Alonso Happy to Extend Lead

The Spaniard had pretty much settled for second place when Montoya began losing more than one second per lap with a suspected tyre delamination.

And although Alonso turned up his engine to try and close the gap to Montoya, he eventually ran out of laps and finished 2.4 seconds adrift.

But with title rival Kimi Raikkonen having a frustrating afternoon and finishing fourth, Alonso is well aware that his now 27-point advantage in the title chase leaves him on the verge of World Championship glory.

"At the end the team me about the tyre problem that Juan Pablo Montoya was having and I sped up a little bit more," said Alonso. "Like Montoya we pulled the engine up again to full power, but maybe it was too late.

"Second place is still good and the target for the last six or seven races was just to finish on the podium. I did that, sometimes in front of Kimi, so it was good for me."