FERNANDO ALONSO PROFILE

Born: 29.07.81
Birthplace: Oviedo, Spain
Team: Renault
2008 Car Number: 5
Last Season: Third

Fernando Alonso is hoping a return to Renault this season will once again see him crowned F1's World Champion as he resumes his favoured number one status.

The then 23-year-old's first race was in a Minardi at the 2001 Australian GP. It was quickly obvious that Fernando was too quick to be a mere backmarker and it was no surprise when manager Flavio Briatore promoted Fernando to the role of Renault tester and then handed him a race seat for 2003.

Since then his rise has been astonishing, with the next 12 months witnessing Fernando becoming the youngest driver ever on pole, the youngest to set a fastest lap and his win in Hungary in 2003 made him the youngest ever GP winner.

However, Renault struggled to match their 2003 exploits in 2004 and for a while Fernando's star appeared to be on the wane. Yet he returned to something akin to his previous form in the latter half of the campaign, finishing third in successive races at Hockenheim and Budapest.

The back-to-back podium finishes, though, were only a hint of what was to come and even before the halfway point of the 2005 season it was clear to (almost) everyone that in Fernando Alonso, F1 had found its new king.

While his rivals suffered with either a lack of pace or an abundance of reliability gremlins, Fernando, his R25 and its Michelin tyres were bordering on the flawless, claiming seven wins, eight podium finishes and the ultimate prize, the Drivers' Championship title.

Fernando clinched the title at the Brazilian GP, race 17, ending Michael Schumacher's five-year reign, Kimi Raikkonen's title dream, Spain's title drought and Emerson Fittipaldi's long-standing record for being the youngest-ever F1 World Champion.

Despite announcing in November 2005 that he would be joining the McLaren team for 2007, Alonso stayed with Renault for the 2006 season where, once again he partnered Giancarlo Fisichella.

As predicted, Fernando went on to claim back-to-back World tiles, although it wasn't as easy as it had been the previous season.

Not only was the season dogged by controversy and the banning of Renault's mass dampers, but the Spaniard was also pushed all the way to the finish line by Michael Schumacher. And one could argue that in the end Fernando's title efforts were helped by Schumacher's misfortunes in the final two races.

But no matter how it came about, it was Alonso who was crowned the 2006 World Champion when he finished second at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.

However, his first season - and perhaps his last - with McLaren didn't produce the results we've come to expect from Alonso.

Although he claimed four race wins and finished the year third in the Drivers' standings, albeit one point behind the 2007 World Champion, his season was fraught with arguments.

First there was Stepneygate, which saw Alonso's email conversations with test driver Pedro de la Rosa, sink McLaren, earning them a massive fine and their disqualification from the Constructors' Championship. Second there were his on-going arguments with Ron Dennis over his desire preferential treatment. And thirdly there was his on- and off-track fights with his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

All in all, Alonso was not cast in a glowing light, often billed as the villian and two weeks after the conclusion of the season it was announced that he would be leaving McLaren after the two parties failed to see how they could continue working together.

After much debate and the news that Renault won't be punished after being accused of being in possession of McLaren's secret technical data, it was announced that Alonso would be returning to the team with whom he won both his World titles.

And the Spaniard can look forward to a season of being top dog as Renault have signed rookie driver Nelson Piquet Jr as his 2008 team-mate. But whether being number 1 will be enough to help Alonso to a third World title with Renault remains to be seen as the team has a lot of work ahead if they hope to turn around from their disappointing 2007 campaign.