Alonso Calls for Control in Light of Verstappen Penalty
Oct.3 - Fernando Alonso has broken ranks with many of his fellow Formula 1 personalities over the Max Verstappen swearing affair. Most drivers and officials stridently agreed with..
Name | Fernando Alonso |
Country | Spain |
Height | 1.71 meter / 5 feet 7 inch |
Place of Birth | Oviedo |
Date of Birth | Jul 29th 1981 - 43 years old |
Season Entries | 21 |
Car Number | 14 |
First Race | 2001 Australian F1 GP |
Last Race | 2024 Singapore F1 GP |
First Pole | 2003 Malaysian F1 GP |
Last Pole | 2012 German F1 GP |
First Win | 2003 Hungarian F1 GP |
Last Win | 2013 Spanish F1 GP |
First Win from Pole | 2003 Hungarian F1 GP |
Last Win from Pole | 2012 German F1 GP |
First Hat-trick | 2006 British F1 GP |
Last Hat-trick | 2010 Singapore F1 GP |
F1 Teams History | Minardi (2001) Renault (2003-2006, 2008-2009) McLaren (2007), (2015-2018) Ferrari (2010-2014) Alpine (2021-2022) Aston Martin (2023-2024) |
Fernando Alonso F1 Stats | |
Drivers' Titles | 2 |
Grand Prix Entries | 398 |
Grand Prix Starts | 395 |
Total Points | 2329.00 |
Avg. Points per GP | 5.85 |
Grand Prix Wins | 32 (8,0%) |
Wins from pole | 14 (3,5%) |
Pole Positions | 22 (5,5%) |
Front Row Starts | 42 (10,6%) |
Avg. GP Grid | 8.6 |
GP Podiums | 106 (26,6%) |
GP Fastest Laps | 26 (6,5%) |
GP Points Finish | 262 (65,8%) |
Avg. GP Position | 6.4 |
Hat-tricks | 5 (1,3%) |
GP Retirements | 79 (19,8%) |
GP DNF's | 66 (16,6%) |
Total GP Laps | 21.520 |
Fernando Alonso’s obsession with winning a deserved third world championship saw him return to McLaren-Honda to try and find success since 2015. However, after a switch to Renault engines, the pairing did not bond well and Alonso retired in 2018.
The Spaniard will go down as one of the sport’s all-time greats. But if he does not come back to the sport and retires without a third title, then there will be a strange sense that his career has been unfulfilled. Alonso needs, and deserves, that third world title to cement his legacy.
In a generation of some of the greatest drivers the sport has ever seen, such as Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen, Alonso stands above them all.
His tenacity, determination, race craft, will to win and, obviously, his speed combined to make him the fiercest driver on the grid, and the best in the world.
Alonso got his first taste of racing as a young child when his father built a go-kart for his sister. She didn't get the hang of it, but he certainly did.
Three consecutive karting championships in the mid-1990s led him to the Nissan Euro-Open series in 1999, where he became champion.
After a year in Formula 3000, Minardi called and a 19-year-old Alonso was racing in Formula 1 in 2001. It’s difficult to impress at the sport’s slowest team, but the then-teenager shone and he earned a move to Renault in 2002, as a test driver.
Alonso signed on the premise that he would be racing properly in 2003, and he duly partnered Jarno Trulli that year. Renault had a quick car, but it wouldn't have been able to have won a race, as it did in Hungary that season, if it wasn't driven by a genius.
Alonso lapped the then five-time champion Michael Schumacher on the way to his maiden win.
The Spaniard was clearly a world champion in the making, and after two strong seasons in 2003 and 2004, he realised his dream the following year.
Schumacher’s dominance at Ferrari was over, and Alonso was at the forefront of the sport’s new era. In his Renault, he won seven races over the course of the season, while his relentless consistency saw him pick up a further eight podiums. He piped Kimi Raikkonen by 21 points.
