Official name	City of Abu Dhabi
Continent	Asia
Name	Abu Dhabi|settlement_type City
Native name	أبوظبي ''Abū Dhabi"
Pushpin map	UAE
Pushpin mapsize	280
Pushpin map caption	Location of Abu Dhabi in the UAE
Government type	Constitutional monarchy
Subdivision type1	Country
Subdivision name1	United Arab Emirates
Coordinates display	inline,title
Coordinates type	region:AE-AZ_type:city
Leader title	Sheikh
Leader name	Khalifa bin Zayed
Leader title1	Crown Prince
Leader name1	Mohammed bin Zayed
Area total km2	67.34
Altitude	27
Population as of	2009
Population total	896,751
Population density km2	13317
Utc offset	+4
Timezone	UAE standard time
Website	Abu Dhabi Government Portal
Footnotes	}}

Abu Dhabi ( ''''), literally ''Father of gazelle'', is the capital and the second largest city in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. The city proper had an estimated population of 896,751 in 2009.

Abu Dhabi houses important offices of the federal government, and is the seat for the United Arab Emirates Government and the home for the Abu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE from this family. Abu Dhabi has grown to be a cosmopolitan metropolis. Its rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with the relatively high average income of its population, has transformed Abu Dhabi to a larger and advanced metropolis. Today the city is the country's center of political, industrial activities, and a major cultural, and commercial centre due to its position as the capital. Abu Dhabi alone generated 56.7% of the GDP of the United Arab Emirates in 2008.

Abu Dhabi is home to important financial institutions such as the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates and the corporate headquarters of many companies and numerous multinational corporations. One of the world's largest producers of oil, Abu Dhabi has actively attempted to diversify its economy in recent years through investments in financial services and tourism. Abu Dhabi is the second most expensive city for expatriate employees in the region, and 50th most expensive city in the world. ''Fortune'' & CNN stated that Abu Dhabi is the richest city in the world.

History

Early Civilizations

Abu Dhabi is full of archeological evidence pointing to civilizations having been located there from the 3rd millennium BCE. Settlements were also found further out of the modern city of Abu Dhabi but close to the modern city of Al Ain. There is evidence of civilizations around the mountain of Hafeet (Jebel Hafeet). This location is very strategic because it is the UAE’s second tallest mountain so it would have great visibility and it contains a lot of moisture in the form of springs and lakes today, which means there would have been even more back thousands of years ago.

Origins of the Al Nahyan Family

The Bani Yas Bedouin tribe made their civilization off the coast of the Persian Gulf in the 16th century due to the discovery of fresh water. This tribe was the most significant in the area, having over 20 subsections. The tribe was originally centered in the Liwa Oasis but the Al Bu Falah subsection migrated to modern Abu Dhabi in 1793. One section within this subsection was named the Al Nahyan Family. This family makes up the rulers of Abu Dhabi today.

Pearl Trade

Abu Dhabi worked in the pearl business and traded with others. According to a source about pearling the Persian Gulf was the best location for pearls. Pearl divers dived for one to one-and-a-half minutes, and would have dived up to thirty times per day. There were no oxygen tanks and any other sort of mechanical device was forbidden. The divers had a leather nose clip and leather coverings on their fingers and big toes to protect them while they searched for oysters. The divers were not paid for a day’s work but received a portion of the season’s earnings.

Trucial Coast

In the 19th century, as a result of treaties (known as "truces" which gave the coast its name) entered into between Great Britain and the sheikhs of the Gulf shore, Britain became the predominant influence in the area. The main purpose of British interest was to protect the trade route to India from pirates, hence the earlier name for the area, "the "Pirate Coast". After piracy was suppressed other considerations came into play, such as a strategic need of the British to exclude other powers from the region. Following their withdrawal from India in 1947, the British maintained their influence in Abu Dhabi as interest in the oil potential of the Gulf grew.

First Oil Discoveries

In the 1930s, as the pearl trade declined, interest grew in the oil possibilities of the region. On 5 January 1936, Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Ltd, an associate company of the Iraq Petroleum Company, entered into a concession agreement with the ruler, Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan al Nahyan, to explore for oil. This was followed by a seventy-five-year concession signed in January 1939. However, owing to the desert terrain, inland exploration was fraught with difficulties. In 1953, D'Arcy Exploration Company, the exploration arm of British Petroleum, obtained an offshore concession which was then transferred to a company created to operate the concession: Abu Dhabi Marine Areas (ADMA) was a joint venture between BP and Compagnie Française des Pétroles (later Total). In 1958, using a marine drilling platform, the ADMA Enterprise, oil was struck in the Umm Shaif field at a depth of about 8,755 feet. This was followed in 1959 by PDTC’s onshore discovery well at Murban No.3.

In 1962, the company discovered the Bu Hasa field and ADMA followed in 1965 with the discovery of the Zakum offshore field. Today, in addition to the oil fields mentioned, the main producing fields onshore are Asab, Sahil and Shah, and offshore are al-Bunduq, and Abu al-Bukhoosh.

Geography and climate

The city of Abu Dhabi is geographically located on the north-eastern part of the Persian Gulf in the Arabian Peninsula. It is on an island located less than two-hundred-and-fifty metres from the mainland and is joined to the mainland by the Maqta and Mussafah Bridges. A third, Sheikh Zayed Bridge, designed by Zaha Hadid, was opened in late 2010. Abu Dhabi Island is also connected to Saadiyat Island by a five-lane motorway bridge. Al-Mafraq bridge connects the city to Reem Island and was completed in early 2011. This is a multilayer interchange bridge and it has a total of twenty-seven lanes which allow roughly twenty-five thousand automobiles to move per hour. There are three major bridges of the project, the largest has eight lanes, four leaving Abu Dhabi city and four coming in.

Most of Abu Dhabi is located on the island itself, but it has many suburbs on the mainland for example: Khalifa City A,B and C, Al Raha Beach, Al Bahia City A,B and C, Al Shahama, Al Rahba, Between Two Bridges, Baniyas and Mussafah Residential.

Abu Dhabi has a hot arid climate. Sunny blue skies can be expected throughout the year. The months of June through September are generally hot and humid with maximum temperatures averaging above . During this time, sandstorms also occur intermittently, in some cases reducing visibility down to a few meters.

The weather is cooler from November to March. This period also sees dense fog on some days. The oasis city of Al-Ain, about away, bordering Oman, regularly records the highest summer temperatures in the country; however, the dry desert air and cooler evenings make it a traditional retreat from the intense summer heat and year-round humidity of the capital city.

Governance and politics

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the hereditary ruler of Abu Dhabi (UAE). He is a son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first president of the United Arab Emirates. His half-brother, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and wields considerable influence as Chairman of Abu Dhabi's Executive Council and Deputy Supreme Commander of the armed forces of The United Arab Emirates.

The total number of members of the Executive Council has been slimmed down to 98 since the succession and it now consists largely of prominent members of the ruling family as well as a number of respected politicians.

The emirates maintain their hereditary rulers who, as a group, form the UAE’s Supreme Council of Rulers, headed by the president. Although the presidency is renewable every five years through a vote in the council, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan held the presidency from the formation of the UAE until his death in November 2004, and there is an implicit understanding that Abu Dhabi’s ruler will always be elected president.

At a federal level, laws must be ratified by the Supreme Council. The Council of Ministers forms the executive authority of the state. This 20-member cabinet is headed by the president’s chosen prime minister, a post currently held by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The cabinet also refers to the Federal National Council (FNC), a 40-member consultative body to which each emirate appoints a certain number of members. In the case of Abu Dhabi, this is eight. The procedures for appointment to the FNC have recently been amended so that each emirate must now select its representatives through an electoral body. The size of each electoral authority must be 100 times greater than the number of representatives it appoints. Half the members of each electoral body will be selected by the ruler of the emirate while the other half will be directly elected by residents of the emirate. These amendments are considered to be the first step in a wider electoral reform program which will see greater representation at a federal level.

The Abu Dhabi Information & Service Gateway www.abudhabi.ae

frame|alt=Logo of the Abu Dhabi Information and Service Gateway|Abu Dhabi Gateway Logo|right|400pxThe Abu Dhabi e-Government Gateway, abudhabi.ae, is the official website of Abu Dhabi Government providing citizens, residents, tourists and businesses comprehensive information and services around Abu Dhabi. The Gateway is a one-stop-shop for information about the ruling system, environment, sightseeing, events, labour law, jobs and contact details of over 90 departments in Abu Dhabi.

The website is designed as a service oriented portal with the objective of hosting government online services, delivering up-to-date information and providing a platform for interaction between the government and society. More than 50 interactive and transactional services are currently provided through the Abu Dhabi e-Government Gateway. The information & service gateway is also empowered by a multi-layered geographic map of Abu Dhabi, which allows the user to view the map based on his area of interest. The search and directory services on the portal cover a large diversity of information including schools, medical facilities, hotels, restaurants, events, trade names among others. Transactional services such as paying traffic fines, applying for fishing licence or requesting Property Certificates require secure authentication via Emirates ID (EIDA-card) and PIN.

Cityscape

Neighborhoods

Al Mushrif

Al Khubeirah

Al Ras Al Akhdar

Al Bateen

Hideriyyat

Marina Village

Lulu Island

Al Meena

Al Markaziyah

Al Dhafrah

Al Manhal

Qasr El Bahr

Al Nahyan

Al Rowdaj

Qasr El Shatie

Al Qubesat

Al Aman

Al Moroor

Al Zahraa

Al Rehhan

Al Muzoon

Al Madina

Al Maqtaa

{[aL Maqtaa}]

Architecture

The density of Abu Dhabi varies, with high employment density in the central area, high residential densities in central downtown and lower densities in the suburbs. In the dense areas, most of the concentration is achieved with medium- and high-rise buildings. Abu Dhabi's skyscrapers such as the notable Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Tower, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi headquarters, the Hilton Hotel Tower and the Etisalat headquarters are usually found in the financial districts of Abu Dhabi. Other notable modern buildings include the Emirates Palace with its design inspired by Arab heritage, and the www.visitabudhabi.com

The development of tall buildings has been encouraged in the Abu Dhabi Plan 2030, which will lead to the construction of many new skyscrapers over the next decade, particularly in the expansion of Abu Dhabi's central business district such as the new developments on Al Sowwah Island and Al Reem Island. Abu Dhabi already has a number of supertall skyscrapers under construction throughout the city. Some of the tallest buildings on the skyline include the Central Market Residential Tower, the The Landmark (Abu Dhabi) and the 74-storey, Sky Tower. Also many other skyscrapers over (500 ft) are either proposed or approved and could transform the city's skyline. As of July 2008, there were 62 high-rise buildings under construction, approved for construction, or proposed for construction.

One of the most important architectural landmarks is the majestic Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, located in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. This masterpiece is arguably one of the most important architectural treasures of contemporary UAE society - and one of the most beautiful in the world. It was initiated by the late President of the United Arab Emirates, HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, fondly thought of as the father of the UAE.

Its design and construction 'unites the world', using artisans and materials from many countries including Italy, Germany, Morocco, India, Turkey, Iran, China, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Greece and of course the United Arab Emirates. More than 3,000 workers and 38 renowned contracting companies took part in the construction of the Mosque! Natural materials were chosen for much of its design and construction due to their long-lasting qualities, including marble, stone, gold, semi-precious stones, crystals and ceramics. Construction began on November 5, 1996. The maximum capacity is approximately 41,000 people and the overall structure is 22,412 square metres and although still under completion, the internal prayer halls were initially opened in December 2007.

As one of the most visited buildings in the UAE, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center was established to manage the day to day operations, as a place of worship and Friday gathering and also a centre of learning and discovery through its education and visitor programs. Persons planning a visit the mosque can go to www.szgmc.ae for all the information they require.

Parks and gardens

Abu Dhabi has over 2000 well-maintained parks and gardens and more than 400 km of coastline, of which 10 km are public beaches.

Economy

The UAE’s large hydrocarbon wealth gives it one of the highest GDP per capita in the world and Abu Dhabi owns the majority of these resources – 95% of the oil and 6% of gas. Abu Dhabi thus holds 9% of the world’s proven oil reserves (98.2bn barrels) and almost 5% of the world’s natural gas (5.8 trillion cu metres). Oil production in the UAE was in the region of 2.3m barrels per day (bpd) in 2010, and projects are in progress to boost production to 3m bpd. In recent years the focus has turned to gas as increasing domestic consumption for power, desalination and reinjection of gas into oil fields increases demand. Gas extraction is not without its difficulties, however, as demonstrated by the sour gas project at Shah where the gas is rich in hydrogen sulphide content and is expensive to develop and process.

Recently the government has been diversifying their economic plans. Served by high oil prices, the country’s non oil and gas GDP has outstripped that attributable to the energy sector. Remarkably, non oil and gas GDP now constitutes 64% of the UAE’s total GDP. This trend is reflected in Abu Dhabi with substantial new investment in industry, real estate, tourism and retail. As Abu Dhabi is the largest oil producer of the UAE, it has reaped the most benefits from this trend. It has taken on an active diversification and liberalisation programme to reduce the UAE’s reliance on the hydrocarbon sector. This is evident in the emphasis on industrial diversification with the completion of an industrial free zone, Industrial City of Abu Dhabi, and the construction of another, ICAD II, in the pipeline. There has also been a drive to promote the tourism and real estate sectors with the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and the Tourism and Development Investment Company undertaking several large-scale development projects. These projects will be served by an improved transport infrastructure with a new port, an expanded airport and a proposed rail link between Abu Dhabi and Dubai all in the development stages.

Abu Dhabi is the wealthiest emirate of the UAE in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and per capita income. More than $1 trillion is invested worldwide in this city alone. The GDP per capita also reached $63,000, which is far above the average income of the United Arab Emirates and which ranks third in the world after Luxembourg and Norway. Abu Dhabi is also planning many future projects sharing with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and taking 29% of all the GCC future plannings. The United Arab Emirates is a fast-growing economy: in 2006 the per capita income grew by 9%, providing a GDP per capita of $49,700 and ranking third in the world at purchasing power parity. Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), currently estimated at US$ 875 billion, is the world's wealthiest sovereign fund in terms of total asset value. Etihad Airways maintains its headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi's government is looking to expand revenue from oil and gas production to tourism and other sorts of features which would attract different types of people. This goal is seen in the amount of attention Abu Dhabi is giving to its International Airport. The airport, in 2009, experienced a 30%+ growth in passenger usage. This idea of diversification of the economy is also seen in the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 planned by the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council. In this plan Abu Dhabi's economy will be sustainable and not be dependent on any one facet or source of revenue. More specifically the non-oil portion of income is planned to be increased from about 40% to about 60%.

Utility services

The water supply in Abu Dhabi is managed by the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company. As of 2006, it supplied 560.2 MiGD (million imperial gallons per day) of water, while the water demand for 2005–06 was estimated to be 511 MiGD. The Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) states that groundwater is the most significant source of water, as well as desalinated potable water, and treated sewage effluent. At 40.6 MiGD, the Umm Al Nar storage is the largest water source for Abu Dhabi, followed by the rivers Shuweihat and Taweelah. With falling groundwater level and rising population density, Abu Dhabi faces a severely acute water shortage. On average each Abu Dhabi resident uses of water per day. Abu Dhabi daily produces 1,532 tonnes of solid wastes which is dumped at three landfill sites by Abu Dhabi Municipality. The daily domestic waste water production is 330 MiGD and industrial waste water is 40 MiGD. A large portion of the sewerage flows as waste into streams, and separation plants.

The city's per capita electricity consumption is about 41,000 kWh and the total supplied is 8,367 MW as of 2007. The distribution of electricity is carried out by companies run by SCIPCO Power and APC Energy. The Abu Dhabi Fire Service runs 13 fire stations that attend about 2,000 fire and rescue calls per year.

State-owned Etisalat and private du communication companies provide telephone and cell phone service to the city. Cellular coverage is extensive, and both GSM and CDMA (from Etisalat and Du) services are available. Etisalat, the government owned telecommunications provider, held a virtual monopoly over telecommunication services in Abu Dhabi prior to the establishment of other, smaller telecommunications companies such as Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC — better known as Du) in 2006. Internet was introduced into Abu Dhabi in 1995. The current network is supported by a bandwidth of 6 GB, with 50,000 dialup and 150,000 broadband ports. Etisalat recently announced implememnting a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network in Abu Dhabi during the third quarter of 2009 to make the emirate the world's first city to have such a network.

City planning

The city was planned in the 1970s for an estimated maximum population of 600,000. In accordance with what was considered to be ideal urban planning at the time, the city has wide grid-pattern roads, and high-density tower blocks. On the northerly end of the island, where the population density is highest, the main streets are lined with 20- to 30-story towers. Inside this rectangle of towers is a normal grid pattern of roads with lower density buildings (2-story villas or 6-story low-rise buildings).

Abu Dhabi is a modern city with broad boulevards, tall office and apartment buildings, and busy shops. Principal thoroughfares are the Corniche, Airport Road, Sheikh Zayed Street, Hamdan Street and Khalifa Street. Abu Dhabi is known in the region for its greenery; the former desert strip today includes numerous parks and gardens. The design of the inner city roads and main roads are quite organised. Starting from the Corniche, all horizontal streets are oddly and the vertical ones evenly numbered. Thus, the Corniche is Street #1, Khalifa is Street #3, Hamdan is Street #5, and so on. Conversely, Salam Street is St #8.

Mail is generally delivered to post-office boxes only; however, there is door-to-door delivery for commercial organizations. There are many parks throughout the city. Entrance is usually free for children, however there is often an entrance fee for adults. The Corniche, the city's seaside promenade, is about in length, with gardens, playgrounds, and a BMX/skateboard ring.

In 2007 the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) was established, which is the agency responsible for the future of Abu Dhabi’s urban environments and the expert authority behind the visionary Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 Urban Structure Framework Plan that was published in September 2007. The UPC is also working on similar plans for the regions of Al-Ain and Al-Gharbia.

Because of the rapid development of Abu Dhabi, a number of challenges to the city's urban organization have developed, among them:

Today, the city's population far surpasses the original estimated maximum population when it was designed. This causes traffic congestion, a shortage of car parking spaces, and overcrowding.

Although there is an addressing system for the city, it is not widely used, causing problems in describing building locations. Directions must often be given based on nearby landmarks.

