Sometimes it’s hard to remember that 2005 was only ten years ago now, in Formula One terms we’ve only seen five different World Champions since then. 2005 was the year. Just to put 2005 into scope for some of you, this was the year Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans – it was also the year the Xbox 360 console was released.
As I previously mentioned, since 2005 we have witnessed five legends write their name into Formula one history. These drivers were Kimi Raikkonen (2007), Lewis Hamilton (2008,2014), Jenson Button (2009), Sebastian Vettel (2010,2011,2012,2013) and Fernando Alonso.
Fernando Alonso grew up in the Spanish sunshine of Oviedo in the north of the country. Spain has never seen a member of its country lift a Formula One World Championship, they were eager to change that negative statistic.
In 2001 back-marker team Minardi, soon to be bought and turned into Toro Rosso, signed the Spanish youngster from the Asturias region. After winning the Karting World Championship in 1996 and finishing fourth in the 2000 Formula 3000 series, he probably thought he could’ve grabbed a few points for Minardi.
Alonso made his Formula One début at Albert Park in Australia, he out-qualified team-mate Tarso Marques by 2.6 seconds but failed to impress in the race. During the rest of the season, Alonso failed to score any points, notably finishing eleventh in Suzuka and tenth in Germany.
In 2002, Alonso moved to Renault, who had taken over Benetton, the French team offered Alonso a test driver position to which the Spaniard accepted. The man from Oviedo didn’t make any race appearances that season, but it was enough for him to get a drive for the following campaign.
In 2003, Alonso made his first appearance for Renault in a race. At the Malaysian Grand Prix Alonso became the youngest ever driver in Formula One to get a pole position after securing pole at the Malaysian Grand Prix. He also finished second at his home Grand Prix at Catalunya and then became the youngest ever Grand Prix winner when he won at the Hungaroring in Hungary. He finished the season sixth in the World Championship with 55 points and four podiums.
When 2004 dawned upon us, Alonso thought he might go that extra mile. He scored podiums in Germany, France and Hungary, allowing him to finish fourth in the championship.
2005 was the start of a new phase for Alonso, despite his team-mate – Italian Giancarlo Fisichella – winning the first race of the season at Albert Park, Alonso got off to a great start. He would go on to win the next three races at Malaysia, Bahrain and San Marino. Mid-season popped up and McLaren started to pressure Renault. McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen went on to win at Spain and Monaco before crashing from the lead of the European Grand Prix on the final lap – handing the win to rival Alonso.
Part Two Of Three will be posted tomorrow.
