The first car of Fernando Alonso was a plain, unglamorous compact, but the Asturian driver remembers it with great affection. A gift horse should not be looked in the mouth, and that is exactly what happened with that first ride he was given shortly after obtaining his license.
It was none other than a Renault Mégane, a model traditionally associated with the golden era of the Asturian: years later Renault released the Mégane F1 Team R26, a limited edition whose name echoed the single-seater with which he lifted his second Formula 1 World Championship.
“It Was Cleaned Only When It Rained”
About that first car, Alonso spoke in an interview granted quite some time ago to CNN. He was still at Ferrari. That first car, which he received shortly after getting his license in 1999, was a sponsor’s gift while he was still in Formula 3000. Of course, he loved it: “When you’re 18, any car you’re given at that moment makes you immensely happy“.
But just as he has recently said that it cost him a bit to obtain the license, he also acknowledged that at those years “he wasn’t such a good driver” despite being a prodigy and being close to making his Formula 1 debut.
He also admits that he dallied in the matter of cleaning it up. “It was yellow, yellow-brown. I didn’t take care of it much. It only got cleaned when it rained”. The fact that it tended to look brown was because it was usually a touch dirty.
“The way he handled it was perfect with his feet”, recalls his driving-school teacher
Given the year he received it, that first Renault Mégane was indeed from the first generation, albeit after the update. The mechanical version isn’t disclosed: on petrol it ranged from 75 HP to 140 HP. Nor the bodystyle, but the coupe would be his. In this photo rescued by the Civil Guard in X we see that exact model, though in silver, so it wasn’t the “yellow-brown” one.
From that photo posing with the L sign, it has been assumed that he did his practice and got his license in a Mégane. But in reality he did it in a white Opel Kadett. His driving-school teacher, Vicente García, told Marca in a 2010 interview. On the day of the exam, September 10, 1999, Alonso and his instructor covered 100 km to Luarca so that he could take it. “Fernando drove there and back.”
García notes that “Fernando already knew how to drive perfectly. He lacked lane discipline, knowing where and how to position himself, how to execute maneuvers, turns or roundabouts, but the driving he had was perfect with his feet.” The two-time champion passed it on the first attempt after a single practical lesson, though recently in a DAZN interview he admitted he had a small fault for “driving too slowly.” And that the theory portion he took on the second attempt because he trusted his experience and did not study enough.
Images | Renault, Guardia Civil
