Alonso savours 'deserved' victory

Alonso all but wrapped up his second Formula One title in a row after Michael Schumacher's hopes went up in smoke.

The 25-year-old Spaniard cruised to victory after his Ferrari rival, leading the penultimate race of an extraordinary career, slowed and pulled over with a blown engine 16 laps from the end.

Alonso will now head for Brazil, and the Interlagos circuit where he won his first title last year, with a 10-point advantage.

Both men have seven wins each, meaning that the only way that Schumacher can walk away from Formula One with a record eighth title is by winning at Interlagos while Alonso fails to score a point.

"At the beginning of the race I knew that we were not in good shape but we were competitive, as good as Ferrari," said Alonso. "I took the risk to overtake Jarno (Trulli) because I knew there was one opportunity, and when I saw Ralf (Schumacher) had some problems with the car, I tried to get past him.

"The car's performance was really consistent and really well balanced and after Michael's problems the race became easy for us.

"The second stint with Michael the gap was more or less the same, 5.9, six seconds depending on traffic. And I was thinking it was possible to win the race, why not? We were only halfway through the race and five secs behind, which was a surprise.

"I had so many problems in the last races. I lost a race in Hungary, I lost an engine in Monza so for sure I had to recover some lucky moment. I didn't believe what a I was seeing, also to see a mechanical problem from a Ferrari car is not something it happens often, so it was the second surprise, the biggest surprise for me."

Alonso, who had complained about feeling lonely and abandoned by his team earlier in the week, did a victory jig as he stepped out of the car and leaped over the barriers to embrace his mechanics.

"Victory means a lot, not only for me but the team as well," he added. "We deserved this victory from a long time ago, from Hungary we were ready to win and we never finished the job. We never expected second, so victory is even better.

"The races are long, you have to finish the races, for sure it is important. But as we all thought, the championship will be decided in Brazil, we never know what is going to happen there. The same could happen so we will not take many risks there and we will try and win the championship."