Alonso sure Renault will win again soon

While Ferrari rival Michael Schumacher celebrated a dominant victory to lead a 1-2 for the Italian squad, Renault's world champion Alonso limped home a distant fifth.

The Spaniard's lead was cut from 17 points to 11, leaving his championship hopes on a knife-edge with six races remaining.

Alonso, who benefited from Mark Webber's retirement just eight laps from the end to gain a position, tried to remain positive.

"It's been a difficult race but we did what we could," said Alonso. "The car was strange, difficult to drive, but I think fifth position is not that bad and the extra point after Webber's retirement leaves you almost with a good taste in your mouth despite being fifth.

"We had blistering on the rear wheels with the first set of types. We had overheating in the tyres and that cost me a lost of positions, the same thing that happened to Fisi during his second stint.

"We lost a lot of time with that, otherwise we were hoping to follow Kimi and Button and fight for a place on the podium."

Alonso survived a scare with just a few laps to go, when he went off the track at the entry of the motordrome as he tried to catch Honda's Jenson Button. He managed to return to the track and keep his position.

"The rear end was tricky, but there was a chance of catching Button so I started to push, but after the scare I decided fifth was the best we could do," Alonso added.

Despite Schumacher having won the last three races in dominant style, Alonso is not panicking and is convinced Renault will bounce back soon.

"The gap has decreased in the last three races, but I wasn't over optimistic when I had 25 points and now we don't have to be so pessimistic," added the world champion.

"I think we have a good gap. It's all down to the tyres now, but I trust Renault and Michelin and we'll win again very soon."