Ole! Alonso wins his home race for Ferrari

BARCELONA – Ferrari’s double world champion, Fernando Alonso, sent 95 000 flag waving fans home happy when he scored a dream win on home soil by winning yesterday’s 66-lap Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Starting fifth on the grid the 32- year- old opportunistically fought his way forward, snatching third by the end of the opening lap. He then took a lead he was not to lose, except during pit stop reshuffles, after the second of his four stops.

In the process Alonso, who took line honours here in 2006 for Renault, became the first driver in 16 years to win the Grand Prix from beyond the front row – with 14 races here having been won from pole.

Second place went to Kimi Raikkonen, in a Lotus, ahead of Brazilian Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari.

“I am very happy for the team and for the fans,” said Alonso. “It was only after the last stop that I thought I could win, but you never know what can happen and we did not know Kimi’s strategy.”

Alonso is now fourth on the all-time winners list with 32 Grand Prix victories.

“With this year’s tyres we see pole position not being so important any more,” Alonso said in reply to his qualifying performance.

The 2007 champion, Raikkonen, who started one slot ahead of Alonso on the grid, was nine seconds in arrears after running a three-stop strategy to perfection.

Massa was rewarded for a steady four stop race that saw the Brazilian hit back to make up six places after being penalised for blocking during qualifying.

Fourth place went to reigning champion Sebbastian Vettel, with the Red Bull Racing driver 12 seconds adrift of Massa after a race of tyre attrition. Vettel was a whopping 26 seconds ahead of team-mate Mark Webber.

Pole starter Nico Rosberg dropped down the order as his Mercedes destroyed its tyres in the 20C ambient temperatures to place an eventual sixth.

Rosberg’s team- mate, Lewis Hamilton, suffered even worse rubber degradation, and plummeted from second on the grid to 12th in a repeat of the tyre woes which afflicted the silver cars in Bahrain.

Seventh went to Paul di Resta, the Force India driver once again impressing after qualifying in the top 10, with McLaren’s duo of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez placing eighth and ninth in the recalcitrant MP4/28.