Renault duo rue missed opportunity

Alonso tailed Rubens Barrichello throughout the first portion of the race, and was pressuring the Brazilian when his engine failed. Meanwhile, Trulli spent the race recovering from his misfortune yesterday, when rain ruined his qualifying run. The Italian charged up from the back of the grid to finish fifth.

"It's a big disappointment to retire," said Alonso. "I was fighting for the victory and we were probably going to make one less stop that Rubens. We have had a great season, but the opportunity was there to win at the last race, and it's not a nice feeling to lose it."

Trulli was more upbeat. "A fantastic race for me: we didn't expect to score points after starting at the back, and it hadn't been for the traffic after my second stop, I could have finished fourth," he said. "The real damage was done on Saturday, when I could have got pole if it hadn't rained. We proved during the race that we were quick enough to fight at the front."