The following year, Schumacher returned to his best form. and he and Alonso fought over the 2006 championship. The Spaniard’s brilliant start to the season, which saw him win six times in the opening nine races, set him up perfectly and, although Schumacher came close to snatching glory, Alonso clinched his second straight world title.
Renault’s stranglehold over the sport’s bigger teams was unlikely to last, and so it proved Alonso when moved to McLaren in 2007.
He was partnered by rookie Lewis Hamilton, and the pair, famously, didn't get on. Alonso felt that the team had broken promises, which guaranteed he was the number one driver and should receive preferential treatment.
As the season continued, Alonso’s behaviour became petulant. In Hungary, he blocked Hamilton from setting a meaningful lap time in qualifying. As a result, he was handed a penalty himself.
In the background, McLaren were caught with secret Ferrari documents. It is said that Alonso testified against his own team in court, which resulted in a world record $100m fine. It was safe to say, he wasn’t going to last long with the team.
After both he and Hamilton narrowly lost out on the title to Raikkonen, Alonso moved back to Renault. However, the French outfit was a shadow of its former self.
In a car that was fighting for the lower end of the points, Alonso hit a purple patch of form. Luck appeared to help him win in Singapore, after his team-mate, Nelson Piquet. Jr, crashed into a wall.
It later came out that this was done on purpose and was organised by the team. He denied having any knowledge at all.
However, his win in Japan was genuine and brilliantly driven. To highlight his fine season, Piquet ended the year with 19 points while Alonso scored 61 points that 2008 F1 season.
It was obvious that he was waiting for the right move, but 2009 didn't present any exciting opportunities. A second year heralded with Renault brought just 26 points. It was obvious that the time had come to find a team that could give him a race-winning car.
Step in Ferrari. The Italian team had given up with Raikkonen and signed Alonso on a five-year deal. He won his first race in Bahrain and was at the forefront of one of the best title fights in years.
Further wins in Germany, Italy, Singapore and Korea put him on the brink of the world championship in Abu Dhabi. But a poor strategic call by the team lost him crucial ground that he couldn't make up. Sebastian Vettel snatched the title, but, in truth, it was gifted to him.
The young German then strolled to his second title in 2011, but Alonso and Ferrari put up a much better fight in 2012.
Wins in Malaysia, Valencia and Germany put him in a strong position at the half-way stage, but Ferrari couldn’t develop their car as well as Red Bull.
Vettel came back strongly and ate into Alonso’s lead by winning a string of races.
In the final race, Alonso finished second. Vettel, who crashed on the opening lap, recovered to finish sixth and won the title, just.
The staggering performance of Alonso over the course of that season won him many admirers, after his reputation took a serious hit in 2007.
But Ferrari failed to give their star driver a capable car in either 2013 or 2014. Frustration took hold of Alonso, and he decided he’d had enough.
McLaren, backed by new engine supplier Honda, made their move to bring him back and “finish what we started.”
Alonso and McLaren had their backs against the wall after horrible campaigns in 2015 and 2016. But that’s just how they like it as they were hoping to prove the doubters wrong and start winning together again. The adventure with the Honda power unit was a clear disaster.
Even Ron Dennis had to clear the scene and seasons 2015, 2016 and 2017 were a nightmare. In those seasons Alonso retired 21 times, had 10 power unit failures and didn't score a single podium. His best results were three 5th place finishes.
Alonso could not cope with his frustration and sometimes was screaming on the radio about the poor engine performance. To get his head in a better mood he even took part in the Indianapolis 500 and showed the American's a taste of his racing skill by taking the lead in the race. Ironically he had to retire with an engine failure. The engine they used was from Honda.
At the end of the 2017 season the news came out that Mclaren would switch their Honda power units with the Renault power unit of Toro Rosso for the 2018 season.
In the first race of 2018 in Melbourne, Alonso finished 5th and was able to keep Red Bull driver Max Verstappen behind him for 20 laps. After he crossed the finish he was very glad he could fight again with another driver on the track and shared his relief on the radio to his team.
