Renault Formula One driver Fernando Alonso of Spain celebrates after finishing second in the Brazilian Grand Prix, the last F1 race of the season, at the Interlagos track in Sao Paulo, October 22. Alonso won his second successive Formula One world championship at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday. - REUTERS

SAO PAULO, (Reuters):

Fernando Alonso is on the road to greatness. He may not be there yet, but the destination is not far off.

When Alonso won his second successive Formula One title on Sunday, with second place in the Brazilian Grand Prix, an invisible baton passed between departing Ferrari great Michael Schumacher and the 25-year-old Renault driver.

Alonso takes over from Schumacher, retiring after 91 wins and 250 races and with a string of records that may never be broken, as the youngest double champion.

In so doing, the Spaniard joins an elite that includes Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost as one of just eight drivers to win back-to-back titles.

Alonso, as fierce and aggressive on the track as he is soft-spoken and diffident off it, looks more and more like the face of a fascinating future - even if his move to McLaren next season adds an element of uncertainty.

"He has that fire in his belly. It's too early to call him legendary but he has that shine to him," said 1996 world champion Damon Hill. "He certainly has the ability. He's exceptionally good, no question about it. What marks him out is he very clearly has an enormous amount of fight in him. He just does not let things overwhelm him."

MAGIC TOUCH

The only Spaniard to win a grand prix, let alone a championship, Alonso has always had the magic touch. He loves to entertain friends and family with card tricks and sleight-of-hand, is an accomplished mimic and a passionate Real Madrid soccer supporter.

There is nothing flash or brash about the softly-spoken Spaniard, who lives in the English university town of Oxford to be near his team and escape the media spotlight at home.

Alonso won seven times last year, and seven more this season. That much remains the same, but in other ways he has changed.

He has been dating a Spanish pop star and has become more outspoken as well as more of a leader.

Last month he was elected by his peers as one of the directors of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, an organisation he had previously shown little inclination to get involved with.

His public utterances have become sharper. Gone are the mumbled platitudes, the reluctance to speak out.

In Monza, last month, he declared Formula One no longer a sport after being penalised harshly by race stewards for allegedly impeding Ferrari's Felipe Massa in qualifying.

He has complained of feeling alone at times at Renault.

"He has made his determination apparent in his reactions to some of the things he sees as injustice. That sort of brings out what Alonso is all about," said Hill.