Headquarters in Santander.

The Santander Group (English pronunciation: /ˌsɑntɑnˈdɛər grʊp/) is a Spanish banking group centered on Banco Santander, S.A. (Spanish: [ˈbaŋko santanˈder]), the largest bank in the Eurozone^[2] and one of the largest banks in the world in terms of market capitalisation.

According to Forbes Magazine Global 2010, it was the 6th largest company in the world. It originated in Santander, Cantabria, Spain.

History[link]

The 1999 merger of Banco Santander (founded in 1857) and Banco Central Hispano (founded in 1991) following the merger of Banco Central [est. 1919] and Banco Hispanoamericano [est. 1900], created Banco Santander Central Hispano, or BSCH.^[3]. This merger between Santander and Banco Central Hispano (BCH) was designed to be a "merger of equals" in which the top executives of the two pre-existing firms would share control of the merged entity. Soon after the merger former BCH executives accused chairman of Banco Santander Emilio Botín of trying to push his own agenda and threatened to take legal action against him. This post-merger squabbling was resolved when BCH executives Jose Amusátegui and Angel Corcóstegui agreed to accept severance payments, retire and relinquish control to Mr. Botín, at an expense to shareholders of €164M.^[4]

The large termination payouts generated negative press and Botín was eventually brought to trial on criminal charges of "misappropriation of funds" and "irresponsible management." However, in April 2005 he was cleared of all charges. The verdict said the €164M retirement payments made to the two former executives were legal, "made as compensation for the services provided to the bank." In 2005 the anti-corruption division of the Spanish public prosecutor's office cleared Mr. Botín of all charges in a separate case in which he was accused of insider trading.^[3]

On 26 July 2004 Banco Santander Central Hispano announced the acquisition of Abbey National plc. Following shareholders' approval at the EGMs of Abbey (95 per cent voted in favour, despite vocal opposition from most of those present) and Santander, the acquisition was formally approved by the courts and Abbey became part of Grupo Santander on 12 November 2004.^[5]

In June 2006, Banco Santander Central Hispano purchased almost 20% of Sovereign Bank and acquired the option to buy the bank for US$40 per share for one year beginning in the middle of 2008.^[6]

In May 2007 Banco Santander Central Hispano announced that in conjunction with Royal Bank of Scotland and Fortis it would make an offer for ABN AMRO. BSCH's share of the offer added up to 28% and the offer would have to be made up of a capital increase through a new share issue. Then in October 2007 the consortium outbid Barclays and acquired ABN AMRO. As part of the deal, Grupo Santander acquired ABN AMRO's subsidiary in Brazil, Banco Real, and its subsidiary in Italy, Banca Antonveneta.^[7]

On 13 August 2007, Banco Santander Central Hispano changed its legal name to Banco Santander.

In November 2007, it sold Banca Antonveneta to Monte dei Paschi di Siena. In March 2008, Banco Santander sold Interbanca, a subsidiary of Banca Antonveneta, to GE Commercial Finance, receiving in return GE Money businesses in Germany, Finland and Austria, and GE's Card and Auto Financing Businesses in the UK, which it will integrate into Santander Consumer Finance.^[8]

The group announced in July 2008 that it intended to take over the UK bank Alliance & Leicester, with £24bn in deposits and 254 branches.^[9] The acquisition was completed in October 2008 when the group delisted the company's shares from the London Stock Exchange. This was followed by the acquisition of the savings business of UK bank Bradford & Bingley (B&B) in September 2008, with deposits of £22bn, 2.6m customers, 197 branches and 140 agencies.^[10]

The banks, along with Abbey, were merged together under the Santander name in the UK at the end of 2010.^[11] In 2006 Santander bought Drive financial. a subprime auto lender. In 2009 Santander completed the purchase of Philadelphia-based Sovereign Bancorp, a 772-branch lender with about US$72 billion in assets. Santander Consumer USA, based in Dallas, has a serviced auto-loan portfolio of about US$14.9 billion.United States. ^[12]

In October 2008, Grupo Santander announced that it would acquire the 75.65% of Sovereign Bancorp it did not currently own for approximately US$1.9 billion (€1.4 billion): the acquisition of Sovereign gave Santander its first retail bank in the mainland United States.^[13] Santander plans to rename the bank to enhance its global brand recognition by as early as 2012.^[14]

On 10 June 2010, Grupo Santander has announced an investment of approximately US$270 million (€200 million) in Campinas, Brazil for a technology center, research and data processing, which will include a next-generation data center. The project will prepare the bank to expand its branch network and customer base. This center will meet the operational unit in North America, Central America and South America, from the data processing center to research and technical area. It'll be one of five centers that Grupo Santander has in the world, but certainly the most important and modern. Based on a plot of 1 million square meters, the new center will be established within the Technology Park CIATEC (Companhia de Desenvolvimento do Pólo de Alta Tecnologia de Campinas, in Portuguese) (Development Company for High Technology Cluster of Campinas), which is attended by more than 20 other companies. The area began to be worked out in January 2011, so that within two years, the pole is fully operational. There will be over 8,000 direct and indirect jobs. ^[15]

Operations[link]

A branch of Santander in Cardiff, United Kingdom.

A branch of Santander in Berlin, Germany.

Santander bank in Göppingen, Germany.

This section may need to be updated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information, and remove this template when finished. Please see the talk page for more information. (December 2010)

Grupo Santander has numerous operations in Latin America. It has rebranded most of the subsidiaries it has acquired to Santander.

