Fernando Alonso was born in Oviedo on 29 July 1981.

He went on to become a double worldchampion, with back-to-back Formula 1 titles in 2005 and 2006. The Spaniard joined the Scuderia Ferrari line-up in 2010.

Fernando got his first taste of an F1 car in December 1999 at Jerez, joining a test session for young hopefuls organized by theMinardi team. Alonso was comfortably the quickest and in 2000 he raced in Formula 3000 where a fourth-place finish in the championship table included a win at the challenging Spa circuit. That helped him win an F1 contract with Minardi for 2001. In 2002, his manager, FlavioBriatore, secured him the role of test driver for Renault. The experience led him to a racing role with the French team for the 2003 season, where he took pole position at Sepang, was runner-up in Barcelona and claimed his first win in Hungary. Overall he was sixth in the championship.

After consolidating his reputation in 2004, he took his first title in 2005 with one round remaining, after a duel with KimiRaikkonen's McLaren. He won seven races on the way. The following year he repeated his success, this time beating Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari to top spot. A single year at McLaren in 2007 saw Alsonso win four races in a three-way championship battle with team-mate Lewis Hamilton and eventual winner KimiRaikkonen in the Ferrari. Fernando's second stint at Renault was not so successful. After a difficult start, 2008 ended with two good wins in Singapore and Fuji, while 2009 was a barren year in which he finished ninth in the championship.

Struggles with Renault prompted a move to Ferrari for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons, and his debut in the famous red livery saw 10 podium finishes, including five wins. He missed out on a third drivers’ championship by the narrowest of margins in the final race in Abu Dhabi.

In 2011, the Spaniard drove his second season with Scuderia Ferrari, finishing fourth in the Drivers' Championship. He had ten podiums and one win in the British Grand Prix to his name, a win that came 60 years after Scuderia's maiden Formula 1 victory, earnedby Jose Froilan Gonzalez.

September 30 of that year was issued announcing his move to Ferrari until the end of 2012 season. In his debut season with Ferrari, Alonso finished ten times on the podium, including five wins. At the final round in Abu Dhabi he missed out on the Drivers’ title by a whisker.

In 2011, the Spaniard drove his second season with Scuderia Ferrari, finishing fourth in the Drivers' championship, with ten podiums and one win in the British Grand Prix to his name, a win that came 60 years after the Scuderia's maiden Formula 1 victory, taken by Jose Froilan Gonzalez.