Alonso takes sixth win in nine races
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-06-26 09:23
MONTREAL, June 25 - Renault's world champion Fernando Alonso produced
some Montreal magic to win the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday and deal another
blow to Michael Schumacher's fading title hopes.
Renault Formula One Driver Fernando Alonso of
Spain kneels after winning the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix in Montreal
June 25, 2006. [Reuters] | The 24-year-old
Spaniard's fourth successive win, and sixth in nine races, stretched his overall
lead over Ferrari's Schumacher to a hefty 25 points at the halfway point in the
18-race Formula One season.
Starting from pole position for the fifth race in a row, Alonso was as
dominant as ever and would have had an even bigger championship lead had
Schumacher not got past McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen in the closing stages.
The Finn, last year's race winner, finished third.
Alonso's victory was the 14th of his career, making him the second most
successful current driver after seven times champion Schumacher, his first in
North America and took his run of podium finishes to 15 in a row.
"Its fantastic for me," he told reporters after appearing on the Montreal
podium for the first time.
"After the last three years having opportunities to win (in Canada) and
always having mistakes this is one race we should have had in opening years and
now we have it."
Alonso leads the standings with 84 points from a possible 90 while
Schumacher, denied an historic eighth Canadian GP victory, has 59. Raikkonen has
39 and can now do little more than decide which team to race for next year.
RARE ERROR
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has not been kind to Alonso in the past and his
uncharacteristic error last year, when he hit the concrete wall at the exit of
the final chicane while leading, was his last retirement from a race.
There were no such mistakes this time.
On a blistering hot afternoon, Alonso kept his cool despite some added heat
from Raikkonen in the early stages.
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