Biography

By the age of seven he was a regular karter and by the age of twelve Fernando was Spain's Junior Karting Champion, a title he held for four years in addition to winning the World Junior Kart Championship in 1996 at the age of 15.

Progressing to Inter-A Karting, Fernando won the Spanish (twice) and Italian titles before progressing to single-seaters, the Euro-Open Movistar Nissan Championship, which he won at the first attempt, winning 6 races and starting from pole on 9 occasions.

The following season, aged eighteen he graduated to F3000, finishing second in Hungary and first in Belgium and subsequently finishing fourth in the championship behind Junqueira, Minassian and Webber.

In 2001, at that time under the management of Benetton F1 boss Flavio Briatore, Alonso was signed to the Anglo-Italian outfit as test driver. However in a surprise move the youngster was loaned to Minardi with whom he made his F1 debut on March 4 at Melbourne, becoming the third youngest driver to start an F1 Grand Prix.

In hopelessly under-performing equipment the youngster was sensational, out-qualifying some of his more illustrious rivals. Sadly due to TV directors' insistence on focussing on the front-runners, much of Fernando's finest driving went almost un-noticed.

For 2002 Fernando returned to Benetton, now under the ownership of Renault, as test driver, and in mid-summer it came as no real surprise when it was announced that he would replace Jenson Button for 2003.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Fernando was the sensation of 2003, this came as no surprise to those who spotted his talent back in 2001, but made the rest of the world sit up and take notice.

Finishing third in Malaysia and Brazil followed by a fine second in his home race it was simply a question of when, not if, he would win his first Grand Prix. In Hungary the youngster went into the history books as the youngest driver to win a Grand Prix, having become the youngest pole-sitter at the start of the season in Malaysia.

For much of the early part of the 2004 season, Fernando was outshone by teammate Jarno Trulli, certainly in qualifying. Despite his undoubted bravery and ability, the youngster still has much to learn, namely his tendency to over-drive the car, in addition to his Latin temperament. One only has to look back to his 2003 accident at Interlagos which was totally needless.

Watching him, there are moments when one genuinely fears for him, hoping that he doesn't have to learn his lesson the hard way. That said, his is an outrageous talent, and a wonder to behold.

Like Michael Schumacher, Fernando gets all he can out of a car, and often the end result flatters the machinery.

In spite of his (relative) failure in qualifying, his sheer speed, and the R24's status as the ultimate in 'getaway cars', the Spaniard usually made up for his poor grid position at the start races, mixing it with the front runners by the time they reached the first corner.

Despite a strong start to the season, Renault clearly lost ground in the second half of the year, though at times it appeared that someone had forgotten to tell Fernando. Although it was Button, and of course Ferrari, grabbing all the headlines, the young Spaniard gave some bravura performances, Japan and Brazil immediately spring to mind.

It is well documented that the mainstream media - particularly in Britain - has a penchant for building up a person, be it actor, musician or sports star - then knocking them down. And there were times, especially towards the end of the 2005 season when it seemed as though this was the case with Fernando Alonso.

The young Spaniard had driven a superb season, yet it appeared that the media, and indeed many race fans, regarded him as the villain of the piece, and was cheering for Kimi Raikkonen. Indeed, at the end of the year it was the Finn who appeared to win the plaudits, continuously - even by Pitpass readers - being voted 'Driver of the Year'.

However, it would be totally wrong to lose sight of Alonso's achievements and to forget just how well he drove.

Yes, there were times in the latter stages of the season when he eased off, and settled for positions rather than going all-out for the win. But by then, the McLaren MP4-20 was the car to have, and the Spaniard, no doubt under advice from his team, opted for the safer, more cautious approach, forcing rival Kimi Raikkonen to do all the hard work.

Yet in China, having secured the Drivers' title, Alonso was superb, delivering the killer blow that secured his team its first ever World Championship title.

