Fernando Alonso is a Spanish racing driver and two-time Formula 1 World Champion, currently driving for the Aston Martin Aramco team. Born 29 July 1981 in Oviedo, Asturias, he is the most experienced driver in the sport's history and, into his forties, remains one of its fiercest and most respected competitors after more than two decades on the grid. ¹

Now in his 23rd F1 season, Alonso has spoken openly about his future, suggesting 2026 will probably be his last year if the car performs, while stressing that his commitment to the Aston Martin project — and to delivering Adrian Newey's first competitive car — goes well beyond his own driving. ²

“Through the end of 2025 his career tally stood at 32 wins, 106 podiums and 22 pole positions across more than 430 starts.”

Early life & karting

Alonso was born into a working-class family in Oviedo; his father José Luis was a mine mechanic and amateur kart racer, and Fernando began karting aged three on a kart his father had built for his sister. He won three consecutive Spanish junior karting championships from 1993 to 1995 and the CIK-FIA Five Continents Cup in 1996 before moving into cars. In 1999 he dominated the Euro Open by Nissan championship with six wins, and in 2000 he finished fourth in the International Formula 3000 series, the feeder category that then sat directly below Formula 1. ¹

Formula 1 breakthrough

He made his F1 debut with Minardi at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix, spent 2002 as Renault's test driver, then took a full race seat in 2003. That year he became, in turn, the then-youngest polesitter (Malaysia, at his second race for Renault) and the youngest race winner in history (Hungary, less than a month after his 22nd birthday). In 2005 he won his maiden title with Renault after seven Grand Prix victories, becoming Formula 1's first Spanish World Champion and its youngest at the time, aged 24. He then successfully defended the championship in 2006 against Michael Schumacher in a fight that went to the final round. ¹

McLaren, Ferrari and the lean years

After a famously tense single season at McLaren in 2007 — four wins, but third in the standings just one point behind champion Kimi Räikkönen amid an explosive feud with rookie teammate Lewis Hamilton — Alonso returned to Renault for 2008 and 2009. He then joined Ferrari from 2010 to 2014, finishing championship runner-up three times: in 2010 (four points behind Sebastian Vettel after a strategic blunder in Abu Dhabi), in 2012 (three points behind Vettel) and in 2013. A title eluded him there, and a difficult McLaren-Honda spell from 2015 to 2018 followed, during which he stepped away from F1 to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2018 and 2019 and the 2018–19 World Endurance Championship with Toyota — making him the only driver to win both an F1 title and the WEC. He also attempted the Indianapolis 500 three times in pursuit of motorsport's Triple Crown. ¹

Aston Martin and the records

Alonso returned to F1 with Alpine in 2021, taking a first podium in seven years at the Qatar Grand Prix, before joining Aston Martin for 2023, where he enjoyed a resurgent campaign with eight podiums and fourth in the standings, scoring his 100th career podium in Saudi Arabia. At the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix he became the first driver to contest 400 Grand Prix weekends, an unmatched milestone of longevity. Through the end of 2025 his career tally stood at 32 wins, 106 podiums and 22 pole positions across more than 430 starts. ¹

2025 and 2026 seasons

2025 was a lean year: Alonso finished 10th in the championship as Aston Martin slid to seventh in the Constructors', and it took until the 18th round for him to overhaul teammate Lance Stroll in the standings — though he comprehensively out-qualified Stroll across the year. ^{1 3}

The 2026 season, built around Aston Martin's new Honda power unit and Adrian Newey's first car for the team, the AMR26, began badly. Newey revealed the car's wind-tunnel programme had started months behind rivals, and Aston Martin completed only 334 laps in pre-season testing against McLaren's 821, running several seconds off the pace. ⁴ Honda power-unit vibrations badly limited running: Newey said that in Australia Alonso felt he could safely manage only around 25 laps before the vibrations became too severe, while Stroll was limited to roughly 15. Neither car finished the opening rounds in Australia or China, but Alonso brought the team its first race completion in Japan, where reliability had improved enough for him to run 52 laps and finish 18th. ³ He has publicly backed the rebuild, arguing that with Newey "eventually we will have the best car — it's a matter of time," while privately conceding the package is "far from where it needs to be." ⁴

Driving style & character

Alonso is renowned for his racecraft, adaptability and relentless competitiveness — qualities that have kept him at the front into his forties and made him a benchmark for teammate comparisons across his career. He is also one of the grid's most valued development drivers and team leaders, contributing detailed technical feedback well beyond the cockpit, which is precisely why Aston Martin is leaning on him to steer a long rebuild under the new rules. ²

Bottom line

Few drivers in history match Alonso's blend of raw speed, racecraft and longevity. As Aston Martin's lead driver through the 2026 reset, he remains the yardstick against which the team measures its progress — even as he weighs whether this will finally be his last season chasing an elusive third title. ²