F1 Racing Famous Drivers
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso was the third-youngest driver in F1 history to start a race when he made his debut with Minardi at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix. While his car was not highly competitive, Alonso did a sturdy job, yet failed to score a point in his rookie season.
Alonso is one of the few F1 drivers capable of being on the pace every lap of every race and having a gift for driving around major problems while losing minimal lap time. His driving talents earned Fernando Alonso a spot with the newly-founded Renault team in 2002 as a test driver and finally the team made him a regular driver in the 2003 season. For his second F1 race, he was driven a much better car for Renault. Additionally, he became the youngest driver ever to win a Formula One race at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix. At the end of the season, he was a solid sixth in the championship, with 55 points and four podiums.
Fernando's success has grown in Spain as he became the country's first F1 World Champion. In 2004 Fernando Alonso ended the year a career-best fourth in the championship standings, with a score of 59 points and 4 podiums. His performances in the latter races of the year were particularly impressive as he comprehensively outpaced his new teammate -1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, who replaced Jarno Trulli for the final three races of the season.
For the 2005 championship, Alonso finished third in the first race in Australia then in Malaysia he got pole position and won the race easily. Alonso repeated this form in the season's third race, winning the Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position, and continued his good form with a close win over Michael Schumacher in the San Marino Grand Prix after an epic battle lasting about 13 laps.
One of the most memorable moments of the 2005 season was Räikkönen's spectacular exit from the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, granting the win to Alonso.
Alonso's good results came to an end at the Canadian Grand Prix, when he crashed into the "Wall of Champions" and damaged his suspension, after coming under pressure from the McLarens of Juan Pablo Montoya and Räikkönen, this became his first retirement of the year.
Alonso took his third pole position of the season at the French Grand Prix, and led the race from start to finish, winning his fifth race of the season. He followed this with pole position a week later at the British Grand Prix, where he finished a conservative second behind a McLaren-Mercedes, as Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya took his first victory of 2005.
The Chinese Grand Prix saw Renault and Alonso win to claim the 1st Constructor’s Championship for the Renault F1 team. And finally on December 19, 2005, McLaren announced that Fernando Alonso would be driving for the team in the 2007 season.