What happened to Alonso's F1 career?

Fernando Alonso was once the most revered driver in F1, but a case of wrong timing and poor luck in recent years has led him to announce his exit. 17 years ago, a teenage Alonso first arrived in F1 with an uncompetitive Minardi at the back of the grid.

Few imagined the backmarker would one day become the driver to end Michael Schumacher and Ferrari's historical run of five successive championships. Alonso did just that in only his fourth season by winning six races on route to his first ever world championship in 2005.

A year later he beat Schumacher in a season-long battle to become the sport's youngest double champion.

But it proved to be the pinnacle of his F1 career.

17 wins and 60 more podiums followed over the next 12 years, but no third title.

So what happened to a career that promised so much?

In this slideshow, we will examine the five key moments that changed things for Alonso.

The start of the decline

Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix: Qualifying

Alonso made the dream move to Mclaren for 2007 with a rookie teammate in Lewis Hamilton joining him.

With Schumacher gone, things looked set for Alonso to begin a new era of dominance.

But the Spaniard instead found a new challenger a little too close to home in Hamilton.

The rookie made spectacular progress in no time at all and became the equal of the two-time World Champion.

As the year progressed, tensions within the Mclaren camp reached a boiling point when Alonso blocked Hamilton in the pitlane in Hungary 2007.

Alonso would later fail to defend his title in the final race to Kimi Raikkonen with the Spaniard and Mclaren parting ways after a bitter year.

Returning to Renault, who had fallen down the pecking order in his absence, was the only option left for Alonso to continue for 2008.

Talks with Red Bull in 2008

Any hopes of a title challenge in 2008 at Renault ended early for Alonso after collecting 13 points in the first 10 races.

Although two race wins (including the infamous one at Singapore) in the latter stages earned him a respectable fifth place finish in the driver's standings.

But Alonso wanted out and investigated his options.

And among them was Red Bull.

The team principal Christian Horner confirmed last year they had come “very close” to signing Alonso for 2009.

But, with one eye on a Ferrari seat for 2010, Alonso refused to commit for over one year.

So Red Bull instead promoted a 20-year-old Sebastian Vettel from Toro Rosso.

The German then won four straight world titles in the following five years, while Alonso languished behind as best of the rest.

The move to Ferrari

After spending 2009 struggling for regular points finishes at Renault, Alonso sealed a move to Ferrari for 2010.

And leading new teammate Felipe Massa to a 1-2 finish in his first race at Bahrain established Alonso as a title challenger for 2010.

But his move to the Scuderia came at the same time Vettel and Red Bull's four-year domination of F1 began.

After nearly snatching the 2010 and 2012 titles in an inferior car, Alonso ended his five-year spell at Ferrari in 2014.

El Nano then announced a shock return to Mclaren.

The Mclaren-Honda dream

Mercedes became the new team to beat in 2014 upon the introduction of turbo engines and extensive energy recovery technology in F1.

To challenge the German manufacturer, Alonso switched to Mclaren-Honda in 2015.

Emulating his idol Ayrton Senna and joining a team that had engines designed only for their car were Alonso's reasons for joining.

But poor reliability and a lack of performance caused the partnership between Honda and Mclaren to end after three years.

The failed collaboration meant that Alonso scored just 82 points with 17 DNFs.

Meanwhile, his former team Ferrari had since emerged as Mercedes' main title challengers.

The last chance with Mclaren & Renault

Mclaren's switch to Renault power units for 2018 saw Alonso sign a “long-term” contract renewal in October last year.

The target for the working-based squad heading into the new campaign was matching Red Bull-Renault.

But a fifth-place finish in the opening race at Australia has been the highlight of Alonso’s campaign so far.

Seven more top-10 finishes and a further 34 points have come for Alonso.

But, now 37 years old, Alonso has called time on his F1 career to pursue other racing categories.

Conclusion

The Mclaren-Renault partnership was never going to become a competitive unit right from the start. It normally requires three years for new partnerships in F1 to maximise their potential. But it's been five years since Alonso last won a Grand Prix, which came in Spain 2013.

The 37-year-old has now taken on new challenges elsewhere and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year. Now he wants more and has decided to leave F1. Mclaren could improve next season, but the chances of challenging Mercedes and Ferrari are tiny.

So, Alonso will instead enter new racing categories where he can be a genuine challenger.

Although it marks a sad ending to what has been a brilliant career at the pinnacle of motorsport.

Despite the ups, downs, radio rants and controversies, Alonso leaves as a double world champion with 32 wins, 22 pole positions and 97 podiums to his name. To this day, he remains one most respected drivers on the current grid and leaves, arguably, as the greatest of his generation.

Edited by Moderator -PJ