Fernando Alonso and Will Power

For the first time there are joint winners of EDGE Performer of the Month as two-time Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso and IndyCar ace Will Power both achieved identical scores in the Castrol Rankings during March.

Alonso made a perfect start to his career as a Ferrari driver at the Bahrain Grand Prix as he won from third on the grid. He then maintained his World Championship lead with fourth place in Australia, holding off the advances of Lewis Hamilton late in the race.

Power, meanwhile, proved that the back injury he sustained at Sears Point last year is not holding him back as, armed with a full-time Penske drive for the first time, he won the first two rounds of the IndyCar Series on the Sao Paulo and St Petersburg street circuits.

The Australian's results have allowed him to rise up from 121st to 104th in the Castrol Rankings during March, while Alonso has also ascended the order, moving up from 19th to 15th.

Alonso's rise to the top of the motorsport tree has been meteoric. After winning eight karting titles, he made his car racing debut at the age of 16 in Formula Nissan and won the championship at his first attempt.

He moved to F1 with Minardi in 2001 after a season in F3000 and made enough of an impression on Renault to convince the French manufacturer to sign him as its test driver for the following year and then promote him to a race seat for 2003.

Over the next four years, Alonso gained superstar status in his homeland as he became the first Spaniard to win a grand prix in Hungary in '03, and then to win the World Championship, which he achieved in both '05 and '06.

Alonso and Power's rankings year

His reputation took a hit after moving to McLaren when he was matched by his rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton, and then gave evidence against the team relating to the spying scandal that cost the Woking outfit a £52million fine.

Position untenable, he moved back to Renault in '08 and won twice, although with the machinery not up to the standard that it had been during his last tenure there, he would not become a front-runner again until moving to Ferrari.

His victory in Bahrain earlier this month was the 22nd of his F1 career, lifting him to 10th equal with Damon Hill on the all-time winners' list.

Power, meanwhile, has done things slightly differently. Already a title-winner in Australian Formula 4000, he switched to F3 in Britain in 2003, but had a difficult two seasons in Ralt and Dallara machinery, failing to win a race.

A lucky break to compete in the World Series by Renault with Carlin in 2005 effectively saved his career. He won twice, securing a Team Australia drive in A1GP and, off the back of two podiums at Brands Hatch, a ChampCar drive with backing from the same organisation.

In two years with the Walker Racing-run squad, Power won twice and took six pole positions, while he also had the honour of winning the last ChampCar race – a non-championship affair at Long Beach in 2008.

He took his maiden IndyCar victory at Edmonton last year after a one-off deal to replace the unavailable Helio Castroneves at Penske became a six-race agreement, but his progress was halted at Sears Point when a collision with Nelson Philippe in practice left him with a number of broken vertebrae in his back.

His return has been as surprising as it has been sensational, having put his Penske team-mates Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe in the shade so far. If he can improve his oval form (which currently includes only one top-five finish), he will be a title contender.