Champion Alonso proves Schu's heir

[Plex]

The first Spaniard to win the Formula One drivers' world championship, Fernando Alonso, established himself as one of the greats on Sunday when he retained his title by finishing second in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Alonso, 25, has succeeded due to a combination of his natural speed and competitive instincts allied with supreme race-craft and an iron will to win.

His success ensured there was symmetry to the passage of glory and success at the highest levels of Formula One.

As the great Michael Schumacher, a seven-times champion, retired after racing for the last time in Brazil, within a short taxi-ride of Ayrton Senna's grave at Morumbi, so Alonso claimed his succession as a multiple champion on the Interlagos track.

Like Senna and Schumacher before him, Alonso's career began in karting when he was a child, developed as a teenager and peaked when he entered Formula One.

Indeed, there are many similarities in the careers of Schumacher and Alonso � both went through karting to single-seater racing, both love football, both won their first two successive Formula One drivers' titles under the guidance of Italian team chief Flavio Briatore and both then departed for 'bigger' teams.

While Schumacher left for Ferrari, after winning the 1994 and 1995 titles, Alonso will leave for McLaren, after winning the 2005 and 2006 titles, taking with him the coveted number one.

Similarly, just as Schumacher became the first German to win a Formula One race and then to win the drivers' title, so too did Alonso, whose modern, slightly understated image has made him a pin-up in his native Spain.

He is engaged to Raquel del Rosario, the lead singer of the Spanish pop group El Sueno de Morfeo.

And just like Schumacher, Alonso has quickly earned plaudits from seasoned observers.

"It's too early to call him legendary, but he has that shine to him," said the 1996 world champion Briton Damon Hill. "He certainly has the ability."

Another multiple champion, Briton Jackie Stewart, said Alonso was not only an "exceptional talent", but also Formula One's latest "genius" because of his combination of talent and mind-management.

Alonso was born Fernando Alonso Diaz � Alonso is his father's first surname and Diaz is his mother's � on July 29, 1981, in Oviedo, in the Asturias province of northern Spain.

His mother worked in a department store and his father was employed as an explosives expert in the mining industry.

The Alonsos and their two children, older sister Lorena and Fernando, lived comfortably, but were by no means a wealthy family.

His father Jose Luis, an amateur kart racer, passed on his passion to his children and built a pedal kart mimicking an F1 car.

He intended to give it to Lorena, then eight, but she showed insufficient interest and it was Fernando, then three, who was given his chance first, immediately showing his parents his competitive instincts.

His parents said he showed a competitive spirit at that young age and, like Michael Schumacher before him, Alonso embarked on a karting career backed by his family.

His father doubled as his mechanic and they travelled to karting events all over Spain. His victories guaranteed sponsorships and the required funds.

He won three Spanish karting titles before taking part in the European karting championship � finishing second � and then the world juniors, in which he was champion in 1996.

Alonso moved to more serious racing in open-wheel cars in 1999, taking part in a Spanish series using Nissan cars, with support from former Minardi driver Spaniard Adrian Campos.

He won the series at 18 and this gave him an opportunity to climb to Formula 3000 and attract the attention of the Formula One talent-spotters.

Flavio Briatore, the flamboyant Italian playboy who is Renault team chief, became Alonso's personal manager at this time and guided his career.

Alonso became the third youngest driver of all time to start a Formula One race when, after joining Minardi, he began the 2001 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

In 2002, he joined Renault as the team's test driver and in 2003 began his serious racing career in a competitive car.

In his second outing for Renault he became the youngest driver ever to claim pole position when he achieved that feat in the Malaysian Grand Prix.

It was a signal that he was to become a serious challenger and as Renault developed and improved so too did the talented Spaniard who, with a fine season in 2005, claimed his first title and became the youngest champion.

Next season, Alonso will face his first serious test as a champion when he leaves Renault for McLaren, a team that has struggled for consistency and reliability in recent years.

A private and self-contained man with a rich sense of humour, he loves playing football, is a keen fan of Real Madrid and enjoys learning magic tricks to play on his friends.

He may need all of those attributes if he is to follow the Schumacher example again and revive a team that is in the doldrums and turn them into a dominant force.

Source: http://motoring.iafrica.com/formulaone/313297.htm