Age: 24

Date of Birth: 29^th July 1981

Nationality: Spanish

Place of Birth: Oviedo, Spain

Residents: Oxford, England

Status: Single

Height: 1.71m

Weight: 68kg

Teams: Minardi (2001) Renault (test driver 2002, race driver 2003 to present)

Grand Prix Debut: Australia 2001

2005 Car Number: 6

Last Season: fourth

Career Pervious to F1: 1996 World Kart Champion

Fernando Alonso entered Formula One in 2001 with Minardi; he was only 19 years old when he competed in his first F1 race. But, let again he was only three years old when he started Karting. By the time he was twelve he was Spain's Junior Karting Champion. When he was 15 years old he was the World Junior Karting Champion.

The following year he competed in the Inter-A Karting championship, He won the Spanish title twice and the Italian title once. When he was 17, he moved into single seater, Euro-Open Movistar Nissan Championship, he became Champion in his first attempt, winning six races, claiming pole position nine times, and recording eight fastest laps.

The following year he moved in F3000, he finished second at Hungary and won at Belgium. He finished the season, fourth in the championship, but it was enough to get him into Formula One.

Under the management of Benetton boss, Flavio Briatore, Alonso was signed as Benettons test driver. However, Briatore wanted Alonso to get some proper racing experience behind him so, the Spaniard was loaned to Minardi for a season. In his debut he became the third youngest driver to make an F1 start.

Although he was regularly out-qualifying the Prosts, his teammate and sometimes even the Arrows, he could never make it into the points. Because the TV directors wanted to show the front-runners, the talent that was Fernando Alonso went almost unnoticed.

In 2002 he when back to Benetton, that had now became Renault, as test driver. In mid-summer, Renault announced that Fernando Alonso would replace Jenson Button next season.

Fernando Alonso was the phenomenon of 2003; it was no surprise for those who had noticed Alonso talent from 2001, and for those who didn’t notice him then, they certainly did now.

At the Malaysian Grand Prix he claimed his first Formula One pole position, becoming the youngest driver, at 21 years old, to have started from pole. In the race, he finished third, claiming his first podium. At the following race in Brazil, he finished on the podium again but, he was unable to celebrate on the rostrum because, he was in the back of an ambulance being taken to hospital because, he had crashed heavily into the stricken Jaguar, of Mark Webber causing the race to be red flagged. But thankfully he was not injured.

After a bit of a disappointing race at the San Marino Grand Prix, he when back to finishing on the podium at his home Grand Prix, causing Spain which was normally not a nation to follow Formula One, go crazy for the sport.

After the summer break, at the Hungarian Grand Prix he started from pole and from there he won his first Grand Prix and became the youngest driver, at 22 years old to win a race. He finished the season, sixth in the championship. His final achievement of the year was winning ‘F1 Racing’ magazines ‘Drive of the year award’ for finishing second at his home Grand Prix, ‘qualifier of the year award’ for claiming pole position twice and ‘Driver of the year award’ for the achievement that he had done that season.

In the early part of 2004, he was outshone by his teammate; Jarno Trulli but Trulli was sacked after the Italian Grand Prix. In the latter part of the season, Alonso managed to finish third on the podium at the German and Hungarian Grand Prixs but, he failed to secure, Renault finishing second in the Constructors Championship, they were beaten to second by BAR.   

2005 has been the young Spaniards season, having taking a surprise lead in the championship in the early part of the season, it seams that Fernando Alonso will become the youngest World Champion in the history of the sport, if he continues to perform as well as he has done in the first half of the season.