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Alonso cruises to British GP win

Defending world champion Fernando Alonso took his fifth win of the season in the British Grand Prix after blowing away his opposition on a windy day at Silverstone

Alonso led from start to finish to give Renault their first Silverstone win as a constructor since 1983.

The Spaniard beat title rival Michael Schumacher by 13.9 seconds to extend his world championship lead over the Ferrari driver to 23 points. Kimi Raikkonen was third for McLaren.

The race started in dramatic fashion, with Alonso leading away from pole position ahead of Raikkonen and Schumacher.

The action was further back though, as Toro Rosso's Scott Speed tipped the slow-starting Toyota of Ralf Schumacher into a slide at the high-speed Becketts corner.

The 30-year-old German did superbly to recover the wayward car, but as he re-joined the racing line, Williams' Mark Webber smashed into his right-hand side, eliminating both cars instantly and triggering the safety car while the mess was cleared up.

Speed also retired in the pits with front-end damage at the end of the lap.

After two laps at slow speed, racing was resumed, although Raikkonen nearly hit the rear-end of Alonso's Renault as the safety car pulled in.

Halfway around the lap, Raikkonen attempted to overtake Alonso at the fastest point on the circuit - Hangar Straight, but was forced to back off, allowing Michael Schumacher's Ferrari onto his tail.

Schumacher dived down the outside of the McLaren into the Abbey chicane, but was unable to pass as Raikkonen squeezed him to the edge of the track.

The order at the front remained static for the opening stint as Alonso opened up a five-second lead before the first round of pit-stops, which began with Schumacher at the end of lap 18.

The only man to gain any ground in the pitlane was Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella as he passed Brazilian Felipe Massa's Ferrari for fourth place.

But home hero Jenson Button did not even make it that far as a Honda engine failure forced his retirement on lap nine, after the Briton had made up seven places from his starting position.

Alonso continued to assert his superiority over his rivals as he extended his lead to 11 seconds by the second pitstops and held it all the way to the chequered flag to collect the 13th win of his career.

Behind him, Schumacher used Ferrari's superior pit work to leapfrog ahead of Raikkonen for second at the final pitstops. Schumacher's stationary time of 6.8 seconds was over a second faster than the Finn.

Raikkonen then faced a tough challenge to keep a charging Fisichella behind as the Italian tried to make it two Renaults on the podium, but survived.

Behind the quartet, Massa took fifth after a quiet run, with McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya sixth.

Teammates Nick Heidfeld and Jacques Villeneuve rounded out the top eight to give BMW Sauber their first double-points finish since the Australian Grand Prix in April.

British fans were left to cheer on David Coulthard, who was the only home driver to finish, in 12th place for Red Bull.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The British Grand Prix
Silverstone, Britain;
60 laps; 308.355km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Alonso        Renault              (M)  1h25:251.927
 2.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)  +    13.951
 3.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  +    18.672
 4.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  +    19.976
 5.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  +    31.559
 6.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  +  1:04.769
 7.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (M)  +  1:11.595
 8.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber           (M)  +  1:18.299
 9.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)  +  1:19.009
10.  Barrichello   Honda                (M)  +     1 lap
11.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  +     1 lap
12.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  +     1 lap
13.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  +     1 lap
14.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  +     1 lap
15.  Albers        MF1-Toyota           (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota           (B)  +    2 laps
17.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +    3 laps
18.  Montagny      Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +    3 laps

Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:21.599

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Button        Honda                (M)    10
Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)    2
Webber        Williams-Cosworth    (B)    1
R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)    1


World Championship standings, round 8:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Alonso        74        1.  Renault              106
 2.  M.Schumacher  51        2.  Ferrari               75
 3.  Raikkonen     33        3.  McLaren-Mercedes      59
 4.  Fisichella    32        4.  Honda                 29
 5.  Montoya       26        5.  BMW-Sauber            17
 6.  Massa         24        6.  Williams-Cosworth     10
 7.  Button        16        7.  Red Bull-Ferrari       8
 8.  Barrichello   13        8.  Toyota                 8
 9.  Heidfeld      10       
10.  R.Schumacher   8       
11.  Villeneuve     7       
12.  Coulthard      7       
13.  Webber         6       
14.  Rosberg        4       
15.  Klien          1       
       
All timing unofficial

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