Alonso Hails 'Dream' Victory

It was the first time the French squad have scored three consecutive wins in their history.

The young Spaniard, triumphant for the second race in a row, was simply unstoppable as Ferrari's hopes of winning on their new car's debut evaporated in the shimmering desert heat.

"It is fantastic, a dream," said Alonso after the race, in which he finished in front of Toyota's Jarno Trulli and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen. 

"The car was again perfect especially after the first pitstop and we proved again our strongest point is the longest runs, especially lap 20 to the end, which is something unusual but something good for the new rules and the new Championship.

"The car was nice to drive again, I had a good fight with Michael for a few laps and then Jarno, and then after the first pitstop I had room to be a bit more conservative."

Seven-times World Champion Michael Schumacher, who had raised Ferrari's hopes by qualifying on the front row of the grid alongside pole man Alonso, retired after 12 laps with suspected hydraulics failure.

Until then the German had hounded Alonso but his departure took the pressure off the Spaniard in a race full of incident and overtaking.

"Yes, obviously he was very close," said Alonso, "and I think he was quicker than me in the first part of the race, as we know we are difficult to overtake and I was quite sure my longs would be better than him, so not too worried if Michael overtook me because I knew our strongest point would come at the end."

Alonso leads the Championship with 26 points to Trulli's 16. Michael Schumacher, winner of 13 of the 18 races in 2004, has just two points after two retirements in three races.

"We arrive at Imola like one of the favourites, one of the teams to beat, and this is good," added Alonso. "Hopefully Ferrari are in the best moment, the car has improved but still the tyres are not giving them too much."