Grupo Santander consists of more than 170,000 employees, 90.1 million customers, 13,390 branches and 2.27 million shareholders. Retail banking - the main aspect of Santander's operations - generates 82% of the group's profit.

Currently, Santander is a corporate sponsor of the Ferrari Formula 1 team^[16] and the Copa Libertadores de America.

On 1 December 2008, Santander announced that their Formula One sponsorship deal with McLaren will end in 2010, when Santander will become Ferrari's main sponsor. However, in September 2009, Santander announced that it will continue its sponsorship with Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes due to its brand awareness in the UK rising from 20 to 82 percent.^[17]

On 14 December 2008, it was revealed that the collapse of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme might mean the loss of €2.33 billion at Banco Santander.^[18]

On 10 November 2009, HSBC Finance Corporation announced its auto finance entities had reached an agreement with Santander Consumer USA Inc. (SC USA) to sell HSBC US auto loan servicing operations as well as US$1 billion in auto loan receivables for US$904 million in cash, and enter into a loan servicing agreement for the remainder of its US auto loan portfolio, which is in liquidation. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010.^[19]

Global operations[link]

• Santander Private Banking - pb.santander.com
• Santander Consumer Finance - www.santanderconsumer.com

European operations[link]

• Austria
  • Santander Consumer Bank Austria AG - www.santanderconsumer.at

• Belgium
  • Santander Consumer Finance Benelux B.V. - www.santander.be

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Nova Santander Banka d.o.o. Trebinje

• Czech Republic
  • Santander Consumer Finance a.s. - www.santander.cz

• Denmark
  • Santander Consumer Bank AS

• Finland
  • Santander Consumer Finance Oy - www.santander.fi

• France
  • Santander Consumer France - www.santanderfinancements.fr

• Germany
  • Santander Consumer Bank AG - www.santander.de
  • Santander Consumer Debit GmbH
  • Santander Consumer Leasing GmbH

• Hungary
  • Santander Consumer Finance Cltd - www.santander.hu

• Isle of Man
  • Alliance & Leicester International
  • Bradford & Bingley International

• Italy
  • Santander Consumer Bank S.p.a - www.santanderconsumer.it
  • Santander Private Banking

• Jersey (UK)
  • Santander Private Banking

• Luxembourg
  • Banco Santander Totta S.A

• Netherlands
  • Santander Consumer Finance Benelux B.V. - www.santander.nl

• Norway
  • Santander Consumer Bank AS - www.santander.no

• Poland
  • Bank Zachodni WBK
  • Santander Consumer Bank S.A. - www.santanderconsumer.pl

• Portugal
  • Banco Santander Consumer Portugal, SA - www.santanderconsumer.pt
  • Crédito Predial Português
  • Hispamer
  • Banco Santander Totta S.A

• Russia
  • Santander Consumer Finance (In 2010, the Russian branch was sold, i.e. Santander left the Russian market - www.santanderconsumer.ru

• Slovak Republic
  • Santander Consumer Finance a.s. - www.santander.sk

• Spain
  • Banco Santander
  • Banesto
  • Santander Consumer Finance
  • Openbank
  • Banco BANIF

• Sweden
  • Santander Consumer Bank - www.santander.se

• Switzerland
  • Santander Private Banking

• United Kingdom
  • Santander UK
  • Cahoot
  • Cater Allen Private Bank
  • Santander Cards UK - www.santandercards.co.uk
  • Santander Consumer (UK) plc - www.santanderconsumer.co.uk
  • Santander Totta - www.santandertotta.co.uk

Latin American operations[link]

• Argentina
  • Banco Santander Río (after acquisition of the local Banco Río by Santander) - www.santanderrio.com.ar

• Brazil
  • Banco Santander Brasil

• Chile
  • Banco Santander-Chile (exBanco Santander Santiago)
  • Banco Santander Banefe

• Colombia
  • Banco Santander Colombia - Sold in December 2011 to Corpbanca of Chile.

• Mexico
  • Banco Santander (from merger of Banco Mexicano, Banco Serfín and Santander)

• Peru
  • Banco Santander Perú S.A. - www.santander.com.pe

• Puerto Rico
  • Banco Santander Puerto Rico - www.santandernet.com
  • Santander Overseas Bank - www.santanderoverseas.com

• Uruguay
  • Banco Santander Uruguay www.santander.com.uy

Asian and Australian operations[link]

• China
  • Banco Santander, S.A. - Hong Kong Branch
  • Banco Santander, S.A. - Shanghai Branch
  • Banco Santander, S.A. - Beijing Representative Office

• South Korea
  • Banco Santander, S.A. - Seoul Representative Office

• Australia
  • Banco Santander, S.A. - Sydney Branch

• Japan
  • Banco Santander, S.A. - Tokyo Representative Office

• Singapore
  • Banco Santander, S.A. - Singapore Branch

African operations[link]

• Attijariwafa Bank (4,55% share)

North American operations[link]

• USA
  • Santander Private Banking
  • Sovereign Bank
  • Santander Consumer USA Inc. - www.santanderconsumerusa.com
  • Santander Global Banking & Markets
  • Roadloans -- www.roadloans.com
  • HelpingLoans -- www.helpingloans.com

See also[link]

• Inter-Alpha Group of Banks

References[link]

Notes[link]

Sources[link]

