Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz (born 29th July, 1981 in Oviedo, Asturias, Spain) is a Spanish former Formula One driver who is also currently the team principal of the Fernando Alonso Speed Team. He is the 2005 Formula One World Champion.
Contents
Formula One
2001-2005: Benetton Arrows, Renault
Alonso's Formula One debut came in 2001at the hands of the Benetton Arrows team alongside fellow young gun Jenson Button. Despite the pair's enthusiasm and hunger, the Arrows failed to match their young driver's desires in their final season and Alonso was only able to take a single point all season.
Alonso and Button remained together in 2002, albeit with a new outfit following the rebranding of Arrows to Renault. Alonso began to get comfortable in his new environment, taking several points finishes in the early stages of the season - his best being a pair of fourth places in Austria and Canada. Alonso would also upset the timing sheets by taking an unexpected fastest lap on the streets of Monte-Carlo on his way to sixth. Fernando Alonso would finish his sophomore season in F1 in a much improved seventh position in the WDC.
Button would vacate the team following a bust-up with team principal Flavio Briatore in the 2003 off-season, meaning Alonso would be joined by ex-Jaguar driver Mark Webber. Alonso's season got off to a great start, taking a career best second position (and another fastest lap) in the opening race of the season in Australia behind McLaren's James James Davies. He'd follow this with a third place finish in Malaysian Grand Prix. Alonso would not taste the champagne on the podium for several races, before returning with a third at the European Grand Prix and following Webber home for Renault's first 1-2 finish at the German Grand Prix. Alonso would miss Italy due to the Michelin boycott, before returning to the podium in Brazil with a second place. The Spaniard would go one better in the United States Grand Prix, converting a career-first pole into a win. He'd follow this win up with another in the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix, a race in which Alonso had a long battle with Michael Schumacher.
Alonso struggled in the shortened 2004 season, with the dominating Ferrari team effectively cleaning up for most of the year. Alonso did manage one win in 2004, winning the United States Grand Prix for a second time on his way to eighth in the championship.
2005 saw Alonso be joined by young Finn Kimi Räikkönen in what was set to be the most wide-open championship in many years, with Renault, McLaren, Ferrari, Williams and Toyota all bringing very strong packages. Alonso's first win of the season came in his home country of Spain, but he'd not win another until Brazil some twelve races later. The lead of the championship switched almost race by race - with Alonso, Räikkönen, James James Davies, Rubens Barrichello and Daniel Melrose all heading into the final round in China. The lead switched often in this frantic race but eventually Alonso capitalised on a last-lap error from Kimi Räikkönen to secure Alonso his first and only F1 World Driver's Championship, with some pundits in the Spanish media dubbing the race El Milagro de Shanghai.
2006-2008: Honda
Mere weeks after securing the World Championship, Alonso was revealed as Honda's lead driver alongside Takuma Sato in their first season as an outright manufacturer since taking over the BAR team. Although no figures were released, it is believed that Alonso's four year deal made him the highest paid driver in Formula One at the time. Unfortunately for Alonso he was not able to challenge for a repeat, as the RA106, whilst a competitive car and a significant improvement over the last BAR car, was not capable of challenging for wins on merit. Alonso's best result was a second place in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Initial testing for the 2007 season was not looking particularly promising either - with some within the Honda setup refering to the RA107 as a "dud". The car was launched as the carbon-neutral 'Honda Earth Car' - with the team revealing Australian Frank Zimmer as the second driver alongside Alonso. As predicted, Alonso and the team had a huge drop in form and ended up finishing the year in thirteenth with only a handful of points finishes.
Alonso's 2008 wasn't much better - his only real highlight being a third place in the attrition-hit United States Grand Prix. Alonso finished the season in thirteenth once again, with little hope going into the final year of his contract.
