Alonso welcomes 'lucky' fifth place

Alonso had started from eighth position but gained a few places at the start and then passed Ferrari's Felipe Massa on the final lap when the Brazilian slowed down in order to save fuel.

The Renault driver was pleased with the result and with how his car had handled during the race.

"As I said before the race, you have to finish it," Alonso told Spanish television after the race. "We had favourable circumstances since the start of the race, gaining a few positions, and then Massa with the problem that he had.

"We were a bit lucky, and the car was good during the whole race so we could."

Alonso, who had the lightest car of the field at the start, had a scare in the middle of the race, when he suffered a slow puncture.

"In the end we saw that we weren't so light," he said. "The Brawns stopped ahead of us and the Toyotas too, so the strategy worked well.

"I only had a problem, which was a puncture. I was scheduled to stop on lap 45 but had to stop on lap 41, but I managed to stay ahead of Rosberg and nothing changed much."

Team-mate Nelson Piquet finished outside the points in 12th position.