Fernando Alonso: Two Titles, 400 Grands Prix, and the Most Relentless Driver in Formula 1

Welcome to the Happy Hour Racing Formula 1 Driver Spotlight - where we pull one driver into the garage, look under the hood at their career, and tell you what makes them tick. This week: the two-time world champion who refuses to slow down.

The Short Version

Fernando Alonso is a two-time Formula 1 World Champion, the most experienced driver in the history of the sport, and one of the fiercest competitors the paddock has ever seen. He has 32 wins, 106 podiums, and back-to-back titles from 2005 and 2006. He was the youngest champion in the world at the time he won his first crown, and more than two decades later he is still on the grid. If you only know one thing about Alonso, know this: nobody wrings more out of a race car when it has no business being near the front.

From Oviedo to Formula 1

Fernando Alonso Diaz was born on July 29, 1981, in Oviedo, a working-class city in the Asturias region of northern Spain. His father built a go-kart meant for Fernando's older sister, but it was three-year-old Fernando who took to it. By seven he was racing karts for real, and by his teens he was one of the most promising drivers in Europe. In Asturias they call him "El Nano," an old local nickname, and Spain has treated him as a national hero ever since.

He reached Formula 1 in 2001 with the small Minardi team, spent a year on the sidelines as a Renault test driver, then returned to the Renault race seat in 2003. That season he became the youngest driver ever to win a Grand Prix at the time, taking victory in Hungary. The kid from Oviedo had arrived, and the sport was about to feel it.

Two Titles and the Years of Near-Misses

In 2005, Alonso ended Ferrari and Michael Schumacher's long grip on the championship, winning the title at 24 and becoming the youngest world champion the sport had seen to that point. He backed it up in 2006 with a second straight crown. Those two Renault titles made him the first Spanish driver to win a Formula 1 championship and turned him into a global star.

What followed was a career full of brilliance in cars that often could not match it. He pushed a Ferrari to the very edge of the 2010 and 2012 titles, losing the 2012 fight by three points in a car that was rarely the fastest on the grid. Many in the paddock still call that season one of the greatest driving performances they have ever watched. He raced for McLaren twice, Renault twice, Ferrari, Alpine, and now Aston Martin, chasing the third title that has stayed just out of reach.

Signature Moments

Alonso's 2005 duel with Schumacher at Imola, where he held off the seven-time champion lap after lap to take the win, is still shown as a masterclass in defensive driving. His late-career resurgence with Aston Martin in 2023 brought eight podiums and reminded everyone he had lost none of his speed. And in October 2024 at the Mexican Grand Prix, he did something no driver had ever done before: he started his 400th Formula 1 Grand Prix, a record that may stand for a very long time. His team marked the milestone with a special helmet.

A special lid for a special milestone. @alo_oficial's #MexicoGP helmet, celebrating 400 Grands Prix. October 20, 2024

By the Numbers

Here is the career so far, laid out in the parts that matter. Every number below is a Formula 1 career figure.

Off the Track

Away from Formula 1, Alonso has built one of the most complete racing resumes in the world. He is a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Toyota, a two-time World Endurance champion, and a winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. He has also chased the Triple Crown of motorsport, winning the Monaco Grand Prix and Le Mans and taking on the Indianapolis 500 more than once in pursuit of the last leg. He is a keen cyclist, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and he runs a karting academy back home in Asturias to help young Spanish drivers come up the way he did.

The Bottom Line

Fernando Alonso is proof that raw talent and pure will do not fade. He has two titles, a record for the most Grand Prix starts in history, and a reputation as the driver rivals least want to see in their mirrors. He is 44 and still going, still hunting a third crown that would put a perfect cap on one of the greatest careers the sport has ever produced. Whether he gets it or not, there has never been anyone quite like El Nano.

Fly the flag for Formula 1. Here is some in-stock team gear tied to Alonso's ride:

• Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Ogio Fuse 50L Duffel Bag
• Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team Hat Carrier
• New Era Renault F1 Alpine Adjustable Cap

Browse the full lineup in the Formula 1 hats collection. New driver spotlights drop every week.