Two decades ago, Fernando Alonso made history by becoming F1’s then-youngest World Champion at just 24 years, one month and 27 days old – the Spaniard and his Renault squad beating Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren to both of 2005’s titles.
To mark the anniversary, F1.com caught up with personalities on both sides of the gripping battle – Alonso’s team mate Giancarlo Fisichella and McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa – for a special trip down memory lane…
Alonso’s reputation was sky-high by the mid-noughties, having built on a stellar karting career, instant single-seater success and a plucky debut 2001 season at Minardi – where he performed “miracles” – to become an F1 polesitter, podium finisher and race winner with Renault.
Renault had only just returned to F1 as a fully-fledged constructor, taking over the Benetton operation (that won a brace of world titles with Michael Schumacher in the mid-1990s) and subsequently aiming to reach the very top of the sport.
With Flavio Briatore at the helm, the likes of Pat Symonds and Bob Bell pulling the technical strings, and Bernard Dudot’s engine expertise thrown in, the Enstone-based team soon showed their intent by turning points finishes across 2002 into podiums and wins through 2003 and 2004.
Renault’s push for F1 title glory
Now it was time to make the next step and challenge for overall honours, with the 2005 campaign – amid sweeping changes to the Technical Regulations, particularly on the aerodynamics side – providing an ideal opportunity to do so.
As cars began to hit the track for pre-season testing, it became clear that Renault had designed and manufactured a brilliant solution to the new rules, giving Fisichella and Alonso plenty to smile about ahead of the opening round.
“We put the car on the ground at the shakedown and it was amazing straight away – really quick, really easy to drive,” says Fisichella of driving the Renault R25 for the first time. “Then we went to the official pre-season test and we were also very competitive there, so I had fantastic confidence.”
McLaren, on the other hand, were not quite so bullish, as while the Adrian Newey-designed MP4/20 also looked quick, they were dealing with some pesky teething problems.
“We had the same tyres as Renault, the Michelins, so we were always testing with them, we knew them very well, and we knew how strong they were,” De la Rosa explains, highlighting the vast number of test sessions that took place during the ‘tyre war’ period involving the French company and Japanese rivals Bridgestone.
“At the beginning of the year, the feeling was that we were not as quick as Renault, but we knew why. There were some compromises on the aerodynamics, on the engine side, that we had to make for reliability reasons.”
Fisichella and Alonso make their mark
When the Australian Grand Prix rolled around, Renault duly followed up on their testing promise to start the new season in style with pole position and a 1-3 finish – Fisichella and Alonso separated by the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello at the chequered flag.
Fisichella had made the most of F1’s new aggregate Qualifying format at Albert Park – held across changing weather conditions that weekend – to set the one-lap pace, before expertly controlling proceedings from the front on race day.
However, the year’s first twists came when Fisichella suffered a run of three straight retirements in Malaysia, Bahrain and San Marino (due to incidents and technical trouble) and Alonso chalked up a trio of wins – capitalising on a cruel engine failure for Raikkonen at Imola.
When the F1 paddock set up in Barcelona for the fifth round, Alonso held 36 points to Fisichella’s 10, with rivals McLaren still nowhere to be seen.
“I felt the opportunity to fight for the podium, to fight for wins and to fight for the championship,” says Fisichella, who had established himself in F1 via stints with Minardi, Jordan, Benetton and Sauber. “The first race weekend in Australia was just incredible. I said to myself afterwards, ‘We have a chance’. I was really focused on winning.
“Then I had a few problems and lost a lot of points. I still did my best, I worked for the team, and sometimes I sacrificed myself in testing and the races to help Fernando. I had to accept this reality. It was still important for me to score points for the Teams’ Championship.”
Raikkonen and McLaren step forward
After Alonso’s early winning run, McLaren’s season received the kickstart it desperately needed – Raikkonen striking back with a victory double at the Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix (which featured an epic Qualifying scrap) to get valuable points on the board.
“That year, the Bridgestones were not as good as the Michelins, so we were lucky that Schumacher was not in the fight, otherwise it would have been even more difficult for us – but it soon became a head-to-head between Kimi and Fernando,” De la Rosa continues.
“[At the start] we thought that we could beat Fernando, because we believed we had a better car after our upgrades, but what we didn’t know back then was how tough Fernando would become, and how consistent he would be – that’s what we underestimated.
“There were no weak weekends for Fernando. He was always there. When the car was not quick enough, he was always on the podium or picking up points. It was impossible for us to close the gap, really, because even if we had a faster car, we were not reliable enough.”
On that reliability note, in addition to Raikkonen’s dramatic, final lap suspension failure while leading the European Grand Prix, caused by a significant flat spot he picked up on the mandated single set of tyres per race, De la Rosa recalls an amusing private exchange between the two battling camps at Silverstone.
“Kimi’s engine blew up in practice and, back then, when you blew up the engine and replaced it before Qualifying, you got a 10-place grid penalty,” he says, with Alonso going on to turn pole position into second place and Raikkonen recovering from 12th to third.
“I remember walking in the paddock and seeing Fernando’s father. We were just chatting, and Fernando’s father said, ‘Kimi has been very lucky’. I said, ‘He just blew up the engine, he’s been penalised 10 positions, so I’m pretty sure Fernando will win this one’.
“Fernando’s father said again, ‘No, he’s been very lucky, because if he had blown up the engine during the race, he would get zero points’. So, in the Renault camp they were thinking that we were lucky, and on McLaren’s side I was thinking that we had been very unlucky, simply because we had blown up the engine.