During the summer break of 2018 Alonso announced that he would not be racing Formula 1 in 2019. He still likes F1 racing, but his ambition is to become the best driver on the world by winning all sorts of racing formulas.
In 2019, he participated in a post-race test for McLaren at Bahrain. However, the team stated that he was not going to take part in other sessions during 2019. Alonso is currently listed as a McLaren ambassador.
Alonso made his comeback in 2021 with the newly named Alpine F1 team. This team is basically the Renault team with a new name and management. The target is to be on the podium regularly in 2021.
Fernando Alonso returned to Formula 1 for the 2021 season, after 'retiring' at the end of the 2018 campaign, when he drove for McLaren. He returned with Alpine, which was the renamed Renault team, with which he won the 2005 and 2006 Formula 1 World Championships.
After performing some good, but not very consistent races in the early part of the year, Alonso got into a nice groove and produced good results from the mid-part of the year until the end.
He even achieved a podium at the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix, the first since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, when he drove for Ferrari.
He was 10th in the WDC with 81 points, ahead of his teammate Esteban Ocon. Both tied at 11 apiece in Qualifying, while Alonso finished ahead in 12 of the 22 races.
The 2022 campaign started roughly for Alonso, with the two-time champion scoring once in the first five races.
However, he scored points in four consecutive races and regained some of his form. In the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix, Alonso started an F1 race on the front row for the first time since the 2012 German GP, but he could only finish ninth.
At the end of the first half of the 2022 F1 season, there were rumors about Alonso signing a new contract with Alpine. However, the Spaniard was announced on 1 August 2022 as Sebastian Vettel's replacement at Aston Martin from 2023 on (on a multi-year deal).
In the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix, Alonso started the 350th Formula 1 race of his career, becoming the driver with the most starts ever. He also tied Kimi Raikkonen for most races entered in Formula 1 history, with 353.
Alonso finished the 2022 campaign, his final year with Alpine, in ninth place in the WDC with 81 points, 11 points behind the tally of his teammate Ocon.
The Spaniard finished three times in fifth place in 2022 (Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps and Interlagos).
Pre-Season testing data indicated that Aston Martin had taken a huge leap forward with their new AMR23 car.
Given Lance Stroll missed the test due to injuries suffered from a minor bicycle accident, Alonso was definitely the team's main card for the first race of the year and the Spaniard did not disappoint.
Alonso took the 99th podium of his F1 career and his first since 2021 in his debut for Aston Martin. He drove a stellar race to take third place in the event, after qualifying fifth.
At 41 years, seven months, and five days of age, the Spanish champion is now the 19th oldest driver to finish on the podium.
In terms of time between the first and last podium, Alonso is now second on the list with 19 years, 11 months, and 10 days between his first (at the 2003 Malaysian GP) and his most recent podium. Michael Schumacher holds that record (20 years and over three months between his first and last podiums).
Alonso now has 14 seasons with at least a podium, which ranks third in F1 history, behind Michael Schumacher and Sir Lewis Hamilton (16 each) and tied with Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.
Moreover, having taken podiums with five different constructors (Renault, McLaren, Ferrari, Alpine, and Aston Martin) Alonso is now second on that list, tied with Rubens Barrichello and Riccardo Patrese and one short of Sir Stirling Moss' and John Surtees' records.
In the second race of 2023, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Alonso started on the front row and finished third behind another 1-2 for Red Bull.
The podium was the 100th in the Spaniard's championship-winning career. Initially, Alonso had been demoted to fourth due to an alleged infraction while serving a five-time penalty in the pits. However, the penalty was eliminated after the GP.
With his 100th F1 podium in 357 starts, Alonso became the sixth driver in F1 history to reach 100 podiums in the series. He also recorded his second podium in his first two races for Aston Martin.
The 101st podium of Alonso's career came quickly, with his third straight Top-3 to start the 2023 campaign. Alonso was third in the 2023 Australian Grand Prix to keep his podium streak with Aston Martin.
