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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