Alonso hails 'fantastic' day

The world champion's first win at Silverstone, one of his Anglo-French team's home races, was his fifth in eight races and third in a row.

"It feels fantastic. To be honest, winning in Spain, Monaco and Silverstone for me the last two races is a dream come true," said the Spaniard. "They are circuits with big names, big emotions.

"There was a great atmosphere in this circuit; to win in this country 20 minutes away from my home in Oxford is a good feeling and a fantastic day."

Alonso, on pole position for the fourth race in a row, led the field through the first corner and controlled the race through to the chequered flag.

The Spaniard took the chequered flag a comfortable 13.9 seconds clear with all but the top nine lapped.

Alonso's triumph was his 14th successive appearance on the podium and, when he has not won this season, he has finished second.

The 24-year-old Spaniard's lead over Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, the seven-time champion who finished second ahead of McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, increased to 23 points with 10 races remaining.

Alonso has 74 points from a possible 80, with Schumacher on 51 and Raikkonen on 33.

"So far it has been fantastic: five wins and three seconds is nothing more to find in the car," said Alonso. "We are running on the limit with no mechanical problems.

"A fantastic job from the people in the team and we need to keep doing it like this, the best defense from now is to attack and keep on winning races."

Teammate Giancarlo Fisichella finished fourth, increasing Renault's lead over Ferrari in the constructors' championship.