It was the first time Alonso started an F1 season with three consecutive podiums since 2006 when he won his second WDC with Renault.
In the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, Alonso finished third for the fourth time in five races in the 2023 F1 season. The podium was the two-time champion's 102nd in his Formula 1 career.
Alonso finished second in the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix after missing out on Pole Position by a close margin. Second place was Alonso's best result in a Formula 1 race since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard missed out on a podium at his home race, having finished only seventh in Barcelona, but Aston Martin and the two-time champion bounced back to reach the podium in Canada, with another second-place finish.
After a four-race streak without podiums midway through the season, the Spaniard returned to the podium with second place in the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix. However, Aston Martin ran into a rough patch to close out the season, although the car came alive in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and Alonso managed to achieve a brilliant P3 finish after a big fight with Sergio Pérez's Red Bull.
Alonso finished the campaign in fourth place in the WDC after giving good use to Aston Martin's car throughout the season. Throughout the first half of the season, Aston Martin had the second-best car, before McLaren seemed to take that place for the second half of the campaign.
Still, it was a solid season for Alonso and a good display of his World-Championship ability.
Official Fernando Alonso website: https://www.fernandoalonso.com/
2001 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
21st | 6th | 4th | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 5th | 9th | 2nd | 4th |
2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
2nd | 2nd | 6th | 17th | 10th | 16th | 11th | 10th | 9th | 5th |
2024 | |||||||||
9th |
Year | Team | Engine | GP | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Pod | Pole | Laps | FL | Avg Pts | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | Aston Martin | Mercedes | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1075 | 2 | 3.44 | 62 |
2023 | Aston Martin | Mercedes | 22 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 1294 | 1 | 9.36 | 206 |
2022 | Alpine | Renault | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1119 | 0 | 3.68 | 81 |
2021 | Alpine | Renault | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1258 | 0 | 3.68 | 81 |
2018 | McLaren | Renault | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 978 | 0 | 2.38 | 50 |
2017 | McLaren | Honda | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 833 | 1 | 0.94 | 17 |
2016 | McLaren | Honda | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1125 | 1 | 2.70 | 54 |
2015 | McLaren | Honda | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 770 | 0 | 0.61 | 11 |
2014 | Ferrari | Ferrari | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1067 | 0 | 8.47 | 161 |
2013 | Ferrari | Ferrari | 19 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 1076 | 2 | 12.74 | 242 |
2012 | Ferrari | Ferrari | 20 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 1095 | 0 | 13.90 | 278 |
2011 | Ferrari | Ferrari | 19 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 1098 | 1 | 13.53 | 257 |
2010 | Ferrari | Ferrari | 19 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 1120 | 5 | 13.26 | 252 |
2009 | Renault | Renault | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 843 | 2 | 1.53 | 26 |
2008 | Renault | Renault | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1000 | 0 | 3.39 | 61 |
2007 | McLaren | Mercedes | 17 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 1039 | 3 | 6.41 | 109 |
2006 | Renault | Renault | 18 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 1108 | 5 | 7.44 | 134 |
2005 | Renault | Renault | 18 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 6 | 1074 | 2 | 7.39 | 133 |
2004 | Renault | Renault | 18 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 949 | 0 | 3.28 | 59 |
2003 | Renault | Renault | 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 892 | 1 | 3.44 | 55 |
2001 | Minardi | European | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 707 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
1st | 32 Times |
2nd | 40 Times |
3rd | 34 Times |
4th | 28 Times |
5th | 29 Times |
6th | 25 Times |
7th | 28 Times |
8th | 22 Times |
9th | 17 Times |
10th | 14 Times |
11th | 18 Times |
12th | 6 Times |
13th | 9 Times |
14th | 8 Times |
15th | 2 Times |
16th | 6 Times |
17th | 6 Times |
18th | 3 Times |
19th | 2 Times |
DNF | 66 Times |
DNS | 3 Times |
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