Fernando Alonso is a Spanish racing driver who currently competes in Formula One for Aston Martin. He is a two-time Formula One World Champion, securing his titles in 2005 and 2006 with Renault. Outside of F1, Alonso has also competed in endurance racing, winning the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship and claiming two victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Toyota. He remains the only driver to have won both the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship and the World Endurance Championship. He also won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2019.
| Nationality | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Born | Fernando Alonso Díaz 29 July 1981 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain |
Born in Oviedo, Asturias, Alonso came from a working-class family and started karting at the age of three. He achieved incredible success in local, national, and world championships, making a name for himself as a driver to watch. At 17, Alonso entered car racing and won the 1999 Euro Open by Nissan. A year later, he went on to secure fourth place in the 2000 International Formula 3000 Championship.
Alonso made his F1 debut in 2001 with the struggling Minardi team. Despite the car’s lack of competitiveness, Alonso impressed the paddock with his raw talent and ability to extract performance from the underpowered car. While he didn’t score any points that season, his performances caught the eye of Renault, who signed him as a test driver for the 2002 season.
Alonso joined Renault as a full-time driver in 2003 and became the youngest driver to secure pole position and win a race at the time. His breakout years came in 2005 and 2006 when he claimed back-to-back World Drivers’ Championship titles, becoming the youngest-ever world champion. Seeking a new challenge away from Renault, Alonso made a meteoric move to McLaren in 2007.
In 2007, Alonso finished just one point behind eventual 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen before returning to Renault for 2008 and 2009. A fractured relationship with then-team owner Ron Dennis and teammate Lewis Hamilton prompted the move. He won two races for Renault in 2009 and finished fifth in the championship. With the team no longer as competitive, and after a winless 2009, Alonso moved to Ferrari.
From 2010 to 2014, Alonso drove for Ferrari, where he came agonisingly close to winning more championships. He finished as runner-up three times—in 2010, 2012, and 2013—often taking the title fight down to the final race of the season. His time at Ferrari solidified his status as one of the most complete drivers in Formula One history, although he eventually left the team in search of new challenges.
Alonso returned to McLaren for a second stint from 2015 to 2018, but this time the partnership struggled, primarily due to the uncompetitive Honda engines. Despite consistently outperforming the car, Alonso was unable to secure a race win, leading to his decision to leave the team and temporarily retire from Formula One in 2018.
After a brief retirement from Formula One, Alonso returned to the sport in 2021 with Alpine, the rebranded Renault team. His comeback showed that he had lost none of his edge, with a standout performance at the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix, where he scored his first podium in seven years. In 2022, Alonso broke the record for most starts in Formula One at the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix.
In 2023, Alonso moved to Aston Martin, where he experienced a resurgence in form. The team’s improved car allowed him to score six podium finishes in the first eight races of the season, including his 100th career podium at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
As of the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, Alonso has achieved 32 race wins, 22 pole positions, 26 fastest laps, and 106 podium finishes in Formula One.
