Pleased Alonso aims to fight back in Spain

Alonso, the 24-year-old champion, started on pole position for the first time this year and finished second for his 11th successive podium placing but with his overall lead over Michael Schumacher cut to 13 points after five races.

Alonso has 44 points to Schumacher's 31. McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen has 23. Renault remain leaders in the constructors' championship with 62 points but Ferrari leapfrogged McLaren into second place with 46.

Alonso, who can now turn his thoughts to his home Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona next weekend, said second was good enough in the circumstances.

"It was an interesting race for me this afternoon," said Alonso. "I had a good start from the pole position, and controlled the pace during the first stint.

"The first stop went OK, but we came in a couple of laps earlier than the Ferraris on the second stop, and they had the speed to move ahead. After that, I just turned down the engine to look after it for next weekend in Barcelona.

"I think second place is a fantastic result from this race, though. Ferrari were a bit faster than us today, and while our tyre performance was OK, they certainly had more speed.

"However, I am optimistic we can turn that around in Barcelona, and I can't wait to race in front of my home fans."

Italian teammate Giancarlo Fisichella finished in sixth position after having started from 11th. The Roman said his low starting position had made it very hard to achieve a better result.

"It was not an easy race for me," he said. "Starting from eleventh position, you always know that it will be hard to get through the field and you can spend a long time stuck behind slower competitors.

"That is what happened to me today. I only had one or two clear laps in the entire race, so it was hard to show my real pace, but we had a good strategy and managed to gain positions.

"Still, I have added more points to the total, and I hope we can have a smoother weekend in Spain in five days' time."