Alonso: Win makes up for hard year

The Spaniard returned to winning ways on Sunday, taking his first win since the 2007 Italian Grand Prix. It was also Renault's first victory since the 2006 season.

Alonso came back to the French squad this year after a difficult 2008 with McLaren, but the season has been hard for the Spaniard, who did not climb onto the podium until Sunday.

But the two-time champion says the Singapore win makes up for all the problems.

"It will take a few days to sink in," Alonso was quoted as saying by AS newspaper. "On Saturday I said I needed a miracle to do something. But we have seen that if you work hard everything is possible in sports.

"I was lucky with the safety car, but after that I pulled away from my rivals without problems, with a great pace, like in the old times.

"This win makes up for all that bad things that happened this year."

Alonso admitted the Singapore race had been very hard physically, especially after his drinking system stopped working.

"On the podium I was tired. I wasn't feeling like doing many gestures because I was a bit weak. The race was very long. In Monaco we do 260 kms, and here we did 300, and the water system wasn't working as it usually happens in the most demanding races.

"On the podium I was seeing red spots and couldn't recognise people. There were direct lights aimed straight at your eyes, so it was hard to enjoy."

And the Spanish driver made it clear that the win will not affect the timing of his decision about where he will drive in 2009.

"Maybe you have to wait until the end of the season to know my future, because I don't know it yet. We'll wait until the end of the season."