Tony Dodgins: Off Line

The tell-tale wisp of smoke from Fernando Alonso's gearbox spelled trouble. Sure enough, he peeled into the pitlane and car 1 was pushed into the garage.

"The adrenaline is flowing and you sit there hoping you might be able to do a lap, hoping for the miracle!" Fernando said.

But there was no miracle and no lap. He would start the French Grand Prix from P10. It wasn't Monte Carlo or Budapest, but Magny-Cours is little better. Fernando knew he'd been fuelled light to go for the pole and a probable three-stop strategy. With a mid-grid start slot and a short first stint, he was left praying for rain. The elements did not oblige.

Alonso couldn't hide his disappointment at seventh place and two points on Sunday afternoon. But, a racer through and through, neither could he hide the enjoyment of a typically committed drive.

Alonso picked up two places on lap one when Jarno Trulli clipped Heikki Kovalainen at the hairpin, and he was up to seventh when he passed Nico Rosberg on lap two.

Rapidly he moved onto Heidfeld's gearbox, but Nick is a robust racer. All over the BMW Sauber for the next three laps, the lighter McLaren couldn't stay close enough in turn three to make a move stick at Adelaide hairpin.

So, with opportunism and bravery in equal measure, his right-hand wheels nudging the grass, he blasted inside Heidfeld at Lycee on lap five, only to run wide and be repassed into 16/17. It was the kind of move you get to try just once. With the element of surprise gone there was no chance of an encore.

"Yeah," Alonso said ruefully. "I knew I was light on fuel compared to the others and I risked as much as I could. I knew I had to pass Nick on the track and open a gap."

But he was stuck until his first stop on lap 16. Heidfeld ran six laps further and was still ahead when he came back out, as was Fisichella's Renault, which had taken on a much heavier load than the McLaren.

Alonso was not long behind the Renault. With the front still washing out through T3, he bravely stayed close enough to pick up the tow and get down the inside at the hairpin.

Another 10 laps of staring at Heidfeld's gearbox was enough for Alonso. The fast right-left Imola chicane is approached at over 170mph, and Alonso decided he was coming down the inside. Heidfeld could either accommodate him or they would have a monumental shunt, simple as that. Nick wisely decided against turning in and took to the concrete on the left. Fernando was through.

"Yes, it was tight," he grinned. Heidfeld, to his credit, had no gripes. "The battle with Alonso was a lot of fun," he said, "and I think from both sides it was fair play."

Alonso pulled the move suspecting it was ultimately futile, and that tells you all you need to know. There has been much spoken and written about the instinctive racer that is Lewis Hamilton, but McLaren has two of them.

"I knew that when the [second] pitstop arrived I would probably be behind them again," Alonso said, "and I was right." He pitted four laps later and, with Heidfeld and Fisichella respectively fuelled 10 and 13 laps further, Fernando finished behind both after a 33-lap stint on his final set of rubber.

"I think I damaged them a little when the fuel load was heavy and I wasn't able to be aggressive in the last couple of laps fighting with Fisichella."

He was disappointed, but philosophical rather than downbeat: "Two seventh places in the last three races is not great for the championship. But in Canada there was a safety car on the lap I had to stop and here the gearbox problem, neither of which I could do anything about. One day this will happen to the other guys and I will take points, so no need to panic.

"I really enjoyed the race and those moves, but when you cross the line and the team says seventh, it doesn't feel so good."