Fernando Alonso. A driver you may love, you may hate, but you can never ignore. Having made his debut in 2001 with Minardi, he will bid goodbye to Formula One, having won 2 world championships with Renault, being nearly there with Ferrari and finally having a struggle with McLaren. He had a successful stint with Ferrari from 2010 to 2014, and while he challenged Sebastian Vettel through these years, somehow it was never enough.

Having moved to McLaren in 2015, he has spent most of his time at the back of the grid and now finally bids the sport goodbye after spending 4 frustrating years.

His departure none the less is going to be super emotional for him and fans none the less. He’s one of the most popular guys in the grid and enjoys a significant fan following. McLaren, to celebrate the glorious career of Alonso, dedicated a special one-off livery that they’ll be running at Abu Dhabi on both of their cars.

Apart from that, the team asked Fernando’s fans to describe the Spanish driver in one word. And the result is an incredibly emotional video.

Fernando was quick to respond to it’s team’s beautiful gesture.

No matter how many controversies he’s been involved with, he’s a guy who will terribly be missed in the paddock. He ended his Ferrari run on a bitter note, being very critical of the team after moving to McLaren, but nonetheless the tifosi love him. So much so, they even launched an online plea asking Ferrari to sign him back. 

His stay in McLaren has been nothing short of frustrating. With zero podiums, pole positions or even fastest laps, the last four years have been forgetful for the Spaniard. With his last victory coming in Spain 2013, his departure does make a perfect sense considering he’s enjoying success in WEC. But he’s open to coming back in 2020, and has constantly mentioned the same. So could we see him making a comeback? We never know.