Demographics

According to the Abu Dhabi Department of Planning and Economy, in 2006 the population of the emirate was 1,463,491.

As the emirate covers , nearly 87% of the UAE, the population density is .

Abu Dhabi also ranks as the 26th most expensive city in the world, and the second most in the region behind Dubai.

As of 2001, 25.6% of the population of the emirate was made up of UAE nationals. Approximately 74.4% of the population was expatriates. The median age in the emirate was about 30.1 years. The crude birth rate, as of 2005, was 13.6%, while the crude death rate was about 2%.

Article 7 of the UAE's Provisional Constitution declares Islam the official state religion of the UAE. The government subsidizes almost 95% of mosques and employs all imams.

The majority of the inhabitants of Abu Dhabi are expatriate workers from India, Pakistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines, the United Kingdom and various countries from across the Arab world. Consequently, English, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, Somali, Tigrinya, Amharic and Bengali are widely spoken. Apart from Urdu and Hindi spoken by Indians and Pakistanis, many South Asian expatriates also contribute other South Asian languages to the cultural milieu, including Malayalam, the main language spoken in the state of Kerala.

The native-born population are Arabic-speaking Gulf Arabs who are part of a clan-based society. The Al Nahyan family, part of the al-Falah branch of the Bani Yas clan, rules the emirate and has a central place in society.

Transportation

Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) is the city's main aviation hub and the second busiest airport in the UAE, serving 9.02 million passengers in 2008, up 30.2% on 2007. Its terminal spaces are dominated by Etihad Airways which is the UAE's national carrier and the country's second largest airline. A new terminal opened in 2009 with total capacity reaching 12 million passengers per annum by 2011. Development work has also started on a new passenger terminal, to be situated between the two runways and known as the Midfield Terminal. The new mega-midfield terminal complex will be capable of handling an additional 20 million passengers a year initially and then later, as Abu Dhabi develops as a major Middle East transport hub, up to 50 million passengers a year, thus providing a major competition to Dubai International Airport. The terminal will initially include 42 gates, rising to more than 90 gates on completion of the airport.

Public transport systems in Abu Dhabi include the Abu Dhabi public buses, taxis, ferries, and airplanes. White-and-mustard metered taxis traverse most of the city in UAE. Currently newer silver-colored taxis are coming in, while the old mustard-colored ones are being phased out. Abu Dhabi has about 8,000 old bronze/yellow/gold & white taxis, which will be phased out from 2008 to 2010.

The first town bus entered service in about 1969 but this was all part of a very informal service. On 30 June 2008 the Department of Transport began public bus service in Abu Dhabi with four routes. In an attempt to entice people to use the bus system, all routes were zero-fare until the end of 2008. The four routes, which operate between 6 am and midnight every day, run at a frequency of 10 to 20 minutes. Within the first week of service, the bus network had seen high ridership. Some of the buses, which have a maximum capacity of 45 passengers, only had room for standing left. Some bus drivers reported as many as 100 passengers on a bus at one time. Although the new, zero-fare bus service has been a success, many taxi drivers are losing business. Taxi drivers have seen a considerable decrease in the demand for taxis while lines were forming for the buses. The service steadily expanded and by the end of 2008, 230 buses were in service. In 2009, the Department of Transport plans to have 21 bus routes in the city, operated by 820 buses. A total of 1,360 buses are expected to be in operation by 2010.

A massive expansion of public transport is anticipated within the framework of the government's Surface Transport Master Plan 2030. The expansion is expected to see of metro and of tramways and/or bus rapid transit (BRT) routes.

Culture

Abu Dhabi has a diverse and multicultural society. The city's cultural imprint as a small, ethnically homogenous pearling community was changed with the arrival of other ethnic groups and nationals — first by the Iranians in the early 1900s, and later by Indians and Pakistanis in the 1960s. Abu Dhabi has been criticized for perpetuating a class-based society, where migrant workers are in the lower classes. Despite the diversity of the population, only minor and infrequent episodes of ethnic tensions, primarily between expatriates, have been reported in the city. Major holidays in Abu Dhabi include ''Eid al Fitr'', which marks the end of ''Ramadan'', Eid ul-Adha which marks the end of Hajj, and National Day (2 December), which marks the formation of the United Arab Emirates.

This unique socioeconomic development in the Persian Gulf has meant that Abu Dhabi is generally more tolerant than its neighbours. While Islam is the main religion, Emaritis have been known for their tolerance; Christian churches, Hindu temples, and Sikh gurdwaras can be found alongside mosques. The country is home to several communities that have faced persecution elsewhere. The cosmopolitan atmosphere is gradually growing and as a result, there are a variety of Asian and Western schools, cultural centers and themed restaurants.

Abu Dhabi is home to a number of cultural institutions including the Cultural Foundation and the National Theater. The Cultural Foundation, while closed for reconstruction as of spring 2011, is home to the UAE Public Library and Cultural Center. Various cultural societies such as the Abu Dhabi Classical Music Society have a strong and visible following in the city. The recently launched Emirates Foundation offers grants in support of the arts, as well as to advance science and technology, education, environmental protection and social development. The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) will be based in Abu Dhabi. The city also stages hundreds of conferences and exhibitions each year in its state-of-the-art venues, including the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) which is the Persian Gulf's largest exhibition center and welcomes around 1.8 million visitors every year.

The Red Bull Air Race World Series has been a spectacular sporting staple for the city for many years, bringing tens of thousands to the waterfront. Another major event is the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC).

The diversity of cuisine in Abu Dhabi is a reflection of the cosmopolitan nature of the society. Arab food is very popular and is available everywhere in the city, from the small shawarma to the upscale restaurants in the city's many hotels. Fast food and South Asian cuisine are also very popular and are widely available. The sale and consumption of pork, though not illegal, is regulated and it is sold only to non-Muslims in designated areas. Similarly, the sale of alcoholic beverages is regulated. A liquor permit is required to purchase alcohol; however, alcohol is available in bars and restaurants within four or five star hotels but is not sold as widely as in its liberal neighbour Dubai. ''Shisha'' and ''qahwa'' boutiques are also popular in Abu Dhabi.

Poetry in Abu Dhabi and the UAE is highly regarded and often is centric around the themes of satire, religion, family, chivalry and love. According to an article from an Abu Dhabi tourism page, sheikhs, teachers, sailors and princes make a large bulk of the poets within the UAE. A unique form of poetry to the UAE was formed in the 8th century by Al Khalil bin Ahmed and it was written in 16 meters. The first known poet from the UAE, Ibn Majid, was born sometime between 1432 and 1437 in Ras Al Khaimah. According to the tourism page Majid came from a family of sailors and 40 of his works have survived. Another Emeriti poet, Ibn Daher is from the 17th century. Daher is important because he used Nabati poetry (AKA Bedouin poetry), poetry written in the vernacular instead of the classical/religious Arabic. Other important poets from the UAE are Mubarak Al Oqaili (1880–1954), Salem bin Ali al Owais (1887–1959) and Ahmed bin Sulayem (1905–1976). These poets made headway in the field of Classical Arabic poetry as opposed to the Nabati poetry of the 17th century.

One of Ibn Masjid’s most prominent works is a book called, Kitab al-Fawa’id fi Usul ‘Ilm al-Bahr wa ’l-Qawa’id (Book of Useful Information on the Principles and Rules of Navigation), and it was written in 1490. This book is effectually an encyclopedia about navigation and sailing in and around the Indian Ocean. Masjid also goes into detail about the intricacies and technologies of the Arab sailing techniques. An excerpt from his book is as follows:

Today in Abu Dhabi there is a group called the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation that works to preserve the art and culture of the city. According to an article from the English Pen Atlas Al jawaher wal la'li was the first manuscript to come out of the UAE. According to another article this book was written in the 1990s and was banned in the city for some time for making accusations about the ruling family.

Education

Abu Dhabi is home to several international and local private schools and universities, including government-sponsored United Arab Emirates University in Al-Ain, Higher Colleges of Technology and New York Film Academy, Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi University in Abu Dhabi. These boast several languages that make up the population of the city. A large number of schools target the expatriate population by following the same syllabi as in their native countries. For e.g.: The Abu Dhabi Indian School follows the CBSE Indian syllabus. INSEAD, the prestigious international business school, has established a campus in February 2010, offering an Executive MBA and executive education courses. New York University opened a government-sponsored satellite campus in Abu Dhabi in September 2010.

Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) maintains a comprehensive after-school program for interested and talented Jiu-Jitsu students. The Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Schools Program began in 2008 under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, who is a keen Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor. The program launched in 14 schools for pupils in grades 6 and 7, and has since expanded to 42 government schools, with 81 Brazilian coaches brought in as instructors.

The students aged from 9 to 13 years old are taught Brazilian Jiu-jitsu as part of the curriculum. The plan is for up to 500 schools to be participating in the School-Jitsu program by 2015. The project was set up by special request of HH Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the head coach of the Emirates Jiu-jitsu team Carlos Santos, now also the managing director of the School-Jitsu Project.

Abu Dhabi provides a free scholarship program to students through The Petroleum Institute.www.pi.ac.ae. It is considered one of the best engineering colleges in UAE. It is being launched by ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) and offers degrees in Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical, Petroleum, Reservoir and other engineering sectors. A notable aspect of the Petroleum Institute is that after graduation, they trained their students on their petroleum rigs provided them jobs in oil companies. The Petroleum Institute is one of the few higher education Institutions to offer students such job security. Every year in the season of admissions an exhibition is launched in Abu Dhabi Exhibition Center under the supervision of the government.Universities from every corner of the world exhibit their career programs and scholarship programs for globally bright students.This seems to be a well defined platform for the students of all nationalities.Univrsity of Heriot Watt,University of Bolton,Cambridge university,Oxford university,The Petroluem institute,Khalifa University and Abu dhabi University.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Abu Dhabi is twinned with:

	Bethlehem, Palestinian National Authority>Palestinian Authority	* Madrid, Spain ''(2007)''	* Houston, Texas, United States ''(2002)''		Brisbane, Australia ''(since 2009)''	* Islamabad, Pakistan	* Minsk, Belarus ''(since 2007)''		* Nicosia, Cyprus ''(since 2004)''	* Iquique, Chile	* Roskilde, Denmark ''(since 2011)''

See also

Abu Dhabi International Airport

Al-Ain

Aldar headquarters

Department of Municipal Affairs, Abu Dhabi Department of Municipal Affairs.

Dubai

Dubai-Abu Dhabi Highway

Marawah

Postage stamps and postal history of Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Zayed Mosque

National Center for Documentation and Research

References

External links

Municipality of Abu Dhabi City

Abu Dhabi information portal, abudhabi.ae

Department of Municipal Affairs Portal, abudhabi.ae

Abu Dhabi City Bus Route, wikitravel.org

2030 transport master plan, dot.abudhabi.ae

Category:Capitals in Asia Category:Metropolitan areas of the United Arab Emirates Category:Populated coastal places in the United Arab Emirates Category:Populated places in the United Arab Emirates

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name	Michael Schumacher
nationality	German
birth date	January 03, 1969
2011 car number	7
2011 team	Mercedes GP
races	281 (280 starts)
championships	7 (, , , , , , )
wins	91
podiums	154
poles	68
fastest laps	76
first race	1991 Belgian Grand Prix
first win	1992 Belgian Grand Prix
last win	2006 Chinese Grand Prix
last race
last season	2010
last position	9th (72 pts)
points	1,483 }}

Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. He holds many of the formula's driver records, including most championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, points scored and most races won in a single season – 13 in 2004. In 2002 he became the only driver in Formula One history to finish in the top three in every race of a season and then also broke the record for most consecutive podium finishes.

After beginning with karting, Schumacher won German drivers' championships in Formula König and Formula Three before joining Mercedes in the World Sportscar Championship. After one Mercedes-funded race for the Jordan Formula One team Schumacher signed as a driver for the Benetton Formula One team in 1991. After winning consecutive championships with Benetton in 1994/5, Schumacher moved to Ferrari in 1996 and won another five consecutive drivers' titles with them from 2000–2004. Schumacher retired from Formula One driving in 2006 staying with Ferrari as an advisor. Schumacher agreed to return for Ferrari part-way through 2009, as cover for the badly injured Felipe Massa, but was prevented by a neck injury. He later signed a 3-year contract to drive for the new Mercedes GP team starting in .

His career has not been without controversy, including being twice involved in collisions in the final race of a season that determined the outcome of the world championship, with Damon Hill in 1994 in Adelaide, and with Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 in Jerez.

Off the track Schumacher is an ambassador for UNESCO and a spokesman for driver safety. He has been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts throughout his life and donated tens of millions of dollars to charity. Michael and his younger brother Ralf Schumacher are the only brothers to win races in Formula One, and they were the first brothers to finish 1st and 2nd in the same race, in Montreal in 2001, and there again (in switched order) in 2003.

Early years

Schumacher was born in Hürth, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany, to Rolf Schumacher, a bricklayer, and his wife Elisabeth. When Schumacher was four, his father modified his pedal kart by adding a small motorcycle engine. When Schumacher crashed it into a lamp post in Kerpen, his parents took him to the karting track at Kerpen-Horrem, where he became the youngest member of the karting club. His father soon built him a kart from discarded parts and at the age of six Schumacher won his first club championship. To support his son's racing, Rolf Schumacher took on a second job renting and repairing karts, while his wife worked at the track's canteen. Nevertheless, when Schumacher needed a new engine costing 800 DM, his parents were unable to afford it; Michael was able to continue racing with support from local businessmen.

Regulations in Germany require a driver to be at least 14 years old to obtain a kart license. To get around this, Schumacher obtained a license in Luxembourg at the age of 12.

In 1983, he obtained his German license, a year after he won the German Junior Kart Championship. From 1984 on, Schumacher won many German and European kart championships. He joined Eurokart dealer Adolf Neubert in 1985 and by 1987 he was the German and European kart champion, then he quit school and began working as a mechanic. In 1988 he made his first step into single-seat car racing by participating in the German Formula Ford and Formula König series, winning the latter.

In 1989, Schumacher signed with Willi Weber's WTS Formula Three team. Funded by Weber, he competed in the German Formula 3 series, winning the title in 1990. At the end of 1990, along with his Formula 3 rivals Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger, he joined the Mercedes junior racing programme in the World Sports-Prototype Championship. This was unusual for a young driver: most of Schumacher's contemporaries would compete in Formula 3000 on the way to Formula One. However, Weber advised Schumacher that being exposed to professional press conferences and driving powerful cars in long distance races would help his career. In the 1990 World Sportscar Championship season, Schumacher won the season finale at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in a Sauber–Mercedes C11, and finished fifth in the drivers' championship despite only driving in 3 of the 9 races. He continued with the team in the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season, winning again at the final race of the season at Autopolis in Japan with a Sauber–Mercedes-Benz C291, leading to a ninth place finish in the drivers championship. He also competed at Le Mans during that season, finishing 5th in a car shared with Karl Wendlinger and Fritz Kreutzpointner. In 1991, he competed in one race in the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship, finishing second.

Formula One career

Overview

Schumacher was noted throughout his career for his ability to produce fast laps at crucial moments in a race, to push his car to the very limit for sustained periods. Motor sport author Christopher Hilton observed in 2003 that "A measure of a driver's capabilities is his performance in wet races, because the most delicate car control and sensitivity are needed", and noted that like other great drivers, Schumacher's record in wet conditions shows very few mistakes: up to the end of the 2003 season, Schumacher won 17 of the 30 races in wet conditions he contested. Some of Schumacher's best performances occurred in such conditions, earning him the nicknames "''Regenkönig''" (rain king) or "''Regenmeister''" (rain master)., even in the non-German language media. He is known as "the Red Baron", because of his red Ferrari and in reference to the German Manfred von Richthofen, the famous flying ace of World War I. Schumacher's nicknames include "Schumi", "Schuey" and "Schu". Schumacher is often credited with popularising Formula One in Germany, where it was formerly considered a fringe sport. When Schumacher retired in 2006, three of the top ten drivers were German, more than any other nationality and more than have ever been present in Formula One history. Younger German drivers, such as Sebastian Vettel, felt Schumacher was key in their becoming Formula One drivers. In the latter part of his Formula One career, and as one of the senior drivers, Schumacher was the president of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. In a 2006 FIA survey, Michael Schumacher was voted the most popular driver of the season among Formula One fans.

Debut

Schumacher made his Formula One debut with the Jordan-Ford team at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, driving car number 32 as a replacement for the imprisoned Bertrand Gachot. Schumacher, still a contracted Mercedes driver, was signed by Eddie Jordan after Mercedes paid Jordan $150,000 for his debut. The week before the race, Schumacher impressed Jordan designer Gary Anderson and team manager Trevor Foster during a test drive at Silverstone. His manager Willi Weber assured Jordan that Schumacher knew the challenging Spa track well, although in fact he had only seen it as a spectator. During the race weekend, team-mate Andrea de Cesaris was meant to show Schumacher the circuit but was held up with contract negotiations. Schumacher then learned the track on his own, by cycling around the track on a fold-up bike he had brought with him. He impressed the paddock by qualifying seventh in this race. This matched the team's season-best grid position, and out-qualified 11-year veteran de Cesaris. Motorsport journalist Joe Saward reported that after qualifying "clumps of German journalists were talking about 'the best talent since Stefan Bellof. Schumacher retired on the first lap of the race with clutch problems.

Benetton

After his debut, and despite Jordan's signed agreement in principle with Schumacher's Mercedes management for the remainder of the season, Schumacher was signed by Benetton-Ford for the following race. Jordan applied for an injunction in the UK courts to prevent Schumacher driving for Benetton, but lost the case as they had not yet signed a contract. Schumacher finished the season with four points out of six races. His best finish was fifth in his second race, the , in which he finished ahead of his team-mate and three-time World Champion Nelson Piquet.

At the start of the season the Sauber team, planning their Formula One debut with Mercedes backing for the following year, invoked a clause in Schumacher's contract which stated that if Mercedes entered Formula One, Schumacher would drive for them. It was eventually agreed that Schumacher would stay with Benetton, Peter Sauber said that "[Schumacher] didn't want to drive for us. Why would I have forced him?". The year was dominated by the Williams of Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese, featuring powerful Renault engines, semi-automatic gearboxes and active suspension to control the car's ride height. In the "conventional" Benetton B192 Schumacher took his place on the podium for the first time, finishing third in the . He went on to take his first victory at the , in a wet race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which by 2003 he would call "far and away my favourite track". He finished third in the Drivers' Championship in 1992 with 53 points, three points behind runner-up Patrese.

