In a profession that has spanned 24 years, Fernando Alonso has received 32 grands prix, stood on 106 podiums and claimed two Formulation 1 titles. And whereas his success continued with a swap to Aston Martin and a handful of podiums in early 2023, it’s been some time for the reason that Spaniard received a race. The truth is, it’s precisely 12 years since Alonso final received an F1 contest, and an terrible lot has modified within the sequence since then.
Alonso’s final race win got here on 12 Might, 2013, when he claimed the highest step of the rostrum on the Spanish Grand Prix. On the time, he was driving for Ferrari and jumped from fifth to first to style the winner’s champagne for the thirty second time.
Within the 12 years that adopted, Alonso moved groups, retired, got here again to F1 after which moved groups once more, nonetheless with out managing to say one other victory. However Alonso’s profession isn’t the one factor to have modified in that point, the entire of F1 has shifted massively within the 12 years since he final received an F1 race.
New F1 world champions
If Alonso wasn’t profitable races in that interval, who was? Effectively, for the reason that Spaniard final received a grand prix there have been 4 completely different world champions, together with two who received titles for the very first time.
The 2013 crown was received by Purple Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, his fourth and final title. After that, the F1 world was handled to years of Mercedes dominance, with Lewis Hamilton choosing up wins in 2014 and 2015, team-mate Nico Rosberg profitable the title in 2016 earlier than Hamilton claimed an extra 4.
Since 2021, F1 has been in one other period of dominance, this time by the hands of Purple Bull with its star Max Verstappen claiming 4 consecutive drivers’ championships.
World Drivers Champion Max Verstappen, Purple Bull Racing
Picture by: Purple Bull Content material Pool
F1 goes hybrid
One of the vital impactful modifications F1 made over the past 12 years was its swap to turbo-hybrid engines to extend sustainability in motorsport.
For 2014, the sequence rolled out advanced new energy items that mix a V6 inner combustion engine with two hybrid elements: the MGU-Ok and MGU-H. Every of those motor generator items recovers energy from braking and the warmth from exhaust gasses and shops it as electrical power that may be deployed in a grand prix.
The implementation of the tech helped F1’s present era of V6 hybrid engines develop into probably the most thermally environment friendly engines on the planet.
Alonso famously had a tricky begin to F1’s hybrid revolution, particularly in 2015 when he was driving for McLaren with its Honda energy unit. The motor was down on energy in comparison with its rivals, and Alonso even went as far as to match it to a GP2 engine in the course of the Japanese Grand Prix. Honda’s time behind the pack didn’t final, nonetheless, and it went on to win back-to-back constructors’ crowns with Purple Bull in 2022 and 2023.
All hail the halo
After 4 years of hybrid energy, F1’s subsequent massive innovation arrived to enhance driver security in 2018. The halo was one in all two improvements trialled by F1 to supply higher head safety for drivers, particularly within the aftermath of Jules Bianchi’s crash on the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix – which finally led to his dying in July, 2015.
The halo is a titanium head protector that arcs over the seat of the driving force and is designed to deflect particles that flies in the direction of an F1 driver’s head. The gadget was examined to face up to issues like errant wheels and different flying particles, and can even help the burden of a double decker bus.
Mercedes W15 halo element
Picture by: Giorgio Piola
The gadget, whereas controversial when it first appeared on F1 vehicles, has already confirmed its value on the race observe in crashes resembling Roman Grosjean’s on the 2020 Bahrain GP and Zhou Guanyu’s roll at Silverstone in 2022.
The Drive to Survive impact
Over the course of 2018, F1 tried one thing new: it let movie crews into the paddock and behind the scenes of the travelling circus. With entry to nearly each staff on the grid, besides Ferrari and Mercedes in its first season, Drive to Survive proved to be a phenomenon and reignited world curiosity in F1.
The primary season centered on storylines away from the race-winning methods of Mercedes, with episodes devoted to the Haas staff and its larger-than-life boss, Guenther Steiner, and Purple Bull and the dynamic between its drivers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. The sequence even highlighted Alonso’s retirement from F1, when he left McLaren on the conclusion of 2018.
The sequence introduced new followers to F1 in droves and sparked a revolution in the way in which drivers and groups conduct themselves – with an elevated emphasis on letting their personalities shine by way of.
Group modifications
Within the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, 11 F1 groups lined up on the grid to start out the race. Right now, two of these squads not exist, a brand new facet has joined the fold and three groups have utterly completely different names in contrast with 12 years in the past.
Caterham and Marussia struggled all through 2013 preventing for tenth place within the standings. The next yr, Caterham entered administration and pulled out while Marussia continued till 2015, earlier than re-branding as Manor Racing in 2016. It, too, pulled out of F1 earlier than the beginning of the 2017 season.
Giedo van der Garde, Caterham CT03 Renault
Picture by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Photographs
Then, there are the title modifications. Lotus turned Renault in 2016 and rebranded as Alpine for 2021, Pressure India was offered to Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll after it entered administration in 2018 and emerged as Racing Level. Stroll later rebranded the staff as Aston Martin for 2021.
Toro Rosso turned Alpha Tauri in 2020, then RB in 2024 and now it races as Racing Bulls. Sauber turned Alfa Romeo in 2019, then reverted to its unique title for 2024 forward of its pivot to develop into the Audi manufacturing facility staff from 2026. Lastly, Haas entered F1 in 2016 and has develop into a midfield common since.
Floor impact takes maintain
Whereas all these staff title modifications had been occurring, F1 went by way of one other seismic shift with the rollout of its 2022 rules. The brand new guidelines got down to create nearer racing and a extra aggressive grid by way of a clear slate automotive design philosophy that minimize the turbulent air produced whereas racing.
To do that, F1 switched to a floor impact philosophy that hadn’t been seen for the reason that early Eighties.
The brand new vehicles depend on advanced underfloor channels to create a lot of the downforce that sticks them to the highway by creating low stress beneath and sucking the automotive to the observe. Within the first season of this new philosophy, vehicles suffered from bouncing points that significantly hit on lengthy straights and made the vehicles very uncomfortable for drivers.
These issues had been, largely, ironed out after the primary season of the brand new guidelines, and it did obtain its purpose of creating vehicles simpler to observe and move. It did not, nonetheless, tighten up the grid as Purple Bull got here into the brand new guidelines as a dominant power. It wasn’t till different groups wrapped their heads across the new rules after a handful of seasons that the racing bought nearer as soon as once more.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Purple Bull Racing RB18, Sergio Perez, Purple Bull Racing RB18, George Russell, Mercedes W13, the remaining. of the sphere at the beginning
Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photographs
Observe modifications
Historic circuits like Monza, Silverstone and Spa had been all on the calendar in 2013 and stay on the schedule in 2025. However, F1 has added a number of latest, and returning, tracks to its schedule within the years since Alonso picked up his final race win.
Again in 2013, the 19-race calendar included grands prix in Malaysia, Germany, South Korea and India, and none of these tracks characteristic on 2025’s 24-race season. As an alternative, F1 added new races within the U.S., with occasions in Miami and Las Vegas becoming a member of Austin on the calendar. It additionally expanded within the Center East as Saudi Arabia and Qatar picked up occasions.
There are additionally revived races in nations such because the Netherlands, which returned to the F1 calendar in 2021 following a 35-year hiatus, and Imola, which returned to the calendar in 2020.
On this article
Owen Bellwood
Formulation 1
Fernando Alonso
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