5 posts tagged “fernando alonso”

If there’s a worry in the head of the Williams’ team’s Nico Rosberg, there’s definitely confusion inside Renault’s Fernando Alonso. The two-time world champion is still undecided with regards to staying with his current team. The Spaniard is obviously unhappy about his team this season. It’s definitely not a good year for the Renault team and the notion that his team hasn’t been on the podium has made things worse.

Well, let’s just wait and see what happens in Magny-Cours because Alonso has said that racing in France is like racing in Barcelona. I think that’s good news for the Renault team, who’s had found a lot of support in France. The French GP is this week and teams are probably going on their way to Magny-Cours for the preparations on Sunday’s race. Hmmm. You know what I think? I think Grand Prix de France is going to very exciting. Lewis Hamilton is starting in the eleventh position and gives a lot of chances to other drivers for the pole position. Kimi Raikkonen is definitely not giving up as well as his teammate Felipe Massa. And as far as I can see, Robert Kubica isn’t prepared to give up his spot yet and is very determined to get his team the first spot. It’s definitely going to be an exciting Sunday race.

We all get stressed out, whether we’re at home or at work. Sometimes you just feel the need to get out of the usual routine you have and just be careless and free. But that will be impossible especially if you are constantly traveling just like a Formula 1 driver. A F1 driver doesn’t actually have enough time to enjoy life. Well, maybe after the race but if the race is just a week to go; drivers are continuously shaping and gearing up for the next race. For the last season’s Monaco GP champion, Fernando Alonso, the best way to spend a time off is to simply spend time pondering on the things that have improved during the course of the season. Despite the Renault team falling way behind Ferrari and other teams, Alonso is very happy with the way things are going. He even said that his team have progressed, which really showed during the previous races – the Spanish and the Turkish GP. Alonso said that he’s not been himself during the previous races and has learned valuable lessons from those. So, I guess he will be applying all those things on the next races.

Alonso is a great driver but he gets easily caught up with his emotions and loses focus. If he changes the way he drives, he could retain his championship title in the Monaco GP.

The Spanish Grand Prix is three days away, so, what I’m going to feature today is none other than the Fernando Alonso. Alonso is currently a Renault F1 driver and a two-time champion. And for additional trivia about Alonso, he serves UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador. That is really very nice of him.

Fernando Alonso Diaz, who's also named as El Nano, was born on July 29, 1981 in Oviedo that is a capital city in Northern Spain. And now he is about to race at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain – his home. I know he is a great driver because I have seen him race and step on to the podium a lot of times. But all I know about him during that is that he is a Spaniard and that is all. So, now let’s dig deeper about who Fernando Alonso really is.

Jose Luis, Alonoso’s father, had the passion for racing and built a kart made for Lorena, his older sister. But Lorena showed no interest in karting. It was actually the 4-year-old Alonso who showed a great deal of interest to the sport. Karting was the start of Alonso’s racing career. Since he didn’t come from a well-off family, he needed to strive hard just to win every race. The effort eventually paid off and sponsors were coming, which really helped him achieve his early triumphs in karting. And imagine this, from 1993 to 1996 he has already won four championships. His father was always right beside him to give his support. In fact, his father was also his mechanic. For a very short period, Alonso had successful racing career.

But like any other typical racer, Alonso wanted to race in Formula 1. For him F1 was the ultimate auto racing. And in October of 1998, the door to F1 opened and he was given the opportunity to test drive a Minardi F1 car. He definitely impressed Adrian Campos, a former Minardi driver, with his lap times. At such as young age, he was able to match with the lap times of Marc Gene, who is the current test driver of Ferrari.

By 2001, he was the official driver for the Minardi F1 team and made his debut at the Australian GP. He proved himself a great driver by outracing his fellow-Minardi driver Tarso Marques. His noteworthy debut caught the attention of other teams. Among the teams that showed a great deal of interest to the youngster was Sauber. But the team would have to lose Kimi Raikkonen for the Spaniard. But sad to say, it was Felipe Massa that the team decided to take.

In 2002, Alonso came to Renault not as the official driver but as a test driver. And by 2003, Alonso was introduced as the official driver of the team together with Jarno Trulli. At 22, he made history at Sepang by becoming the youngest F1 driver to get pole position. He finished the season in 6^th. Alonso stayed in Renault for four seasons.

Then, came the 2007 season and the announcement was made that Alonso was going to McLaren-Mercedes. The announcement was made on December 19 of 2005, before his contract with Renault expires. But I guess there were just some things that were not really meant to be. And so team McLaren and Alonso parted ways. And now, he’s back as a Renault driver. The team is currently 6^th at the constructor’s table.

El Nano’s racing career is not as unruffled as Raikkonen’s or Hamilton’s, but they sure shared a series of ups and downs on their careers. With the exception of Hamilton of course, which I think didn’t really have a hard time getting into F1. What I think about El Nano is that he is great. But he needs to improve some more to win. Let’s wait and see if he makes a good race at the Spanish GP.

For Felipe Massa, the Bahrain GP was a sign that he’s back and is ready to put his entire team to the top along with his trusty teammate Kimi Raikkonen. But for Lewis Hamilton, the race at Sakhir was a disappointment. I think it more of a bad luck for him, which started during the practice sessions where he’s car crashed. And then during the race his car sort of paused, which resulted to a collision with Fernando Alonso’s Renault. Good thing Heikki Kovalainen stayed right on track and finished 4^th. The disappointing race at Bahrain is sure to stick to the mind of Hamilton and I think he’s going to come back at the Spanish GP, which will take place at Barcelona, Spain. Remember guys, Hamilton is just a few points behind Raikkonen, he sure will recover and find a way to regain the top spot on the driver’s table and make the McLaren team on top again at Barcelona.

Yes, the qualifying round is over and the final lineup for tomorrow’s race is set. I really thought Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes would battle it out during the qualifying round, I was wrong. McLaren-Mercedes dominated the Albert Park getting pole position. This is the final lineup in tomorrow’s race, the driver’s name and his corresponding team:

1          Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes

2          Robert Kubica - BMW

3          Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren-Mercedes

4          Felipe Massa - Ferrari

5          Nick Heidfeld - BMW

6          Jarno Trulli - Toyota

7          Nico Rosberg - Williams-Toyota

8          David Coulthard - Red Bull-Renault

9          Timo Glock - Toyota

10        Sebastian Vettel - STR-Ferrari

11        Rubens Barrichello - Honda

12        Fernando Alonso - Renault

13        Jenson Button - Honda

14        Kazuki Nakajima - Williams-Toyota

15        Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault

16        Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari

17        Giancarlo Fisichella - Force India-Ferrari

18        Sebastien Bourdais - STR-Ferrari

19        Adrian Sutil - Force India-Ferrari

20       Takuma Sato - Super Aguri-Honda

21        Nelsinho Piquet - Renault

22        Anthony Davidson - Super Aguri-Honda

I really thought Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes will battle it out for pole position during the qualifying round. I was wrong. The only Ferrari that I see near the top spot is Felipe Massa. Kimi Raikkonen is nowhere to be found at the top. I am a K Raikkonen fan, so, I was a bit frustrated to see him at the 16^th spot. But like MotoGP, being on the pole position does secure a win. The win would still depend on the driver’s skills and the team’s strategy. So, I really expect Ferrari to kick some butt as soon as the race starts.