The Williams of Damon Hill and Alain Prost also dominated the season. Benetton introduced their own active suspension and traction control early in the season, last of the frontrunning teams to do so. Schumacher won one race, the where he beat Prost, and had nine podium finishes, but retired in seven of the other 15 races. He finished the season in fourth, with 52 points.

1994–1995: World Championship years

The season was Schumacher's first Drivers' Championship. The season, however, was marred by the deaths of Ayrton Senna (witnessed by Schumacher, who was directly behind in 2nd position) and Roland Ratzenberger during the , and by allegations that several teams, including Schumacher's Benetton team, broke the sport's technical regulations.

Schumacher won six of the first seven races and was leading the , before a gearbox failure left him stuck in fifth gear. Schumacher finished the race in second place. Following the San Marino Grand Prix, the Benetton, Ferrari and McLaren teams were investigated on suspicion of breaking the FIA-imposed ban on electronic aids. Benetton and McLaren initially refused to hand over their source code for investigation. When they did so, the FIA discovered hidden functionality in both teams' software, but no evidence that it had been used in a race. Both teams were fined $100,000 for their initial refusal to cooperate. However, the McLaren software, which was a gearbox program that allowed automatic shifts, was deemed legal. By contrast, the Benetton software was deemed to be a form of "launch control" that would have allowed Schumacher to make perfect starts, which was explicitly outlawed by the regulations. At the , Schumacher was penalised for overtaking on the formation lap. He then ignored the penalty and the subsequent black flag, which indicates that the driver must immediately return to the pits, for which he was disqualified and later given a two-race ban. Benetton blamed the incident on a communication error between the stewards and the team. Schumacher was also disqualified after winning the after his car was found to have illegal wear on its skidblock, a measure used after the accidents at Imola to limit downforce and hence cornering speed. Benetton protested that the skidblock had been damaged when Schumacher spun over a kerb, but the FIA rejected their appeal because of the pattern of wear and damage visible on the block. These incidents helped Damon Hill close the points gap, and Schumacher led by a single point going into the final race in Australia. On lap 36 Schumacher hit the guardrail on the outside of the track while leading. Hill attempted to pass but as Schumacher's car returned to the track there was a collision on the corner causing them both to retire. As a result Schumacher won a very controversial championship, the first German to do so (Jochen Rindt raced under the Austrian flag).

In Schumacher successfully defended his title with Benetton. He now had the same Renault engine as Williams. He accumulated 33 more points than second-placed Damon Hill. With team-mate Johnny Herbert, he took Benetton to its first Constructors' Championship and became the youngest two-time world champion in Formula One history.

The season was marred by several collisions with Hill, in particular an overtaking manoeuvre by Hill took them both out of the on lap 45 and again on lap 23 of the Italian Grand Prix. Schumacher won nine of the 17 races, and finished on the podium 11 times. Only once did he qualify worse than fourth; at the , he qualified 16th, but went on to win the race. After Schumacher left Benetton at the end of the year, the team won only one more race before being bought by Renault in 2000.

Ferrari

In , Schumacher joined Ferrari for a salary of $50 million over 2 years, a team which had last won the Drivers' Championship with Jody Scheckter in and which had not won the Constructors' Cup since 1983 with drivers René Arnoux and Patrick Tambay at the wheel. He left Benetton a year before his contract with them expired; he later cited the team's damaging actions in 1994 as his reason for opting out of his deal. A year later, ex-Benetton employees Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn, who had been Technical Director at Benetton since 1991, and who was one of the key members behind Schumacher's title successes with the team in 1994 and 1995, decided to join Schumacher at Ferrari. This increased Schumacher's motivation to build a more experienced and potentially championship-winning team around him.

Ferrari had previously come close to the championship in 1982 and 1990. The team had suffered a disastrous downturn in the early 1990s, partially as their famous V12 engine was no longer competitive against the smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient V10s of their competitors. Various drivers, notably Alain Prost, had given the vehicles labels such as "truck", "pig", and "accident waiting to happen". The poor performance of the Ferrari pit crews was considered a running joke. At the end of 1995, though the team had improved into a solid competitor, it was still considered inferior to front-running teams such as Benetton and Williams. Schumacher declared the Ferrari 412T good enough to win the Championship.

Schumacher, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, and Jean Todt (hired in 1993), have been credited as turning this once struggling team into the most successful team in Formula One history. Three-time World Champion Jackie Stewart believes the transformation of the Ferrari team was Schumacher's greatest feat. Eddie Irvine also joined the team, moving from Jordan.

1996–1999

Schumacher finished third in the Drivers' Championship in 1996, and helped Ferrari to second place in the constructors' championship ahead of his old team Benetton. He won three races, more than the team's total tally for the period from 1991 to 1995. During the initial part of the 1996 season, the car had had reliability trouble and Schumacher did not finish 6 of the 16 races. He took his first win for Ferrari at the Spanish Grand Prix, where he lapped the entire field up to third place in the wet. In the Schumacher qualified in pole position, but suffered engine failure on the race's formation lap. However at Spa-Francorchamps, Schumacher used well-timed pit-stops to fend off the Williams' Jacques Villeneuve. Following that, at Monza, Schumacher won in front of the tifosi. Schumacher's ability, combined with the improving reliability of Ferrari, enabled him to end the season, putting up a challenge to eventual race and championship winner Damon Hill at Suzuka.

Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve vied for the title in . Villeneuve, driving the superior Williams FW19, led the championship in the early part of the season. However, by mid-season, Schumacher had taken the Championship lead, winning five races, and entered the season's final Grand Prix with a one-point advantage. Towards the end of the race, held at Jerez, Schumacher's Ferrari developed a coolant leak and loss of performance indicating he may not finish the race. As Villeneuve approached to pass his rival, Schumacher attempted to provoke an accident but got the short end of the stick, retiring from the race. Villeneuve went on and scored four points to take the championship. Schumacher was punished for unsportsmanlike conduct for the collision and was disqualified from the Drivers' Championship.

In , Finnish driver Mika Häkkinen became Schumacher's main title competition. Häkkinen won the first two races of the season, gaining a 16 point advantage over Schumacher. Schumacher then won in Argentina and, with the Ferrari improving significantly in the second half of the season, Schumacher took six victories and had five other podium finishes. Ferrari took a 1–2 finish at the , the first Ferrari 1–2 finish since 1990, and the , which tied Schumacher with Häkkinen for the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 80 points, but Häkkinen won the Championship by winning the final two races. There were two controversies; at the Schumacher was leading on the last lap when he turned into the pit lane, crossed the start finish line and stopped for a ten second stop go penalty. There was some doubt whether this counted as serving the penalty, but, because he had crossed the finish line when he came into the pit lane, the win was valid. At Spa, Schumacher was leading the race by 40 seconds in heavy spray, but collided with David Coulthard's McLaren when the Scot, a lap down, slowed in very poor visibility to let Schumacher past. After both cars returned to the pits, Schumacher leaped out of his car and headed to McLaren's garage in an infuriated manner and accused Coulthard of trying to kill him.

Rumours circulated that Coulthard may be replaced by Schumacher for the 1999 season and beyond and, in a previous edition of the F1 Racing magazine, Ron Dennis revealed that he had approached Schumacher to sign a deal with McLaren. However, peripheral financial issues that tied Schumacher with Ferrari, such as sponsorship agreements and payment, could not be rectified in a move to the rival team and so, no deal came to fruition.

Schumacher's efforts helped Ferrari win the Constructors title in . He lost his chance to win the Drivers' Championship at the at the high-speed ''Stowe Corner'', his car's rear brake failed, sending him off the track and resulting in a broken leg. During his 98 day absence, he was replaced by Finnish driver Mika Salo. After missing six races, he made his return at the inaugural , qualifying in the pole position by almost a second. He then assumed the role of second driver, assisting team mate Eddie Irvine's bid to win the Drivers' Championship for Ferrari. In the last race of the season, the , Häkkinen won his second consecutive title. Schumacher would later say that Häkkinen was the opponent he respected the most.

2000–2004: World Championship years

During this period Schumacher won more races and championships than any other driver in the history of the sport. Schumacher won his third World Championship in after a year-long battle with Häkkinen. Schumacher won the first three races of the season and five of the first eight. Mid-way through the year, Schumacher's chances suffered with three consecutive non-finishes, allowing Häkkinen to close the gap in the standings. Häkkinen then took another two victories, before Schumacher won at the . At the post race press conference, after equalling the number of wins (41) won by his idol, Ayrton Senna, Schumacher broke into tears. The championship fight would come down to the penultimate race of the season, the . Starting from pole position, Schumacher lost the lead to Häkkinen at the start. After his second pit-stop, however, Schumacher came out ahead of Häkkinen and went on to win the race and the championship.

In , Schumacher took his fourth drivers' title. Four other drivers won races, but none sustained a season-long challenge for the championship. Schumacher scored a record-tying nine wins and clinched the world championship with four races yet to run. He finished the championship with 123 points, 58 ahead of runner-up Coulthard. Season highlights included the , where Schumacher finished 2nd to his brother Ralf, thus scoring the first ever 1–2 finish by brothers in Formula One; and the Belgian Grand Prix in which Schumacher scored his 52nd career win, breaking Alain Prost's record for most career wins.

In , Schumacher used the Ferrari F2002 to retain his Drivers' Championship. There was again some controversy, however, at the , where his teammate, Rubens Barrichello was leading but in the final metres of the race, under orders, slowed to allow Schumacher to win the race. The crowd broke into outraged boos at the result and Schumacher tried to make amends by placing Barrichello at the top step of the podium. At the later that year, Schumacher dominated the race and was set for a close finish with Barrichello. At the end he slowed down to create a formation finish with Barrichello, but slowed too much allowing Barrichello to take the victory. In winning the Drivers' Championship he equalled the record set by Juan Manuel Fangio of five world championships. Ferrari won 15 out of 17 races, and Schumacher won the title with six races remaining in the season. Schumacher broke his own record, shared with Nigel Mansell, of nine race wins in a season, by winning eleven times and finishing every race on the podium. He finished with 144 points, a record-breaking 67 points ahead of the runner-up, his teammate Rubens Barrichello. This pair finished 9 of the 17 races in the first two places.

Schumacher broke Juan Manuel Fangio's record of five World Drivers' Championships by winning the drivers' title for the sixth time in , a closely contested season. The biggest competition came once again from the McLaren Mercedes and Williams BMW teams. In the first race, Schumacher ran off track, and in the following two, was involved in collisions. He fell 16 points behind Kimi Räikkönen. Schumacher won the and the next two races, and closed within two points of Räikkönen. Aside from Schumacher's victory in Canada, and Barrichello's victory in Britain, the mid-season was dominated by Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, who each claimed two victories. After the , Michael Schumacher led Montoya and Kimi Räikkönen by only one and two points, respectively. Ahead of the next race, the FIA announced changes to the way tyre widths were to be measured: this forced Michelin, supplier to Williams and McLaren among others, to rapidly redesign their tyres before the . Schumacher, running on Bridgestone tyres, won the next two races. After Montoya was penalised in the , only Schumacher and Räikkönen remained in contention for the title. At the final round, the , Schumacher needed only one point whilst Räikkönen needed to win. By finishing the race in eighth place, Schumacher took one point and assured his sixth World Drivers' title, ending the season two points ahead of Räikkönen.

In , Schumacher won a record twelve of the first thirteen races of the season, only failing to finish in Monaco after an accident with Juan Pablo Montoya during a safety car period when he briefly locked his car's brakes. He clinched a record seventh drivers' title at the . He finished that season with a record 148 points, 34 points ahead of the runner-up, teammate Rubens Barrichello, and set a new record of 13 race wins out of a possible 18, surpassing his previous best of 11 wins from the season.

2005–2006

Rule changes for the 2005 season required tyres to last an entire race, tipping the overall advantage to teams using Michelins over teams such as Ferrari that relied on Bridgestone tyres. The rule changes were partly in an effort to dent Ferrari's dominance and make the series more interesting. The most notable moment of the early season for Schumacher was his battle with Fernando Alonso in San Marino, where he started 13th and finished only 0.2 seconds behind the Spanish driver. Less than half-way through the season, Schumacher said "I don't think I can count myself in this battle any more. It was like trying to fight with a blunted weapon.... If your weapons are weak you don't have a chance." Schumacher's sole win in 2005 came at the . Prior to that race, the Michelin tyres were found to have significant safety issues. When no compromise between the teams and the FIA could be reached, all but the six drivers using Bridgestone tyres dropped out of the race after the formation lap. Schumacher retired in six of the 19 races. He finished the season in third with 62 points, fewer than half the points of world champion Alonso.

became the last season of Schumacher's Ferrari career. After three races, Schumacher had just 11 points and was already 17 points behind Alonso. He won the following two races. His pole position at San Marino was his 66th, breaking Ayrton Senna's 12 year old record.

Schumacher was stripped of pole position at the and started the race at the back of the grid. This was due to him stopping his car and blocking part of the circuit while Alonso was on his qualifying lap; he still managed to work his way up to 5th place on the notoriously cramped Monaco circuit. By the , the ninth race of the season, Schumacher was 25 points behind Alonso, but he then won the following three races to reduce his disadvantage to 11. His win at Hockenheim was the last home win for a German as of now. After his victories in Italy (in which Alonso had an engine failure) and China, in which Alonso had tyre problems, Schumacher led in the championship standings for the first time during the season. Although he and Alonso had the same point total, Schumacher was in front because he had won more races. The Japanese Grand Prix was led by Schumacher with only 16 laps to go, when, for the first time since the 2000 French Grand Prix, Schumacher's car suffered engine failure. Alonso won the race, which gave him a ten point championship lead. With only one race left in the season, Schumacher could only win the championship if he won the season finale and Alonso scored no points.

Before the , Schumacher conceded the title to Alonso. In pre-race ceremonies, football legend Pelé presented a trophy to Schumacher for his years of dedication to Formula One. During the race's qualifying session, Schumacher had the best time of all drivers through the first two sessions; but a fuel pressure problem prevented him from completing a single lap during the third session, forcing him to start the race in tenth position. Early in the race Schumacher moved up to sixth place. However, in overtaking Alonso's teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, Schumacher experienced a tyre puncture caused by the front wing of Fisichella's car. Schumacher pitted and consequently fell to 19th place, 70 seconds behind teammate and race leader Felipe Massa. Schumacher recovered and overtook both Fisichella and Räikkönen to secure fourth place. His performance was classified in the press as "heroic", an "utterly breath-taking drive", and a "performance that ... sums up his career".

2007–2009 Retirement

thumb|BMW Sauber with "Thanks Michael" messages towards Michael Schumacher on the back of their cars, Schumacher and Peter Sauber worked together in sports cars prior of entering in F1 in 1992.While Schumacher was on the podium after winning the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari issued a press release stating that he would retire from racing at the end of the 2006 season. Schumacher confirmed his retirement. The press release stated that Schumacher would continue working for Ferrari. It was revealed on 29 October 2006 that Ferrari wanted Schumacher to act as assistant to the newly appointed CEO Jean Todt. This would involve selecting the team's future drivers. After Schumacher's announcement, leading Formula One figures such as Niki Lauda and David Coulthard hailed Schumacher as the greatest all-round racing driver in the history of Formula One. The tifosi and the Italian press, who did not always take to Schumacher's relatively cold public persona, displayed an affectionate response after he announced his retirement.

2007: Advisor to Ferrari

During the season Schumacher acted as Ferrari's advisor and Jean Todt's 'super assistant'. He attended several Grands Prix during the season. Schumacher drove the Ferrari F2007 for the first time on 24 October at Ferrari's home track in Fiorano, Italy. He ran no more than five laps and no lap times were recorded. A Ferrari spokesman said the short drive was done for the Fiat board of directors who were holding their meeting in Maranello.

On 13 November 2007 Schumacher, who had not driven a Formula One car since he had retired a year earlier, undertook a formal test session for the first time aboard the F2007. He returned in December 2007 to continue helping Ferrari with their development program at Jerez circuit. He focused on testing electronics and tyres for the 2008 Formula One season.

2008: Car development

In 2007, former Ferrari top manager Ross Brawn said that Schumacher was very likely and also happy to continue testing in 2008. Michael Schumacher later explained his role further saying that he would "deal with the development of the car inside Gestione Sportiva" and as part of that "I'd like to drive, but not too often.".

During 2008 Schumacher also competed in motorcycle racing in the IDM Superbike-series, but stated that he had no intention of a second competitive career in this sport. He was quoted as saying that riding a Ducati was the most exhilarating thing he had done in his life, the second most being sky diving.

2009: Planned substitution for injured Massa

In his capacity as racing advisor to Ferrari, Schumacher was present in Budapest for the when Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was seriously injured after being struck by a suspension spring during qualifying. As it became clear that Massa would be unable to compete in the next race at Valencia Schumacher was chosen as a replacement for the Brazilian driver and on 29 July 2009, Ferrari announced that they planned to draft in Schumacher for the and subsequent Grands Prix until Massa was able to race again. Schumacher tested in a modified F2007 to prepare himself as he had been unable to test the 2009 car due to testing restrictions. Ferrari appealed for special permission for Schumacher to test in a 2009 spec car but Williams, Red Bull and Toro Rosso were against this test. Schumacher was forced to call off his return due to the severity of the neck injury he had received in a motorcycle accident earlier in the year. Massa's place at Ferrari was instead filled by Luca Badoer and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Mercedes GP

On 23 December 2009 it was announced Schumacher would be returning to Formula One in the season alongside fellow German driver Nico Rosberg in the new Mercedes GP team. On 16 November Mercedes had taken over the Brawn GP team which was their first majority involvement in an F1 team since 1955. Schumacher stated that his preparations to replace the injured Massa for Ferrari had initiated a renewed interest in F1 which, combined with the opportunity to fulfil a long-held ambition to drive for Mercedes and to be working again with team principal Ross Brawn, led Schumacher to accept the offer once he was passed fit. After a period of intensive training medical tests confirmed that the neck injury that had prevented him driving for Ferrari the year before had fully healed.

