Fernando Alonso

About

Fernando Alonso Díaz (Spanish pronunciation: [feɾˈnando aˈlonso ˈði.aθ] ; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers’ Championship titles, which he won in 2005 and 2006 with Renault, and has won 32 Grands Prix across 23 seasons. In endurance racing, Alonso won the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship and is a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Toyota as well as a winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2019 with WTR. He is the only driver to have won both the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship and the World Sportscar/World Endurance Drivers’ Championship.
Born and raised in Oviedo to a working-class family, Alonso began kart racing aged seven and won the CIK-FIA Five Continents Cup in 1996. He progressed to junior formulae aged 17, winning the Euro Open by Nissan in 1999 before finishing fourth in International Formula 3000. Alonso signed for Minardi in 2001, making his Formula One debut at the Australian Grand Prix. After a non-scoring rookie season, he joined Renault as a test driver before his promotion to a full-time seat in 2003; he became the then-youngest polesitter…