Along the way there were other great performances, his raw speed in Malaysia and Bahrain, the way he soaked up the pressure from Michael Schumacher at Imola. At the Nurburgring, sensing that his rival had a problem, he relentlessly hounded Raikkonen until the result was inevitable. Then again, let's not forget how he nurtured his Michelins at Monaco.

In late 2005 it may have become fashionable, for some, to knock the young Spaniard, but the reality is that his title was well deserved, as is the fact that he took the mantle of 'youngest champion' from another great, Emerson Fittipaldi.

Though Fernando might not be the media, or indeed the fans', favourite, he had clearly done enough to impress Ron Dennis, who pulled off the shock of the season when he snapped up the youngster for 2007. Clearly, 'the Ronster' hadn't fallen for the media's negativity… and who would you trust when it comes to assessing talent?

The fact that Fernando was moving to McLaren was ever present throughout 2006, for the team that had assisted him to the title had every right to wonder why. As the season progressed, it was clear that the marriage - or should that be ménage a trois - consisting of the Spaniard, Renault and Flavio Briatore was breaking apart, though that didn't stop the partnership retaining both titles.

From the first nine races, Fernando amassed 84 points, courtesy of six wins and three seconds, it was domination of the sort witnessed a few years earlier with Schumacher and Ferrari.

When Schumacher reeled off a trio of wins mid-Summer, assisted by Bridgestone finally coming good and Renault having its mass damper system banned, Alonso kept his cool, doing just what was needed, when it was needed.

However, there were several times during the season when the Spaniard clearly lost his cool, possibly the result of the deteriorating relationship with his team, combined with the pressure of fending off Schumacher.

In Hungary, Fernando was involved in a stupid, and downright incident with Robert Doornbos, the Renault driver brake-testing his Dutch rival believing that he had deliberately spoiled his previous lap. Quite rightly, the stewards punished the Spaniard, a move which relegated him to fifteenth on the grid.

Nonetheless, the following day he gave a stupendous performance, including lapping title rival Schumacher, and looked set to be adding a further ten points to his tally, until, in a clear case of history repeating itself (Nigel Mansell in 1987), a wheel nut came flying off the R26, leading to Fernando's first retirement since Canada 2005.

In Italy there was further controversy when the Spaniard was given a grid penalty for hampering Felipe Massa, a decision greeted with disbelief by many within the paddock. Although they were on the same straight, the drivers were separated by over a hundred metres. While Flavio Briatore hinted that the championship was being manipulated - quickly withdrawing his comment lest the authorities impose further punishment - Alonso seethed, claiming that F1 was no longer a sport.

The following day things went from bad to worse, on the 43rd lap of a race which he was unlikely to win Fernando suffered an engine failure, Renault's first since Bahrain 2005.

With Schumacher winning at Monza and again in China, the title protagonists arrived in Japan all-square.

A strong drive by the Spaniard, coupled with a (rare) retirement for Schumacher, meant that Alonso virtually had his second title sewn up, the German standing only a slim mathematical chance of taking the crown.

Second at Interlagos was more than enough to give the Spaniard his second title, thus making him the youngest ever double World Champion.

In previous seasons Alonso was the fresh faced kid, always smiling, a breath of fresh air. By the end of 2006, he looked that much older, that much more cynical. Clearly frustrated by the breakdown of the relationship with his team, not to mention numerous - often outrageous - decisions, seemingly made purely to frustrate his title ambitions, Alonso was not seeing the sport in a new light.

Following Fernando's move to McLaren for 2007, we wrote a couple of things which, with the benefit of hindsight, make interesting reading.

We wondered how Fernando would deal with the corporate approach at Woking, which from the outside appears stifling, and whether the team could provide him with a car to match his talent, considering McLaren's poor performance in 2006.

As it happens, McLaren did provide the car, it had the pace and it had the reliability, allowing the Spaniard to complete all but 26 laps of the 2007 season. However, a fine, race-winning car couldn't prevent 2007 from being the most disappointing of Fernando's career.

