Renault: the fly in the ointment

With that in mind, Fernando Alonso did a brilliant job of holding off David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher to take fourth place in the race, while Jarno Trulli - surely the unluckiest man in the pitlane (next to Jacques Villeneuve) - was to come away with nothing.

"A good race for me and a strong result after a difficult weekend," said Alonso. I had a good fight with Jarno in the first few corners, which he won, but I managed to pass him in the pitstops.

"I lost some performance during the final stint and was under a lot of pressure from Coulthard and then Michael, but I managed to keep my position. Ralf's win means I have lost my third place in the championship but I'm not too worried. We did a good job this weekend."

At two thirds distance Trulli pulled off the track, as he explained: "I think my car stopped with a fuel pressure problem. I was having a good race until then. I managed to keep up with the leaders at the start, but then I lost time behind Fernando in the second stint.

"It looked as if we were going to come away with two points finishes - it's a shame that we didn't."

Engine operations manager Denis Chevrier said: "The race was run under constant pressure. There were no surprises and we didn't suffer any problems with Fernando's car. There is still a question mark over Jarno's retirement, as the car stopped in a telemetry blind spot out on the circuit. Hovever, we believe he suffered a fuel pressure problem."