Disappointed Alonso rues bad luck

The Renault driver had started from a strong fifth position, but quickly dropped down the order in the race after being unable to keep his rivals at bay.

A safety car did not help his fortunes either, and the double world champion had to settle for 11th position.

Alonso saw teammate Nelsinho Piquet climb onto the podium for the first time, the Brazilian finishing in second after benefiting from the safety car period.

"No, (we had) no problems," Alonso told Spanish television. "It's the usual stuff with luck.

"People like my teammate, who had some problems during the weekend, who could not find the pace, suddenly get a safety car period and found himself on the podium. So that was basically it.

"There were moments in the race that were decisive. I tried to pass Trulli once and he pushed me too hard, I lost two places.

"Then with Vettel I think he joined the pitlane in the wrong manner. So I kept losing places bit by bit and I was too far behind to recover."

The Spaniard's poor day was made worse by a late spin, although Alonso admitted he did not care much about it.

"I was just trying desperately to keep up with Vettel," he said. "But it doesn't matter if I'm 10th or 11th or if I stop in the pits in order to save the engine for the next race."