I guess Fernando has a lot to thank his sister for – it’s a well known fact that when Fernando was just three his father made a kart for eight year old Lorena (“but she’s a girl” you could hear Fernando muttering).  Lorena apparently took one look at it and went back to her dolls.  And so it was that the two-time WDC title holder’s career started. Born Fernando Alonso Díaz on 29 July 1981 in Oviedo, Spain, he was just seven years old when he entered his first races in karting in 1988 and won all eight. In the early 90s he won Spanish karting championships galore until in 1996, whilst competing in the Marlboro Masters in Barcelona (which he won, naturally) he was seen by former Formula 1 driver Adrian Campos who offered him a test in a race car in Formula Nissan and the rest, as they say, is history.

1999 saw his first championship win in Formula Nissan (later known as World Series by Nissan) by just one point and his entry into Formula 1 in 2001 opened with a test drive for Minardi where he seized his seat by outshining all the other young test drivers by (seemingly) miles!  The sporting director of Minardi wanted a 10 year contract with Fernando, he was so impressed with the Spanish youngster. However, Minardi, whilst giving Fernando his first taste for Formula 1, were far from the perfect team, not entirely financially secure and the car itself was not altogether the best.  The Minardi PS01 could not be described as a gazelle – more of a beach donkey – and reliability was never its strongest point either. However in the F1 Paddock the Minardi team was well respected for its friendliness and team spirit, something that was to form an important part of Fernando’s psyche in later years.

His first year in Formula 1 saw Fernando finish 23rd out of a field of 26 with a total of zero points so when Briatore and Benetton beckoned, Fernando was not slow to respond.  Although Briatore wanted to put Fernando into the team in place of Button – it ended up that it was Fisichella who was replaced (by Trulli) and Fernando started the 2002 season as test pilot for, what was now Renault.

Fast forward 12 months and 1642 test laps later, Fernando has his seat in the Renault team confirmed for 2003 – replacing Button as Briatore had suggested the year previously.  Now life was to begin for Fernando and challenging the legend that was Michael Schumacher came within his grasp.

A couple of ‘youngest ever’ accolades came his way – youngest ever pole sitter in Malaysia and youngest ever Grand Prix winner in Hungary; the Brazilian race saw his first ever 180 mph crash and eventually 2003 ended with a sixth place in the championship winning 55 points and four podiums along the way.

There were no wins in 2004, despite four podium places but his end position of fourth was an improvement as were his 59 points.   Briatore and Trulli fell out and back came Fisichella as Fernando’s team mate for 2005.
Oh what a year! First Grand Prix of the season (Australia) saw a win by Fernando’s new team mate Fisichella, but the other seven wins were claimed by Fernando as was, finally, the championship.  It may have been that the McLaren was quicker, but the Renault seemed more reliable and Fernando kept a cool head, put his foot down and stayed focussed.  Although this was the year he put a stop to Schumacher’s boring dominiance over the sport, his fiercest rivals were McLaren’s Raikkonen and Montoya.  Some say that Fernando won the WDC (the youngest ever at that stage at the age of 24 years and 59 days) due to Ferrari’s misfortunes, but there was no mistaking his flair, panache and consistency and above all his ability to drive like a champion even in the most challenging circumstances.  Spain were proud and he was presented with the Prince of Asturias award in his home town Oveida to a tumultous reception.  Briatore was a happy chap, so it must have been rather a shock to find out in December of that year that Fernando had signed for McLaren for the 2007 season.

But more of that later because 2006 was to to prove to be the most exciting and testing of years.  Schumacher was back on form and really giving Fernando a run for his money.  The first half of the season was dominated by Fernando – six wins to Schumacher’s two (one by his team mate Fisichella), but then Schumacher fought back and bad luck occurred for Renault.  Their mass damper system apparently did not meet technical specifications, despite FIA approval during its develoment, and its ban appeared to have a marked affect on the Renault and Schumacher won the next three races.  However, Fernando did not give up and was to visit the podium five more times in the last nine races.  He went on to beat seven times champion Schumacher and became the youngest ever driver to win back to back titles – a title which is currently still his!

Did he think his proposed move to McLaren was a good idea at this stage?  Maybe he began to have reservations when he pitched up at Woking and met his new team mate, Lewis Hamilton. It was a difficult season, with McLaren defending itself against allegations of receiving confidential information about the Ferrari car spec.  There was no doubt that McLaren wanted the 13 years investment they had made in Hamilton to come to fruition.  Some say there was inequality between the treatment of the drivers – Fernando certainly did not feel that friendliness and team spirit he was so used to at Minardi and Renault.  Fernando finished on level points with Hamilton at the end of the season with the championship being taken by Raikkonen by a single point.  Fernando was disappointed and frustrated – one can only imagine the lack of support he may have felt in a team so geared to supporting their British driver.  It was no surprise when Fernando announced a return to Renault in 2008.  The Renault may struggle to be in the same league as the McLaren, but Fernando saw his peace of mind as more important.

The R28 was clearly no contender from the start and the first half of the season was unusually difficult for Fernando in what was an obviously underperforming car.  After seven races, his points tally was just nine.  There was constant rumour and speculation that Fernando had secretly signed a deal with Ferrari, and could be on the move yet again, by 2009.  These rumours were denied by both Fernando and Ferrari.

The season was to include accusations of brake testing Hamilton (telemetry proved these false), engine failure in front of his home crowd at the Spanish Grand Prix, a collision with Nick Heidfeld in the Monaco Grand Prix spoiling a promising 4th place finish and retirement from the Valencia Grand Prix after he was hit by Nakajima.  However, his patience and determination were to pay off.  After a season of working hard with the engineers to improve the car, and a number of aerodynamic developments, Belgian signalled a return to form.  A fourth place here followed by another fourth in Italy heralded a mini come-back – culminating in a well deserved victory in Singapore (the first ever night race) and followed up by another victory in Japan.  During the last nine races of the season Fernando scored more points than any other driver on the grid, despite the Renault being clearly out-classed by both the Ferrari and the McLaren.  Class had shown through, however – Fernando’s class.

Over the years Fernando has delivered a cool driving style and is undeniably acknowledged as having a high quality technical approach to the set up of the car and intelligence for dealing with other competitors on the track, where he rarely cracks under pressure. Will 2009, with all its technical and regulatory changes, see a third title for him?  As magic is one of Fernando’s hobbies, maybe he should consult the cards ……..