Ross Brawn had contacted Schumacher over a potential return to F1 with Mercedes involvement in November 2009, seeking a substitute for the possibly outgoing driver Jenson Button. On 2 November Rubens Barrichello had left Brawn GP followed by Button on 18 November with Rosberg announced by Mercedes as the first replacement driver on 23 November. The possible return of Schumacher began being reported in the German press on 13 December and, ten days later, Mercedes confirmed Schumacher's return completing their line-up. Schumacher signed a three year contract, reportedly worth £20m, with Mercedes who were thought to want 22-year-old German driver Sebastian Vettel as a long term replacement afterwards. In March 2010, The Daily Mail reported that Schumacher's deal was closer to £21m (€24m, $32m) a year.

Schumacher's surprise re-entry to the sport was compared to Niki Lauda's return in 1982 aged 33 and Nigel Mansell's return in 1994 at age 41. Schumacher turned 41 on 3 January 2010 and his prospects with Mercedes were compared with the record set by the oldest F1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio who was 46 when he won his fifth championship.

2010: Return to Formula One

Schumacher's first drive of the 2010 Mercedes car – the Mercedes MGP W01 – was at the official test on 2 February 2010 in Valencia. He finished sixth in the first race of the season at the . A fortnight later at the Schumacher, after running as high as third on the opening lap, was caught up in a tangle between Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button at the start and had to pit for a new front wing. He came from the back to finish in the points in tenth position after spending 20 laps behind Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari. In the Schumacher retired early in the race with a faulty wheel nut. Schumacher qualified 9th in the and finished 10th after being passed by several other drivers in the wet conditions towards the end of the race. After the race former driver Stirling Moss suggested that Schumacher, who had finished behind his team-mate in each of the first four qualifying sessions and races, might be "past it." Many other respected former Formula One drivers thought otherwise, including former rival Damon Hill, who warned "you should never write Schumacher off." GrandPrix.com identified the inherent understeer of the Mercedes car, exacerbated by the narrower front tyres introduced for the 2010 season, as contributing to Schumacher's difficulties. Jenson Button shed some more light on Schumacher's car trouble when he confessed that the Mercedes 2010 car was designed for him, and that his driving style is poles apart from Schumacher.

For the first European race of the season, the , Mercedes upgraded their car with revised aerodynamics and a longer wheelbase. Schumacher was ahead of Rosberg in qualifying and the race finishing fourth after defending his position from reigning world champion Jenson Button after the pit stops. At the Schumacher qualified seventh and finished sixth after passing Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on the final corner of the race when the safety car returned to the pits. However he was penalised 20 seconds after the race by the race stewards dropping him to 12th and thus out of the points. The stewards, advised by former world champion Damon Hill, judged the pass to be in breach of rule 40.13 of the sporting code stating that "If the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking." Mercedes GP had interpreted "the race control messages 'Safety Car in this lap' and 'Track Clear' and the green flags and lights shown by the marshals after safety car line one" to mean that the race would not finish under the safety car. The FIA subsequently outlined plans to clarify the regulations and Mercedes GP dropped their plans to appeal.

In Turkey, Schumacher had his best qualifying session since his return qualifying fifth ahead of team mate Rosberg in sixth. In the race Schumacher finished fourth which was his best race finish since his return. However 2 races later at the in Valencia, Schumacher finished a lowly 15th – his lowest recorded finish in his career – after being caught up in a controversial safety-car ruling, which also ruined the race of Fernando Alonso. Schumacher was near the front of the field until he was stuck at the end of the pit lane, following the safety car, while the majority of the field passed him. In Hungary, Schumacher finished outside the points in eleventh, but was found guilty of dangerous driving at while unsuccessfully defending tenth position against Rubens Barrichello. As a result he was demoted ten places on the grid for the following race, the Belgian Grand Prix, where he finished seventh, despite starting 21st after his grid penalty.

In the , Schumacher missed out on the top ten in qualifying but managed to finish ninth. A fortnight later at the , Schumacher finished 13th after the Sauber of Nick Heidfeld collided with him on Lap 36, knocking Heidfeld out of the race. At the , Schumacher finished sixth before a fourth and seventh in the next two races in Korea and Brazil. At the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Schumacher was involved in a major accident on the first lap, which occurred after Schumacher was spun around by his teammate Nico Rosberg. As Schumacher was trying to maneuver his car back around, Vitantonio Liuzzi's Force India ploughed into his Mercedes head-on, barely missing his head. Nobody was hurt in the crash, but Schumacher said the crash had been "frightening."

It was the first season since his début season in 1991 that Schumacher finished without a win, pole position, podium or fastest lap.

At the 2011 Wroom meeting in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, Fernando Alonso, the second most successful Formula One driver still racing, said of Schumacher: "He will be always super class; if the car is right, he will be a contender that we will fear most."

2011

After an unsuccessful , where he retired due to puncture damage, Schumacher had an average race in Malaysia, finishing in ninth place to score his team's only points, generally battling it out with the midfield of the pack. A problem with his DRS system resulted in Schumacher qualifying only 14th in China, but he worked his way up to 8th place during the race. He added more points with sixth place in Spain, and at the , Schumacher had arguably his best performance since returning from retirement. He finished in fourth position, but ran as high as second in a race which was almost entirely contested in wet conditions. Schumacher was passed late in the race by both Jenson Button, who went on to win the race, and Mark Webber, by the use of the DRS.

In Valencia, he ploughed into the side of Vitaly Petrov's Renault while exiting the pit lane, breaking his own front wing, meaning he had to pit again the following lap. This incident left him outside of the points, and eventually finished 17th. There was more of the same in Britain when Schumacher locked his front tyres while running behind Kamui Kobayashi, attempted to take avoiding action, and again broke his front wing spinning Kobayashi 180 degrees. As well as pitting to replace the wing, Schumacher served a 10 second stop-go penalty for the incident. Although working his way up to 9th, Schumacher was unhappy with the result and described the Kobayashi incident as his misjudgement.

In an interview with Italian newspaper ''Corriere dello Sport – Stadio'' during the mid-season break, Schumacher admitted that he needed to re-evaluate his position in Formula One.

Helmet

Schumacher, in conjunction with Schuberth, helped develop the first lightweight carbon helmet. In 2004, a prototype was publicly tested by being driven over by a tank; it survived intact. The helmet keeps the driver cool by funneling directed airflow through fifty holes.

Schumacher's original helmet sported the colours of the German flag and his sponsor's decals. On the top was a blue circle with white astroids. When Jos Verstappen was his team-mate, Schumacher added 4 red diagonal strokes over the visor to differentiate his helmet from his team-mate. After Schumacher joined Ferrari a prancing horse was added on the back. From the 2000 Monaco Grand Prix, in order to differentiate his colours from new teammate Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher changed the upper blue colour and some of the white areas to red.

He sported one-off helmet designs three times. For the 1998 Japanese Grand Prix, a title decider with Mika Häkkinen, he replaced the German flag with a chequered flag motif and reflective silver replacing the white areas. At the 2004 Italian Grand Prix the German flag design was replaced with an Italian flag in honour of his team's home race. For Brazilian Grand Prix race of 2006 (at the time intended to be his final Grand Prix), he wore an all-red helmet that included the names of his ninety-one Grand Prix victories. For the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix, Schumacher's 20th anniversary in Formula One, he wore a special gold plated helmet. The helmet, very similar to his current helmet, included the year of his début to the present, and the years of his seven world titles.

Honours

Schumacher has been honoured many times during his career. In April 2002, for his contributions to sport and his contributions in raising awareness of child education, he was named as one of the UNESCO Champions for sport, joining the other eight which include Pelé, Serhiy Bubka and Justine Henin. He won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award twice, in 2002 and 2004 for his performances in the and seasons respectively. He has also received nominations for the 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007 awards. No-one has been nominated more times than Schumacher in the award's seven-year history.

In honour of Schumacher's racing career and his efforts to improve safety and the sport, he was awarded an FIA Gold Medal for Motor Sport in 2006. In 2007, in recognition of his contribution to Formula One racing, the Nürburgring racing track renamed turns 8 and 9 (the Audi and Shell Kurves) as the ''Schumacher S'', and a month later he presented A1 Team Germany with the A1 World Cup at the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport 2007 awards ceremony. He was nominated for the Prince of Asturias Award for Sport for 2007, which he won both for sporting prowess and for his humanitarian record.

In 2008 the Swiss Football Association appointed Schumacher as the Swiss ambassador for the 2008 European football championship.

On 30 April 2010, Schumacher was honored with the Officier of Légion d'honneur title from French prime minister François Fillon.

Controversy

During his long career Schumacher has been involved in several incidents, which have caused considerable controversy.

Championship deciding collisions

Going into the 1994 Australian Grand Prix, the final race of the 1994 season, Schumacher led Damon Hill by a single point in the Drivers' Championship. Schumacher led the race from the beginning, but on lap 35 he went off track and brushed the wall with his right side wheels, returning to the track at reduced speed but still leading the race. At the next corner Hill attempted a pass on the inside while Schumacher was turning into the corner, and Schumacher and Hill collided. Both cars were eliminated from the race and, as neither driver scored, Schumacher took the title. The race stewards judged it a racing accident and took no action against either driver, but public opinion is divided over the incident, and Schumacher was vilified in the British media.

At the 1997 European Grand Prix at Jerez, the last race of the season, Schumacher led Williams' Jacques Villeneuve by one point in the Drivers' Championship. As Villeneuve attempted to pass Schumacher at the Dry Sack Corner on lap 48, Schumacher turned in and the right-front wheel of Schumacher's Ferrari hit the left side pod of Villeneuve's car. Schumacher retired from the race as a result but Villeneuve finished in third place, taking four points and so becoming the World Champion. The race stewards did not award any penalty, but two weeks after the race Schumacher was disqualified from the entire 1997 season after a FIA disciplinary hearing found that his "manoeuvre was an instinctive reaction and although deliberate not made with malice or premeditation. It was a serious error." Schumacher accepted the decision and admitted having made a mistake. Schumacher's actions were widely condemned in British, German, and Italian newspapers. This made Schumacher the only driver in the history of the sport, , to be disqualified from a Driver's World Championship, although the McLaren team was disqualified from the 2007 Constructor’s Championship and fined $100m for illegal possession of Ferrari technical information.

Team orders

Historically, team orders have always been an accepted part of Formula One. However, in the final metres of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, Schumacher's teammate, Rubens Barrichello, slowed his car under orders from Ferrari to allow Schumacher to pass and win the race. Although the switching of positions did not break any actual sporting or technical regulation, it angered fans and it was claimed that the team's actions showed a lack of sportsmanship and respect to the spectators. Many argued that Schumacher did not need to be "given" wins in only the 6th race of the season, particularly given that he had already won 4 of the previous 5 grands prix, and that Barrichello had dominated the race weekend up to that point. At the podium ceremony, Schumacher pushed Barrichello onto the top step, and for this disturbance, the Ferrari team incurred a US $1 million fine. Later in the season at the end of the 2002 United States Grand Prix, Schumacher slowed down within sight of the finishing line, allowing Barrichello to win by 0.011 seconds, the 2nd closest margin in F1 history. Schumacher's explanation varied between it being him "returning the favour" for Austria (now that Schumacher's title was secure), or trying to engineer a dead-heat (a feat derided as near-impossible in a sport where timings are taken to within a thousandth of a second). The FIA subsequently banned "Team orders which interfere with the race result", but the ban was lifted for the 2011 season because the ruling was difficult to enforce.

Dangerous driving

Toward the end of the 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix, Rubens Barrichello attempted to pass Schumacher down the inside on the main straight. Schumacher closed the inside line to force Barrichello onto the outside, but Barrichello persisted on the inside at , despite the close proximity of a concrete wall and Schumacher leaving him only inches to spare. Barrichello said ‘It is the most dangerous thing that I have been through’, and ‘There is not a rule for that but between ourselves we should take a line, stick to it and that's it.’ Schumacher said that ‘Obviously there was space enough to go through. We didn't touch, so I guess I just left enough space for him to come through.’ Ross Brawn said ‘at the end of the day he gave him enough space. You can argue that it was marginal, but it was just tough – tough racing.’ A range of ex-drivers and commentators were highly critical of Schumacher. Although there was no accident, the incident was ruled to be dangerous and Schumacher received a 10 place grid penalty for the next race. Schumacher accepted the decision, and apologised.

Other incidents

In 1995, Schumacher and Williams driver David Coulthard were disqualified for fuel irregularities, after a switch to Renault engines and Elf oils. On appeal, both drivers had their results and points reinstated, but both teams lost the points the results would normally have earned in the constructors championship.

The 1998 Canadian Grand Prix saw Schumacher accused of dangerous driving when his exit from the pit-lane forced Heinz-Harald Frentzen off the track and into retirement. Despite receiving a 10 second penalty, Schumacher recovered and won the race. In the press conference, he publicly accused Damon Hill of weaving dangerously as they fought for position, stating "If you want to kill me, find some other way", a statement widely condemned as either hypocritical, or a cynical ploy to divert attention from his actions with Frentzen.

Two laps from the finish of the 1998 British Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher was leading the race when he was issued a stop-and-go penalty for overtaking a lapped car (Alexander Wurz) during the early moments of a Safety Car period. This penalty involves going into the pit lane and stopping for 10 seconds, and the rules state that a driver must serve his penalty within three laps of the penalty being issued. On the third lap after receiving the penalty, Schumacher turned into the pit lane to serve his penalty, but as this was the last lap of the race, and as Ferrari's pit box was located after the start/finish line, Schumacher technically finished the race before serving the penalty. The stewards initially resolved that problem by adding 10 seconds to Schumacher's race time, then later rescinded the penalty completely due to the irregularities in how the penalty had been issued.

In the Belgian Grand Prix, Schumacher was involved in a race-ending collision whilst trying to lap David Coulthard in heavy spray. After the race he stormed into the McLaren garage and accused Coulthard of trying to kill him, and McLaren and Ferrari team members had to separate the drivers. Coulthard admitted some 5 years later that the accident had been his fault.

During qualifying for the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix Schumacher set the fastest time, but stopped his car in the Rascasse corner on the racing line, leaving the corner partially blocked, while his main contender for the season title, Fernando Alonso, was on his final qualifying lap. Schumacher stated that he simply locked up the wheels going into the corner and that the car then stalled while he attempted to reverse out. Alonso believed he would have been on pole if the incident had not happened, and Schumacher was stripped of pole position by the race stewards and started the race at the back of the grid. In the same qualifying session, Giancarlo Fisichella was similarly found to have blocked David Coulthard from improving his time, but Fisichella was only demoted five places on the grid.

At the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix, the safety car was deployed after an accident, involving Karun Chandhok and Jarno Trulli, and pulled into the pits on the last lap. Schumacher passed Alonso before the finish line. Mercedes held that “the combination of the race control messages ‘Safety Car in this lap’ and ‘Track Clear’ and the green flags and lights shown by the marshals after safety car line one indicated that the race was not finishing under the safety car and all drivers were free to race. This opinion appears to have been shared by the majority of the teams with cars in the top ten positions who also gave their drivers instructions to race to the finish line.” However an FIA investigation found Schumacher guilty of breaching Safety Car regulations and awarded him a 20-seconds penalty, which cost him 6 places.

Family and off-track life

Schumacher's younger brother Ralf was a Formula One driver until the end of 2007. Their stepbrother Sebastian Stahl has also been competing as a race car driver. In August 1995, Michael married Corinna Betsch. They have two children, Gina-Maria (born in 1997) and Mick (born in 1999). He has always been very protective of his private life and is known to dislike the celebrity spotlight, preferring a simple life. The family moved to a house near Gland, Switzerland in 2007, a 650 m² mansion with its own underground garage and petrol station, situated on a private beach on Lake Geneva. The family has two dogs – one stray that Corinna fell in love with in Brazil, and an Australian Shepherd named "Ed" whose entrance to the family made headlines. Schumacher personally drove a taxi through the Bavarian town of Coburg after collecting the dog, enabling the family to catch their return flight to Switzerland. Both Schumacher and the taxi driver were reprimanded by local police.

One of his main hobbies is horse riding, and he plays football for his local team FC Echichens. He has appeared in several football charity games and organised games between Formula One drivers.

On 23 June 2003, Schumacher was appointed as an Ambassador at Large for the Most Serene Republic of San Marino.

In 2004, ''Forbes'' magazine listed him as the 2nd highest paid athlete in the world. In 2005 ''Eurobusiness'' magazine identified Schumacher as the world's first billionaire athlete. His 2004 salary was reported to be around US $80 million. ''Forbes'' magazine ranked him 17th in their "The World's Most Powerful Celebrities" list. A significant share of his income came from advertising. For example, Deutsche Vermögensberatung paid him $8 million over three years from 1999 for wearing a 10 by 8 centimetre advertisement on his post-race cap. The deal was extended until 2010. He donated $10 million for aid after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. His donation surpassed that of any other sports person, most sports leagues, many worldwide corporations and even some countries. Schumacher's bodyguard Burkhard Cramer was killed in the tsunami along with his two sons.

Schumacher is a special ambassador to UNESCO and has donated 1.5 million Euros to the organization. Additionally, he paid for the construction of a school for poor children and for area improvements in Dakar, Senegal. He supports a hospital for child victims of war in Sarajevo, which specialises in caring for amputees. In Lima, Peru he funded the "Palace for the Poor", a centre for helping homeless street children obtain an education, clothing, food, medical attention, and shelter. He stated his interest in these various efforts was piqued both by his love for children and the fact that these causes had received little attention. While an exact figure for the amount of money he has donated throughout his life is unknown, it is known that in his last four years as a driver, he donated at least $50 million. In 2008 it was revealed that he had donated between $5M and $10M to the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park of Bill Clinton.

Since his participation in an FIA European road safety campaign, as part of his punishment after the collision at the 1997 European Grand Prix, Schumacher has continued to support other campaigns, such as Make Roads Safe, which is led by the FIA Foundation and calls on G8 countries and the UN to recognise global road deaths as a major global health issue. In 2008, Schumacher was the figurehead of an advertising campaign by Bacardi to raise awareness about responsible drinking, with a focus on communicating an international message 'drinking and driving don't mix'. He featured in an advertising campaign for television, cinema and online media, supported by consumer engagements, public relations and digital media across the world.

