Fernando Alonso

Interesting facts

Born into a working-class family in Oviedo, his father was a mechanic at an explosives factory for mining operations, and Fernando got his first go-kart at age three after his older sister Lorena turned it down. Because his family couldn't afford wet-weather tyres, he was forced to learn how to handle rain on slick tyres as a boy - a skill that became the foundation of his later reputation as a wet-weather master. In 2003, at 22, he became the youngest pole-sitter ever at the Malaysian Grand Prix and shortly after the youngest race winner at the Hungarian Grand Prix; by 2005, aged 24, he had become Spain's first ever Formula One world champion. His 2007 season at McLaren unfolded amid the espionage scandal and an escalating rivalry with teammate Lewis Hamilton, and the two parties mutually terminated his contract at year's end. Outside F1 he has chased motorsport's unofficial 'triple crown': he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both 2018 and 2019, the 2018-19 World Endurance Championship, and the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona, making him the only driver to hold both an F1 title and a WEC title. Fernando Alonso has been racing in Formula 1 since 2001 as a Spanish driver. He won the World Championship 2 times, in 2005, 2006. He scored a total of 2396 championship points over his career.