Alonso pleased with ‘lonely' race

As has become customary from the Reanult drivers, Alonso made an electric start to go from fifth on the grid to third, just missing out on passing the second-placed Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello. He maintained that position until the chequered flag despite what he described as a 'lonely' race.

"It was a pretty calm race for me, maybe a little bit lonely even," he said. "The start was a bit close when Sato tried to block me and I had to brake a little, which might have cost me second position at the first corner. Once I was in third, though, it was just a matter of managing the gap to Montoya and maintaining a constant pace.

"I didn't make any mistakes, and neither did the team during the pitstops. I am quite pleased to score my second podium in a row, and it was good to finish ahead of our main rivals."

Team-mate Jarno Trulli endured a miserable race suffering severe understeer due to his grained Michelin tyres. The Italian was forced to pit for his third and final pitstop early to change his tyres, but soon after his engine cut out due to a loss of oil pressure leaving him no choice but to abandon the race.

"I think my retirement was caused by the engine: I lost power then it cut out," he said. "However, I was already having difficulties at that stage. Ever since just before my second stop, I was having big problems with the front of the car: it was understeering so much that I was losing several seconds a lap. I am very frustrated because during the first stint, I was following Button easily and felt I was faster than him."

Renault currently lies second in the championship and with the title now in Ferrari's hands the battle is on with BAR to take the runners-up prize. Renault team boss Flavio Briatore acknowledged that the squad will only achieve that if it gets both its cars in the points.

"Ferrari were unbeatable today, but I am pleased for Fernando that he got onto the podium again," Briatore said. "The R24 was fast at this circuit and our consistency in the race was very good. However, when you are fighting for second in the championship, you need two cars in the points at each race. We didn't manage that today, but it will be imperative to do so if we want to maintain our position until the end of the season."