Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso (July 29, 1981) is a Spanish Formula One racing driver.

A native of Oviedo, Alonso is a long time veteran of karting; he was a World Junior Karting champion in 1996 and made the jump to open-wheel cars in 1999, racing the Spanish Nissan Open series. Still only 18 years old, he was series champion that year and immediately earned a ticket to Formula 3000 in 2000. A win at Spa-Francorchamps highlighted a very solid 4th place finish in the drivers' championship and Alonso left for F1 after his only season at F3000.

Alonso 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, Alonso did an impressive job with the car he had, providing some great qualifying efforts for a team known for being perennially uncompetetive.

His driving in 2001 earned him a spot with the newly christened Renault team in 2002 as a test driver; the team groomed him to be a regular driver in 2003. With a much better car than he had in his first F1 stint, Alonso became the youngest driver ever to win a Formula One pole position (Malaysian Grand Prix) and the youngest driver ever to win a Formula One race (Hungarian Grand Prix). At season's end, he was a solid 6th in the championship.

Fernando's success has spawned "Alonsomania" in Spain, as he has become the country's first successful driver in F1.