Fernando Alonso

The new world champion has revealed, Brazil 2005 (www.renaultf1.com)

In 2005, the world of car racing was shocked by a new F1 champion, Fernando Alonso. Why? Simply because he’s so phenomenal. First, he’s so young (24 years old when he became the world champion). Second, he beat 7-time F1 world champion, Michael Schumacher. Isn’t it great?

Don’t get fooled by his young age. Fernando has been racing for more than 20 years. Born on July 29, 1981 in Oviedo, Spain, Alonso's interest in racing began at the age of 3. At first, his father wanted to give a kart to Fernando’s big sister, but soon he realized his son’s big interest in karting.

Alonso began to race seriously at 8, winning many regional championships such as Asturias Championship and Galicia’s Championship. His big time finally came in 1994 and 1995, when he won the Spanish Championship.

One year later, in 1996, Fernando won the World Championship junior category. After years of karting, he decided to move to car racing. In 1999 he joined Adrian Campos’ team for the Nissan Open in Spain. He won the championship that year.

After the success, Fernando moved to F3000 series in 2000. He won one series in Spa, Belgium and finished 4th in the driver championships. In this year he also tested with a Formula 1 team, Minardi.

Flavio Briatore, a well-known F1 manager, saw the big talent behind this young Spanish man. Soon Fernando signed a management contract with Flavio, the man who would change his life. With Flavio as his manager, it was easier for Fernando to enter the world of Formula 1. His first move was to be a test driver in Minardi, a Formula 1 low-class team.

It didn’t take a long time for Fernando to be a real F1 driver. In 2001 he was the third-youngest driver in F1 history to start a race when he made his debut with Minardi in 2001. While the car was not highly competitive, he did an impressive job with the car he had, providing some great qualifying efforts for the team. Fernando didn’t score points in his first year, but his performance was not so bad for a rookie (debutant).

Fernando then joined Flavio’s team, Renault, as a test driver in 2002. A year later, 2003, he drove for the team. And then, the magic began.

Fernando took a pole position in Malaysia and won a race in Belgium that year, in the very same circuit when he also won the race in the F3000 series. He also beat the world champion in the race, Michael Schumacher. For many people, this is some kind of sign that this young man will dethrone Schumacher as world champion in the future. Fernando became the youngest man ever to take a pole and win a GP in F1. He scored 55 points and finished 6th in the drivers championship.

2004 season wasn’t so good for Fernando. He didn’t win any GP, although he scored 59 points and finished 4th.

2005 was Fernando’s golden year. He made a very strong start and battled hard with Kimi Raikkonen, another F1 young rising star. He did this with much maturity and as a result won the World Championship, becoming the youngest ever F1 title winner. He also lead Renault to become Constructor Champion. “Toma!” is his favorite word after winning a GP. It’s a Spanish word meaning “Come on!”

Within a couple of months, however, he shocked everyone by announcing that he would be moving to McLaren in 2007.

The first impression that anyone has when seeing him, is that he is a very shy person. But after getting to know him a little better, the self-confidence impresses. He’s also very mature in his age. The fact that he has been competing from the time he was very small, all the travel, relationships, and experiences have made him a responsible person who looks to the future with a cool head. Fernando knows what he wants very well (to be the number 1 of the competition, of course), and he directs all his efforts to it, without being distracted. He chooses to live peacefully in Oxford, rather than living high-class in Spain, where paparazzi follow him everywhere.

In this year, 2006, Fernando has made a strong start. He’s always in podium and leading the drivers championship over Michael Schumacher and his teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella. Many people think he can defend his title this year.

Well, let’s see what else this man can do. Toma!