Who is Fernando Alonso?
Born on July 29, 1981, in Oviedo, Spain, Fernando Alonso was born to compete. His father, José Luis Alonso, had always longed to be a go-kart driver and tried to pass this passion on to his two children. José built a kart for his 8-year-old daughter Lorena, but she never got into the sport. As a result, the kart was passed on to 3-year-old Fernando, who immediatly took to racing.
During the first two years of driving the kart, Fernando Alonso and his family thought of it as just a game, something the young boy would do to pass time and amuse himself. At 6 years old, José began to notice his son's aptitude for racing and so he fine-tuned the kart to get it ready for competitions. By 1988, Fernando had begun dominating the junior kart leagues, going from circuit to circuit on the weekends and after school. By the time he was 12, Fernando's budding career as a kart driver had become so serious that his family could no longer afford to send him to races far away fro their home or even afford the materials required by Fernando's more powerful cars. The Alonsos sought support and after Fernando dominated a race in the Catalan Championship, they found a team willing to take on the young driver.
From then on, Fernando Alonso graduated to more serious racing as IAME, a famous world karting name, took charge of his career. Alonso won the Junior Spanish Championship in 1994 and then began traveling throughout Europe, competing in ultra-competitive karting leagues. To offset the cost of his travels, despite the help from IAME, Alonso earned cash as a mechanic for drivers even younger than himself. In 1996, Fernando Alonso became the World Junior Karting Champion after taking home several wins and then won the Spanish and Italian legs of the championship the following year. In the meantime, former Formula One driver Adrian Campos had taken notice of Alonso's talents and gave the young boy a chance to graduate to Formula One racing.
By 1998, Fernando got a handle on racing with gear shifting and, in 1999, he graduated to the Formula Nissan circuit.
Amazingly, it took no time for Alonso to learn the ropes of Formula Nissan and he quickly dominated race after race. Alonso won the league championship in his first year and his managers decided to elevate him to the next step, Formula 3000, by 2000. With the Astromega team, Fernando accomplished and learned a lot, though he didn't dominate as he had in previous leagues. Still, his performance in 2000 was enough to allow him to move on to Formula One, the world stage of racing. Debuting with the Minardi Team in 2001, Fernando Alonso became the third youngest driver in Formula One history to start a race when he made his debut at the Australian Grand Prix (19 year, 7 months and 4 days). Alonso didn't earn many points during his rookie season, he showed promise, as he occasionally outraced opponents who had the privilege of racing superior cars.
After paying his dues with Minardi, Alonso moved on to the Renault F1 Team. As the French team already had two established drivers in its lineup, Fernando became a test driver in 2002. Renault groomed Alonso to become its top driver, which is what he became the following year. That season, Fernando showed flashes of brilliance, becoming the youngest pole winner ever at the Malaysian Grand Prix (21 year, 7 months and 23 days) and the youngest winner ever at the Hungarian Grand Prix (22 years and 26 days).
After reaching the podium four times, Alonso finished an impressive sixth overall at the end of the season. Though he didn't win any races in 2004, Alonso one-upped himself by finishing fourth overall in the standings, again reaching 4 podiums. Renault was poised to improve its overall performance in 2005 and so, with a determined Alonso leading the way, the team immediatly made its imprint on the season as Fernando emerged victorious in the 2nd and 3rd races of the season.
Fans worldwide have recognized Alonso's skills and as such, 'Alonsomania' has swept over Spain and other parts of Europe. As Alonso continues to impress during the 2005 season and is poised to become the youngest champion in F1 history.
After 6 wins in 2005 and finishing several times on the podium, Alonso became the youngest F1 world champion and the first Spaniard to become Champion (24 years and 58 days).
Fernando Alonso's reputation precedes him. He holds records as F1's youngest pole man, the youngest ever GP winner and now his place in history is guaranteed as the sport's youngest ever World Champion. Fernando is a superstar in his home country but still Fernando describes himself as: "I'm just a normal guy."
Fernando is discreet and private, avoiding the limelight, surrounding himself with family and trusted friends. Alonso lives in Oxford, near the team's Enstone factory. Alonso is a shy youngster, who lives his live most of the time like others of his age. He relaxes playing football, by going to the cinema or following his beloved Real Madrid.
Alonso is a regular guy who accomplished what many people can only dream of. This approachable Spaniard already gave the crowd a lot of beautiful F1 moments, with a lot more to follow.