“Although it was Fernando’s father, it really showed what their mindset was, what their personality and their character was – they were never happy and they were always pushing. I really appreciate that comment now, 20 years later, because it shows that they were fighters.”
Alonso shows what he’s made of
In truth, when it came to fighting, De la Rosa saw what he needed to from Alonso a few rounds earlier in San Marino, where his compatriot assumed the lead after Raikkonen’s retirement and then kept a charging Schumacher at bay on Ferrari’s home soil.
“I think what stood out in 2005 was the first chance that Fernando had to fight for a championship, he nailed it,” adds De la Rosa, who spent most of the year testing for McLaren but raced in place of the injured Juan Pablo Montoya at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
“He was not fazed by pressure or by fighting quicker cars. He had a true talent of keeping drivers behind and protecting his position in a very clever way – Imola being a clear example of a race he handled so well until the last lap, while experiencing that pressure from Michael in front of the Tifosi.
“Every braking zone, Fernando was not protecting the inside line, because he knew there was no chance [to overtake]. If he had protected it, I’m pretty sure that Michael would have overtaken him on the exit. He kept his line and made sure that, just by looking in the mirror, everything was under control.
“That was one of the moments I realised, ‘Wow, Fernando is a very, very serious contender, and we’re not going to beat him’. He’s too cold, he’s too talented – he’s not fazed at all.”
Closing in on the title step by step
As touched on above, Alonso maintained an impressive level of consistency through the remainder of the season – the only notable dramas coming in Canada, where he suffered a terminal suspension issue, and in Hungary, when contact with Toyota rival Ralf Schumacher at the start ruined his afternoon.
It meant that, heading to the Brazilian Grand Prix in late-September, with three races still to run, he had the first chance to write his name into the F1 history books – and join a list of legendary names – by becoming World Champion.
After suggestions that his consistency had turned into a somewhat “conservative” approach, Alonso made a timely statement by storming to his sixth pole of the season at Interlagos, some three quarters of a second up on Raikkonen in fifth.
While the McLarens had the upper hand on race day and recorded a comfortable 1-2 finish, all Alonso needed to do was cross the line in third, something he ultimately achieved to realise his childhood dream and trigger an intense outpouring of emotion.
A few weeks later, Renault put the icing on the cake at season finale in China, where Alonso’s win (his seventh of the year) and Fisichella’s fourth place confirmed them as Teams’ Champions – a moment that’s still fresh in the memory for the Italian, even if there are some mixed feelings.
“Obviously, the target and the dream for me was to win the Drivers’ Championship, but not everything in life is possible!” Fisichella reflects with a smile. “We had a fantastic party together with the mechanics, with all the team [to celebrate both world titles].
“It was still probably the best moment of my life. I was driving one of the best cars for one of the best teams, so I’m happy to have been a driver for Renault in this era. I’m also happy about my contribution to the Teams’ Championship.
“Fernando has a very similar character to me and we worked very well as team mates. We had a good time during training sessions and while sharing holidays. I think that was the key, to work together and to give the right [direction] to the team.”
Alonso’s ongoing quest for more success
Alonso would make it back-to-back titles in 2006, cementing his status as the driver to beat after a thrilling scrap against the resurgent Schumacher and Ferrari, and taking great satisfaction from winning the F1 crown while the seven-time World Champion was still racing first time around.
Fast forward 20 years, via various team moves, title near-misses, memorable performances and a brief break from F1, Alonso is pushing on into his mid-40s at Aston Martin – both driver and team determined to write a chapter of success together.
Whether or not that elusive third title follows, De la Rosa, who is now working with Alonso as an Aston Martin ambassador, is adamant that his rival-turned-colleague retains all the personal ingredients required – both on and off the track – to triumph.
“If something stands out with Fernando today, it’s that he hasn’t changed,” De la Rosa states. “We all change in life, we evolve, we get better, we get worse, but I think on the racing side, Fernando has been always the same.
“I feel very proud, 20 years later, to be working with Fernando, but more importantly, to be learning from him. Of course, we like his speed and consistency, but what I like most is his approach off-track. He’s 24 hours thinking about F1 – how much he works, how much he thinks about the car, about making the team better, and about improving himself.”
There is also a full-circle moment playing out at the Silverstone-based team – Alonso’s reunion with Bell, who is now Executive Director (Technical) at Aston Martin, and the arrival of Newey, who recently took on the role of Managing Technical Partner.
All the protagonists from that 2005 title fight in one place, then, with the fascinating challenge of trying to collectively master the upcoming 2026 rules reset…
“Obviously Fernando is not getting younger, but he has more experience, more character and more charisma – he is one of the most important drivers in the history of F1,” says Fisichella, who remains in contact with Alonso and still meets up with him when he attends races.
“Next year, who knows? With Adrian, maybe the Aston Martin will be quick enough [to fight at the front]. And Fernando, even if he’s in his mid-40s, has still got in his hands the [talent] to be the fastest driver.”
De la Rosa adds: “When you give the car to Fernando, wherever you are, even in practice, after two laps you know exactly where you will be during the weekend, and you will know exactly what the main issues of the car are. He doesn’t need any warm-up laps.
“That’s what we want from him, to keep doing what he does. It’s about driving the car to the limit every day, giving everything in and out of it. It’s up to us to give him a car that’s quick enough, and if it’s there or thereabouts, you know that Fernando will make the difference.”