On the eve of the 2002 British Grand Prix, on behalf of Fiat, Schumacher presented a Ferrari 360 Modena to legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar at Silverstone.

On 21 June 2009, Schumacher appeared on the BBC's motoring programme ''Top Gear'' as The Stig. Presenter Jeremy Clarkson hinted later in the programme that Schumacher was not the regular Stig. The BBC has since confirmed that this is the case; Schumacher was there on that occasion because Ferrari would not allow anyone else to drive the one-of-a-kind black Ferrari FXX which was featured in the show. The FXX was presented to Schumacher upon his retirement at Monza in 2006.

When Schumacher appeared on ''Top Gear'' in 2009, he told Jeremy Clarkson during his interview that the road cars that he drives are a Fiat 500 Abarth, and a Fiat Croma which is his family car.

Racing record

Career summary

! Season	! Series	! Team	! Races	! Wins	! Poles	! F/Laps	! Podiums	! Points	! Position
1988			4	1	1	0	3	50
	7	3	0	0	5	124	6th
		10	9	1	1	10	192
1989	align=left		12	2	2	0	7	163
align=left	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
1990	align=left	align=left	3	1	0	1	3	21	=5th
align=left		11	5	6	4	7	148
align=left	1	0	1	1	0	N/A	NC
	1	1	0	0	0	N/A
1991	rowspan=2 align=left	align=left| Team 7UP Jordan	1	0	0	0	0	0
align=left| Camel Benetton Ford	5	0	0	0	0	4
align=left	align=left	8	1	0	2	2	43	9th
	align=left	4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
align=left		1	0	0	0	1	6	12th
! 1992	align=left	align=left| Camel Benetton Ford	16	1	0	2	8	53
! 1993	align=left	align=left| Camel Benetton Ford	16	1	0	5	9	52	4th
! 1994	align=left	align=left	14	8	6	8	10	92
! 1995	align=left	align=left	17	9	4	8	11	102
! 1996	align=left	align=left	16	3	4	2	8	59
! 1997	align=left	align=left	17	5	3	3	8	78
! 1998	align=left	align=left	16	6	3	6	11	86
! 1999	align=left	align=left	10	2	3	5	6	44	5th
! 2000	align=left	align=left	17	9	9	2	12	108
! 2001	align=left	align=left	17	9	11	3	14	123
! 2002	align=left	align=left	17	11	7	7	17	144
! 2003	align=left	align=left	16	6	5	5	9	93
! 2004	align=left	align=left	18	13	8	10	15	148
! 2005	align=left	align=left	19	1	1	3	5	62
! 2006	align=left	align=left	18	7	4	7	12	121
! 2007	align=left	align=left
! 2008	align=left	align=left
! 2009	align=left	align=left
! 2010	align=left		19	0	0	0	0	72	9th
! 2011	align=left		12	0	0	0	0	42*	8th*

Season in progress.

Source: Hilton, Christopher (2006). ''Michael Schumacher: The Whole Story.'' Haynes. ISBN 1-84425-008-3.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Year

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

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! 19

! WDC

List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems>Points

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Jordan Grand Prix>Team

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14th

4

! [[Camel (cigarette)

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[[Camel (cigarette)

! [[Benetton Formula

[[Ford Motor Company

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4th

52

! [[Benetton Formula

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7 Up

! [[Jordan Grand Prix

! [[Ford Motor Company

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14th

4

! [[Camel (cigarette)

! [[Benetton Formula

! [[Ford Motor Company

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bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

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bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

[[Camel (cigarette)

! [[Benetton Formula

[[Ford Motor Company

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bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

! [[Benetton Formula

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[[Camel (cigarette)

! [[Benetton Formula

[[Ford Motor Company

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4th

52

! [[Benetton Formula

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Benetton Formula>Benetton Ford

!

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ITA">Benetton Formula

! [[Ford Motor Company

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ITA

1994 Portuguese Grand Prix>POR

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''EUR''1

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Mild Seven Benetton Formula

Benetton Renault

!

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Scuderia Ferrari S.p.A.">Benetton Formula

! [[Renault F1

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Scuderia Ferrari S.p.A.

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Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

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Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

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Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

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AUT">Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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AUT

1999 German Grand Prix>GER

HUN

1999 Belgian Grand Prix>BEL

ITA

1999 European Grand Prix>EUR

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! 5th

! 44

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

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Scuderia Ferrari

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Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

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Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

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Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

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! [[Mercedes GP">Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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! [[Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team

! Mercedes GP

! [[Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines

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! 9th

! 72

! [[Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team

! [[Mercedes GP

! [[Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines

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! 8th*

! 42*

Season in progress. Schumacher was disqualified from the 1997 WDC due to dangerous driving in the European Grand Prix, where he caused an avoidable accident with Villeneuve. His points tally would have placed him in second place in that year's standings. Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Formula One records

Schumacher holds the following Formula One records:

! Record	! Number
List of Formula One driver records#Total championships>Championship titles	7 (, , , , , , )
! Consecutive titles	5 (–)
List of Grand Prix winners>Race victories	91
List of Formula One driver records#Most consecutive wins>Consecutive wins	7 (, 2004 European Grand Prix
! Wins with one team
! Wins at same GP
! Wins at different GPs	22
Longest Time between first and last wins	14 years, 32 days
! Second places	43
List of Formula One driver records#Total podium finishes>Podiums (Top 3)	154
List of Formula One driver records#Most consecutive podium positions>Consecutive podium finishes	19 (2001 United States Grand Prix
! Most consecutive top two finishes	15 ([[2002 Brazilian Grand Prix
Points finishes	209
! Consecutive points finishes	24 (2001 Hungarian Grand Prix
! Laps leading	4741 (22,155 km)
Pole positions	68
List of Formula One driver records#Total Starts from First Row>Front row starts	115
List of Formula One driver records#Total fastest laps>Fastest laps	76
List of Formula One driver records#Double (pole & win in same race)>Doubles (Pole and win)	40
List of Formula One driver records#Hat Trick (pole, win & fastest lap in same race)>Perfect Score (Pole, fastest lap and win)	22
List of Formula One driver records#Career points>Championship points	1,483
! Most wins in a season for a runner-up	7 ()
Autodromo Nazionale Monza>Monza (Formula One)	5
List of Formula One driver records#Most wins in a season>Wins in a season	13 (72%) ()
List of Formula One driver records#Most fastest laps in a season>Fastest laps in a season	10 ()
List of Formula One driver records#Most podium positions in a season>Podium finishes in a season	17 (100%) ()
! Championship won with most races left	6 ()
! Largest championship-winning margin	67 ()
! Consecutive years with a win	15 (–)
! Most races with 1 team	181 (Ferrari)

Record shared with Alberto Ascari (1952 Belgian GP–1953 Argentine GP). Some sources credit Ascari with nine consecutive wins, disregarding the 1953 Indianapolis 500 race, in which Ascari did not compete. The American race formed part of the world championship, but was not run to the same regulations as the other races and was very rarely attended by world championship drivers.

Record shared with Alain Prost ( and ) and Kimi Räikkönen ().

Record shared with Kimi Räikkönen ( and ).

Books and movies

Schumacher had a voice in the Disney/Pixar movie ''Cars''. His character is himself as a car (Ferrari F430). He also appeared as himself in a French movie ''Asterix and Obelix at the Olympic Games''.

References and notes

All race and championship results (1991–2006) are taken from the Official Formula 1 Website. 1991 Season review onwards. www.formula1.com. Retrieved 23 May 2007

External links

Michael Schumacher's official website

Profile – from Mercedes GP official website

Kartcenter and Museum

Kartteam Kaiser-Schumacher-Muchow

Formula1.com Profile

Career statistics

Michael Schumacher career statistics

News Articles about Michael Schumacher

Karl Wendlinger|after= Tom Kristensen|years=1990}} David Brabham|after= David Coulthard|years=1990}} Alain Prost|after= Damon Hill|years=–}} Mika Häkkinen|after= Fernando Alonso|years=––––}} Heikki KovalainenMarcus Grönholm|after= Incumbent|years= 2007–2010 with:Sebastian Vettel}} Felipe Massa | after = Rubens Barrichello | years = 2007}} Rubens Barrichello | after = Lucas di Grassi | years = 2009}} Damon Hill|title=AutosportInternational Driver of the Year|after= Damon Hill|years=1995}} Mika Häkkinen|title=AutosportInternational Driver of the Year|after= Juan Pablo Montoya|years=2000–2002}} Tiger Woods|title=Laureus World Sportsman of the Year|years=2002|after= Lance Armstrong}} Juan Pablo Montoya|title=Lorenzo Bandini Trophy|years=2003|after= Kimi Räikkönen}} Lance Armstrong|title=Laureus World Sportsman of the Year|years=2004|after= Roger Federer}} Spain national basketball team|title=Prince of Asturias Award for Sports|years=2007|after= Rafael Nadal}} Alain Prost51 wins(1980–1991, 1993)| after = Incumbent | years = 52nd at the 2001 Belgian GP}} }}

Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:People from Hürth Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Category:Ambassadors of San Marino Category:CIK-FIA Karting World Championship drivers Category:Benetton Formula One drivers Category:Ferrari Formula One drivers Category:Formula One World Drivers' Champions Category:Formula Ford drivers Category:German expatriates in Monaco Category:German expatriates in Switzerland Category:German Formula One drivers Category:German Formula Three Championship drivers Category:German racecar drivers Category:Japanese Formula 3000 Championship drivers Category:Laureus World Sports Awards winners Category:Monaco Grand Prix winners Category:German Roman Catholics

ace:Michael Schumacher af:Michael Schumacher ar:مايكل شوماخر ast:Michael Schumacher az:Mihael Şumaxer bn:মিশাএল শুমাখার map-bms:Michael Schumacher be:Міхаэль Шумахер be-x-old:Міхаэль Шумахер bi:Michael Schumacher bar:Michael Schumacher bs:Michael Schumacher bg:Михаел Шумахер ca:Michael Schumacher ceb:Michael Schumacher cs:Michael Schumacher cy:Michael Schumacher da:Michael Schumacher de:Michael Schumacher dv:މައިކަލް ޝޫމާކަރ et:Michael Schumacher el:Μίχαελ Σουμάχερ es:Michael Schumacher eo:Michael Schumacher eu:Michael Schumacher fa:میشائل شوماخر fr:Michael Schumacher fy:Michael Schumacher ga:Michael Schumacher gl:Michael Schumacher ko:미하엘 슈마허 hr:Michael Schumacher io:Michael Schumacher id:Michael Schumacher ie:Michael Schumacher zu:Michael Schumacher is:Michael Schumacher it:Michael Schumacher he:מיכאל שומאכר jv:Michael Schumacher kn:ಮೈಕೆಲ್ ಶೂಮಾಕರ್ ka:მიხაელ შუმახერი ht:Michael Schumacher la:Michael Schumacher lv:Mihaels Šūmahers lt:Michael Schumacher hu:Michael Schumacher ml:മൈക്കൾ ഷൂമാക്കർ mr:मिखाएल शुमाखर ms:Michael Schumacher nah:Michael Schumacher nl:Michael Schumacher ja:ミハエル・シューマッハ no:Michael Schumacher nn:Michael Schumacher pl:Michael Schumacher pt:Michael Schumacher ro:Michael Schumacher qu:Michael Schumacher ru:Шумахер, Михаэль sco:Michael Schumacher sq:Michael Schumacher scn:Michael Schumacher simple:Michael Schumacher sk:Michael Schumacher sl:Michael Schumacher sr:Михаел Шумахер sh:Michael Schumacher su:Michael Schumacher fi:Michael Schumacher sv:Michael Schumacher tl:Michael Schumacher ta:மைக்கேல் சூமாக்கர் th:มิคาเอล ชูมัคเกอร์ tg:Михаэл Шумахер tr:Michael Schumacher uk:Міхаель Шумахер vec:Michael Schumacher vi:Michael Schumacher wa:Michael Schumacher yi:מיכאל שומאכער zh:迈克尔·舒马赫

name	Fernando Alonso
birth date	July 29, 1981
nationality	Spanish
2011 team	Ferrari
2011 car number	5
races	171 (170 starts)
championships	2 (, )
wins	27
podiums	69
points	986
poles	20
fastest laps	19
first race	2001 Australian Grand Prix
first win	2003 Hungarian Grand Prix
last win	2011 British Grand Prix
last race
last season	2010
last position	2nd (252 pts) }}

Fernando Alonso Díaz (born 29 July 1981) 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. Nicknamed , a typical pseudonym for ''Fernando'' in Asturias, his place of birth, Alonso acts as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.

Personal and early life

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. 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.

Alonso is married to Raquel del Rosario, lead singer of Spanish pop band . The two were married on November 17, 2006.

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.

He is an avid card tricks fan and usually demonstrates various tricks during the race weekend. 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.

In addition to Spanish, he speaks English and Italian.

Early career

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.

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. Campos signed Alonso to race for him in the 1999 Spanish Euro Open MoviStar by Nissan series. 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.

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. 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.

Formula One career

2001: Minardi

Alonso was the third-youngest driver ever to start a Formula One race when he made his debut with Minardi at the . 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.

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. A month later it was confirmed that Massa was going to take the vacant Sauber seat for 2002.

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. 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. Four years later, his team boss from the Minardi days, Paul Stoddart, described his race as "53 laps of qualifying". He scored no points in the season; his best finish being tenth at the .

2002–2006: Renault

;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. 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 . Alonso had a 180 mph crash at the , 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. 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 . He finished the year sixth in the championship, with 55 points and four podiums.

;2004

Alonso remained with Renault for the 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

For the 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 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 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 . He followed this with pole position a week later at the , where he finished second behind Montoya. McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen led the until his car's hydraulics failed. Alonso went on to win the race.

Alonso qualified sixth in the 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.

;2006

Alonso won the first race of the 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 due to a fuelling error but finished second to team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. He won the 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 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 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. 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. Schumacher's fight back began at Indianapolis where the German won and Alonso was fifth. Schumacher won the , with Alonso in second, and the Spaniard was fifth in the . That cut Alonso's championship lead to 11 points.

Alonso incurred a penalty for an infraction in practice at the which left him 15th on the grid. Schumacher started 11th after receiving a similar penalty. 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.

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 . He suffered a puncture during qualifying that damaged bodywork at the back of his car. He qualified fifth but was later punished by the stewards for impeding Felipe Massa's Ferrari, 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 , 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 on October 22 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

On December 19, 2005, Alonso announced that he would be moving to McLaren for 2007. His contract with Renault was set to expire on December 31, 2006. However, on December 15, 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. 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 January 15, 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 . 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 May 27, 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 (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, and it was speculated that he might leave McLaren at the end of the season. 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. 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 September 13. The new evidence consisted largely of email traffic between Alonso and test driver Pedro de la Rosa. 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.

2008–2009: Return to Renault

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.

In the first two rounds of the 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 and switching to Ferrari in . 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 , 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. Räikkönen was also given a two-year contract extension to partner Massa until the end of 2010, essentially closing the door on Alonso for a possible move to Ferrari. In 2008, Alonso denied the "out clause" rumour.

In the , 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. The telemetry data from Alonso's car proved these accusations to be wrong. 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". 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 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 , 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".

Alonso failed to score in the next two races, finishing tenth at the , after puncturing a tyre against the barrier and a collision with Nick Heidfeld and retiring from the 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 , he finished in eleventh after spinning off whilst battling with the Williams of Nico Rosberg. In the , 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 , 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 , 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 . 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 , for which he qualified fourth. 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

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 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.

He finished eighth in the , 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.

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.

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 sixth, 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".

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", and wanted to concentrate on the positives during his time with Renault, which had included winning the and 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

2010

After much speculation, on 30 September 2009, Alonso was confirmed to be replacing Kimi Räikkönen at the Ferrari team, partnering Felipe Massa, a move known as "the worst-kept secret in F1". His contract covers three seasons (2010–2012), with speculated options until the end of 2014. Though his contract is said to have been signed as early as July 2008, Alonso confirmed only having a Summer-2009 agreement with Ferrari for a start, which was later changed to 2010. Ferrari and Räikkönen, whom Alonso will replace, had agreed to end their contract one year early. Though it was reported that Alonso's contract was worth €25-million per season, Ferrari released a statement that cast doubts over the salary offered, stating that "the numbers talked about have absolutely nothing to do with reality." Ferrari also cast doubt on "the arrival of technicians" with Alonso.

At the first race in Bahrain, Alonso qualified third behind team mate Massa and pole sitter Sebastian Vettel. At the start, Alonso got ahead of Massa to move up to second and later on in the race, leader Vettel had an engine problem and dropped to fourth and Alonso won the race, becoming the fifth man to win on his debut for Ferrari after Juan Manuel Fangio in 1956, Mario Andretti in 1971, Nigel Mansell in 1989, and Kimi Räikkönen in 2007. Team mate Massa came second taking a 1–2 for Ferrari and Alonso's former McLaren team mate Lewis Hamilton came through to finish third.

In the , Alonso qualified third behind the two Red Bull cars of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. At the start, on a damp track, Alonso was tipped into a spin by eventual race winner Jenson Button, and rejoined last. Alonso charged back to fourth and then held off late race attacks from Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber to finish fourth, only two seconds behind teammate Felipe Massa.

In China, Alonso qualified third again, behind Vettel and Webber. Alonso jumped the start, for which he was later given a drive-through penalty, which dropped him down to 15th, over a minute behind race leader Nico Rosberg. With the help of a safety car which bunched the field together, and due to a series of overtaking manoeuvres, Alonso finished fourth. During the race, one of his overtaking maneuvers was on team-mate Massa as the two entered the pit lane to change to intermediate tyres when the rain came. This aggressive overtaking, in which Massa had to put two wheels on the grass to avoid a collision, and then had to wait behind Alonso during Alonso's stop which cost him a few places, raised questions that all was not well between the Ferrari teammates. However, both drivers quickly quashed the speculation, saying that the overtaking did not affect the relationship between the drivers at all, and that they are as friendly as they were before.

The first European round was in Spain where Alonso qualified fourth behind the Red Bulls and former McLaren team mate Hamilton. Alonso ran fourth until the final 15 laps of the race, when he first was elevated to third after Vettel suffered brake problems which forced him to go for an extra pit stop, and then gained another place when Hamilton's tyre failed on the penultimate lap. He finished second, thus getting his first podium after the win in Bahrain.

