Fernando Alonso - Biography

Fernando Alonso was born on 29 July 1981 in Oviedo, northern Spain. He won four back-to-back Spanish karting championships in the junior category between 1993 and 1996 and the Junior World Cup in 1996. He continued to impress and won the Inter-A Class Karting Championships in Spain and Italy.

His exceptional talent was recognised in 1998 when he was given a test in a World Series by Nissan, lapping the Albacete circuit as quickly as Formula One™ drivers of the day.

He subsequently drove in the Euro Open MoviStar by Nissan series in 1999, and won the championship. In 2000 Alonso’s career grew closer to Formula One™ with a seat in a Formula 3000 car, where he won the Belgian Grand Prix.

Alonso started his Formula One career with Minardi in 2001 before moving to Renault in 2002. His first competitive start for the French outfit was in 2003 and his first win came only 13 races later, setting the record, at the time, for the youngest driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix™.

2005 was the turning point for Alonso, as he took the Championship by 21 points and was crowned the FIA World Formula One Drivers’ Champion™.

Alonso retained his title in 2006 by 13 points and became the youngest double World Champion in Formula One™ history. After one year at McLaren, Alonso returned to Renault F1 Team and excelled in a car which tested his best abilities.

The Spaniard joined Scuderia Ferrari in 2010 and won five races but narrowly missed out on a third Drivers’ Title at the final race. In 2011 Alonso drove hard, securing one win for the team at Silverstone in July.

His extensive knowledge and skill will continue to be an asset to Shell’s technical partnership with Ferrari as development of fuels and lubricants helps improve race engine performance on Formula One™ circuits around the world.