• Guillén, Mauro and Adrian Tschoegl (2008) Building a Global Bank: The Transformation of Banco Santander. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

External links[link]

Companies portal

• Official website
• Santander companies grouped at OpenCorporates

v t e IBEX 35 companies of Spain Abengoa Abertis Acciona Acerinox ACS Amadeus IT Holding ArcelorMittal Banco Popular Español Banco Sabadell Banco Santander Bankia Bankinter BBVA BME Caixabank Dia Enagás Endesa FCC Ferrovial Gamesa Gas Natural Grifols Iberdrola Inditex Indra International Airlines Group Mapfre Mediaset España Obrascón Huarte Lain Red Eléctrica Repsol YPF Sacyr Vallehermoso Técnicas Reunidas Telefónica

Emilio Botín
Born	Emilio Botín-Sanz de Sautuola y García de los Ríos (1934-10-01) 1 October 1934 (age 77) Santander, Spain
Residence	Somosaguas, Madrid, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Alma mater	University of Valladolid, University of Deusto
Occupation	Banker
Years active	(?-present)
Employer	Santander
Known for	Executive Chairman of Grupo Santander
Net worth	€1.05 billion [1]
Religion	Roman Catholic[citation needed]
Spouse	Paloma O'Shea (?-present)
Children	Ana Patricia Botín O'Shea Carmen Botín O'Shea Carolina Botín O'Shea Paloma Botín O'Shea Javier Botín O'Shea Emilio Botín O'Shea

Emilio Botín-Sanz de Sautuola y García de los Ríos, Marquis Consort of O'Shea, (born 1 October 1934) is a Spanish banker. He is the Executive Chairman of Spain's Grupo Santander. In 1993 his bank absorbed Banco Español de Crédito (Banesto), and in 1999 it merged with Banco Central Hispano creating Banco Santander Central Hispano (BSCH), which became Spain's largest bank, of which he was co-president with Central Hispano's José María Amusategui, until Amusategui retired in 2002. In 2004, BSCH acquired the British bank Abbey National, making BSCH the second largest bank in Europe by market capitalisation. In July 2008 Santander was named the Best Bank in the World by Euromoney magazine. He is known for his obsession with growth and performance as well as regularly visiting branches. ^[2]

Background and personal life[link]

Botín, Marquis Consort of O'Shea, was born in Santander, Cantabria, on the northern coast of Spain, the eldest of two sons of Emilio Botín y Sanz de Sautuola, born in 18 January 1903, and Ana María García de los Ríos y Caller.^[3] After attending as a boarding student the Jesuit school of Colegio de la Inmaculada, in Gijón, he studied Law at the University of Valladolid in Valladolid and Economics at the University of Deusto in Bilbao. In 1986 Emilio Botín, then aged 52, took over from his father as president of the Banco de Santander, one of many banks that existed in Spain at the time. Botín was no newcomer to the banking world. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all bankers.^{[citation needed]}

Botín is married to Paloma O'Shea Artiñano, 1st Marquise of O'Shea, a patron of the arts; they have six children. His daughter Carmen was married to golfer Seve Ballesteros from 1988 to 2004.^[4]

Botín's favorite pastimes are hunting, fishing and golf. In 2005 Forbes put Emilio Botín's net worth at $1.7 billion.^{[citation needed]} Botín's eldest daughter, Ana Patricia Botín, was the President of Banesto from 2002 to November 2010 and is the CEO of Santander UK since December 2010, and widely viewed as his probable successor as President.^{[citation needed]}

On 25 April 2008, two people died in a plane crash south of Madrid at a property belonging to Botín. Neither was a member of the banking family. The light aircraft, which was attempting to land at an airstrip on the Botín property known as El Castaño, was transporting 441 pounds of hashish.^[5]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Guillén, Mauro F.; Tschoegl, Adrian (2008). Building a Global Bank: The Transformation of Banco Santander. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-13125-2. 

External links[link]

• Profile of Emilio Botín
• A survey considers Emilio Botín as the best Spanish valued CEO
• Emilio Botín repeats as most influential businessman in Spain
• Emilio Botín, the most influential Spanish businessman according the research: KAR 2011, Ipsos Public Affairs.

Carlos Ignacio Pesquera Morales Ph.D. (born 1956) is a Puerto Rican civil engineer and former politician. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2000. He is married to Irasema Rivera, an agronomist, and has one son and one daughter. He currently resides in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.

Education[link]

Carlos Pesquera graduated from High School while attending Nuestra Señora de Belen. Dr. Pesquera attended the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, where he graduated with high honors as an engineer. Later, Pesquera continued his graduate studies at Cornell University, where he obtained an M.A. and Ph.D. in Structural Engineering. Afterwards, he taught civil engineering at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez.

Political career[link]

Pesquera was the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works of Puerto Rico under Pedro Rosselló's first and second terms as Governor (1993-1999). As Secretary of Transportation, he is credited as the driving force behind the $2 billion Tren Urbano (Urban Train), the Superaqueduct that has resolved metropolitan San Juan's water rationing problems, numerous road construction projects and the construction of the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan. He ran for Governor of Puerto Rico as a candidate of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico in the 2000 elections but was defeated by Sila María Calderón of the Popular Democratic Party. The results of that election showed: Sila Calderón (PDP) with 978,860 votes (48.6%); Carlos Pesquera (NPP) 919,194 votes (45.7%); Ruben Berrios (PIP) 104,705 (5.2%), while other candidates had about 2700 votes (under 0.5%). Afterwards, he reorganized his followers and remained the head of the NPP until the year 2003. That same year Pedro Rosselló returned from retirement and Pesquera ran for his party's candidacy for Governor but was soundly defeated in a primary election by Rosselló.

