Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso Díaz (; 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 and with Renault, and has won Grands Prix across 22 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, and remains the only driver to have won both the Formula One World Drivers' Championship and the World Sportscar/World Endurance Drivers' Championship; he also won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2019 with WTR.

Born and raised in Oviedo to a working class family, Alonso began kart racing aged three and won several regional, national and continental titles. 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 , making his Formula One debut at the . After a non-scoring rookie season, he joined Renault as a test driver before his promotion to a full-time seat in ; he became the then-youngest polesitter and race winner at the Malaysian and Hungarian Grands Prix, respectively, before achieving several podiums across his campaign. Alonso won his maiden title after winning seven Grands Prix in , becoming the first World Drivers' Champion from Spain and the then-youngest in Formula One history, aged 24. He successfully defended his title from Michael Schumacher in . Alonso moved to McLaren for , finishing one point behind champion Kimi Räikkönen and returning to Renault amidst inter-team tensions. He won multiple races in —including the controversial Singapore Grand Prix—before enduring a winless campaign.

Alonso signed for Ferrari in , finishing runner-up to Sebastian Vettel by four points in the third-placed F10. He took a single victory in as Red Bull consolidated their advantage, before finishing runner-up to Vettel again in and —the former by three points and the latter in the third-placed F138. After a winless season amidst new engine regulations, Alonso returned to McLaren under Honda power in . He remained with the team until the end of , resulting in limited success, before his first retirement. Alonso then moved into sportscar racing with Toyota, winning the FIA World Endurance Championship, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice. He returned to Formula One in with Alpine, recording his first podium in seven years at the , and breaking the record for most career starts in . Alonso moved to Aston Martin for his campaign, achieving several podiums as he finished fourth in the World Drivers' Championship; he scored his 100th career podium at the . In , he became the first driver to contest 400 Grands Prix.

As of the , Alonso has achieved race wins, pole positions, fastest laps and podiums in Formula One. Alonso is contracted to remain at Aston Martin until at least the end of the 2026 season. In addition to holding the most race starts (), his longevity has broken several Formula One records.).}} Alonso won the 2001 Race of Champions Nations' Cup, and thrice entered the Indianapolis 500 in 2017, 2019 and 2020. He runs a driver management firm and has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2005. Alonso has been awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit and twice been inducted into the FIA Hall of Fame. Provided by Wikipedia