With back-to-back titles under his belt, Fernando no doubt assumed that he would enjoy outright number one status at McLaren, and since his teammate Lewis Hamilton was a rookie, albeit reigning GP2 Series champion, who was to seriously doubt that the English youngster would upset the applecart? Pre-season, McLaren didn't address the matter of driver status because it didn't appear to be needed, everyone assumed that there would be a 'natural order'. How wrong we all were.

Straight out of the box, Hamilton was not simply fast, he was clearly capable of winning. While Fernando took a second and a win from the first two races, Hamilton took a third and a second, following on with three more seconds.

The British media, which had mostly turned its back on F1 during the (seemingly endless) Schumacher/Ferrari domination of the sport, now had a new hero, and it made no attempt of its desire to see a new British World Champion. While Ron Dennis insisted that his team would exercise the same equality as it did during the Senna/Prost years, the British media was under no illusion as to who it thought should be World Champion.

Clearly 'rattled' by Hamilton's supreme talent, Fernando began to believe that the team was favouring the English youngster. Though every effort was made to convince everyone that all was rosy, nobody was fooled. The media is Britain and Spain took sides, and the situation deteriorated. In Hungary, angry that Hamilton had refused to let him past at the beginning of the final phase of qualifying, Fernando hit back by delaying his teammate during his final pit stop. It was the beginning of the end, the team was penalized by the race stewards, forfeiting all its points for the race, while Fernando was to begin a cold war within the team, never talking to Ron Dennis again.

In addition to all this, the spy saga was building, little by little overshadowing events on track. Indeed, it was only later that we learned that it was at Hungary, scene of the McLaren driver fall-out, that Fernando threatened to use incriminating e-mails which showed his team's role in the spy saga should it not give him outright number one status. Never a man to play hardball with, Dennis went straight to the FIA himself.

Over the course of the season there were some remarkable performances, but in all honesty even these were overshadowed by events within the McLaren motorhome and away from the track.

Hamilton led the title race for much of the season, much to the delight of the British media, but Fernando took further wins at Hockenheim and Monza. Despite a strong second place in China, an accident the previous week in Japan left him on the back-foot ahead of the final race of the season, where he was four points adrift of his teammate.

As we know, while McLaren and Hamilton made their own mistakes, Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari staged a remarkable fight back, taking both titles and leaving Fernando and Hamilton tied in runner-up spot, though the 'honour' goes to the English rookie on count-back.

It came as no surprise when, less than two weeks after the end of the season, McLaren and Fernando parted company. Despite speculation linking him with a number of teams the Spaniard signed on the dotted line with Renault on 12 December.

How 'battle scarred' Fernando is following his time with McLaren and Hamilton remains to be seen, just as it will be interesting to see whether Renault can rediscover its 2005/2006 form. Little is known about the Spaniard's contract with Renault other than for the fact that it involves a lot of money. However, there is continued speculation that he has an in at Ferrari in 2009 or 2010.

In many ways, nobody came out of the McLaren soap opera completely untarnished, even Hamilton. However, there's no doubting that Fernando's image, and of course his confidence, took a hammering. It will be interesting to see how he deals with it all in 2008. Without doubt, he'll be eager to put McLaren and Hamilton in their place… while they'll be equally happy to return the comliment.

Statistics - Prior to 2008 Season

Drivers' Titles: 2
Seasons in F1: 6
Grand Prix: 104
Wins: 19
Points: 490
Poles: 17
Fastest Laps: 11

Best result in 2007: 1st (4 times)
Best qualifying 2007: Pole (2 times)
Worst qualifying 2007: 10th (France)
Average grid position 2007: 3.18
2007: Out-qualified Lewis Hamilton 7 times
2007: Out-qualified by Lewis Hamilton 10 times

2007: Completed: 1039 out of 1065 laps (97.56%)
2007: Finished 16 times from 17 starts (94%)