In Monaco, Alonso crashed his car in practice and was unable to take part in qualifying. He started 24th and last but charged up to sixth. On the last lap, Michael Schumacher passed him under the safety car to take the place, but was then penalized for the overtaking, giving sixth back to Alonso.

For the , Alonso qualified fourth and was promoted to third after Mark Webber's penalty for a gearbox change. He finished third after a racelong battle with the McLarens and Red Bulls, getting only his second podium after his win in Bahrain.

In the next round in Valencia, Alonso secured fourth on the grid in qualifying. During the race, he was right on the gearbox of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren when the Safety Car was deployed following Mark Webber's somersaulting crash after rear-ending Heikki Kovalainen. After a brief hesitation, Hamilton drove past the Safety Car, while Alonso and Massa took up position behind it. This allowed the McLaren driver (and several other drivers) to secure a significant advantage, and following their pitstops, the Ferrari drivers found themselves at the tail end of the field. Alonso was heard over the team radio insisting that Ferrari take up the matter with race director Charlie Whiting. The FIA stewards did ultimately award Hamilton a drive-through penalty, but the significant delay between the offence and the verdict (due to a delay in securing aerial footage of Hamilton's pass on the Safety Car) and the relatively short length of the pitlane at Valencia, meant that Hamilton was able to re-emerge from the pits without losing position. Finishing the race in eighth position, Alonso criticised the FIA for 'manipulating' the race result, a statement which he later moderated. Ferrari were equally critical of the FIA's stewarding of the event.

At the at Silverstone, Alonso lined up third on the grid. However, clutch problems at the start caused his Ferrari to bog down and Alonso had dropped several positions by the time the pack reached the first corner. Alonso attempted to stage a fightback, and while attempting to pass Robert Kubica's Renault down the outside at Vale, was forced on to the grass as Kubica closed the door on him. Alonso rejoined the track ahead of Kubica, and maintained track position ahead of the Pole. Alonso was heard on the radio explaining to his team that Kubica had forced him on to the grass, while Kubica informed his team that Alonso had illegally passed him by cutting the chicane. After some delay, the stewards awarded Alonso a drive-through penalty for failing to yield the position back to Kubica. The situation was further exacerbated by the untimely deployment of the Safety Car owing to debris on the track, which bunched the field up, and caused Alonso to drop to the tail of the pack once he served his penalty. Alonso crossed the line in fourteenth place, a minute behind race winner Mark Webber, setting the fastest lap of the race on the final lap, having changed tyres after a puncture. More accusations followed after the race, with Ferrari alleging that the FIA had not responded to their requests for clarification, and the FIA insisting that they had requested Ferrari to give back Alonso's position to Kubica and thus obviate the need for an inquiry.

For the at Hockenheim, Alonso missed pole position by 0.002 seconds to Vettel, with Massa qualifying third. In the race, Vettel made a poor start and attempted to compensate by squeezing Alonso towards the pitwall. Seizing this opportunity, Massa overtook both of them, and entered the first corner with Alonso and Vettel in second and third places. Alonso then controversially overtook Massa and they crossed the line in that order to give Ferrari a 1–2 finish.

For the , Alonso qualified in third place, behind the two Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber. As the lights went out, he passed Webber into second place, and then drew alongside Vettel on the outside going into the first corner. Alonso lost out to Webber at the pitstops, but got ahead of Vettel when the latter was given a drive-through penalty. He was able to hold off Vettel and finish the race in second place. After a promising start in Belgium, qualifying yielded a disappointing grid position of tenth place. When the race started, things went from bad to worse as Alonso was torpedoed from behind by Rubens Barrichello's sliding Williams. Alonso recovered to eighth before spinning out of the race in the closing stages.

At the , Alonso claimed pole position ahead of Jenson Button, but trailed Button by the first corner. Alonso and Massa pursued the McLaren until it pitted. Alonso pitted the next lap, with a quicker stop allowing Alonso to return to the track wheel to wheel with Button, and narrowly edged him out into the first corner. He pulled clear to claim his 24th career win, his third of the season, and Ferrari's first win at Monza since . As an added bonus, Alonso also claimed the fastest lap of the race, resulting in a hat-trick (pole, win and fastest lap).

At the , Alonso took pole position ahead of Vettel, the McLarens of Hamilton and Button and the second Red Bull of championship leader Webber. When the lights went out, Alonso made a solid start and led Vettel into the first corner. Alonso soaked up pressure from Vettel for the entire race and crossed the line less than 0.3 seconds ahead of the Red Bull. Once more, Alonso set the fastest lap of the race in the closing stages. In Japan, Alonso finished third, behind Vettel and Webber, then won in Korea after Vettel retired with engine failure. He also scored his fifth fastest lap of the year, enough to give him the 2010 DHL Fastest Lap Award after a countback with Lewis Hamilton. In Abu Dhabi, Alonso entered the event with an eight-point lead, and qualified third. At the start of the race he lost a place to Button and then a strategic error by his team meant that Alonso spent the rest of the race stuck behind Vitaly Petrov, and lost out on world championship honours to Sebastian Vettel.

2011

Alonso started the season with a fourth place in Australia, finishing half a minute behind race-winner Sebastian Vettel. He followed that up with sixth and seventh places in Malaysia and China, being outperformed by team-mate Massa in both races. He took his first podium of the season with third at the , having run second for a time and was only passed by Mark Webber on lap 51 of 58. Prior to his home race in Spain, he extended his contract with Ferrari for a further four years, until the end of 2016.

Controversies

At the 2003 European Grand Prix, David Coulthard and McLaren managing director Martin Whitmarsh accused Alonso of giving Coulthard a brake test. This was in relation to a passage of racing towards the end of the race when Coulthard was trying to overtake Alonso, who was holding him up. Coulthard swerved off the track and into retirement during an attempted overtake. After talking to the drivers and viewing telemetry and video data, the FIA stewards decided that the incident did not warrant any "further judicial action". At the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, Alonso was involved in an incident in which he brake tested Red Bull Racing test driver Robert Doornbos in the second free practice session. The stewards decided that Alonso's actions were "unnecessary, unacceptable and dangerous", and awarded him a one second time penalty to be applied to his fastest lap time in each of the qualifying sessions. After a separate incident from the same race, when Michael Schumacher was asked whether he thought Alonso deliberately slowed down so that Schumacher had to pass him under red flags in practice, Schumacher replied, "You said that, I didn't." In the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, after stewards ruled Alonso had potentially blocked Felipe Massa in Saturday qualifying and relegated him five places on the starting grid, Alonso stated "I love the sport, love the fans coming here — a lot of them from Spain but I don't consider Formula One like a sport any more". In the qualifying for the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix, while both McLarens were in the pits, Alonso remained stationary in the McLaren pit for a few seconds. This delayed the then provisional pole sitter and team-mate Lewis Hamilton long enough to prevent him from getting another 'hot lap' in. Alonso then went on to claim pole. McLaren boss Ron Dennis later said the team had got "out of sequence" when Hamilton did not as agreed allow Alonso past earlier in the qualifying session. He added that Alonso was "under the control of his engineer" when he was waiting in the pit lane. However, Alonso was subsequently given a five-place grid penalty and his McLaren team were docked the 15 constructors' World Championship points they would have earned in the race. As a result of this investigation, it emerged that some team members within McLaren, among them Alonso, were aware of confidential information belonging to the Ferrari team. This information was commented on to Alonso by McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa who had also received information from McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan. The email contained text suggesting that Alonso was surprised by the data and doubted its authenticity. According to the "spygate" related email exchanges between Alonso and de la Rosa, it was clear that Alonso knew about Ferrari's pit strategies in the Australian Grand Prix and Bahrain Grand Prix. Alonso finished 2nd and 5th respectively in those races. Ron Dennis told the FIA about the case during the . Amid media allegations that Alonso threatened Dennis with reporting the team to FIA himself if he was not given number one driver status, Ron Dennis stated in a televised interview that there had been an argument, and that Alonso had said something in the heat of the moment but immediately apologised. This was when Dennis found out about Ferrari data and immediately informed the FIA. Pitlane sources have suggested, from published FIA stewards data, that an argument involving reporting the McLaren team to the FIA was prompted by the fact that there was no stewards' investigation regarding the qualifying pitlane incident until Anthony and Lewis Hamilton made a formal complaint on the Saturday evening; costing Alonso a five-place grid penalty and loss of Constructors' Points for the team. FIA then revealed that it had had knowledge of the Spygate case thanks to a slip made by Coughlan. In what became known in the media as "Crashgate", Renault allegedly ordered Alonso's teammate Nelson Piquet, Jr. to crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, causing a safety-car incident at a moment where Alonso would get tremendous benefit from his race strategy, putting him towards the front of the field, and giving him a fighting chance to win the race, after a number of opponents (Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica and Kimi Räikkönen to name a few) suffered. However, the FIA confirmed that no evidence had shown that Alonso had knowledge of the plan, and neither did many of the personal mechanics of both drivers. In the 2010 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, Alonso became involved in a controversy with team-mate Massa, as Ferrari were accused of using team orders during the race. The incident started when Massa was leading the race and Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley said "Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?". Shortly after this, Massa slowed down and was overtaken by Alonso in what appeared to be team orders. Shortly after the race notable people of the senior personnel in Ferrari, Massa and Alonso were summoned to the stewards. The matter was then referred to the FIA World Motor Sport Council. and Ferrari were given a $100,000 fine but the result of the race was unchanged. In the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Alonso was seen gesticulating furiously at Vitaly Petrov on the slowing down lap in front of TV cameras, and initially it seemed that he had blamed the young Russian for costing him the world crown as he ended up being unable to find a way past the Renault driver while race winner Sebastian Vettel was crowned world champion. However, Alonso denied accusations that he had accused him of denying the Spaniard the title.

Fan phenomenon: Alonsomanía

''Alonsomanía'' is the fan phenomenon about Alonso. In 2005 his success fuelled an increase in interest in Formula One in Spain. On September 25, 2005, a huge party began in Alonso's home town of Oviedo when he became the country's first Formula One World Champion and the youngest in the sport's history at the time. Alonso's fans are recognized by the light blue and yellow Asturias flags which are coincidentally the same colors used by the Mild Seven Renault team between 2002 and 2006. After his championship win, a widely-visited exhibition of Alonso's racing gear was held in Oviedo.

Racing record

Career summary

! Season	! Series	! Team	! Races	! Wins	! Poles	! F/Laps	! Podiums	! Points	! Position
! 1999	align=left	align=left	15	6	9	4	8	164
! 2000	align=left		9	1	1	2	2	17	4th
! 2001	align=left	align=left	17	0	0	0	0	0	23rd
! 2002	align=left	align=left
! 2003	align=left	align=left	16	1	2	1	4	55	6th
! 2004	align=left	align=left	18	0	1	0	4	59	4th
! 2005	align=left	align=left	19	7	6	2	15	133
! 2006	align=left	align=left	18	7	6	5	14	134
! 2007	align=left	align=left	17	4	2	3	12	109
! 2008	align=left	align=left| ING Renault F1 Team	18	2	0	0	3	61	5th
! 2009	align=left	align=left| ING Renault F1 Team	17	0	1	2	1	26	9th
! 2010	align=left	align=left	19	5	2	5	10	252
! 2011	align=left	align=left	12	1	0	1	6	157*

Season in progress.

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Year

! Entrant

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! DC

! Points

! Team Astromega

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! 4th

! 17

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

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! 4

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List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems>Points

2001 Formula One season

2001

European Aviation Air Charter>European Minardi F1 Team

Minardi Minardi PS01>PS01

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23rd

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[[2003 Formula One season

2003">European Aviation Air Charter

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23rd

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[[2003 Formula One season

2003

Mild Seven Renault F1

Renault F1 Team

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6th

55

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2004">Renault F1

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6th

55

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2004

Mild Seven Renault F1

Renault F1 Team

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4th

59

[[2005 Formula One season

2005">Renault F1

! [[Renault F1

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4th

59

[[2005 Formula One season

2005

Mild Seven Renault F1

Renault F1 Team

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Renault F1

! [[Renault F1

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Renault F1>Renault F1 Team

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Renault F1

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McLaren Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines>Mercedes

McLaren McLaren MP4-22>MP4-22

!

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! [[ING Group

! [[Renault F1

! [[Renault F1

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5th

61

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! [[ING Group

[[Renault F1

[[Renault F1

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Renault F1 Team">Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

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! [[ING Group

! [[Renault F1

! [[Renault F1

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5th

61

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! [[ING Group

[[Renault F1

[[Renault F1

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Renault F1 Team

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Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

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Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

[[Scuderia Ferrari

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! [[Scuderia Ferrari">Scuderia Ferrari

[[Scuderia Ferrari

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! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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Season in progress.

See also

List of Formula One drivers

List of Spaniards

Books

References

External links

Fernando Alonso's official site

Profile – from Formula 1 official website

Profile – from Scuderia Ferrari official website

FAster Inside with Fernando Alonso

Career statistics

Fernando Alonso statistics

|after= Incumbent}} }}

Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:People from Oviedo Category:Spanish racecar drivers Category:Spanish Formula One drivers Category:Minardi Formula One drivers Category:Renault Formula One drivers Category:McLaren Formula One drivers Category:Ferrari Formula One drivers Category:Formula One World Drivers' Champions Category:International Formula 3000 drivers Category:Monaco Grand Prix winners Category:CIK-FIA Karting World Championship drivers Category:Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Category:Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Category:UNICEF people

ace:Fernando Alonso af:Fernando Alonso ang:Fernando Alonso ar:فرناندو ألونسو an:Fernando Alonso ast:Fernando Alonso az:Fernando Alonso bm:Fernando Alonso bjn:Fernando Alonso zh-min-nan:Fernando Alonso map-bms:Fernando Alonso be:Фернанда Алонса be-x-old:Фэрнанда Алёнса bi:Fernando Alonso bar:Fernando Alonso bs:Fernando Alonso br:Fernando Alonso bg:Фернандо Алонсо ca:Fernando Alonso ceb:Fernando Alonso cs:Fernando Alonso cy:Fernando Alonso da:Fernando Alonso de:Fernando Alonso et:Fernando Alonso el:Φερνάντο Αλόνσο eml:Fernando Alonso es:Fernando Alonso eo:Fernando Alonso eu:Fernando Alonso fa:فرناندو آلونسو fr:Fernando Alonso fy:Fernando Alonso ga:Fernando Alonso gl:Fernando Alonso ko:페르난도 알론소 ha:Fernando Alonso hy:Ֆերնանդո Ալոնսո hr:Fernando Alonso io:Fernando Alonso id:Fernando Alonso ie:Fernando Alonso zu:Fernando Alonso it:Fernando Alonso he:פרננדו אלונסו jv:Fernando Alonso ka:ფერნანდო ალონსო sw:Fernando Alonso ht:Fernando Alonso lv:Fernando Alonso lb:Fernando Alonso lt:Fernando Alonso lg:Fernando Alonso hu:Fernando Alonso mk:Фернандо Алонсо mr:फर्नांदो अलोन्सो ms:Fernando Alonso nl:Fernando Alonso ja:フェルナンド・アロンソ no:Fernando Alonso nn:Fernando Alonso oc:Fernando Alonso pap:Fernando Alonso tpi:Fernando Alonso pl:Fernando Alonso pt:Fernando Alonso ro:Fernando Alonso qu:Fernando Alonso ru:Алонсо, Фернандо sco:Fernando Alonso st:Fernando Alonso sq:Fernando Alonso scn:Fernando Alonso simple:Fernando Alonso ss:Fernando Alonso sk:Fernando Alonso sl:Fernando Alonso sr:Фернандо Алонсо sh:Fernando Alonso su:Fernando Alonso fi:Fernando Alonso sv:Fernando Alonso tl:Fernando Alonso th:เฟร์นันโด อาลอนโซ tr:Fernando Alonso uk:Фернандо Алонсо vec:Fernando Alonso vi:Fernando Alonso war:Fernando Alonso yi:פערנאנדא אלאנסא zh:费尔南多·阿隆索

name	Deepika Padukone
birth date	January 05, 1986
birth place	Copenhagen, Denmark
occupation	Actress, Model
years active	2006–present
filmfareawards	Best Female Debut2008: ''Om Shanti Om'' Face of the Year2008: ''Om Shanti Om'' }}

Deepika Padukone ( - ; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress and a former model. She appears mostly in Hindi as well as Tamil and Kannada language films. Born to Badminton player Prakash Padukone, she chose to become an actress and not pursue a career in sports.

Padukone made her acting debut in the 2006 Kannada film ''Aishwarya''. The following year, she made her Hindi film debut in the blockbuster ''Om Shanti Om'' opposite Shah Rukh Khan, which earned her the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. It also remains her biggest commercial success so far. She subsequently appeared in films such as ''Love Aaj Kal'' (2009) and ''Housefull'' (2010). While the former earned her a Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category, the latter emerged as a commercial success.

In addition to acting, Padukone is also the ambassador of prominent brands such as Tissot, Sony Cybershot, Nescafe and Kingfisher Airlines.

Early life and background

Padukone was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her family moved to Bangalore, Karnataka, India, when she was eleven months old. Padukone is of Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin origin, and her mother tongue is Konkani. Her father, Prakash Padukone, is a retired badminton player of international repute, and her mother is a travel agent. Padukone also has a younger sister, Anisha, born on 2 February 1991.

Padukone attended Sophia High School in Bangalore, and completed her pre-university studies at Mount Carmel College Bangalore. While in high school she played badminton at the state level. However, she was not keen on pursuing a career as a badminton player.

Career

Modeling

While in college, Padukone pursued a career in modeling. She was spotted in a ramp competition in NLS, Bangalore. Over the years, she has modeled for such Indian brand names as Liril, Dabur Lal powder, Close-Up toothpaste and Limca, and has been "brand ambassador" for the Jewels of India retail jewelry show. The cosmetics company Maybelline made her its international spokesperson.

At the fifth annual Kingfisher Fashion Awards she was awarded the title "Model of the Year". Shortly afterward, she was chosen as one of the models for the Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar for 2006 and won two trophies at the Idea Zee Fashion Awards: "Female Model of the Year - (Commercial Assignments)" and "Fresh Face of the Year". Padukone was also chosen as the brand ambassador of Kingfisher Airlines and later Levi Strauss and Tissot SA. In addition, she appeared in the music video for Himesh Reshammiya's song ''Naam Hai Tera''.

