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 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 , 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 2027 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 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.
Early life and karting career Alonso was born on 29 July 1981 to a working-class family in Oviedo, Asturias, Northern Spain. He is the son of the mine shaft explosives factory mechanic and amateur kart driver José Luis Alonso, and his wife, the department store employee Ana Díaz. Alonso has an elder sister, Lorena, who is a doctor.
Alonso was educated at the Holy Guardian Angel Primary School (Spanish: Santo Ángel de la Guarda) in Oviedo from 1985 to 1995 under the Basic Education System (Spanish: Educación General Básica). Alonso attended the Institute Leopoldo Alas Clarín of San Lazaro (Spanish: Instituto Leopoldo Alas Clarín de San Lázaro) until his career in motor racing caused him to leave during his Curso de Orientación Universitaria (English: University Orientation Course) in 2000. He was granted a permit to study away from school, after he disobeyed his mother's orders and seldom attended classes. He achieved a good academic performance by asking his classmates for notes and was unproblematic.
Alonso's father wanted a hobby to share with his children and built a go-kart for Lorena. She was uninterested in karting and a three-year-old Alonso received the kart. The kart's pedals were modified for drive-ability, and the local racing federation granted him a mandatory kart racing license aged five; his father rejected an offer for his son to be a goalkeeper for the RC Celta de Vigo football club. The family lacked the finances required to develop him in karts; they could not purchase rain tyres and forced Alonso to adapt to a wet track on slick tyres. Alonso devised three timing sectors going to school to improve himself daily. His mother sewed his racing overalls and adjusted them as he grew; she also ensured Alonso was academically well off. His father steered the kart early on and was his accountant, counsellor, manager and mechanic.
Aged seven, Alonso won his first kart race in Pola de Laviana. He won the 1988 and 1989 children's junior Championship of the Asturias and Galicia, and progressed to the Cadet class in 1990. Go-kart importer Genís Marcó was impressed by Alonso and mentored him; kart track owner José Luis Echevarria told him about Alonso. Marcó found personal and sponsorship money for Alonso's family to defray financial concerns and allow him to enter European series. He spoke to the six-time Karting World Champion Mike Wilson, who gave Alonso a test session at a track in Parma. Marcó taught Alonso to be conservative and maintain the condition of a kart.
Alonso won the 1990 Asturias and the Basque Country Cadet Championship and finished second in the 1991 Spanish Cadet National Championship. The local karting federation allowed him to enter the 100cc class because he was deemed underage to drive more powerful machinery. At a Catalan Karting Championship meet in Móra d'Ebre, Marcó asked Alonso if he wanted to enter the Spanish Karting Championship. Wilson mentored Alonso; he joined the IAME works team in 1993. Alonso won three successive Spanish Junior Championships from 1993 to 1995.
The results allowed him to progress to the world championships. Alonso was third at the 1995 CIK-FIA Rainbow Trophy. Alonso was a mechanic to younger kart drivers to earn money. He won his fourth Spanish Junior Championship, the Trofeo Estival, the Marlboro Masters, and the CIK-FIA Five Continents Cup at Genk in 1996. In 1997, he took the Italian and Spanish Intercontinental A championships and was second in the European Championship with nine wins, the Masters of Paris-Bercy and the Spanish Championship.
Motor racing career Junior racing career
Aged seventeen, Alonso made his car racing debut in the 1999 Euro Open by Nissan with Campos Motorsport, winning the title from Manuel Gião at the final race of the season with six wins and nine pole positions. For 2000, he progressed to the higher-tier International Formula 3000 Championship with the Minardi-backed Team Astromega, after a sponsorship agreement with driver Robert Lechner fell through. Alonso finished second at the Hungaroring and won the season-ending round at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for fourth overall with seventeen points.
Formula One Minardi and Renault (2001–2006) Cesare Fiorio, the sports director, gave Alonso a test in a Formula One (F1) car at the Circuito de Jerez in December 1999, as part of the Euro Open by Nissan's organising company RPM's agreement to give its series champion an opportunity to test at a higher level. He was Minardi's test and reserve driver in before joining its race team in . In a non-competitive car, Alonso's best result of the season was a tenth-place finish in the and scored no points for 23rd overall.
Alonso signed as Renault's test driver for per the orders of manager Flavio Briatore to familiarise himself with the team and improve himself for the future. Alonso worked with the engineering department to improve Giancarlo Fisichella's and Jenson Button's performance, and tested in Spain and the United Kingdom. He drove a Jaguar in an evaluation session against test drivers André Lotterer and James Courtney at the Silverstone Circuit in May 2002. Alonso was promoted to the Renault race team for . He went on to break the records of youngest driver to win a pole position at the season's second race, the , and broke Bruce McLaren's record as the youngest F1 race winner at the later in the year. He achieved four podium finishes in 2003 and was sixth in the World Drivers' Championship with 55 points.
Alonso remained with Renault for . Alonso had an improved season: he finished the season-opening in third position and took three more podium finishes that year. He took pole position for the but achieved no race victories en route to fourth in the World Drivers' Championship with 59 points. Alonso stayed at Renault for . He duelled with McLaren driver Kimi Räikkönen for the World Championship in 2005 due to regulation changes prohibiting teams from changing tyres during a race and requiring engines to last for two races before they could be changed. Alonso's car was more reliable than Räikkönen's albeit lacking in speed. Alonso eclipsed Emerson Fittipaldi as the youngest World Drivers' Champion, having won seven victories, six pole positions and fourteen podium finishes for 133 points altogether.
Alonso signed a contract extension with Renault for in April 2005. Bookmakers installed Alonso as the favourite to retain the Drivers' Championship. His primary competition was Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher. Alonso won six of the first nine races and finished no lower than second to lead the championship with 84 out of a possible 90 points. An Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; F1's governing body)-imposed ban on Renault's tuned mass damper device to slow Alonso and an increase of development into Schumacher's Ferrari for competitiveness saw the two tied on points entering the season's penultimate round, the . Alonso won the race as Schumacher retired due to an engine failure whilst leading. He needed to score one point at the season-ending for a second title. Alonso won the championship by finishing second and was Formula 1's youngest double World Champion.
McLaren and second stint with Renault (2007–2009)
Alonso and McLaren team owner Ron Dennis met secretly in Japan after Dennis talked to Alonso about driving for the team in the future and Alonso expressed interest in the idea. Both men agreed to a three-year contract for Alonso to drive for McLaren starting from . Alonso's contract with Renault expired on 31 December 2006, and he was not granted an early release for sponsorship reasons. Renault allowed Alonso to make his first appearance for McLaren in a test session at the Circuito de Jerez in November 2006. His main competitors in 2007 were his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Räikkönen at Ferrari. Alonso achieved four Grand Prix victories in Malaysia, Monaco, Europe and Italy and led the championship until Hamilton overtook him. Prior to the season's final round, the , he had 103 championship points to Räikkönen's 100 and Hamilton's 107, and needed to win the race and for his teammate to finish third or lower for his third title. Alonso finished the event third for third overall with 109 points. He had the same number of points as Hamilton; the tie was broken on count-back as Hamilton finished second more often than Alonso.