In a profession that has spanned 24 years, has received 32 grands prix, stood on 106 podiums and claimed two Formulation 1 titles. And whereas his success continued with a change to Aston Martin and a handful of podiums in early 2023, it’s been some time because the Spaniard received a race. In reality, 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 and jumped from fifth to first to style the winner’s champagne for the thirty second time.
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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 vastly within the 12 years since he final received an F1 race.
New F1 world champions
If Alonso wasn’t successful races in that interval, who was? Nicely, because the Spaniard final received a grand prix there have been 4 totally different world champions, together with two who received titles for the very first time.
The 2013 crown was received by Crimson Bull’s , his fourth and final title. After that, the F1 world was handled to years of dominance, with choosing up wins in 2014 and 2015, team-mate successful the title in 2016 earlier than Hamilton claimed an extra 4.
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Since 2021, F1 has been in one other period of dominance, this time by the hands of Crimson Bull with its star claiming 4 consecutive drivers’ championships.
World Drivers Champion Max Verstappen, Crimson Bull Racing
World Drivers Champion Max Verstappen, Crimson Bull RacingRed Bull Content material Pool
Crimson Bull Content material Pool
F1 goes hybrid
One of the impactful adjustments F1 made over the past 12 years was its change to turbo-hybrid engines to extend sustainability in motorsport.
For 2014, the sequence rolled out complicated new energy items that mix a V6 inner combustion engine with two hybrid elements: the MGU-Okay and MGU-H. Every of those motor generator items recovers energy from braking and the warmth from exhaust gasses and shops it as electrical vitality that may be deployed in a grand prix.
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The implementation of the tech helped F1’s present technology of V6 hybrid engines change into essentially 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 with its Honda energy unit. The motor was down on energy in comparison with its rivals, and Alonso even went as far as to check it to a GP2 engine throughout the Japanese Grand Prix. Honda’s time behind the pack didn’t final, nevertheless, and it went on to win back-to-back constructors’ crowns with Crimson 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 considered one of 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 ultimately led to his loss of life in July, 2015.
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The halo is a titanium head protector that arcs over the seat of the motive force and is designed to deflect particles that flies in the direction of an F1 driver’s head. The system was examined to face up to issues like errant wheels and different flying particles, and also can assist the burden of a double decker bus.
Mercedes W15 halo element
Mercedes W15 halo detailGiorgio Piola
Giorgio Piola
The system, whereas controversial when it first appeared on F1 vehicles, has already confirmed its value on the race monitor in crashes reminiscent of Roman Grosjean’s on the 2020 Bahrain GP and ’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 workforce on the grid, besides Ferrari and Mercedes in its first season, Drive to Survive proved to be a phenomenon and reignited international curiosity in F1.
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The primary season centered on storylines away from the race-winning methods of Mercedes, with episodes devoted to the Haas workforce and its larger-than-life boss, Guenther Steiner, and Crimson Bull and the dynamic between its drivers Max Verstappen and . 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.
Workforce adjustments
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 now not exist, a brand new facet has joined the fold and three groups have fully totally different names in contrast with 12 years in the past.
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Caterham and Marussia struggled all through 2013 combating for tenth place within the standings. The next 12 months, 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
Giedo van der Garde, Caterham CT03 RenaultAndrew Ferraro / Motorsport Photos
Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Photos
Then, there are the title adjustments. Lotus grew to become Renault in 2016 and rebranded as 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 workforce as Aston Martin for 2021.
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Toro Rosso grew to become Alpha Tauri in 2020, then RB in 2024 and now it races as . grew to become Alfa Romeo in 2019, then reverted to its authentic title for 2024 forward of its pivot to change into the Audi manufacturing unit workforce from 2026. Lastly, Haas entered F1 in 2016 and has change into a midfield common since.
Floor impact takes maintain
Whereas all these workforce title adjustments have been occurring, F1 went by one other seismic shift with the rollout of its 2022 laws. The brand new guidelines got down to create nearer racing and a extra aggressive grid by a clear slate automotive design philosophy that lower the turbulent air produced whereas racing.
To do that, F1 switched to a floor impact philosophy that hadn’t been seen because the early Eighties.
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The brand new vehicles depend on complicated underfloor channels to create many of the downforce that sticks them to the street by creating low strain beneath and sucking the automotive to the monitor. 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 have been, largely, ironed out after the primary season of the brand new guidelines, and it did obtain its purpose of creating vehicles simpler to comply with and go. It did not, nevertheless, tighten up the grid as Crimson Bull got here into the brand new guidelines as a dominant power. It wasn’t till different groups wrapped their heads across the new laws after a handful of seasons that the racing obtained nearer as soon as once more.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Crimson Bull Racing RB18, Sergio Perez, Crimson Bull Racing RB18, George Russell, Mercedes W13, the remaining. of the sphere at the beginning
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Crimson Bull Racing RB18, Sergio Perez, Crimson Bull Racing RB18, George Russell, Mercedes W13, the remaining. of the sphere on the startZak Mauger / Motorsport Photos
Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photos
Monitor adjustments
Historic circuits like Monza, Silverstone and Spa have been all on the calendar in 2013 and stay on the schedule in 2025. However, F1 has added a bunch of recent, and returning, tracks to its schedule within the years since Alonso picked up his final race win.
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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 international locations 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.
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