2009-2011: Ferrari
Honda pulling out of the sport at the end of the season meant that the team's future was in jeopardy, and despite a management buyout led by Ross Brawn saving the team at the eleventh hour, there was still a shortage of cash. To fix this, Alonso's contract was sold to Ferrari, where he would move to partner Pole Robert Kubica. Although the F60 was not a particularly strong car at the start of the year, it improved enough for Alonso to take 2 victories and finish 6th in that year's standings, easily having the measure of Kubica.
The pairing were retained for 2010, Alonso having agreed a new 3-year deal with the team. Both drivers would be frontrunners for the year, but were unable to truly contend for the championship. Alonso still had the edge over Kubica, although the Pole was much closer to him than the previous year. Alonso finished 3rd in the championship with 5 victories.
Alonso's third year at the team came in 2011, remaining alongside Kubica. This time Kubica would manage to overhaul Alonso, the Pole leading the standings all season to take his first world championship, while Alonso would have a messy year, getting involved in multiple incidents, earning himself a 2 race ban and eventually being sacked from Ferrari at the European Grand Prix and being replaced by 2003 World Champion Rhys Davies.
2012: Renault
Alonso would initially be left out of a drive in 2012, before getting a call up to his former team Renault, with whom he had won in 2005, to replace the Ferrari-bound Alexandre-Laurent Voeckler. Alonso would take a podium on his return to the sport at the British Grand Prix, and despite the Renault R31 (being the same car the team had run the year before) being off the pace, the Spaniard would fairly consistently score points on his way to 16th in the championship, his efforts helping to gift Renault 7th in the constructor's.
2014-2015: Williams
Despite his relatively good half season with Renault, Alonso would not be given a drive in 2013. The Spaniard had to wait until 2014 to reappear on the F1 grid, this time at the Williams team alongside Nico Rosberg. Both drivers would take advantage of the new regulations to compete with Brabham driver and eventual champion James James Davies for the title. Alonso won 5 times on his way to 3rd in the championship, just behind his teammate.
The pair would remain at the team going into 2015. Alonso would be regulated to a clear second best behind his teammate Rosberg, who fought with Australian Daniel Ricciardo for the title, ultimately losing by just 5 and a half points. Alonso would finish 3rd in the championship again, this time with 6 victories, including at his home race in Spain.
2016-2017: Red Bull
Neither driver were retained for 2016, with Alonso choosing to move to Austrian outfit Red Bull to partner Alex Lynn. Although Red Bull were no longer a championship-contending team, Alonso performed well, scoring 2 victories on his way to 7th in the championship, easily beating his teammate who was dismissed from the team before season's end.
Remaining at the team in 2017 to be partnered alongside Red Bull junior driver Pierre Gasly, Alonso embarked on what would ultimately be his final season in Formula One. The Red Bull RB13 however turned out to be a complete flop, with Alonso scoring the team's only podium of the year at the Japanese Grand Prix, both drivers otherwise struggling to get into the points all year. Alonso ended the year in 20th place with 41 points, and announced his retirement from full-time F1 racing.
2018-present: subsitute and team owner
Alonso was nominated as the reserve driver for the Williams team in 2018 and made a surprise return to the sport at the German Grand Prix as a temporary replacement for Valtteri Bottas, finishing 5th in the only race weekend he would participate in.
Alonso would then form the Fernando Alonso Speed Team, which entered the sport in 2019. FAST would finish 7th in their first year of competition, a position that was repeated in 2020.
