turkey and Belgium. Engine trouble at Monza meant qualifying troubles for Alonso. And his lead was reduced to just a single point.
But Alonso sealed the deal when he finished third in Brazil. With two more races in the 2005 season, Alonso worked hard to finish in third place in the Japanese Grand Prix after starting from 16th place in the grid. He went on to win the Chinese Grand Prix, giving Renault the Constructor’s Championship for 2005.
That year, Alonso also won the Prince of Asturias Award.
2006 Formula One Season
7-time F1 World Champ: Michael Schumacher
Alonso had a good start in the 2006 Formula One Season. At the first Grand Prix at Bahrain, he managed to finish first. While Michael Schumacher may have been running in front of Alonso, a well-timed pit stop ensured that Alonso was going to overtake Schumi with 18 laps left. A fuelling error, however, caused Nano to lose pole position during the Malaysian Grand Prix. He was, however, able to make a comeback, with a 1-2 Renault finish. Giancarlo Fisichella finished first and Alonso wasn’t far behind. When the Australian Grand Prix came around, Jenson Button was set to win first–that is, until Alonso managed to overtake Button in his Honda.
During the San Marino Grand Prix, the same race where Alonso managed to pass Schumacher in a long-drawn battle to first place in 2005, Alonso found himself in a similar situation. This time, however, he wasn’t able to overtake the faster Schumacher, and he lost out to the veteran F1 ace. In the next Grand Prix, Alonso managed to secure the pole position, but once again lost out to Schumacher at the European Grand Prix.
But Alonso’s luck was getting brighter. In the Spanish Grand Prix, he became the first Spaniard to win this home race in the 14th of May 2006.
Once again, Nano secured the pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix. This time, Schumacher was at a losing end, after he was penalized by stewards for a race violation. According to reports, the German’s violation was: “deliberately [stopping] his car on the circuit in the last few minutes of qualifying”. This act caused a buildup of traffic behind him; denying other racers from finishing their fastest qualifying laps. Alonso won the Monaco Grand Prix, and had a five-race winning streak in the British and Canadian Grands Prix.
Alonso and Schumi Ham It Up for Cams
But Schumacher wasn’t about to give up that easily. At the race in the Indianapolis strip, Schumi finished first while Alonso was forced to settle for fifth place. Schumi made his comeback even more spectacular when he wont he French Grand Prix with Alonso trailing behind him. In the German Grand Prix, Alonso finished at fifth place once again, cutting his lead to just 11 points.
A practice infraction before the Hungarian Grand Prix also led to Alonso being penalized. Alonso was forced to start on the 15th position of the race grid. Schumi, who incurred a similar penalty was also forced to start from 11th place. Powerful determination combined with exquisite skill led Alonso to overtake most of the other racers in the wet racing grounds, and many believed that he would’ve own the race had he not crashed out when a wheel nut was dislodged from his Renault after a pit stop. Schumacher who also did pretty well (but nowhere near as great as Alonso’s performance) in that race, managed to get a single point when eighth placer Robert Kubica was disqualified from the race.
By the Turkish Grand Prix, Alonso was still leading in championship points, but had a hard time keeping his lead after finishing second in the Grand Prix with Schumacher right behind him.
The Italian Grand Prix proved to be a controversial one for Alonso, after he lost a lot of ground when he suffered a puncture at the rear of his ride during a qualifying lap. He managed to qualify for fifth place but was forced to start at 10th position after receiving another penalty from the stewards after impeding Felipe Massa’s Ferrari. Alonso sped through his competition, weaving in and out of traffic like a seasoned pro, and managed to get to third place right before his engine failed him and caused him to retire. Schumi won the race and he cut Alonso’s lead to just two points.
At the Chinese Grand Prix, Alonso started from pole position but lost out to Schumacher. The 1-2 result led to a tie in standings between Schumacher and Alonso.
Engine failure in the Japanese Grand Prix forced Schumacher out of the race, and Alonso finished in first place. Once again, Alonso was leading in Championship points and Schumi was ten points behind the Spanish driver. All Alonso needed was a single point to retain the Formula One Championship title.
At the final race that season, Nano won the championship after finishing second in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Schumacher tried his best but only managed to finish in fourth place.
In 2006, Alonso became the youngest back-to-back F1 champion. As for Renault, well, the team also won the constructor’s championship.
That year, Alonso announced that he was moving from Renault to McLaren. His contract was about to expire that year, and Briatore along with the rest of the Renault folks decided it was okay for Alonso to make the move.
2007-2008 F1 Season
Fernando Alonso with McLaren
A rookie, Lewis Hamilton, was chosen as his partner for the 2007 F1 season. After a year riddled with controversies during his stay with McLaren (and there were a lot of controversies—see Spygate for the biggest F1 controversy Nano has been involved in), Alonso decided to leave McLaren. And at November 02, 2007, McLaren and Alonso announced that they have mutually agreed to terminate his current contract with the team. Fernando finished in third place that year.
He returned to Renault in 2008, where he finished fifth in Championship points.
“SPYGATE”: The 2007 F1 Espionage Controversy
Alonso and Hamilton Battle It Out for McLaren's #1 Spot
There were allegations stating that McLaren Formula One has managed to obtain confidential technical information from Formula One team Ferrari. It was also stated that Renault F1 received the technical information from McLaren.
The controversy started when Ferrari allegedly made allegations against its former employee, Nigel Stepney, Mike Coughlan (a senior McLaren engineer), and his wife Trudy Coughlan. Apparently, the team was concerned that there was some technical information thievery going on.
Ferrari filed a case against the Coughlans in the High Court in England, and the FIA started investigating the case further. An agreement was reached between the Coughlans and Ferrari, and the case was dropped. But the FIA investigations continued.
After the FIA concluded that the McLaren team was somehow involved in the “passing of confidential information to another F1 team”, the F1 team received numerous penalties. McLaren was disqualified from the 2007 Constructor’s Championship and was also asked to pay a jaw-dropping, record-breaking amount of $100 Million U.S. Dollars.
F1 team Renault was also found guilty of violating FIA regulations, but was not punished.
Sources: Wikipedia and more Wikipedia for stats et al.