Pesquera then retired from public life and is currently teaching at several Puerto Rican universities. On January 2007, Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá nominated him to be part of the Board of Regents of the University of Puerto Rico.

External links[link]

• Puerto Rico Herald: Profile: Carlos Pesquera
• (Spanish) General Elections Results 2000

Fernando Alonso

Alonso at the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Born	(1981-07-29) 29 July 1981 (age 30) Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Spanish
2012 team	Ferrari
2012 car #	5
Races	184 (183 starts)
Championships	2 (2005, 2006)
Wins	28
Podiums	76
Career points	1,162
Pole positions	20
Fastest laps	19
First race	2001 Australian Grand Prix
First win	2003 Hungarian Grand Prix
Last win	2012 Malaysian Grand Prix
Last race	2012 Monaco Grand Prix
2011 position	4th (257 pts)

Fernando Alonso Díaz (born 29 July 1981^[1]) is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari.

On 25 September 2005, he won the Formula One World Driver's Championship title at the age of 24 years and 58 days, at the time making him the youngest Formula One World Drivers' Champion. After retaining the title the following year, Alonso also became the youngest double Champion at the time. Nicknamed El Nano, a typical pseudonym for Fernando in Asturias, his place of birth, Alonso acts as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.^[2]

Personal and early life[link]

Fernando Alonso was born in Oviedo, Asturias in northern Spain. His mother worked in a department store and his father was employed as a mechanic in an explosives factory near Oviedo.^[3] Alonso has an older sister, Lorena. Alonso's father José Luis, an amateur kart racer, wanted to pass on his passion to his children. He built a kart, originally meant for eight-year-old Lorena, but unlike her three-year-old brother, she showed no interest in the sport.^[3]

Alonso married Raquel del Rosario, lead singer of Spanish pop band El Sueño de Morfeo,^[4] on 17 November 2006.^[5] They announced their intention to divorce in December 2011.^[6]

They lived in Oxford, England until they moved their residence to Switzerland in 2006. Alonso owned a house in Mont-sur-Rolle, near Lake Geneva from 2006 to 2010, and in February 2010 he moved house to Lugano in order to be closer to his new Formula One employer Ferrari. It is highly common for Formula One stars to take up residence in Switzerland to reduce their tax bills. In the winter of 2010–11, Alonso moved back to Oviedo in order to be closer to friends and family, costing him an estimated £50 million in tax.^[7]

He is an avid card tricks fan and usually demonstrates various tricks during the race weekend.^[8] He is also interested in other sports, like cycling, football and tennis. Alonso has hinted at running a cycling team in the 2011 edition of the Tour de France with Alberto Contador leading the team.^[9]

In addition to Spanish, he speaks English and Italian.^[10]

Early career[link]

As a child, Alonso participated in karting competitions around Spain, supported by his father, who also doubled as his mechanic. His family lacked the financial resources needed to develop a career in motorsport, but his victories attracted sponsorship and the required funds. Alonso won four Spanish championships back-to-back in the junior category, between 1993 and 1996 and the Junior World Cup in 1996. He won the Spanish and Italian Inter-A titles in 1997 and in 1998 won the Spanish Inter-A title again as well as finishing second in the European Championship.^[11]

Former Minardi F1 driver Adrián Campos gave Alonso his first test in a race car in October 1998. After three days of testing at the Albacete circuit, Alonso had matched the lap times of Campos' previous driver Marc Gené.^[12] Campos signed Alonso to race for him in the 1999 Spanish Euro Open MoviStar by Nissan series.^[13] In his second race, again at Albacete, Alonso won for the first time. He took the championship by one point from championship rival Manuel Giao by winning and setting fastest lap at the last race of the season. Alonso also tested for the Minardi Formula One team, lapping 1.5 seconds faster than the other drivers at the test.^[13]

The following season Alonso moved up to Formula 3000, which was often the final step for drivers before ascending to Formula One. Alonso joined Team Astromega and was the youngest driver in the series that year by eleven months.^[13] Alonso did not score a point until the seventh race of the year, but in the final two rounds he took a second place and a victory, enough for him to end the season fourth overall behind Bruno Junqueira, Nicolas Minassian and Mark Webber.^[13]

Formula One career[link]

2001: Minardi[link]

Alonso made his Formula One début with Minardi in 2001.

Alonso was the third-youngest driver ever to start a Formula One race when he made his debut with Minardi at the Australian Grand Prix. The team was in its first season under the control of new owner Paul Stoddart and their new car, the PS01, was neither fast nor reliable. However Alonso's qualifying performance was good, outqualifying team-mate Tarso Marques by 2.6 seconds on début. At the fourth round at Imola he outqualified both Benettons, a feat he repeated later in the season.^[13]

Notable performances over the season earned him some attention from the faster teams. It was reported in September 2001 by some of the European press that Sauber were looking to replace outgoing Kimi Räikkönen with Alonso although he was facing competition for the seat from Felipe Massa and then Jaguar test driver André Lotterer.^[14] A month later it was confirmed that Massa was going to take the vacant Sauber seat for 2002.^[15]

In September, his manager Flavio Briatore had begun planning to place Alonso at Benetton. Briatore considered promoting Alonso for 2002, in place of his race driver Jenson Button, but instead chose to take Alonso on as Renault test driver for 2002.^[13] At the final round of the season at Suzuka he finished eleventh—five places outside the points but ahead of Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Prost, the BAR of Olivier Panis, the two Arrows and his team-mate Alex Yoong.^[13] Four years later, his team boss from the Minardi days, Paul Stoddart, described his race as "53 laps of qualifying".^[16] He scored no points in the season; his best finish being tenth at the German Grand Prix.

