Alonso is one of the finest drivers to race in Formula One, winning the championship in 2005 and 2006 with Renault. His 2006 triumph made him the youngest double champion.

Celebrating his 34th birthday today, Alonso is the only Spanish driver to win an F1 race and is sixth in the list of all-time race wins with 32. He was the youngest driver to win pole and subsequently a race at the Malaysian GP in 2003.

Alonso’s love of racing started in karting, aged three. He won three consecutive karting championships in Spain and became world karting champion in 1996. He made his F1 debut for Minardi in 2001.

Many argue that Alonso’s talent should have brought him more titles, but he clashed with team-mate Lewis Hamilton in his first stint with McLaren and since then, at Ferrari and back at McLaren, he has been behind the wheel of inferior cars.

1952: Joe Johnson, English former snooker player who shocked Steve Davis to win 1986 World Championship (63).

1966: Sally Gunnell, English former athletics star. Won gold medal in 400m at Barcelona Olympics for Great Britain (49).

1980: Fernando Gonzalez, Chilean who won Olympic gold in 2004 and reached 2007 Australian Open final (35).

1984: Wilson Palacios, Honduran footballer who has played for Premier League teams Stoke, Spurs and Wigan (31).