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- Fernando Alonso is a Spanish racing driver who has won two Formula One World Championships, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, the 24 Hours of Daytona once and the Euro Open by Nissan. He progressed from kart racing to car racing with the Euro Open by Nissan with the Campos Motorsport team in 1999, winning the series from Manuel Gião at his first attempt with six race victories and nine pole positions. Alonso progressed to the higher tier International Formula 3000 Championship in 2000 with Team Astromega. He finished fourth in the point standings with a second-place finish at the Hungaroring and a race victory at the season-ending race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. He moved to Formula One in 2001 with the Minardi team on a loan agreement with Benetton. Alonso was moved to the Renault test team by his manager Flavio Briatore in 2002 and worked alongside the engineering department to help improve the form of race drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Jenson Button. He was promoted to a race seat at Renault for 2003, becoming the youngest driver to win a pole position and a Grand Prix that year. After failing to achieve a Grand Prix victory in 2004, he duelled McLaren driver Kimi Räikkönen and broke Emerson Fittipaldi's 33-year record of youngest Formula One World Drivers' Champion with seven Grand Prix wins and 133 points in 2005. In 2006, Alonso's main competitor was Michael Schumacher of Ferrari and won his second World Title to become the youngest two-time Formula One champion. For 2007, he agreed a move to McLaren and partnered rookie Lewis Hamilton. Alonso's main rivals that year were Hamilton and Räikkönen, and he achieved four Grand Prix victories for third place in the championship. He left the team due to a falling out with the management at McLaren, and returned to Renault for 2008 and 2009, taking two race victories in the former season. Alonso joined Ferrari in 2010 and finished second to Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel with five race wins. In 2011, he won a solitary Grand Prix for fourth overall and improved to second in 2012 with three race victories and coming second after a championship challenge to Vettel. Alonso again finished runner-up to Vettel in 2013 and left Ferrari after a 2014 season in which he achieved no race victories and fell to sixth overall. A return to McLaren from 2015 to 2018 did not result in any further success due to an unreliable and underpowered car. (en)
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