Acting

In 2006, Padukone made her cinematic debut in the Kannada film ''Aishwarya'' opposite actor Upendra. She later made a successful Bollywood debut in 2007 with Farah Khan's blockbuster ''Om Shanti Om'' opposite Shahrukh Khan. The film was a re-incarnation melodrama, featuring her in a double role. Her performance was well received, earning the actress a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award as well as her first Filmfare Best Actress nomination. Taran Adarsh from ''indiaFM'' noted, "Deepika has all it takes to be a top star — the personality, the looks and yes, she's supremely talented too. Standing in the same frame as SRK and getting it right is no small achievement. She comes as a whiff of fresh air!" About being cast opposite Shah Rukh Khan, she said, }}

Padukone was then seen playing a feisty, modern-day Indian woman, Gayatri, in Siddharth Anand's romantic comedy ''Bachna Ae Haseeno'' opposite Ranbir Kapoor and alongside Bipasha Basu and Minissha Lamba. The film, which released on 15 August 2008, performed reasonably well at the box office, but her performance drew flak. Adarsh wrote, "Deepika is a sore point. Her role isn't convincing and that's the reason why this performance doesn't work. The only consolation is, she looks gorgeous."

She played a double role again in her next film, ''Chandni Chowk To China'', which released on 16 January 2009. The film, directed by Nikhil Advani, also featured Akshay Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty and Ranvir Shorey in the lead. It was a critical and commercial disaster, with Nikhat Kazmi of The Times Of India commenting, "Deepika looks lost and forlorn for most of the film."

Padukone's fourth release ''Love Aaj Kal'', released on 31 July 2009 and proved to be one of the biggest hits of 2009. Directed by Imtiaz Ali, the film documented the changing value of relationships among the youth. Padukone played the role of Meera Pandit, a practical and head-strong career woman opposite Saif Ali Khan. Of her performance, NDTV's Anupama Chopra wrote, "Deepika looks fabulous but she isn’t a strong enough actor to breathe life into the character." Despite this, she received her second Filmfare Award for Best Actress nomination.

The same year, she teamed up with Farah Khan and Shah Rukh Khan once again for an item number in the Irrfan Khan-Lara Dutta starrer ''Billu''. She also made guest appearances in the Telegu film ''Love 4 Ever'' and in Sohail Khan's ''Main Aur Mrs Khanna''.

Her first release in 2010 was Excel Entertainment’s ''Karthik Calling Karthik''. The thriller featured Farhan Akhtar as Karthik, a troubled schizophrenic man, and Padukone as his supportive girlfriend, Shonali Mukherjee. This time, Anupama Chopra wrote, "Padukone finally seems to be thawing in front of a camera." The film, however, was a commercial failure.

She then featured in Sajid Khan's multi-starer ''Housefull'' with Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, Lara Dutta, Boman Irani and Ritesh Deshmukh. She played the role of Soundarya Bhagyalakshmi Venkateshwari Baassappa Rao, Kumar's girlfriend and later fiancée. The film became a blockbuster in India, with a net gross of INR 95 crores in the first week itself. As for her performance, Nikhat Kazmi mentioned her as "quite thanda".

She then appeared in her second Yash Raj production, ''Lafangey Parindey'' directed by Pradeep Sarkar; as Pinky Palkar, a blind girl, hell bent on winning a skating competition, opposite Neil Nitin Mukesh. Upon release, Taran Adarsh, of Bollywood Hungama wrote, "''Lafangey Parindey'' clearly belongs to Deepika Padukone, who suits the character and enacts it with such competence that it leaves you amazed. The pretty lass is only getting better with every film."

Her next release was Kunal Kohli's syrupy romance ''Break Ke Baad'' opposite Imran Khan, where she played Aaliya Khan, an impetuous brat. The film was a commercial failure, but won Padukone favorable reviews. Nikhat Kazmi noted, "Padukone's climactic act seems to be the best performance in her entire career: completely spontaneous, crazy and cute. "

Her final release of 2010; Ashutosh Gowarikar's ''Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey'' top-lining Abhishek Bachchan, met with scathing reviews and was declared a flop. The period drama was a retelling of the 1930 Chittagong armoury raid, with Bachchan playing the revolutionary leader Surya Sen and Padukone playing Kalpana Dutta, his lover and confidant. A review carried by The Hollywood Reporter, however, mentioned her portrayal of Dutta as "impressive".

She began the year 2011 with an item number in Rohan Sippy's ''Dum Maaro Dum'' starring Abhishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu in the lead. Her song was a remixed version of Zeenat Aman's iconic song from ''Hare Rama Hare Krishna''. The raunchy lyrics and suggestive dancing received mixed reviews. The Deccan Chronicle mentioned her moves as "mechanised gyrations", while Adarsh wrote, "Deepika scorches the screen in the title track. "

Next, she featured in Prakash Jha's reservation melodrama, ''Aarakshan'' co-starring Amitabh Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan as the former's daughter and the later's love-interest. Aseem Chhabra of Rediff pointed, "Padukone looks pretty, but she cannot carry the serious, intense moments." She will next be featured in Rohit Dhawan's ''Desi Boyz'' alongside Akshay Kumar, John Abraham and Chitrangada Singh; K.S. Ravikumar's Tamil film ''Rana'' opposite Rajnikanth and Homi Adajania's ''Cocktail'' opposite Saif Ali Khan.

Other work

Philanthropy

As part of NDTV's Greenathon Campaign, Padukone adopted Ambegaon, a village in Maharashtra, that was facing a major electricity crisis.

In The Media

In 2009, Padukone started writing weekly columns for ''HT City'', the lifestyle supplement of ''Hindustan Times''. These columns appear online on social network, Desimartini.

She appeared on the cover of lifestyle magazine ''Vogue'' on May 2010 and 2011. She also walked the red carpet at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

On November 2010, she appeared on ''Koffee With Karan'', a popular chat show along with Sonam Kapoor. Her comments on ex-flame Ranbir Kapoor lead to a lot of controversy among Bollywood inner-circles.

Personal life

In March 2008, Padukone began dating Ranbir Kapoor, her co-star from the film ''Bachna Ae Haseeno'' (2008). After her high profile break up with Kapoor in November 2009, Padukone has decided to keep her personal life away from media attention.

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2006		Aishwarya
2007		Shantipriya/ Sandhya (Sandy)	Double-Winner, Filmfare Best Female Debut Award & Sony Head N Shoulders Fresh Face of the Year Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
2008	''Bachna Ae Haseeno''	Gayatri
	''Chandni Chowk to China''	Sakhi (Ms. TSM)/ Meow Meow (Suzy)	Double role
''Billu''	Herself	Special appearance in the song ''Love Mera Hit Hit''
''Love Aaj Kal''	Meera Pandit	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
''Main Aurr Mrs Khanna''	Raina Khan	Special appearance
''Love 4 Ever''	Herself
	''Karthik Calling Karthik''	Shonali Mukherjee
	Sandy
''Lafangey Parindey''	Pinky Palkar
''Break Ke Baad''	Aaliya Khan
''Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey''	Kalpana Datta
		Herself	Special appearance
''Aarakshan''	Poorbi Anand
''Desi Boyz''		Filming
	''Cocktail''		Filming

See also

List of Indian film actresses

Notes

External links

Category:1986 births Category:Indian film actors Category:Indian female models Category:Indian Hindus Category:Living people Category:Kannada film actors Category:People from Bangalore Category:Hindi film actors Category:Indian actors Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:Konkani people

az:Dipika Padukone bg:Дипика Падуконе da:Deepika Padukone de:Deepika Padukone fr:Deepika Padukone gu:દીપિકા પદુકોણે hi:दीपिका पादुकोण it:Deepika Padukone kn:ದೀಪಿಕಾ ಪಡುಕೋಣೆ ml:ദീപിക പദുകോൺ mr:दीपिका पडूकोण ja:ディーピカー・パードゥコーン no:Deepika Padukone pl:Deepika Padukone ru:Падуконе, Дипика fi:Deepika Padukone ta:தீபிகா படுகோண் te:దీపిక పడుకొనే uk:Діпіка Падуконе zh:荻皮卡·帕都恭

name	Sebastian Vettel
nationality	German
birth date	July 03, 1987
2011 team	Red Bull Racing
2011 car number	1
races	74
championships	1 ()
wins	17
podiums	30
points	640
poles	24
fastest laps	7
first race	2007 United States Grand Prix
first win	2008 Italian Grand Prix
last win	2011 Belgian Grand Prix
last race
last season	2010
last position	1st (256 pts) }}

Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won in the 2010 season.

In his first year driving for Red Bull in he finished the season as the youngest ever championship runner-up. Vettel also secured Red Bull's first pole position and race win in the team's history. The following year he went on to become the youngest driver ever to win the World Drivers' Championship. In the same year he helped Red Bull win the team's first World Constructors' Championship, along with teammate Mark Webber.

Vettel is the youngest Formula One driver to drive at a Grand Prix meeting, at 19 years and 53 days, and on his race debut at the 2007 United States Grand Prix he also became the youngest driver to score championship points. While racing for Toro Rosso, Vettel became the youngest driver to lead a race, at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix. During qualifying for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest Formula One driver to secure pole position. He went on to win the race, making him the youngest F1 race winner by nearly a year. He also is the first and only driver to win a race, secure pole position, and reach the podium in the history of the Toro Rosso team, including the twenty years it was known as the Minardi team.

Early and personal life

Vettel was born in Heppenheim, West Germany. He has one younger brother, Fabian, and two older sisters, Melanie and Stefanie. Vettel suggested in an interview that he was terrible at school; he also mentioned that his childhood heroes were "The three Michaels", who were Michael Schumacher, Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan. He stated that he wanted to be a singer like Michael Jackson but realised that he couldn't as he didn't have the voice. Vettel lives in Switzerland amongst other racing drivers and is a fan of German football team Eintracht Frankfurt.

Career

Junior series

Vettel started racing karts in 1995, winning various titles such as the Junior Monaco Kart Cup (2001). In 2003, he upgraded to open-wheel cars, and won the 2004 German Formula BMW Championship with 18 victories from 20 races. In 2005 he drove for ASL Mucke Motorsport in the Formula Three Euroseries. He was placed fifth in the final standings with 64 points, winning the year's top rookie honours. He did not win any races, but this was largely due to the championship's domination by ASM Formule 3. Despite this, he tested the Williams FW27 Formula One car on 27 September as a reward for this Formula BMW success. He then went on to test for the BMW Sauber team.

Vettel finished as runner-up in the 2006 F3 Euroseries, behind series leader and team mate Paul di Resta. He also made his debut in the World Series by Renault at Misano, winning after Pastor Maldonado was disqualified. However, at the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, his finger was almost sliced off by flying débris in an accident, and he was expected to be out of racing for several weeks. Nevertheless, he managed to compete in the Ultimate Masters of F3 at Zandvoort the following weekend, finishing in sixth place. He also set third fastest lap time, and it surprised his ASM team boss Frédéric Vasseur. Vasseur said: "I was impressed for sure, because at the beginning of the week I was sure he wouldn't race! But he showed good pace from the first practice session. I can't imagine he's 100 per cent but at least we know we can be competitive in the next F3 Euroseries round at the Nürburgring next weekend – that's important."

Vettel competed in the World Series by Renault in 2007, and took his first win at the Nürburgring. He was leading the championship when he was called up to Formula One permanently, and his seat was taken by Michael Ammermüller.

Formula One

2006–2007: BMW Sauber

2006

Vettel became BMW Sauber's third driver at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, when former incumbent Robert Kubica was called up to replace Jacques Villeneuve for the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Vettel impressed on his testing debut by setting fastest time in second Friday Free Practice before the race. The young German also impressed on his second testing session in the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, setting the fastest time in both Friday practice sessions, a race weekend in which all the BMW cars were quick, with his predecessor Robert Kubica finishing on the podium in the race.

2007

Vettel was confirmed as BMW's test driver for 2007. Following the serious crash of regular BMW driver Kubica at the , Vettel substituted for him at the . Vettel was pulled mid-season from the Formula Renault series, which he was leading at that time. He started in seventh position on the grid, finishing in eighth position to take his first World Championship point and became the youngest driver ever to score a point in Formula One (at the age of 19 years and 349 days), a record previously held by Jenson Button – who was 20 years and 67 days old when he finished sixth at the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix.

2007–2008: Toro Rosso

2007

On 31 July 2007, BMW released Vettel to join Red Bull's Scuderia Toro Rosso team, replacing Scott Speed as one of its drivers from the onwards. He earned approximately US$165,000 for finishing the season with Toro Rosso. Before the race, it was also announced that Vettel would drive for Toro Rosso in , partnering Sébastien Bourdais.

Vettel struggled for his first couple of races while cutting his teeth with his new team, but managed two impressive drives in his 5th and 6th drives for Toro Rosso, a team that was averaging a little worse than 14th place in the 2007 season before Vettel's arrival. In the rain-hit at Fuji, Vettel worked his way up to third, behind Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber, and seemed to be on course for not only his but also Toro Rosso's maiden podium finish. However, Vettel crashed into Webber under safety car conditions taking them both out of the race and prompting Webber to say to ITV reporter Louise Goodman "It's kids isn't it... kids with not enough experience – they do a good job and then they fuck it all up." Webber also specifically criticized Lewis Hamilton's erratic behaviour in contributing to the accident, describing his antics behind the safety car as 'shit'." Vettel was initially punished with a ten-place grid penalty for the following race, but this was lifted after a spectator video on YouTube showed the incident may have been caused by Hamilton's behaviour behind the safety car. Vettel bounced back to finish a career-best fourth a week later at the having started 17th on the grid while in mixed conditions. He collected five championship points, making it both his and Toro Rosso's best race result.

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz stated his belief Vettel would be one of Formula One's big stars in the future. "Vettel is one of the young guys with extraordinary potential [...] He is fast, he is intelligent, and he is very interested in the technical side."

2008

After four races of the 2008 season, Vettel was the only driver to have failed to finish a single race, having retired on the first lap in three of them. In each of these three instances, he was involved in accidents caused by other drivers, the other being an engine failure. However, at the fifth round at the , he finally saw the chequered flag, albeit finishing in 17th after qualifying 14th and suffering a puncture on the opening lap. In the next race at the , Vettel scored his first points of the season with a fifth place finish, after qualifing 17th. He scored again at the fighting off Heikki Kovalainen in the last few laps for the final championship point, having started from pit lane. Vettel finished 12th in France, before retiring on lap one at the wet after being clipped by David Coulthard and aquaplaned into the gravel trap along with Coulthard. He earned another point at the , fending off Fernando Alonso and securing eighth after Jarno Trulli ran wide. Vettel retired in Hungary after his engine overheated during his first pit stop. He impressed many at the by setting the fastest times in the first practice session and second qualifying session, before qualifying sixth on the grid. Vettel finished the race in sixth, two seconds behind Jarno Trulli.

At the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest driver in history to win a Formula One Grand Prix. Aged 21 years and 74 days, Vettel broke the record set by Fernando Alonso at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix by 317 days as he won in wet conditions at Monza. Vettel led for the majority of the Grand Prix and crossed the finish line 12.5 seconds ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen. It was the first podium and win for his Toro Rosso team. Earlier in the weekend, he had already become the youngest polesitter, after setting the fastest times in both Q2 and Q3 qualifying stages, and his win also gave him the record of youngest podium-finisher. Toro Rosso team boss Gerhard Berger said, "As he proved today, he can win races, but he's going to win world championships. He's a cool guy". Hamilton praised the German, stating that this victory showed "how good he is". The nature of the victory and the story of the 21 year old's fledgling career led the German media to dub him "baby Schumi", although Vettel was quick to downplay the expectation the result has brought, particularly the comparison with the seven-time World Champion: "To compare me with Michael Schumacher is just a bit ridiculous...It will be difficult in normal conditions for us to repeat this achievement". He then went on to finish fifth in Singapore. In Japan, he finished sixth after being promoted from seventh after team-mate Bourdais was penalised for contact with Felipe Massa.

In the , after running second for much of the race on a one-stop strategy, Vettel overtook Lewis Hamilton in the rain for fifth place on the penultimate lap to contribute to a thrilling climax to the season. He nearly deprived the McLaren driver of the championship before Timo Glock slowed dramatically on the last lap (he was struggling with dry tyres in the ever increasing rain) enabling both Vettel and Hamilton to pass him, earning Hamilton the title, and Vettel fourth place.

After the season had finished Vettel was named Autosport Rookie of the Year.

Red Bull Racing

2009

At the start of the 2009 season, Vettel replaced the retired David Coulthard at Red Bull Racing, and began strongly at the , qualifying third and running in second for the majority of the race. However, a clash with Robert Kubica over second place on the third to last lap of the race forced both to retire. Vettel attempted to finish the race on three wheels behind the safety car to salvage some points, but eventually pulled off to the side. He thought that he would be able to attempt this because the yellow flag resulting from his incident forbids overtaking; instead he was given a ten-place grid penalty for the next race, the , and his team was fined for instructing him to stay on track after the damage occurred. In Malaysia he qualified in third position, but was demoted down to 13th due to his ten-place grid drop. He spun out of the race while eighth, just before the race was stopped due to adverse weather conditions. However in China he went on to take pole position, the first for the Red Bull Racing team. He went on to win the race ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, again a first for his team, which scored its first victory and one-two finish in the same race. At the age of 21 years and 287 days, Vettel became the youngest Grand Prix driver in history to win for two different teams, having won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix for the Torro Rosso-team.

In the , Vettel qualified in third, and finished second behind Jenson Button in the race. In Spain, he qualified in second but finished the race in fourth, behind his team-mate Mark Webber who finished in third. Vettel won the after claiming pole position in qualifying. At the he qualified fourth and finished second, behind Webber, who won his first Grand Prix. At the , Vettel qualified second after an eventful qualifying, but had to retire from the race on lap 30 after his car sustained damage from contact with Kimi Räikkönen's car on the first lap.

