Fernando Alonso before being overtaken by Daniel Ricciardo only a couple of laps before the finish. Alonso finished sixth in the championship, with only one other podium, a third-place finish in China. In spite of his worst championship position during his time with Ferrari, he was far ahead of teammate Kimi Räikkönen in the championship. Alonso had severe disagreements with team director Marco Mattiacci. In November 2014 both Alonso and Scuderia Ferrari announced that the season would be his last with the team, with former title rival Sebastian Vettel replacing Alonso at Ferrari for the following season, both drivers leaving their previous
Fernando Alonso for him to end the season fourth overall behind Bruno Junqueira, Nicolas Minassian and Mark Webber. In December 1999, after winning that year's Euro-Open Movistar series, Alonso had his first Formula One test in Jerez with Minardi, the team that would later give him his Grand Prix debut. He drove the Minardi M01. In 2000 he also had a test with the Minardi M02. In 2000 and 2001 Alonso was a test driver at Benetton. Alonso was the third-youngest driver ever to start a Formula One race when he made his debut with Minardi at the . The team was