2002–2006: Renault[link]

2002–2003

Alonso became test driver for Renault in 2002 (Renault having taken over the Benetton team) and did 1,642 laps of testing that year. In 2003 Briatore dropped Button and put Alonso in the second seat alongside Jarno Trulli.^[13] Briatore was criticised by the British media for the decision, but technical director Mike Gascoyne later insisted to F1 Racing that the decision was correct, since the team had been impressed with Alonso's work rate and talent during his season as test driver.

The Spaniard became the youngest driver to achieve a Formula One pole position at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Alonso had a 180 mph crash at the Brazilian Grand Prix, the result of missing the double yellow flags and Safety Car boards brought out by Mark Webber's earlier crash and colliding with the debris.^[17] The race was red-flagged. He finished second at his home grand prix two races later, and at the time became the youngest driver to win a Formula One race at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He finished the year sixth in the championship, with 55 points and four podiums.

2004

Alonso driving for the Renault Formula One team at the 2004 United States Grand Prix

Alonso remained with Renault for the 2004 season, scoring podiums in Australia, France, Germany and Hungary. At Indianapolis he suffered a high-speed accident while running in third place after a tyre deflated. In France he took pole position and finished second, running Michael Schumacher close for victory. Towards the end of the year teammate Jarno Trulli's performances deteriorated and he dropped Renault boss Flavio Briatore as his manager. Trulli's relationship with the team deteriorated to the extent that he signed for Toyota from 2005 onwards, and he was replaced for the final three races of the season by former world champion Jacques Villeneuve. Alonso ended the year fourth in the championship standings with 59 points.

2005

Alonso at the 2005 United States Grand Prix

Alonso rounded off 2005 with victory at the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix.

For the 2005 season, Alonso was joined at Renault by Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella. At the first race in Australia Alonso started near the back due to rain in qualifying but fought his way to third. He won the next two races in Malaysia and Bahrain from pole position, and took a third win in the San Marino Grand Prix after a 13-lap battle with Michael Schumacher.

McLaren's improving form saw Räikkönen win in Spain and Monaco while Alonso finished second and fourth, respectively. Räikkönen was on course to win the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring when his car's front-right suspension failed (due to a flat spot on the tyre caused by Räikkönen locking his wheels under braking while passing Jacques Villeneuve) on the last lap, giving victory to Alonso.

Alonso failed to score in the Canadian and United States Grands Prix. He crashed out of the former, and in the latter all the Michelin runners withdrew due to safety concerns over their tyres. Alonso took his third pole position and fifth win at the French Grand Prix. He followed this with pole position a week later at the British Grand Prix, where he finished second behind Montoya. McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen led the German Grand Prix until his car's hydraulics failed. Alonso went on to win the race.

Alonso qualified sixth in the Hungarian Grand Prix but finished 11th after a collision with the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher. As the season entered its final stages Alonso finished second in three consecutive races, collecting vital championship points. Räikkönen won in Turkey and Belgium, but was fourth at Monza after engine trouble in qualifying, meaning Alonso's lead had been reduced by only one point.

Alonso sealed the title by finishing third in Brazil while Montoya won from Räikkönen. The Spaniard became the youngest Drivers' Champion at the age of 24 years and 59 days old, breaking Emerson Fittipaldi's record. He also ended the five-year dominance of Michael Schumacher.

Commenting on his victory, he said: "I just want to dedicate this championship to my family, and all my close friends who have supported me through my career. Spain is not a country with an F1 culture, and we had to fight alone, every step of the way, to make this happen. A huge thank-you should also go to the team as well – they are the best in Formula One, and we have done this together. It will say that I am world champion, but we are all champions – and they deserve this." In the May 2007 issue of F1 Racing, Alonso said that the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix was his greatest race. He said, "It was a dream come true and a very emotional day. In the last few laps I leaped, thinking I could hear noises from the engine- from everywhere! But all was okay and I can remember my relief when I crossed the finish line."

The Japanese and Chinese Grands Prix saw Alonso and Renault abandon the conservative style evident in Brazil when he was still chasing the drivers' title. Starting from 16th on the grid, he eventually finished third behind Räikkönen and Fisichella. The Chinese Grand Prix saw Renault and Alonso win to claim the first Constructors' Championship for the Renault F1 team.

In 2005, he was awarded with the Sports Prince of Asturias Award.^[18]

2006

Alonso took pole position and victory at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix.

At the Canadian Grand Prix, Alonso took his 6th victory of the year.

Alonso won the first race of the 2006 season in Bahrain, overtaking Michael Schumacher after coming out of the pit lane with 18 laps left, after starting fourth. He qualified seventh at the Malaysian Grand Prix due to a fuelling error^[19][20] but finished second to team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. He won the Australian Grand Prix after overtaking leader Jenson Button's Honda.

