Fernando Alonso - F1 - sportstiger

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Skill, speed and supremacy! Three of the many words that perhaps describe Fernando Alonso of Oviedo. That very man who’s more than a double world champion and is, in fact, a titan of the grid.

Alonso, who turns 41 on July 29, has shaped the sport in his own unique way adding to its often volatile surface - a touch of class and invincibility.

As one of the greatest ever to grace F1 celebrates his special day, SportsTiger looks back at an astonishing career and picks 5 of the countlessly inspiring moments of Alonso’s journey.

1. 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix: Return to points 

After spending two years away from the Formula 1 heat, Alonso returned to the grid in 2021 with the Alpine team. In such time, he would reach heights at checkered endurance events such as Le Mans and even marked his debut at the Dakar Rally.

The hunger to race was still very much there as was the passion to collect points, an evidence of which he gave in just the second event upon his F1 comeback.

At the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, even before the start of the race, Fernando Alonso lost control of his car owing to heavy rains and hit the wall at Tosa; it wasn’t a great sight.

Yet, he somehow managed to drive to the grid giving the Alpine mechanics a chance to repair this damaged A521.

He’d eventually recovered to collect a tenth, ending just ahead of Sergio Perez to score his first points upon returning to Formula 1.

He had proven that he could still race and score points. That the Imola race was just the second of the year (Bahrain being the season opener), was further evidence of Alonso being back in business right from the word go.

2. 2017 Hungarian GP: panache and power 

Of the innumerable brilliant races he’s driven over the course of two decades in Formula 1, one that deserves more attention than it gets is the Hungarian GP of 2017, a contest where the Ferraris of Vettel and Raikkonen roared unabashedly.

For a guy who struggled endlessly in a McLaren that was barely drivable, Alonso managed to set the fastest lap at the Hungaroring and that too in the race’s penultimate lap.

Somehow finding that extra bit of pace that eluded even the Ferraris and Mercedes’, Alonso went blisteringly fast at 1:20:182 on lap 69 with only one more to go.

He claimed a P6 in the contest, finishing ahead of guys like Sainz and Perez in a McLaren, lest it is forgotten.

3. 2017 Azerbaijan GP: Skill at its best

Fernando Alonso found the McLaren years, 2015 onwards until 2018 very difficult to endure. He never really had a car that could do justice to his infinite potential. At worst, the McLaren Honda-powered machines were barely drivable.

Yet, the brave Spaniard wrestled his way through the field; sometimes scampering, on other occasions, huffing and puffing but never quitting the fight.

His frustration was evident in the results he bagged during his most frustrating F1 stint. He stood 17th in 2015, came tenth the following year in 2016, finished 15th in 2017 before ending up eleventh in 2018.

But a memorable drive came at the street course of Baku in 2017, where despite running on debris scattered everywhere at the back of a skirmish early on in the race, Alonso delivered something thrilling and unexpected.

Sustaining puncture in nearly three tyres of his 2017 McLaren, Alonso was able to dive into the pits, stop for fresher rubber and drive past the checkered flag to collect a P9.

To have scored points at a venue where it isn’t the easiest to collect many wasn’t the only special feat; his was the only McLaren that gathered points on an action-packed afternoon given Stoffel Vandoorne’s retirement.

Moreover, Alonso began that race from a lowly sixteenth on the grid and finished in points.

4. 2010 Bahrain GP: First win with Ferrari 

You don’t forget your maiden race win with Ferrari - do you?

Shortly after Kimi Raikkonen decided to leave the sport at the conclusion of the 2009 season, making way for Fernando Alonso’s Scuderia entry, talks had begun about the manner of Alonso’s arrival.

He wasn’t really welcomed by that legion of fans to whom he seemed perhaps larger than his boots and maybe, a somewhat temperamental figure that could start wars instead of spurring the team to great heights.

On the contrary, Alonso’s Ferrari years were emblematic to his becoming a great of the sport for he became the only driver who came close at challenging Sebastian Vettel’s authority.

And Alonso gave an early indication of his prowess by winning his maiden race for the Italian team in 2010. At Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit, Alonso raced past the checkered flag in slam bam fashion having defeated German Sebastian Vettel, the event’s pole sitter.

A compelling win from third on the grid and amid 100,000 stunned fans, Fernando Alonso had set the precedent to what was to follow; he’d gather fine wins at Italy, Singapore, Germany and Korea ahead.

5. Winning the 2005 and 2006 titles

There are many who arrived in the sport with one single ambition, which was to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix and yet failed to achieve even a solitary win.

One can’t help but think of a Nico Hulkenberg in that regard, the famous German who couldn’t pick even a podium in his career.

There are also the super talented drivers who never took a title. Think the greats like Didier Peroni, Gilles Villeneuve, Carlos Reutemann and the likes.

But there a few, who despite the massive challenges of F1, the sport’s unpredictable nature being just one of the many factors, succeeded in becoming multiple world champions.

Fernando Alonso, a double world champion, is one such fitting example.

In 2005 and 2006, a period of time in Formula 1, where the Schumacher supremacy was at its absolute, along came Alonso to neutralise the Ferrari driver’s threat.

By clinching the Driver’s championship in 2005 and 2006 with Renault, Fernando Alonso didn’t just reign supreme in an era punctuated by the likes of Schumacher, Barrichello and Heidfeld; he mastered the V10s.