F1: Top 5 Races of Fernando Alonso - as he is set for his 300th start at Canadian GP 2018

Fernando Alonso is one of the best F1 drivers of all time and probably the best of his generation. Although he has not won any more championships since his time at Renault, he is still regarded highly even today. For most of his career, he never had the title-winning car but still managed to outdrive the car on most occasions. Some of the drives by him during his time at Ferrari and Mclaren were simply breathtaking.

Here are my top 5 races by him:

#5 Baku, 2018

The opening lap saw a three-way collision involving Fernando Alonso, Sergey Sirotkin, and Nico Hulkenberg. Fernando's car was heavily damaged: Front wing went off loose and both of the front tyres had got punctured. It seemed nearly impossible to carry on but somehow miraculously Fernando managed to scuttle his car to the pitlane.

At first, it looked like that he would retire after few laps but what happened after that was simply astounding. Alonso drove meticulously for the remaining part of the race and most of the time close to the wall. He was flat out and got the maximum out of the car which did not seem possible from outside. Fernando not only managed to bring the car to chequered flag but also secured 7th position, two above his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne. This showed the racing craft of this megastar.

After the race, Fernando himself was amazed to have got this result. He described it as "the best race of his career".

Though the season as of now has not been up to mark for Mclaren, this race was a result of "persistence and pride". This race showed that at the age of 36, Alonso is still one of the best drivers on the grid and how much he is outperforming that Mclaren car.

Let's hope that Mclaren soon provides him with a car which can fight for the podium because he deserves it

#4 Malaysia, 2012

Ferrari had a very disappointing winter, it was 2 seconds behind the pacesetter and many had written the team off. Australian GP showed the lack of pace where both the Ferraris were eliminated in Q2.

Fernando qualified 9th in the Malaysian GP, the second race of the season. No one thought Alonso would be on the podium, let alone race win, but Alonso defied all the odds and to everyone else's dismay won the race. It was one of the best races of the season that included chaos, rain, and the safety car. While others were making mistakes, Fernando perfectly capitalized on the situation and led the race during the latter stage.

Although there was some attack from Perez's Force India, the mistake in the end by Sergio with few laps remaining paved the path clear for Alonso.

Alonso did not put the foot wrong in the whole race and left the race as the championship leader. This race win was one of the many immaculate drives by Fernando that year which allowed him to fight for the championship until the end despite having only the third fastest car.

#3 San Marino, 2005

It was the fourth race of the season, Alonso had already won two back to back races. Kimi Raikkonen started from the pole and Alonso was behind him in the 2nd position. Raikkonen started off well and built up a big gap to the 2nd the position, before his car retired due to the engine problem.

This cleared the path for Alonso, who was unchallenged for the 50 laps until the second round of pitstops when Schumacher emerged second and just behind Alonso. Ferrari with the fresh rubber was clearly faster and with 12 laps still to go, it was looking difficult for Alonso to keep the great one behind.

Schumacher tried everything but Fernando being the master of the wheel to wheel battle had none of it. Alonso fended off the attack from Schumacher and increased his championship lead to 16 points. He then subsequently went on to win his first F1 championship that year.

#2 Italy, 2007

It was one of the races when Fernando Alonso was perfect from the start of the weekend. This race highlights the quality of Alonso to lead from the top when given a dominant car.

Alonso switched to Mclaren in 2007 after winning two championships with Renault. The season started off well, with Alonso securing two wins at Malaysia and Monaco. Unfortunately, thereafter everything was downhill: the relationship between the two drivers had fallen off and so was the relationship between Alonso and Ron Dennis.

Hamilton was leading the championship by 5 points before Italian GP and it was crucial for Alonso to get away from all the tussle outside the wheel and regain his focus.

Alonso did exactly that, he topped all the qualifying sessions and eventually won the race in a very dominating fashion with the hat-trick: pole position, race win, and the fastest lap. The race ranks high because of the timing of the win. As the relationship with the CEO had fallen, it was very difficult to perform at a high level, but Alonso showed his class in this race and got back to the championship fight.

#1 Valencia, 2007

2012 F1 championship already had 7 different winners in the first 7 races. Sebastian Vettel started from the pole for Red Bull while Alonso started from 11th.

Vettel was pipped to win the race but Alonso had other ideas. Fernando quickly gained 3 positions at the start and went up to 8th. He then quickly made successive overtakes and reached to 4th. Now, the safety car was deployed and slow pitstop for Hamilton helped Alonso to move up to third.

Still, Vettel was out of reach, but on the restart, Alonso quickly capitalized and overtook Grosjean to move up to second.

On the same lap, Vettel encountered engine problem and to everyone's amaze, Alonso moved to first. The crowd erupted as its hometown hero was now leading the race. Alonso, then went on to win the race and in an effect won from 11th on the grid. Alonso was full of emotions after the race and described it as "one of the best moment of his life".

Which is your favorite race among these? Or do you have any other race in your list? Have your say in the comments.

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