![]() Podiums - 1 2023: Aston Martin - A place to relish being the underdog It was clear the spirit of the young Spaniard trying to prove his worth at Minardi 19 years earlier was still very much present. "It was a bit strange to me and other teams think differently and they trust in my abilities." "It seems that I have to be evaluated every year because of my date of birth," Alonso said, having just turned 41. ![]() Alonso left describing Alpine "like family" but admitted that the lack of faith from the team was a reason he left. The decision did turn out to be a mistake, but not in the way that anyone expected.Įsteban Ocon says it's unfortunate for the team that there was a clash between the Alpine drivers, while Fernando Alonso says 'it's one more race' as teammates.Īlpine weren't willing to give Alonso a two-year contract, so he went to a team that would. On paper, it wouldn't seem the most logical decision to leave a team with which you'd just won two successive titles, but that's exactly what Alonso did as he moved to McLaren to drive alongside a rookie named Lewis Hamilton. Podiums - 37 2007: McLaren - 'Would've, could've, should've' However, Alonso would keep his cool under huge pressure once more, winning the penultimate race of the season in Japan before finishing second in Brazil to seal the title. ![]() Schumacher had announced that he would retire at the end of the season, and came into the campaign with huge motivation to end his career in fairy-tale fashion.Īlonso looked to have put that dream to bed as he won six of the first nine races - and finished second in the other three - to establish a huge advantage in the standings, but Schumacher would fight back with five wins in the next seven races to set up a tense finale. It's fair to say that 2006 was the more impressive of Alonso's back-to-back title-winning campaigns, as this time he went toe-to-toe with Schumacher, who had won five successive titles going into the 2005 season. Under pressure from the seven-time world champion and driver widely considered to be the sport's greatest of all time, Alonso held strong, setting down a marker for the remainder of the season. It was only a one-season stay - not for the last time in his career - for Alonso, as he departed Minardi to become test driver at Renault, whose team boss Flavio Briatore was also Alonso's manager, and had been the one to spot his talent as a go-karter.Īt a time when drivers were generally not given their breakthroughs into F1 at the young ages we see today, the 22-year-old Alonso was generating plenty of attention for both his youth and the fact he was Spain's first driver in the sport.Īlonso went to toe-to-toe with seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher Podiums - 0 2002-2006: Renault - Stopping the establishment There were also eight retirements for the Spaniard, highlighting the deficiencies of the model he was attempting to compete with.Īlonso's first taste of Formula 1 was undoubtedly with a genuine backmarker, and came at a time when the lack of a budget cap meant little teams had next to no chance of competing with the big players. Minardi were a genuine backmarker when Alonso was with the teamĪt a time when points were only available to the top six finishers, Minardi and Alonso went the entire season without scoring, with a 10th place finish at Hockenheim his best effort.
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