After poor qualifying at San Marino, Alonso was unable to pass Michael Schumacher in an encounter that echoed their battle the previous year. Schumacher beat Alonso again in the European Grand Prix after the Spaniard started on pole, but Alonso hit back, becoming the first Spaniard to win the Spanish Grand Prix. Alonso took pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix after Schumacher was penalised by the stewards for "deliberately [stopping] his car on the circuit in the last few minutes of qualifying", denying his rivals, Alonso included, the opportunity of recording fastest qualifying lap.^[21] Alonso won the race.

He extended his winning streak to four races with victories in Britain and Canada. Both wins came from pole position, and the British round was his first win, pole and fastest lap hat trick. He also became the first driver in history to finish first or second in the first nine races of the season, a record equalled by Sebastian Vettel in 2011.^{[citation needed]} Schumacher's fight back began at Indianapolis where the German won and Alonso was fifth. Schumacher won the French Grand Prix, with Alonso in second, and the Spaniard was fifth in the German Grand Prix.^[22] That cut Alonso's championship lead to 11 points.

Alonso incurred a penalty for an infraction in practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix which left him 15th on the grid.^[23] Schumacher started 11th after receiving a similar penalty.^[24] Alonso looked set for an unlikely win as he overtook most of the field, including Schumacher around the outside of turn five, as he showed prowess in the wet conditions, but he crashed out of the race when a wheel nut fell off his car following a pit stop. Schumacher scored one point after Robert Kubica was disqualified.^[25]

Alonso finished second in Turkey, holding back third-placed Schumacher to claim two vital points, but he lost a lot of ground after a controversial Italian Grand Prix. He suffered a puncture during qualifying that damaged bodywork at the back of his car. He qualified fifth but was later punished^[26] by the stewards for impeding Felipe Massa's Ferrari,^[27] and he started the race from tenth. In the race he rose to third place before an engine failure forced him to retire. Schumacher won the Grand Prix and cut Alonso's Championship lead to two points.

At the following round in China, Alonso took pole position during a wet qualifying session but finished second to Schumacher in the race. The result tied Alonso and Schumacher on points in the drivers championship. At the Japanese Grand Prix, the Ferraris of Schumacher and Massa qualified first and second, more than half a second faster than the Renaults in fifth and sixth. But during the race Alonso rose to second and took the win after Schumacher's engine failed. It gave him a ten point advantage over Schumacher, needing only one point from the final round to retain the title. Second place in the Brazilian Grand Prix on 22 October gave Alonso the championship. With Schumacher finishing fourth, the final difference was 13 points. Alonso thus became the youngest double champion in the sport's history. Renault also clinched the Constructors' Championship with a 5-point gap over Ferrari.

2007: McLaren[link]

Alonso at the 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix, his first victory for McLaren

Alonso finished second in the 2007 British Grand Prix behind race winner Kimi Räikkönen.

On 19 December 2005, Alonso announced that he would be moving to McLaren for 2007.^[28] His contract with Renault was set to expire on 31 December 2006. However, on 15 December 2006, Alonso was allowed by Flavio Briatore and the Renault F1 Team to test for one day for McLaren at Jerez, as a result of his successes with Renault. Driving an unbranded MP4-21 and wearing a plain white helmet and overalls, Alonso completed 95 laps.^[29] Lewis Hamilton was chosen as his partner for the season. McLaren were reported to be paying Alonso £ 20 million (approx $ 39 million c. 2007) in 2007. Alonso debuted with the new McLaren car on 15 January 2007, in the streets of Valencia.

On 8 April 2007 in his second race for the team, Alonso secured his first win for McLaren, and the team's first since 2005, by leading the majority of the Malaysian Grand Prix. A difficult drive at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit a week later, saw him finishing fifth behind his rookie team mate who took a podium finish. In the fourth race of the year in Spain, his home grand prix, he qualified second, but suffered a first lap collision with Felipe Massa which caused some damage to his car and dropped him to fourth, before finishing third. On 27 May, Alonso secured his second victory for McLaren at Monaco, scoring pole position, fastest lap and the race win and in the process lapping the entire field up to 3rd position. At the Nürburgring he took his third win of the year in a dramatic race affected by intermittent rain showers, overtaking Massa for the lead with just four laps remaining. After the controversy at the Hungarian Grand Prix (see below), however, relations between Alonso and his team declined. It was reported in the media that he was no longer on speaking terms with Hamilton,^[30] and it was speculated that he might leave McLaren at the end of the season.^[31] On 7 August 2007 The Times reported that McLaren would let Alonso leave the team at the end of the season if he wished, two years earlier than his contract allowed.^[32] Alonso went on to finish third in the driver's championship, level on points with team-mate Hamilton and just one point behind World Champion Kimi Räikkönen (the closest 1–2–3 in WDC history).

As part of the espionage controversy between McLaren and Ferrari, the former were found guilty of breaching the Article 151c of the FIA's sporting regulations but went unpunished due to a lack of evidence. However, following the acquisition of new evidence by the FIA, a new hearing was held on 13 September. The new evidence consisted largely of email traffic between Alonso and test driver Pedro de la Rosa.^[33] The FIA's World Motor Sport Council report following the hearing stated that Alonso and de la Rosa had obtained and used confidential Ferrari technical data and sporting strategy information from senior McLaren engineer Mike Coughlan via Ferrari employee Nigel Stepney, including during test sessions. Both drivers were spared sanctions in exchange for providing evidence.

