What happened to Alonso's F1 career?

The Mclaren-Honda dream

F1 Grand Prix of Brazil - Practice

Mercedes became the new team to beat in 2014 upon the introduction of turbo engines and extensive energy recovery technology in F1.

To challenge the German manufacturer, Alonso switched to Mclaren-Honda in 2015.

Emulating his idol Ayrton Senna and joining a team that had engines designed only for their car were Alonso's reasons for joining.

But poor reliability and a lack of performance caused the partnership between Honda and Mclaren to end after three years.

The failed collaboration meant that Alonso scored just 82 points with 17 DNFs.

Meanwhile, his former team Ferrari had since emerged as Mercedes' main title challengers.

The last chance with Mclaren & Renault

F1 Grand Prix of Germany - Practice

Mclaren's switch to Renault power units for 2018 saw Alonso sign a “long-term” contract renewal in October last year.

The target for the working-based squad heading into the new campaign was matching Red Bull-Renault.

But a fifth-place finish in the opening race at Australia has been the highlight of Alonso’s campaign so far.

Seven more top-10 finishes and a further 34 points have come for Alonso.

But, now 37 years old, Alonso has called time on his F1 career to pursue other racing categories.