From a go-kart racer to youngest F1 champ in 2005: Alonso

Washington: Ferrari`s Formula One racer Fernando Alonso has reportedly revealed how he went from becoming a go-kart racer to Formula One`s youngest champion in 2005.

The two time Formula One champion reportedly recalled his childhood days when he used to race go-karts and also remembers the sacrifices his parents made as they drove him around Spain and Europe during his rise through the ranks. Alonso said that his father was the one to introduce the `adrenaline and passion` for racing into the family while talking to CNN at an exhibition of memorabilia in Madrid documenting his illustrious career. The former Renault racer said that the weekends were perhaps a nightmare for his parents because they needed to take the car, they needed to drive for maybe 10 hours with him asleep in the back and then have a race somewhere, and then come home because they needed to work and he had to go to school Alonso said that his parents had always prioritized studies over racing and if he did well in studies he could keep racing in go-karts. The Formula One racer revealed that the first `key` moment he had was winning the Spanish national championships in 1994 and said that he felt at that moment that he would keep the trophy all his life because one never thinks that one would continue. Alonso also said that one of the most important things that he received from his parents was to have always a sense of family and to be united. Alonso was reportedly the runner-up at the European Karting Championships in 1998 and two years later finished fourth in Formula 3000. The racer made is Formula One debut with Minardi in 2001 and then went on to join Renault, for which in 2005 he won the Formula One Championship to become the youngest driver to do so, the report added. Alonso flourished with his family`s support, to become a megastar who was rated 19th in Forbes` top-earning athletes list on 30 million-dollars, and is considered Formula One`s most marketable driver, the report further added.