On 2 November 2007, after a turbulent year with McLaren, it was announced that McLaren and Alonso had mutually agreed to terminate his contract and that he would be free to join any team for 2008 without paying McLaren any compensation.^[34]

2008–2009: Return to Renault[link]

Alonso testing for Renault in January 2008

Alonso driving for Renault at the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix

Alonso took a surprise victory at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Alonso was linked with several teams for the 2008 season after his split with McLaren. Renault, Red Bull, Toyota and Honda were all suggested in the media. Renault's Flavio Briatore stated that he would welcome Alonso's return to the French team. On 10 December 2007, Alonso signed a two-year contract to drive for Renault alongside Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet, Jr. for around £25 million.^[35][36]

In the first two rounds of the 2008 season, the Renault was not as competitive as it had previously been. Alonso finished fourth and eighth in Australia and Malaysia respectively, fuelling rumours that Alonso would leave the team because he was disappointed with his Renault and was either moving to BMW Sauber, Honda or Toyota. BMW boss Mario Theissen was keen to get Alonso to replace Nick Heidfeld in order to get the team their first win. Honda rumours started when Alonso said in an interview that he felt there was something about Honda and he wanted to drive for them in 2009 and switching to Ferrari in 2010. Toyota said they were eager to give a top driver their seat. But the most likely place that Alonso would go was to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari in 2009, especially in light of the general belief that there was an "out clause" in Fernando Alonso's contract with Renault which would give him the freedom to move to another team for the next season should he be able to secure a deal. However Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo stated that Massa's seat in the team was secure and would stay that way until the end of his contract in 2010.^[37] Räikkönen was also given a two-year contract extension to partner Massa until the end of 2010,^[38] essentially closing the door on Alonso for a possible move to Ferrari. In 2008, Alonso denied the "out clause" rumour.

In the Bahrain Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton ran into the back of Alonso's Renault, heavily damaging the rear wing of the Spaniard's car, as well as his own nosecone. Stewards did not seek to investigate the incident but critics alleged he braked (or did not accelerate as expected) in front of Hamilton causing Hamilton to crash into him.^[39] The telemetry data from Alonso's car proved these accusations to be wrong.^[40] Hamilton himself stated "I was behind him, and I moved to the right, and he moved to the right and that was it – a racing incident I guess".^[41] It was later revealed by McLaren that Hamilton's front wing, which was damaged when he hit Alonso earlier in the race, had broken seconds before the impact and has been identified as the cause of the crash. Alonso started the Spanish Grand Prix with promising pace, qualifying on the front row in second place behind Kimi Räikkönen even though he had a light fuel load. He was running in fifth place when his engine blew on lap 35. He praised his team after finishing sixth in the Turkish Grand Prix, as he was behind the more competitive BMW cars at the end, and said that the result "confirms the progress we have made, and is thanks to the hard work of everyone in the team".^{[citation needed]}

Alonso failed to score in the next two races, finishing tenth at the Monaco Grand Prix, after puncturing a tyre against the barrier and a collision with Nick Heidfeld and retiring from the Canadian Grand Prix after crashing into the wall on lap 45, having qualified fourth. Alonso had been keeping pace with the BMW Saubers, who would eventually go on to record their maiden win with Robert Kubica after pitlane dramas plagued both Ferrari and McLaren. In France, Alonso qualified behind the two Ferraris in third, aided by Lewis Hamilton's grid penalty for the pit-lane accident in Canada. However, he was on a light fuel load, and his task was made much harder by being beaten by the slower Toyota of Jarno Trulli at the start. He then faded back to seventh and towards the end of the race while catching Mark Webber's Red Bull he ran wide at the Adelaide hairpin and slipped behind team-mate Piquet, Jr. to finish eighth.

Alonso finished sixth at Silverstone, saying that he had used up all of his available tyres for the unpredictable wet conditions, and that by using practically slick tyres towards the end, he lost a lot of time in certain places on the track. Despite qualifying fifth at the German Grand Prix, he finished in eleventh after spinning off whilst battling with the Williams of Nico Rosberg. In the Hungarian Grand Prix, he finished in fourth place having started seventh, aided by Lewis Hamilton's early puncture and Felipe Massa's engine failing in the closing stages.

In the European Grand Prix, Alonso performed strongly in all three practice sessions and the first round of qualifying. However, he failed to make it through the second round of qualifying, starting 12th. During the opening lap of the race, Alonso was hit by Kazuki Nakajima in the rear wing of his car and sustained unrepairable damage to his gearbox, and was forced to retire from the race. In Belgium, Alonso ran in the top five for most of the race, but when heavy rain fell towards the end of the race, he gambled on pitting for wet tyres with one lap to go. He dropped four places, but a fast final lap saw him reclaim the lost spots, passing Kubica and Sebastian Vettel at the final corner. In the Italian Grand Prix, Alonso achieved his second consecutive fourth place, and allowed Renault to equal Toyota for fourth in the constructors standings.

Alonso claimed his first victory and podium of the season by winning the Singapore Grand Prix. After performing strongly in practice, a fuel pressure problem in the second part of qualifying forced him to park the car, causing him to qualify 15th. In the race he started with a light fuel load on soft tyres, and pitted early when he realised that this would not be successful. However, team-mate Piquet crashed bringing out the safety car, which eliminated the lead of the frontrunners. When they pitted after the pit lane was reopened, they rejoined behind those who had already stopped. This moved Alonso up among top six, and he ultimately won the race, earning the 20th win and 50th podium of his career. In September 2009, after being dropped by Renault, Piquet said that the crash had been intentional and had been requested by Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds. Alonso was declared to be innocent by the subsequent FIA investigation.

