Fernando Alonso will celebrate his 400th Grand Prix start in Mexico this year. But all these years, he has been one of the cleanest and most ruthless drivers in Formula 1. Alonso has been in Formula 1 for more than 21 years, and he still has that hunger to win every race, which makes him a very special driver.
Over the years in his Formula 1 career, Fernando Alsono had rivalries with many drivers like Hamilton, Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, and Felipe Massa. One of his biggest Rivals was the seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.
When Alonso made his debut Schumacher was in the prime of his career with Ferrari having won 7 world titles. The Spaniard was the one who stopped his championship-winning run in 2005. In doing it Alonso did one of the greatest and most dangerous overtakes in the history of Formula 1.
The biggest and most daring overtake occurred at the 2005 Japanese Grand prix at the Suzuka circuit. The Suzuka circuit is very challenging as it is a high-speed narrow race track. Kimi Raikkonen won the race, but the biggest talking point was Alonso’s spectacular overtake of Michael Schumacher around the outside of the 130R corner. Having won the 2005 Formula 1 world championship Fernando Alonso was very ruthless and hungry for winning.
'I know he will brake'- Fernando Alonso
Round the outside at Suzuka's 130R 🤯
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 4, 2022
Fernando Alonso pulled off this incredible move on Michael Schumacher back in 2005 🤩#JapaneseGP #F1 @alo_oficial pic.twitter.com/qKfz2MuVLo
Michael was defending Alonso for more than 3 laps. The Renault driver was desperate to pass the 7-time world champion and was preparing for the big attack. The 130R corner was the most dangerous area in the Suzuka circuit. But Alonso didn't care about any of it and on lap 19 he overtook Schumacher in the most dangerous area of the circuit with pure bravery.
This was still considered one of the greatest overtakes in the history of the sport. After the race, Alonso was asked about his dangerous overtake of Schumacher and he said “I know he’d brake, he has a wife and two kids at home.” Alonso dominated the most dominant force in Formula 1 for two seasons and after 2006 Michael Schumacher announced retirement from the sport.