Double champion Alonso, 37, to quit after this season

FERNANDO ALONSO last night announced his retirement from Formula One, ending one of the great unrewarded careers in grand prix racing. It is almost unbelievable to think that the Spaniard, who became the then youngest world champion in 2005 and youngest double world champion the following year, both with Renault, failed to win another title during his 17-year career. It is all the more amazing given the symbolic brilliance with which Alonso (right) held off Michael Schumacher for 12 laps at Imola in 2005 to win the race that he said changed his life. He followed those heroics by producing an overtaking manoeuvre of legend to pass Schumacher at 200mph on the outside of the 130R corner at Suzuka. But yesterday, after 32 wins, 22 poles and 97 podiums so far, 37-year-old Alonso said he would be off at the end of the season. McLaren said he had indicated his intentions some time ago, but his departure is a bitter blow. They have paid him £120million over five years but in their sub-standard cars, powered by poor engines, he has not registered a single podium. Alonso’s career-defining problem was that he was a ‘team-wrecker’ who rubbed up his employers the wrong way. His biggest mistake came when paired with debutant Lewis Hamilton at McLaren in 2007. Had Alonso played the situation more calculatingly, he could have beaten Hamilton, and won the title that year and the next. Instead, he flitted around, going back to Renault, then Ferrari, before returning to McLaren, by that point a shadow of their former selves. Still respected by his peers, Alonso said yesterday: ‘It’s time for a change. I have enjoyed every single minute.’ He may drive the Indianapolis 500 next year, possibly under McLaren’s umbrella. As for McLaren in F1, they will now select from current driver Stoffel Vandoorne, British tyro Lando Norris and Renault’s Carlos Sainz.