Alonso carried his good form into the Japanese Grand Prix, for which he qualified fourth.^[42] Running on a two stop strategy Alonso won his second successive race, finishing ahead of Kubica and Räikkönen. In the last 2 races in China and Brazil, Alonso scored a fourth and a second place respectively. In the last eight races of the season Alonso scored 48 points, which was more than any other driver (over the same period Massa scored 43 points and Hamilton scored 40 points). He finished the season fifth overall with 61 points, while also enabling Renault to finish fourth in the constructors standings with 80 points, ahead of fifth-placed Toyota.

On 5 November, Flavio Briatore confirmed that Renault had agreed a two year extension on Alonso's original contract, ending speculation about a supposed move to Ferrari, and a Renault contract "out-clause".

2009

Alonso at the 2009 Turkish Grand Prix

The new Renault R29 car did not meet up to Alonso's expectations at the start of the year, after it performed poorly in winter testing, despite the fact that there were no major reliability issues. For the second consecutive year, Nelson Piquet, Jr. would be his team-mate.

In the Australian Grand Prix he avoided a first lap accident and benefited from the late safety car in the closing stages, deployed for Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel's collision, to finish fifth. Although pleased to score points, he was "disappointed" at how his KERS system worked during the race. He did not score points in Malaysia (eleventh) or China (ninth, after he qualified in second), finishing over a minute behind the race winner on both occasions.

Alonso finished seventh in Germany

He finished eighth in the Bahrain Grand Prix, despite struggling with a broken drinks bottle during the race, which resulted in him collapsing with dehydration during a post-race TV interview. In Spain he spent most of the race in sixth despite an exciting battle with Mark Webber early on, before capitalising on Felipe Massa backing off with fuel conservation worries on the last lap, and going on to finish fifth. In Monaco, he benefited from the retirements of Heikki Kovalainen and Sebastian Vettel to score two points for seventh after a steady performance from ninth on the grid.

Alonso on his way to fifth place at the 2009 Italian Grand Prix

He failed to score any points in Turkey, as he was unable to keep pace with the frontrunners, and struggled on to finish tenth, while in Britain, he lost places at the start, and got stuck behind Nick Heidfeld early on. Despite some good fights, especially with former teammate Lewis Hamilton, the poor pace of his car meant he was always likely to struggle for points and finished in 14th, two places behind team-mate Piquet. At the Nurburgring, Alonso lost places at the first corner, before getting stuck in traffic. However, he went on to finish seventh, and was catching the two Brawn cars of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello towards the end. For the last stint, he was the fastest man on the track, half a second quicker than the leaders, which resulted in the fastest lap of the race.

Alonso took his only podium of 2009 at Singapore

In Hungary, he took his only pole position of the season (on a short fuel load), and led for the first stint of the race until his retirement, when his pit-crew fitted a wheel incorrectly. After replacing the wheel, Alonso retired with a fuel pump problem. In Valencia, he finished in sixth place, describing it was the best he could do, after his team appealed successfully over a one-race ban suspended for the race after the pit-stop incident in Hungary. However, his fastest race lap was slower than new team-mate Romain Grosjean, replacing the sacked Piquet, despite Grosjean spending most of the race towards the back.

Alonso was forced to retire in Belgium in a near repeat of the front tyre incident in Hungary, although this time the tyre was damaged after contact with Adrian Sutil's Force India on the first lap. This led to a chaotic pit stop when a replacement tyre could not be fitted properly and his team chose to retire him on safety grounds to avoid a further sanction following the Hungarian incident. At Monza he finished fifth, passing McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen during the race, despite again complaining about the car's KERS system, particularly after getting away from the grid poorly.

He finished in a strong third place in Singapore, admitting that it was a great result, "allowing to put behind us the past few weeks". However, this was his and Renault's only podium of 2009, a year after the Crashgate saga. Alonso controversially dedicated his podium afterwards to recently departed team boss Flavio Briatore, saying "he is part of the success we had today".^[43]

In Japan, he was penalised five grid places for failing to slow down for yellow flags after Sébastien Buemi crashed, scattering debris onto the track. The R29's pace was again disappointing, when he could only manage to climb up to 10th from 16th place on the grid, despite a late safety car period after Jaime Alguersuari crashed heavily. Alonso said that his race was pretty much decided in qualifying, although he admitted that his car seemed to be fairly competitive. In Brazil however, he retired on the first lap when Adrian Sutil and Jarno Trulli collided, and Alonso was unable to avoid the out-of-control Force India, which had spun onto the wet grass, terminally damaging a sidepod on the Spaniard's car, forcing him to retire.

He admitted that he had wanted to end his successful period at Renault on a high at the final race of the year in Abu Dhabi. However, he spent the whole race towards the back of the grid, and finished 14th after qualifying in 16th. After the race, he paid tribute to Renault, saying that he wanted "to thank the entire team for everything that we have achieved together",^{[citation needed]} and wanted to concentrate on the positives during his time with Renault, which had included winning the 2005 and 2006 world championship titles. He finished ninth in the drivers standings overall, scoring all of Renault's 26 points during the season. As a result, Renault only finished eighth in the constructors ahead of two other teams, Force India and Toro Rosso.

2010–: Switch to Ferrari[link]

2010[link]