Alonso's winning Formula
Formula One can look forward to a new era in 2006 after crowning Spaniard Fernando Alonso the youngest of champions in the longest of seasons.
Every sport has its defining moments, and those watching this year's San Marino Grand Prix saw such a landmark with the baton passed from one great talent to another, younger phenomenon.
At Imola, the fourth of the season's 19 races, Renault's Alonso kept Michael Schumacher's charging Ferrari behind him for lap after lap to the chequered flag with a brilliant demonstration of defensive driving.
With Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren sidelined by a driveshaft failure after the Finn had started from pole position, that race proved richly symbolic.
In Alonso, the seven-times world champion met his match. The game was up that April afternoon and Schumacher's five-year reign destined to end.
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Photographs: Getty Images | Text: Reuters