Highlighting Fernando Alonso's career as he becomes F1's most experienced driver

Formula 1's favourite Spaniard, Fernando Alonso, has now tied with Finish legend Kimi Raikkonen to become the sport's most experienced driver. Both drivers have competed in 349 Grands Prix, with Alonso matching the feat at the recent Italian Grand Prix.

Raikkonen became the most experienced F1 driver in 2020 when he matched and surpassed the record held by Rubens Barrichello. Soon, Alonso also topped the Brazilian, and with Raikkonen retiring at the end of 2021, Alonso is now in the position where he matched his former rival's record.

With six races remaining in 2022, Alonso will eclipse Raikkonen to end the season as the most experienced driver with 355 races to his name. And with a new two-year Aston Martin contract in the bag - and 24 races expected for both 2023 and 2024 - Alonso could sign off on his career with 403 races.

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Fernando Alonso will start his 349th race today! ??That means he will equal Kimi Raikkonen's record of the most race starts in F1 ??#ItalianGP #F1 @alo_oficial pic.twitter.com/WFLKGXo0Ah

Alonso's career highlights

Alonso made his F1 debut at the 2001 Australian GP with Minardi - one of the sport's back markers at the time. It was a tough debut year, and the Spaniard finished 23rd out of the 26 registered drivers, effectively rendering him without a racing seat in 2002.

However, the Renault F1 team had Alonso on its books and used him in a reserve role in 2002, followed by a racing seat in 2003. With a competitive car at his disposal, Alonso finished his return-year in sixth and won his first race in Hungary. The 2004 didn't conjure any wins, but he secured one second-place finish at Renault's home race,