Alonso beats Schumacher to Bahrain win

Spaniard Alonso, 24, made use of a perfect strategy from his Renault team to win by 1.2 seconds from German Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari and claim his ninth Formula One win.

Pole position holder Schumacher led the 22-car field into the first corner from teammate Felipe Massa. Massa was soon passed at turn three by World Champion Alonso for second place.

Behind them, Briton Jenson Button made a poor start and fell behind his Honda teammate Rubens Barrichello and into sixth place.

A tremendous fight followed as Button passed Barrichello on lap two but slid wide at the next corner and was re-passed. He took the place for good on lap three.

As Schumacher extended his lead over Alonso to seven seconds by lap 15, Massa made an inauspicious Ferrari debut as he spun under braking at turn one on lap eight and missed Alonso by inches.

A subsequent pit-stop dropped him to the back of the field, but he fought back to finish ninth.

Button put pressure on new third placed McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya, and passed the Colombian for the spot at turn one on lap 11.

Schumacher pitted from the lead on lap 15 and retained the position after an 8.2 second stop once every driver on a two-stop strategy had come in.

Alonso's eight-second stop four laps later was enough to close the gap to only a few car lengths, but Montoya was the big gainer as he moved back ahead of Button and into third.

Montoya's Finnish teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who started from the back of the grid after a crash in qualifying, had climbed to third by mid-distance after electing to only stop once.

That stop, which took 11 seconds, happened on lap 30, and dropped him down to sixth, but he moved up when Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella retired with engine mapping problems.

The pivotal moment of the race came on lap 39, three laps after leader Schumacher had made his final stop. Alonso, who was in the lead, re-joined alongside the Ferrari and muscled his rival out of the position to keep the top spot.

The gap remained close for the rest of the race, but, try as he might, seven-time champion Schumacher could do nothing about Alonso.

Raikkonen finished third, 19.3 seconds behind, and ahead of Button, whose two-stop strategy dropped him to fourth. Montoya was fifth ahead of Williams' Australian star Mark Webber.

Williams' debutant driver Nico Rosberg spun at the first corner and pitted at the end of the first lap, but recovered brilliantly to pass Red Bull's Briton David Coulthard for eighth with seven laps left, and then Christian Klien on the penultimate tour.

Barrichello endured a bad time as he lost third gear midway through the race and dropped to 15th overall and both Toyotas of Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli struggled for pace, ending up 14th and 16th.

It was a dreadful maiden race for Midland F1 after Portuguese driver Tiago Monteiro, started from the pitlane after suffering a late driveshaft problem.

His Dutch teammate Christijan Albers retired before the first lap after he suffered a driveshaft failure at the start.

Super Aguri Racing had a similarly disappointing debut as their Japanese debutant Yuji Ide was given a drive-through penalty when his mechanics failed to clear the grid after the 15-second board was shown prior to the formation lap.

He then hit one of his mechanics after turning into his pit box too quickly, and later retired. Teammate Takuma Sato did however, make it to the finish in 18th place.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Bahrain Grand Prix
Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain;
57 laps; 308.769km;
Weather: Dry and clear; air 23°C / track 35°C.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time        
 1.  Alonso        Renault             (M)  1h29:46.205
 2.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari             (B)  +     1.246
 3.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  +    19.360
 4.  Button        Honda               (M)  +    19.992
 5.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  +    37.048
 6.  Webber        Williams-Cosworth   (B)  +    41.932
 7.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth   (B)  +  1:03.043
 8.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  +  1:06.771
 9.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  +  1:09.907
10.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  +  1:15.541
11.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  +  1:25.997
12.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber          (M)  +  1 lap
13.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  +  1 lap
14.  R.Schumacher  Toyota              (B)  +  1 lap
15.  Barrichello   Honda               (M)  +  1 lap
16.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  +  1 lap
17.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota          (B)  +  2 laps
18.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  +  4 laps

Not classified:

     Driver         Team                    On lap
     Ide            Super Aguri-Honda   (B)   36 
     Villeneuve     BMW-Sauber          (M)   30  
     Fisichella     Renault             (M)   22
     Albers         MF1-Toyota          (B)    1 

Fastest Lap: Rosberg, 1:32.408

World Championship standings, round 1:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Alonso        10        1.  Renault            10
 2.  M.Schumacher   8        2.  McLaren-Mercedes   10
 3.  Raikkonen      6        3.  Ferrari             8
 4.  Button         5        4.  Honda               5
 5.  Montoya        4        5.  Williams-Cosworth   5
 6.  Webber         3        6.  Red Bull-Ferrari    1
 7.  Rosberg        2       
 8.  Klien          1       
       
All timing unofficial