At the , he qualified fourth but had to retire from the race with an engine failure. It was the second engine failure for Vettel during the weekend, and the RB5's reliability issues began to show. He finished third at Spa-Francorchamps, and struggled for pace at Monza, finishing 8th at a race he previously won. He qualified 2nd at Singapore, but was given a drive-though penalty for speeding in the pit lane and damaged the diffuser on a kerb, struggling to 4th. He subsequently won the from pole position.

At the , Vettel qualified 16th in a rain-hit session, behind title rival Jenson Button (14th) and Rubens Barrichello (1st), while his team-mate Webber qualified second with Adrian Sutil in third. Vettel needed to score at least second place in the race to keep his title hopes alive. He finished fourth with Button behind, giving Button the Championship and moving Vettel up into second place. He officially claimed second place by winning the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, again ahead of Webber with Button completing the podium. He also scored his third fastest lap of the year, drawing him level with team-mate Webber. However, as Vettel had more second fastest laps, he won the 2009 DHL Fastest Lap Award.

2010

Vettel continued with Red Bull for 2010, and took the first pole position of the season at the . Vettel went on to lead most of the race but a spark-plug failure meant that his lap times slowed down, and as a result the two Ferraris and the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton passed him. After a brief challenge from Rosberg he brought the car home in fourth.

At the , Vettel was appointed as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. He took his second consecutive pole position in Australia, ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, but spun off when leading the race, due to a loose wheel nut. In Malaysia, he took his first win of the 2010 season with Webber coming in second place, having passed both him and Nico Rosberg at turn one.

Vettel qualified on pole at China alongside Webber. At the start of the wet race Fernando Alonso jump-started and Vettel was passed by Webber, dropping back to third. The increasing rain forced Vettel and Webber to pit at the same time for intermediate tyres that wore out after only a few laps and dropped them back into the midfield. Vettel slowly climbed back up to finish sixth, ahead of Webber. In Spain, Vettel was outqualified by team-mate Webber and claimed second on the grid. Despite having a major brake problem during the last eight laps, Vettel managed third place after Hamilton crashed on the penultimate lap.

In Monaco Vettel was again outqualified by Webber. In the race he passed Kubica at the start and stayed there for the remainder of the Grand Prix and made it a Red Bull 1–2. After the race the two Red Bull drivers were equal on points in the drivers' championship, with Webber championship leader based on total wins. At the he qualified third and was running second behind Webber when he made a passing move on the Australian. Vettel lost control of his car and the two collided, putting Vettel out of the race and dropping him to fifth in the drivers' championship, with neither driver accepting responsibility for causing the collision. He finished fourth at the , maintaining his position in the standings. He started the in pole position and led from start to finish to score his second win of the season.

At Silverstone, both Vettel and Webber's cars were fitted with a new design of front wing. Vettel's front wing was damaged in the third practice session, and Webber's sole surviving example was removed and given to Vettel. Vettel qualified in pole position ahead of his team-mate, but suffered a puncture caused by driving wide off the track on the first lap of the race and fell to the tail of the field. He fought back to finish seventh while Webber took the victory. At the he took pole by 0.002 seconds, and finished in third position in the race, behind the Ferraris of Alonso and Felipe Massa, after a poor start. He also finished third in Hungary after serving a drive-through penalty for exceeding ten lengths behind the previous car, team-mate Webber, under neutralised safety car conditions. In Belgium, he had a tough race, hitting Button's car whilst attempting to pass, causing Button to retire. Vettel pitted and carried on, but then suffered a puncture whilst passing Liuzzi at the same place, completing a whole lap with a puncture. He eventually finished 15th, which was (other than his retirements in Australia and Turkey) was his worst finish of the season. At Monza he finished fourth after an engine problem scare, and at the , Vettel qualified and finished second, sticking on Alonso's tail for most of the race. He passed Button for fourth place in the championship. At the , he dominated all practice sessions bar one, as it was postponed after heavy rain. He qualified on pole ahead of team mate Webber and went on to win with a lights-to-flag victory. Aged 23 years and 98 days, Vettel became the youngest Grand Prix driver to win at the same track on two occasions, having also won the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in 2009. At the first , Vettel took pole and led the first 45 laps of the race before retiring with engine failure, handing victory to Alonso.

At the , Vettel qualified second but took the lead at the first corner and led for the entire race to victory. With Webber taking second place, and Alonso finishing third, Vettel went into the final race of the season with a 15-point deficit to Alonso, and a 7-point gap to Webber. With the one-two finish in Brazil, Vettel and Webber secured Red Bull Racing's first Formula One World Constructors' Championship. He won the from pole again, to take the drivers' championship lead for the first time in his career and became the youngest world champion in the sport's history. Following James Hunt in the 1976 season, this was also only the second time in Formula One history when the World Champion had not been championship leader at any earlier point in the season.

2011

After the postponement of the , Vettel started his title defence in style in the with pole position and a victory of 22 seconds over title rival Lewis Hamilton, who was nursing home his broken McLaren. Vettel continued his title defence in the , where he claimed pole position and went on to win the race. Vettel completed his third pole position of the season at the , and appeared to be in dominating form for the majority of the race. However, poor tyre management haunted him in the last several laps, possibly being related to him being unable to properly communicate with his team as his radio was broken. He finished the race second, his championship lead cut to 21 points, by Hamilton, after three races.

The started out poorly for Vettel, where he had very little practice time during the Friday free practice sessions, including a crash in the first session. Even with the limited practice, he claimed his fifth consecutive pole position and converted it into a win, extending his championship lead over Hamilton to 34 points. At the , his pole position streak ended as his KERS failed him during qualifying. His teammate Webber took pole, but Vettel went on to win the race by 0.6 seconds over Hamilton, despite having to deal with a frequently malfunctioning KERS. The following weekend, in the , he took pole with the second fastest qualifying time in Monaco's history. Vettel was leading the race with a 5 second gap to second placed Button. Due to a radio malfunction the Red Bull pit crew was not prepared for Vettel when he pitted. The net result was that the pitstop was slow, and that he was sent out on the wrong tyres, handing the lead to Button as well. Vettel switched to a one-stop strategy, and stuck with one set of soft tyres for 56 laps. He was caught by Alonso and Button as his tyres deteriorated, but neither were able to pass him. With a few laps remaining, the race was red-flagged after Vitaly Petrov required an ambulance after an accident. The suspended race allowed teams to change tyres and work on the cars, and when the race was restarted under the safety car, Vettel was able to retain the lead during the last few laps.

In Canada, he took his sixth pole position in seven races ahead of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Vettel kept his lead from the start of the race, and for the vast majority of the race he held on to it. The record six safety car periods due to the down-pouring rain and 2 hour race suspension profoundly hurt Vettel's chances of victory, however, as after every safety car restart Vettel would lose the gap he had previously built up on the other drivers. With much fresher tyres, Button caught Vettel and began to pressure him in the last lap. Vettel slid on a damp part of the track at Turn 6, and Button used the opportunity to slip past him to take the victory. Vettel finished second, extending his championship lead to 60 points ahead of Button.

At the , the FIA began enforcing a controversial ban on engine mappings. It was believed by many in the press that it was an attempt by the FIA to thwart Vettel's domination of the season. The changes appeared to do little to hinder Vettel, as he took pole with the fastest qualifying lap in the track's history. He dominated the race with his first triple of 2011 with pole, fastest lap, and won his sixth race out of eight races. It was the first time in Formula One history where, in the first eight races, a driver finished first in six or more races and second or better in the remaining races.

The second set of controversial mid-season changes were implemented at Silverstone, targeting the blown diffusers. Red Bull believed the changes cost them about half a second per lap. Webber just edged Vettel for pole position by 0.032 seconds in qualifying. On race day, Vettel made a better start, immediately took the lead and led the first half of the race. A delay at one of his pit stops gave the race lead to Alonso, who passed him in the pit lane, and dropped Vettel back to third, behind Hamilton. Despite a malfunctioning KERS unit, he was able to jump Hamilton in the stops and held off the faster Webber, who ignored a radio message from team principal Christian Horner to hold position, for second place, extending his lead in the championship.

Vettel's run of fourteen successive front-row starts and eleven successive top two finishes ended at his home race, where he qualified third and finished fourth. McLaren's mechanical grip outclassed Red Bull in the wet in Hungary, and despite leading into the first corner from pole, he was quickly passed by both Hamilton and Button. Vettel eventually finished second in the race, held in mixed conditions. In Belgium, Vettel qualified on pole and won the race, his seventh victory of the season and seventeenth of his career. In victory, Vettel extended his lead in the championship to 92 points and, even with seven races left, his 259 point haul surpassed his own record, from for the highest number of championship points accumulated in a season.

Future

On 21 August 2009 it was announced that Red Bull and Vettel have extended his contract until the end of the season with an option for . The option was taken up on 14 March 2011, as Vettel extended his contract with the team until the end of 2014. Vettel has mentioned he would like to at some point in his career drive for Ferrari and Mercedes, while Red Bull believes he will stay with them for as long as they supply a competitive car.

Race of Champions

Vettel competed in the 2007 Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium, representing the German team alongside Michael Schumacher. Vettel and Schumacher won the Nations' Cup Title, after exciting finals. Vettel had to beat two RoC champions, Heikki Kovalainen and Marcus Grönholm, after Schumacher stalled his car. Vettel lost the individual competition however, in first heat, in his second battle against Kovalainen. Vettel also competed in the 2008 Race of Champions, alongside Michael Schumacher. Once again they won the Nations' Cup Title after a close final against Scandinavia. In the Driver's Cup, Vettel beat Troy Bayliss in Round One, but lost to Sébastien Loeb in the Quarter-Finals. Again Vettel teamed up with Michael Schumacher for the 2009 RoC Nations Cup, which they went on to win in a run-off against the Great Britain team of Jenson Button and Andy Priaulx. In the 2010 edition, on home ground in Düsseldorf, Vettel again teamed up with Schumacher to win the Nations Cup for the fourth time in a row. In the Driver's Cup, Vettel was eliminated in the semi-finals by Filipe Albuquerque, who went on to win the event.

Top Gear

Vettel holds the fastest lap-time for a Formula One driver on BBC2's ''Top Gear'' programme in the "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" segment, with a lap of 1:44.0, beating previous holder Rubens Barrichello, as well as the old Stig, Ben Collins.

Helmet design

Vettel's helmet, like most Red Bull-backed drivers, is heavily influenced by the energy drink company logo.

New to Vettel's helmet since the start of 2008 has been the incorporation of the red cross of the Kreis Bergstraße coat of arms on the front, just underneath the visor, in honour of the region of his birthplace, Heppenheim.

During pre-season testing for 2010, Vettel debuted a helmet resembling a Red Bull drink can complete with graphics of a stay-tab opener on top—which would become a recurring element in his helmets for this season. During the 2010 season, Vettel has used three main helmet designs, although he made some minor changes to some in certain races: besides his standard black helmet, he has used one with the same design but in chrome colors. For the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix, Vettel had a special white-red helmet design, with black kanji and hiragana for "gives you wings". In 2011 he uses his traditional helmet, with some changes, like the black top and chin area with blue stylized dots, similar to his black helmet used in 2010.

Comparison to Michael Schumacher

After Vettel's unexpected win in Monza, this led for the media to dub him the "Baby Schumi", "New Schumacher", but Vettel plays down the comparison stating he wanted to be the "New Vettel". He was not just dubbed for his nationality but also because of his driving style, his concentration and the hands-on role he plays behind the scenes with his team of engineers. One difference is that Schumacher does not name his car but Vettel does, Julie (2008), Kate, Kate's Dirty Sister (2009), Luscious Liz, Randy Mandy (2010) and Kinky Kylie (2011).

Nevertheless, the similarities are marked. Like Schumacher, Vettel grew up in a small town with an everyday background—Schumacher's father a bricklayer and Vettel's a carpenter. Both had their first taste of racing at the Kerpen karting track near Cologne, not far from the Nürburgring. Vettel began driving in his garden lapping the garden many times, not even stopping to eat or shower, before he could legally take to the roads, and says his passion for cars was nurtured by watching Schumacher compete. He did not know that he would actually get to race his hero.

Both Schumacher and Vettel impressed in their debut races, both of which took place in the middle of a Formula One season. Neither would ever drive for their debut teams again. Instead, both immediately joined with non-manufacturer teams based upon selling non-automobile related products. Approximately a year after joining their new teams, as underdogs they would stun the Formula One world by winning races in cars few believed capable of winning. In their third full Formula One season and both driving cars numbered 5, both won their first World Drivers' Championship, at which point both drivers had 10 Grand Prix wins on their records. Vettel became the youngest ever driver to win the World Drivers' Championship, while Schumacher, by a little over a week, only narrowly missed out on achieving the very same feat. Both drivers won their non-manufacturer teams' maiden World Drivers' Championship as well as World Constructors' Championship.

After winning his first championship in 2010, and being hailed as the 'Next Schumacher', Vettel has stated he does not want to aim for Schumacher's record after learning how hard it was to get one championship under his belt, though he would like to win more.

Racing record

Career summary

! Season	! Series	! Team	! Races	! Wins	! Poles	! F/Laps	! Podiums	! Points	! Position
! 2003	align=left		19	5	5	4	12	216
! 2004	align=left	align=left	20	18	14	13	20	387
2005	align=left	align=left rowspan="2"	20	0	0	1	5	57	5th
align=left	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	11th
align=left		1	0	0	0	1	8	15th
	align=left	1	0	0	0	1	N/A
align=left	align=left
2006	align=left	align=left rowspan="2"	20	4	1	5	9	75
	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	23rd
align=left		3	1	1	0	2	28	15th
align=left	align=left	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	6th
align=left	align=left
2007	align=left		7	1	1	1	4	74	5th
align=left rowspan="2"	align=left	1	0	0	0	0
	7	0	0	0	0
! 2008	align=left		18	1	1	0	1	35	8th
! 2009	align=left		17	4	4	3	8	84
! 2010	align=left		19	5	10	3	10	256
! 2011	align=left		12	7	9	1	11	259*

Season in progress.

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

! DC

! Points

Mücke Motorsport>ASL Mücke Motorsport

! Dallara F305/011

Mercedes-Benz in motorsport>Mercedes

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! 5th

! 57

ART Grand Prix>ASM Formule 3

! Dallara F305/059

Mercedes-Benz in motorsport>Mercedes

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Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

! Year

! Entrant

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! DC

! Points

! Carlin Motorsport

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! 15th

! 28

! Carlin Motorsport

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! 5th

! 74

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! WDC

List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems>Points

BMW Sauber>BMW Sauber F1 Team

BMW Sauber BMW Sauber F1.06>F1.06

!

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! –

! –

BMW Sauber F1 Team">BMW in Formula One

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! –

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BMW Sauber F1 Team

BMW Sauber BMW Sauber F1.07>F1.07

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14th

6

! [[Scuderia Toro Rosso">BMW in Formula One

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14th

6

! [[Scuderia Toro Rosso

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[[Scuderia Toro Rosso">Scuderia Toro Rosso

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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[[Scuderia Toro Rosso

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8th

35

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! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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! [[Red Bull Racing">Scuderia Toro Rosso

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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8th

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! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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! [[Red Bull Racing

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! [[Red Bull Racing">Red Bull Racing

! [[Renault F1

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! [[Renault F1

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! [[Red Bull Racing

! [[Renault F1

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Season in progress.

Formula One records

Vettel holds the following Formula One records:

! Record	! Achieved
Most consecutive top two results (in both qualifying and race)	11 results ([[2010 Brazilian Grand Prix
Most consecutive top two results (in both qualifying and race), from the start of the season	9 results ([[2011 Australian Grand Prix
Most consecutive top two finishes from the start of the season	9 finishes (Australia 2011 – 2011 Great Britain)(record shared with Fernando Alonso (Bahrain 2006 – Canada 2006))
	2007 United States Grand Prix (17 June 2007, aged 19 years, 349 days)
	2007 Japanese Grand Prix (30 September 2007, aged 20 years, 89 days)
	2008 Italian Grand Prix (13 September 2008, aged 21 years, 72 days)
	2009 British Grand Prix (aged 21 years, 353 days)

References

External links

Sebastian Vettel official site

Profile – from Formula 1 official website

Profile – from BBC F1

Profile – from ESPN

Vettel's career details

Maximilian Götz | title=Formula BMW ADACDrivers' Champion | after= Nico Hülkenberg| years=2004}} Heikki KovalainenMarcus Grönholm|after= Incumbent|years= 2007–2010 with:Michael Schumacher}} Jenson Button20 years, 67 days(2000 Brazilian GP) | after = Incumbent}} Fernando Alonso21 years, 237 days(2003 Malaysian GP) | after = Incumbent}} Fernando Alonso21 years, 236 days(2003 Malaysian GP) | title = Youngest Grand Prix Pole PositionWinner | after = Incumbent | years = 21 years, 72 days(2008 Italian Grand Prix)}} Fernando Alonso21 years, 237 days(2003 Malaysian GP) | title = Youngest Driver to score aPodium Position in Formula One | after = Incumbent | years = 21 years, 73 days(2008 Italian Grand Prix)}} Fernando Alonso22 years, 26 days(2003 Hungarian GP) | title = Youngest Grand Prix Winner | after = Incumbent | years = 21 years, 73 days(2008 Italian Grand Prix)}} Lewis Hamilton'''22 years, 287 days(2007 season) | after = Incumbent | years = 22 years, 121 days(2009 season)}} Lewis Hamilton'''23 years, 300 days(2008 season) | after = Incumbent | years = 23 years, 133 days(2010 season)}} Lewis Hamilton | title = AutosportRookie of the Year | after = Kris Meeke| years =2008}} Robert Kubica|title=Lorenzo Bandini Trophy|years=2009|after= Lewis Hamilton}} Kimi Räikkönen|title=DHL Fastest Lap Award|years=|after= Fernando Alonso}} Jenson Button|title=AutosportInternational Driver of the Year|after=Incumbent|years=2010}} }}

Category:1987 births Category:Formula BMW ADAC drivers Category:Formula One World Drivers' Champions Category:Formula Renault 3.5 Series drivers Category:Formula Three Euroseries drivers Category:German Formula One drivers Category:Red Bull Racing Category:German racecar drivers Category:Kart racing drivers Category:Living people Category:People from Kreis Bergstraße Category:Spanish Formula Three Championship drivers Category:Monaco Grand Prix winners

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