Complete Formula One Grand Prix results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Mild Seven Benetton Arrows | Arrows A22 | Renault RS21 3.0 V10 | AUS 8 |
MAL 10 |
BRA 12 |
SMR Ret |
ESP 10 |
AUT 6 |
MON Ret |
CAN 10 |
EUR 14 |
FRA Ret |
GBR 10 |
GER Ret |
HUN Ret |
BEL DNS |
ITA 9 |
USA Ret |
JPN Ret |
16th | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002 | Mild Seven Renault F1 Team | Renault R202 | Renault RS22 3.0 V10 | AUS 7 |
MAL 7 |
SMR Ret |
ESP Ret |
AUT 4 |
MON 6 |
CAN 4 |
EUR 6 |
FRA Ret |
GBR 5 |
GER 6 |
HUN 5 |
BEL 6 |
ITA Ret |
BRA 7 |
USA 6 |
JPN 5 |
7th | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | Mild Seven Renault F1 Team | Renault R23 | Renault RS23 3.0 V10 | AUS 2 |
MAL 3 |
SMR Ret |
ESP Ret |
AUT 7 |
MON Ret |
CAN 6 |
GBR 5 |
EUR 3 |
GER 2 |
HUN Ret |
ITA DNA |
BEL 11 |
BRA 2 |
USA 1 |
JPN 1 |
4th | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Mild Seven Renault F1 Team | Renault R24 | Renault RS24 3.0 V10 | AUS 8 |
MAL 9 |
BHR Ret |
MON 8 |
CAN Ret |
USA 1 |
CHN Ret |
BRA 3 |
ARG Ret |
KOR C |
JPN Ret |
8th | 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Mild Seven Renault F1 Team | Renault R25 | Renault RS25 3.0 V10 | AUS 3 |
MAL 5 |
BHR 4 |
SMR 3 |
ESP 1 |
MON Ret |
EUR Ret |
CAN 2 |
USA DNS |
FRA 6 |
GBR 2 |
GER 7 |
HUN 7 |
TUR 5 |
ITA 3 |
BEL Ret |
BRA 1 |
URU 2 |
JPN Ret |
CHN 1 |
1st | 92 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team | Honda RA106 | Honda RA806E 2.4 V8 | BHR 4 |
MAL 4 |
AUS Ret |
BEL 5 |
EUR 6 |
SMR 9 |
MON 4 |
ESP 3 |
GBR 9 |
CAN 3 |
USA Ret |
FRA 6 |
GER 4 |
HUN 2 |
TUR 4 |
ITA Ret |
BRA DNS |
URU 10 |
JPN 10 |
CHN 7 |
6th | 57 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Honda Racing F1 Team | Honda RA107 | Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 | BHR 8 |
MAL 11 |
AUS Ret |
JPN 13 |
SMR 14 |
GER 7 |
ESP 5 |
MON Ret |
CAN 14 |
USA 12 |
GBR 10 |
EUR Ret |
FRA Ret |
HUN 14 |
TUR 8 |
ITA 16 |
BEL 10 |
CHN 7 |
URU 10 |
BRA 10 |
13th | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Honda Racing F1 Team | Honda RA108 | Honda RA808E 2.4 V8 | BHR 7 |
MAL Ret |
AUS 6 |
JPN 12 |
TUR 12 |
EUR 10 |
MON 9 |
CAN 11 |
USA 3 |
FRA 13 |
GBR 9 |
