Renault leaves with nothing

Alonso, who appeared to have the edge on his team-mate, was running ahead of trulli in the lead when the Spaniard's car sprung an oil leak under braking for Les Combes, which sent him into a spin. Back on track, Alonso continued, only to spin again at Rivage and ending his race in the gravel.

"To retire from the lead of a race is never good, and especially at this stage of the season," Alonso said. "We looked competitive compared to Raikkonen and the other cars, and I was just beginning to run at my full pace when the car spun round on the entry to turn 5. I got going again, but then it happened again into turn 8, and when I got out, I could see the left rear was covered in oil. I'm just disappointed, because it was a good chance for a strong result today."

Team-mate Trulli, who finished in ninth, said: "I don't know what happened today. Things seemed quite good in the first stint, but then after my first stop, the car became undriveable. I lost grip at the rear, and had no confidence through the high-speed corners, which penalises you all the way round the circuit here at Spa. I am very upset with this performance, but right now, I just want to understand what happened."

Team boss Flavio Briatore added: "This result is a major disappointment for the team. We had a great chance to score points today and strengthen our position in the championship, even after Fernando had retired, but instead we came away empty-handed. Fernando suffered from a reliability problem, and we need to resolve this before the final four races of the season. As for Jarno's loss in performance, we are at a loss to explain what happened. It is only a small consolation that BAR failed to score points today either."