
Two decades ago, Formula 1 seasons ended in October, and the world champion was sometimes crowned early in the fall. Fernando Alonso clinched his maiden world title on this day in 2005, weeks before the Flavio Briatore-run Renault outfit prevailed in the constructors’ championship, ending Michael Schumacher’s and Ferrari’s early-2000s supremacy.
Alonso was 24 years old, becoming F1’s youngest world champion in history as he beat Emerson Fittipaldi’s benchmark by a year and a half. He wouldn’t keep the record for long, subsequently surpassed by Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and Sebastian Vettel in 2010.