"Fernando Alonso: A Brief Biography"
Fernando Alonso’s boyish passion for racing rapidly evolved into a career choice as the Spaniard soon began to test his fortunes in national competitions after having stamped his mark at the local level. The young Alonso proved he was a born racer when a go-kart presented by his father at the age of three immediately captured his fascination.
In the next couple of years, the gifted youngster’s confidence on track helped him accumulate considerable silverware as a kart-racer; his first title came in 1992, a win he was to repeat four more times before being crowned the world champion in 1996. Although the young Spaniard had resolved to shun other racing leagues in favour of completing a comprehensive learning spell at kart racing, Alonso was soon seduced by the opportunity to race in Formula Nissan, where he began to compete for former Formula One driver Adrian Campos’s squad. Unsurprisingly, the youngster quickly stamped his authority on the competition with a title win, proving he was no slouch at the geared drive either.
Although Alonso’s switch to the F3000 in 2000 was less than smooth, the young Spaniard’s rising star soon won him the attention of Minardi, who booked the budding talent for the season’s drive. The spell at Minardi was to be crucial for Alonso, allowing him to flex his competitive muscle on the international stage where he proved his driving mettle further by overshadowing team mates Alex Yoong and Tarso Marques. By the end of 2001, Alonso had also scored a test driving deal with Renault for the coming year after finishing tenth overall.
The deal with Renault turned out to be a blessing for both parties, and the young competitor’s conspicuous successes that season were immediately rewarded with a race seat for the 2003 season. The Spaniard would go on to distinguish himself further when, quite remarkably, at the age of 22 he entered history books after becoming the sport’s least-aged pole position-holder in Malaysia, a triumph he followed up with a stunning win at the Hungarian event that saw him become Formula One’s youngest Grand Prix victor. Amazingly, subsequent events would prove the young talent had only just begun to warm up to the game.
After a less than upbeat 2004 season, the Renault team picked up momentum in 2005, aided by their million dollar man’s remarkably authoritative and creative performances on track that would see him seal opportunities at even the most demanding twists and turns of the grid. The Spaniard concluded the year after being heralded the championship victor for a second consecutive year, a win that confirmed Alonso as the leading man who would usher in the new era of Formula One competition following Michael Schumacher’s exit.
Alonso switched to McLaren for the 2007 competition, a move that afforded him the opportunity to become the first driver to match the late Juan Manuel Fangio’s record of sealing consecutive championship wins with different bosses. Yet, the same season also saw the Spaniard’s feud with talented team mate Lewis Hamilton flare both and off the track, and the ultimate title was to Finnish Kimi Raikkonen by a very slight margin after the McLaren men concluded the season with equal points. This would be a joyless and disheartening season for the Spaniard, whose rapidly worsening ties with the team eventually carved out his exit to Renault for the coming 2008 competition.
Although Renault’s R28 was less than a match for other cars on the grid, Alonso managed to shine, regardless. He dragged the machine as fast he could, incredibly seized meaningful wins at both Singapore and Japan. The following years were to prove less generous to the Spaniard, whose performances were partly blighted by a relatively uncompetitive R29 car that helped him to his lone podium position for the season at the 2009 Singapore event (VERIFY). At the end of the year, the announcement of Alonso’s move to Ferrari where he would join Felipe Massa for the 2010 competition was to come as no surprise following months of speculation over his exit from Renault.
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