F1: 4 Best races of Fernando Alonso's career

#3 San Marino Grand Prix 2005

Fernando Alonso with Flavio Briatore at the 2005 San Marino F1 Grand Prix

It was in 2005 that Alonso and Renault checked all boxes to stop the Schumacher-Ferrari juggernaut helping Alonso win his first World Championship and one of his best ever races came at the San Marino Grand Prix that year.

Starting behind Kimi Raikkonen in second place on the grid, Alonso rode his luck as Raikkonen retired due to an engine issue despite building a considerable lead.

Kimi's premature retirement meant that Alonso took the lead and he was unchallenged for 50 laps until the second round of pitstops when Schumacher emerged 2nd from 13th on the grid. Ferrari with the fresher tyres was certainly faster and with 12 laps remaining, it was looking increasingly difficult for Alonso to dodge the 7-time defending World Champion.

Schumacher tried everything in his playbook to overtake Alonso. Alonso faced a barrage of attacking manoeuvres from Schumacher but remarkably held on to win the race. He would then go on to win his maiden World Championship.