Fernando Alonso has become the absolute protagonist of the Formula 1 season. The 2023 course started on Sunday, March 5, in Bahrain and he did it in the best possible way for Spanish fans. And it is that Fernando Alonso was the big surprise of the first Grand Prix of this new Formula One season. The Asturian had not been on a podium since November 21, 2021 when he also finished third in the Qatar Grand Prix.
This start to the season has been a blow to the Aston Martin table and has increased the expectations of the Asturian who is confident of achieving his 33rd grand prix.
The Asturian pilot is back to try to continue increasing his impressive record. He has won the Formula 1 World Championship twice in 2005 and 2006. He was runner-up in 2010, 2012 and 2013, and took third place in 2007. He was champion of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2019, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2018 and 2019, the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2019 and the Karting World Championship in 1996.
The small town with his name
But beyond his impressive sporting achievements, the pilot can boast of having a town that bears his name, even if it is only because of a whim of history, and no, it is not in Asturias.
“Casas de Fernando Alonso” is a municipality located in the south of the province of Cuenca, in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha. Every Grand Prix Sunday, this small town of 1,200 inhabitants is paralyzed to follow what they consider their countryman in Formula 1. And it is that without knowing it, the Oviedo promotes each race in this town all over the world.
The curious name of Casas de Fernando Alonso and its adjective: teatinos, come from when in the place where the town stands there was, centuries ago, a convent of teatinos friars. With the passage of time, the convent was acquired by a gentleman from San Clemente, named Fernando Alonso, who formed the new town, to which he put his name.
The visitor can admire the Iglesia de la Purísima Concepción, the first one was built in 1678-79. It was demolished for reasons of space, and the current one was built during the years 1954-55. Its Town Hall is interesting, which was built in 1840 and reformed in 1975. The Hermitages of San Antón, from 1781 and declared Artistic Heritage, and that of San Isidro, are other monuments in the town.
The most abundant crop in this municipality dedicated to agriculture is the vineyard, used for the production of wines. Casas de Fernando Alonso has two wineries: Bodega Vinos Molina SA since 1912 and Cooperativa Purísima Concepción (Los Teatinos), since 1957 and its wines belong to the Denomination of Origin “Ribera del Júcar”.
Regarding sports, since 2011 it has a soccer team, Teatinos CF, currently playing in group 3 of the Second Autonomous Division of Castilla-La Mancha. Also, since 2017 it has a cycling club: the Bandidos de Teatinos Cycling Club. And even if not in the motor discipline, it has an illustrious athlete that the municipality remembers in a plaque of honor. This is Braulio Veliz López, wrestling and Greco-Roman champion. “Pre-Olympic in Rome in 1960, champion of Spain 1960-1976, European Champion in 1965 and runner-up in the world in 1970.
Historical curiosity has led the young people of this town to form a club dedicated to the Asturian pilot who can boast of having a town in his name even centuries before he was born.