1986, Jerez, Spain. The April sun beats down mercilessly on the track. Not as merciless though, as the battle between positions one and two on the racetrack. Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell are involved in a closely fought battle for race lead and eventual victory. Mansell’s Williams-Honda is even match for Senna’s Lotus-Renault. It is a battle of man against man, machine against machine. At the end of 72 laps, it takes mind-boggling advancements in timing technology to put Senna on the top-step of the podium, with Mansell perched one step lower. The difference in height between the two drivers on the podium is a few feet – in no way representative of the margin by which Senna has beaten Mansell: fourteen thousandths of a second. The ‘0.014 sec’ figure will undoubtedly remain the magically hair-thinnest time interval separating two Formula 1 projectiles, for many, many years to come.
A Renault has crossed the finish line first at Jerez, but the name was as unfamiliar to young Fernando Alonso as ‘Williams’ or ‘McLaren’.

Or ‘bullock cart’, for that matter. Born on July 29, 1981, in Oviedo and all of five years old, Little Fernando didn’t have a clue as to what ‘R-E-N-A-U-L-T’ would have to do with his life. But then fate always has a trick or two up its sleeve; and that’s a long, long sleeve. Destiny, meanwhile, seemed to be the last thing on Little Fernando’s mind, as he went about thrashing his opposition in the junior kart leagues all around Spain. He travelled from circuit to circuit on weekends, racing in the kart that his father had built him two years before. Little Fernando’s merciless domination of every competition that he took part in, coupled with a fiery aggression and instincts and maturity far beyond his years led his family to believe that their kid was born to inherit bigger things. Another six years passed, during which Little Fernando decimated every championship that was thrown at him. His racing career started assuming serious proportions, and his family had to accept, with some amount of chagrin, that they could not longer afford to send him to races too far away from home; or even pay for his getting-faster-every-year karts. Calls for support were sent out. Little Fernando conjured up a breathtaking display of mercilessly fast racing as well as mature, intelligent driving, in the Catalan Championship, drawing the attention of IAME – a famous name in the world of karting.

‘Little Fernando’ had matured into ‘Young Fernando’, graduating to more serious racing as IAME took charge of his career. The Junior Spanish Championship was promptly captured in 1994, and the time was ripe to unleash Fernando on some of the most competitive European Karting Leagues. IAME was doing all in its might to help Young Fernando realise the true potential of his abundant talent, and yet it required that little bit extra from Fernando’s side. Ever the fighter, Young Fernando helped make ends meet by working for cash as a mechanic for kart drivers even younger than himself. 1996 saw Young Fernando being crowned World Junior Karting Champion, no doubt a momentous milestone in a nascent journey.

The ‘Fernando Fireworks’ in the junior series all across Europe made former F1 driver Adrian Campos sit up and take notice of the little champ who was setting racetracks on fire with his pace. In 1998, at the age of seventeen, while most mortals his age were still grappling with the nuances of a three-point parking manoeuvre, Fernando got busy learning the finer aspects of handling racing cars with gearshifts. Amazingly (not-so-amazingly for people who knew him well), he took to it like he’d learnt it when in his momma’s womb. A year later, he was crushing opponents in the Formula Nissan series. A debut season championship victory compelled his managers to instantly promote him to the next logical rung in the auto-racing sphere. At the turn of the millennium, Fernando was driving for the Astromega team in Formula 3000, considered by most to be the breeding ground for F1 talent.

Formula 1 talent Fernando sure was; and in no small measure. One test for F1 minnows, Minardi; and team principal, Paul Stoddart, a man reputed for being an exceptional talent-spotter, was convinced he had found his man for the 2001 season. Alonso made his F1 debut in 2001, at nineteen years of age, the third-youngest driver to start a Formula 1 race. Minardi were no Ferrari though, and in almost all races, tottered at the back of the grid. Frustrating? For a lesser man, perhaps. Alonso bid his time patiently, and did whatever he could with an inferior machine. By sheer dint of his talent, however, he impressed the powers that be, coming up with brilliant flashes of magical talent to outpace opponents in far superior cars.

Flavio Braitore, a man second to none in discerning ability to spot a diamond when he sees one, signed on Alonso as a test driver in 2002 for the Renault F1 team. Renault itself was going through an arduous team-building phase, and Alonso’s young talent seemed to fit right in with the team’s long-term goals. He was moulded and groomed to be Renault’s top driver for the following season. Statisticians and record-keepers were readying their erasers and sharpening their pencils. They had a feeling 2003 was going to be a busy year.

They could not possibly have faltered. Alonso rewarded them by becoming the youngest F1 driver on pole at Sepang, Malaysia that year. Surely, ‘Youngest Formula 1 GP Winner’ could not have been very far away. It was but a few months away, coming with much pomp and celebration at the Hungaroring. Alonso made the podium a total of four times through the 2003 season, finishing at an impressive sixth overall. 2004 saw the Ferraris dominate ruthlessly, keeping Alonso away from the podium top-step. However, Alonso stood a creditable fourth overall, pointing to Renault growing consistently stronger by the season.

In 2005, Renault were determined to reap the benefits of their consolidation and rebuilding efforts. Who better to lead them than the fiery Spaniard, who took to the challenge effortlessly! Three straight victories in the first four races, and Alonso had stamped his authority on the 2005 season. While closest rivals, McLaren, struggled to hit the sweet spot with their set up, Renault – driven by Alonso’s fiery show – galloped away with the championship. Three more victories followed before the Silver Arrows got their act together. Alonso was still a regular feature on the podium, his initial burst and consequent consistency rewarding him with the precious cushion to the Flying Finn at bay. Fernando’s crowning seemed inevitable, and yet Kimi kept the pressure gauges working overtime. As Kimi ensured that Alonso would have shorter fingernails than he would have preferred, the Formula 1 World Championship moved to Interlagos for the sixteenth round. Alonso needed six points to seal the championship; he had everything to win, Kimi had nothing to lose.

2005, Interlagos, Sau Paulo, Brazil. The rain beats down relentlessly on the track. But it has abated, just in time for Fernando Alonso to make one more attempt to snatch the 2005 Formula 1 World Champion’s crown from long-time incumbent – the formidable Michael Schumacher. Two rows and twenty-five points behind, in a McLaren, is another suitor to the crown. It has been an excruciatingly close battle through the season, and the Finn yet refuses to give up. Alonso needs six points to make the record-book keepers go back to their erasers and pencils. Close to half a decade after Ferrari’s ruthless domination, this is as close as it gets for most F1 fans. Kimi’s Silver Arrow zips past the finish line twenty-two seconds ahead of Alonso. But nothing matters more to Alonso than ‘6’. Alonso crosses in third, seven points and the World Championship in the bag. It’s all a haze of blue and yellow as, at twenty-four, the youngest ever Formula 1 champion returns to parc fermé. As he takes off his crash helmet, he looks poised and calm. It has not sunk in as yet. As the magnitude of his achievement hits him with a ferocious punch, Fernando Alonso announces his arrival to the world with a heartfelt scream of joy, of victory, of triumph.
A Renault has not crossed the finish line at Interlagos in first place. And yet, ‘Fernando Alonso’ is a name as familiar as ‘Ma’ or ‘Pa’ to every little kid around the world. The new king has been crowned. Bow to the new champion!