GER 7 |
HUN 7 |
ESP 14 |
BEL Ret |
ITA 13 |
SIN 14 |
CHN Ret |
URU 10 |
BRA 7 |
13th | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro | Ferrari F60 | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | BHR Ret |
AUS 7 |
MAL‡ 8 |
USA Ret |
JPN 16 |
ESP Ret |
TUR 18† |
EUR Ret |
MON 4 |
GBR 15 |
IRE 1 |
GER 1 |
BEL Ret |
ITA 5 |
HUN 5 |
SIN 2 |
CHN 3 |
BRA 10 |
URU Ret |
ABU 5 |
5th | 54.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro | Ferrari F10 | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | BHR 1 2 |
BHR 2 2 |
USA 1 5 |
USA 2 1 |
JPN 1 2 |
JPN 2 Ret |
AUS 1 Ret |
AUS 2 Ret |
TUR 1 2 |
TUR 2 3 |
EUR 1 4 |
EUR 2 5 |
MON 1 3 |
MON 2 8 |
GBR 1 4 |
GBR 2 4 |
IRE 1 7 |
IRE 2 7 |
GER 1 1 |
GER 2 4 |
ESP 1 7 |
ESP 2 3 |
ITA 1 4 |
ITA 2 6 |
HUN 1 DSQ |
HUN 2 7 |
SIN 1 1 |
SIN 2 1 |
KOR 1 8 |
KOR 2 12 |
BRA 1 1 |
BRA 2 4 |
URU 1 10 |
URU 2 Ret |
ABU 1 14 |
ABU 2 5 |
3rd | 385 | ||
| 2011 | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro | Ferrari F150 | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | BHR 1 Ret |
BHR 2 Ret |
USA 1 1 |
USA 2 9 |
JPN 1 2 |
JPN 2 2 |
KOR 1 4 |
KOR 2 1 |
TUR 1 3 |
TUR 2 Ret |
ESP 1 18 |
ESP 2 Ret |
MON 1 EX |
MON 2 EX |
GBR 1 1 |
GBR 2 16 |
IRE 1 3 |
IRE 2 Ret |
EUR 1 18 |
EUR 2 |
GER 1 |
GER 2 |
HUN 1 |
HUN 2 |
ITA 1 |
ITA 2 |
URU 1 |
URU 2 |
BRA 1 |
BRA 2 |
SIN 1 |
SIN 2 |
IND 1 |
IND 2 |
ABU 1 |
ABU 2 |
11th | 162 | ||
| 2012 | Renault F1 Team | Renault R31 | Renault RS27-2012 2.4 V8 | BHR 1 |
BHR 2 |
MAL 1 |
MAL 2 |
JPN 1 |
JPN 2 |
KOR 1 |
KOR 2 |
TUR 1 |
TUR 2 |
EUR 1 |
EUR 2 |
MON 1 |
MON 2 |
GBR 1 3 |
GBR 2 7 |
CAN 1 6 |
CAN 2 Ret |
USA 1 9 |
USA 2 22 |
GER 1 Ret |
GER 2 8 |
ESP 1 12 |
ESP 2 22 |
ITA 1 Ret |
ITA 2 4 |
ABU 1 4 |
ABU 2 Ret |
IND 1 7 |
IND 2 8 |
URU 1 20 |
URU 2 14 |
BRA 1 7 |
BRA 2 18 |
SIN 1 5 |
SIN 2 Ret |
16th | 85 | ||
| 2014 | Canon WilliamsF1 | Williams FW36 | Mercedes PU104A 1.6 I4t | BHR 1 2 |
BHR 2 10 |
MAL 1 2 |
MAL 2 3 |
BRA 1 2 |
BRA 2 Ret |
MEX 1 2 |
MEX 2 1 |
USA 1 Ret |
USA 2 5 |
CAN 1 Ret |
CAN 2 4 |
GBR 1 Ret |
GBR 2 Ret |
ESP 1 8 |
ESP 2 Ret |
AUT 1 4 |
AUT 2 4 |
TUR 1 Ret |
TUR 2 8 |
GER 1 Ret |
GER 2 1 |
POR 1 2 |
POR 2 Ret |
ITA 1 Ret |
ITA 2 7 |
