Fernando Alonso splits from girlfriend amid Aston Martin's spectacular season

Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso may be enjoying a career revival this season after joining Aston Martin, but his personal life has suffered a major blow. The two-time F1 Drivers' World Champion announced that he and partner Andrea Schlager have ended their romantic relationship earlier this week.

Both Alonso and Schlager confirmed the split on their respective Instagram accounts via their stories just hours after the conclusion of the chaotic Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne Park on Sunday.

Alonso and Schlager are often spotted on the paddock together, arriving and leaving in unison for the past two seasons. While the Spaniard is busy with his duties as a driver, Schlager is also on the grid not just as a spectator. The Austrian is a TV journalist and presenter, who covers the races as part of her job. It is believed that she and Alonso met while both on duty.

Alonso's statement on his IG stories came with a photo of himself and his former partner and he captioned the post: "We wanted to tell you that our relationship as a couple ended. We have been lucky enough to share a fantastic time together, and it will continue to be so, but on a different form of affection.

"As you have probably seen, we have continued working on and off track on various projects together also during this time, and we will keep doing so with deep love and respect for each other.

"We thought it is appropriate to share this as you have all been very supportive. Thanks for that. Love Fer & Andrea."

The split was announced not long after Alonso took his third consecutive podium position this season. He took third place behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, making it a podium full of world champions. Between the three of them, they had won a whopping eleven F1 Drivers' World Championship titles (Verstappen 2021, 2022. Hamilton 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and Alonso 2005 and 2006).

It was a huge relief for Alonso to even finish in the points let alone the podium after he spun off from P3 into P12 in the closing stages after a collision with Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. The incident took place after the second red flag of the race and a subsequent standing restart with only a few laps remaining.

Further collisions down the order led to another red flag and the FIA's decision to revert to the previous classification, therefore putting Alonso back on the podium despite having spun out towards the back of the pack. The final lap was then completed behind the safety car.

Alonso was visibly pleased by the pace of his Aston Martin and said after the race that he is aiming to finish at least in second place very soon after coming in third three times in a row since the start of the current campaign.

He is clearly excited to be at the wheel of a very competitive car. Alonso made the controversial decision to leave Alpine last year after four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel decided to retire. Alonso had been in the middle of contract extension talks with Alpine at the time, and his former team was blindsided by his decision to leave.

The split with Alpine was unexpected and on the Netflix series "Drive to Survive," Alonso admitted that he was the "bad guy" in the situation and he knows that he will be portrayed as the villain in the story. However, the split in his personal life appears to be much more amicable.

He and Schlager both confirmed that they will continue to work together in various projects that they have started while they were a couple. They will be seeing a lot of each other in the paddock, so it would probably be best to stay in good terms.

In Melbourne, Schlager was on duty in front of the cameras for Austrian channel Servus TV. Apart from her work in F1, she is also involved in other aspects of the auto industry. Schlager is an ambassador for carmaker SEAT through their high-performance Cupra brand.

Despite the amicable nature of the split, it did come as a shock to fans who had been supporting the former couple.