Alonso dedicates podium to Briatore

Alonso's third place in Singapore was his first and Renault's first podium of a very tough 2009 season. The double champion praised his crew's resilience through recent efforts, but also credited Briatore for today's success.

"The team has been fantastic, all season, we had a fantastic team," said Alonso. "The mechanics and engineers, everyone in the factory, did the maximum, and sometimes we got some good results and sometimes were a bit unlucky.

"But this podium in a particular moment after what happened... it has been a difficult time for the team, now we put it behind us and we concentrate on the remaining races.

"And I dedicate this podium to Flavio - he is at home but he is part of the success we had today."

The Renault had emerged unscathed from an eventful first lap that saw Alonso challenge Sebastian Vettel for third, run wide when battling with Mark Webber - who was later ordered to relinquish his place because he had gone off-course to pass Alonso - and also get overtaken by Timo Glock.

"The first lap was a little bit stressful, running to Turn 7 side-by-side with Mark, we both ran wide over the kerb and Timo took the benefit there and overtook me there in Turn 8," said Alonso.

"With the battle with Webber I lost position with Timo and finished the race behind him. No real complaints, it is fantastic for us. We didn't have the pace all weekend to be on the podium but we are on the podium so better than expected."