ABU 1 16 |
ABU 2 3 |
IND 1 1 |
IND 2 2 |
CHN 1 Ret |
CHN 2 Ret |
KOR 1 8 |
KOR 2 1 |
JPN 1 Ret |
JPN 2 1 |
SIN 1 3 |
SIN 2 Ret |
3rd | 383 |
| 2015 | ING WilliamsF1 Mercedes | Williams FW37 | Mercedes PU104A 1.6 I4t | BHR 1 1 |
BHR 2 2 |
MAL 1 Ret |
MAL 2 C |
BRA 1 11 |
BRA 2 5 |
MEX 1 2 |
MEX 2 4 |
USA 1 2 |
USA 2 2 |
CAN 1 3 |
CAN 2 Ret |
GBR 1 17 |
GBR 2 Ret |
GER 1 15† |
GER 2 Ret |
ESP 1 Ret |
ESP 2 1 |
RUS 1 Ret |
RUS 2 10 |
AUT 1 1 |
AUT 2 5 |
ITA 1 3 |
ITA 2 7 |
CPR 1 1 |
CPR 2 4 |
ABU 1 6 |
ABU 2 1 |
IND 1 2 |
IND 2 1 |
JPN 1 14 |
JPN 2 4 |
KOR 1 2 |
KOR 2 2 |
SIN 1 2 |
SIN 2 2 |
CHN 1 10 |
CHN 2 4 |
3rd | 472 |
| 2016 | CEPSA Red Bull Racing | Red Bull RB12 | Ferrari Type 059 3.0 V10 | BHR 1 5 |
BHR 2 2 |
IND 1 Ret |
IND 2 5 |
BRA 1 2 |
BRA 2 4 |
MEX 1 4 |
MEX 2 7 |
PAC 1 8 |
PAC 2 3 |
CYP 1 12 |
CYP 2 6 |
HUN 1 7 |
HUN 2 10 |
GER 1 Ret |
GER 2 Ret |
GBR 1 10 |
GBR 2 20 |
RUS 1 5 |
RUS 2 Ret |
AUT 1 2 |
AUT 2 3 |
ITA 1 5 |
ITA 2 Ret |
EUR 1 1 |
EUR 2 6 |
ESP 1 4 |
ESP 2 6 |
USA 1 6 |
USA 2 6 |
ABU 1 11 |
ABU 2 7 |
SIN 1 DSQ |
SIN 2 6 |
JPN 1 Ret |
JPN 2 1 |
CHN 1 4 |
CHN 2 Ret |
7th | 299 |
| 2017 | CEPSA Red Bull Racing Ferrari | Red Bull RB13 | Ferrari Type 059 3.0 V10 | USA 1 6 |
USA 2 21 |
JPN 1 Ret |
JPN 2 2 |
IND 1 14 |
IND 2 14 |
BHR 1 13 |
BHR 2 Ret |
CYP 1 12 |
CYP 2 15 |
HUN 1 EX |
HUN 2 19 |
GER 1 9 |
GER 2 Ret |
GBR 1 Ret |
GBR 2 20 |
AUS 1 7 |
AUS 2 Ret |
PAC 1 Ret |
PAC 2 13 |
MEX 1 9 |
MEX 2 Ret |
AUT 1 12 |
AUT 2 15 |
ITA 1 11 |
ITA 2 11 |
EUR 1 8 |
EUR 2 11 |
ESP 1 11 |
ESP 2 11 |
ABU 1 16 |
ABU 2 20 |
RUS 1 C |
RUS 2 C |
BRA 1 11 |
BRA 2 12 |
CHN 1 10 |
CHN 2 12 |
20th | 41 |
| 2018 | Shougang WilliamsF1 | Williams FW40 | Ferrari Type 060 3.0 V10 | USA 1 |
USA 2 |
JPN 1 |
JPN 2 |
BHR 1 |
BHR 2 |
TUR 1 |
TUR 2 |
CYP 1 |
CYP 2 |
MED 1 |
MED 2 |
GER 1 Ret |
GER 2 5 |
FIN 1 |
FIN 2 |
RUS 1 |
RUS 2 |
SIN 1 |
SIN 2 |
AUS 1 |
AUS 2 |
GBR 1 |
GBR 2 |
FRA 1 |
FRA 2 |
NED 1 |
NED 2 |
HUN 1 |
HUN 2 |
ABU 1 |
ABU 2 |
CHN 1 |
CHN 2 |
MEX 1 |
MEX 2 |
BRA 1 |
BRA 2 |
26th | 6 |
| Sporting Accolades | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: James James Davies |
Formula One World Champion 2005 |
Succeeded by: James James Davies |
