Fernando Alonso receives iconic F1 tribute from sporting superstar

Fernando Alonso celebrates winning the 2005 F1 world championship — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Off the Track

Fernando Alonso receives iconic F1 tribute from sporting superstar

Carlos Alcaraz is a massive Alonso fan

Chris Deeley

Friday 30 January 2026 18:59

Some good news for Fernando Alonso ahead of the 2026 F1 season? Maybe so, if you dare to dream.

Alonso's fellow Spaniard, tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, paid a tribute to the veteran driver at the end of the longest ever Australian Open semi-final, which Alcaraz won on Friday.

The 22-year-old showed immense grit to beat Alexander Zverev in five sets, having been just a game away from winning in straight sets when he began to cramp at the denouement of the third set – getting a medical timeout which his opponent vehemently objected to at the time.

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Zverev took the third and fourth sets as Alcaraz's body betrayed him, but the Spaniard survived an early break in the fifth set to fight back and take a memorable win – which he celebrated by recreating Alonso's iconic celebration pose from the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix.

Alcaraz Alonso's good luck charm

That race marked Alonso's last win in his first stint with Renault, wrapping up back-to-back championships at the next and final race of the season in Brazil before heading to McLaren for an ill-fated season.

Alcaraz posted a side-by-side of his celebration and Alonso's – which was arguably quite helpful, as exhaustion at the end of his five and a half hour epic meant he looked more like a zombie dinosaur than a triumphant Asturian.

Victory in Sunday's final would make the 22-year-old the youngest men's player to complete tennis' career Grand Slam, with Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic duelling for the honour of facing him at time of writing.

Alcaraz has shared on-court messages for Alonso before, notably at the 2023 Miami Masters, when he wrote '33? Soon' on a camera lens after beating Tommy Paul, referencing the two-time world champion's decade-long quest to add to his tally of 32 F1 race wins.

That message came just before Alonso's best year in a decade, with Aston Martin delivering him a car which took him to eight podium finishes and fourth in the championship – although not that elusive 33rd win.

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