Alonso wins remarkable European Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso took a extraordinary victory at the European Grand Prix as the Valencia street circuit finally provided a thrilling and impulsive race.

Alonso finished 6.4s clear of Kimi Raikkonen in second as tyre management became critical towards the end of the race and Lewis Hamilton, who had been running second but struggling with degradation, was taken out by Pastor Maldonado on the penultimate lap. Michael Schumacher inherited third - and the first podium since his return to F1 racing - ahead of Mark Webber, who came through went from 19th on the grid to fourth.

For the first 28 laps of the race it looked like Sebastian Vettel would win with ease, but a safety car period eliminated his early lead and then his chances evaporated completely with a consistency problem. Romain Grosjean was also in contention until a faulty alternator brought him to a halt on lap 40 as he closed on Alonso for the lead.

The surprise finish also provided a good points haul for Force India, with Nico Hulkenberg finishing fifth and Paul di Resta seventh, split by the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg in sixth. Jenson Button struggled to eighth position in front of Sergio Perez and the recovering Maldonado in the final two points-paying positions.

At the start the race looked as though it would take a familiar path with Vettel streaking away into a 20-second lead as he chased his third uninterrupted victory at the street circuit. But the first sign he wouldn't have it all his own way came on lap 27 as Jean-Eric Vergne mysteriously veered into the Caterham of Heikki Kovalainen, causing both cars to suffer punctures. The resulting rubber and debris brought out the safety car, and in the push of a button in race control Vettel's lead over Grosjean was abridged to nothing.

At the restart Alonso moved past Grosjean for second and he didn't have to wait long for a clear track to materialize ahead of him as Vettel's Red Bull came to a halt in the third sector of the lap. From that moment the race was all about tyre management, with the lead drivers all taking on a new set of tyres under the safety car and then faced with the confront of making them last to the end.

The Lotus of Grosjean looked best equipped for the task, but on lap 40 it dropped off the back of the Ferrari and eventually came to a halt on the straight following the swing bridge. That promoted Hamilton to second, but he had to manage his charge in the knowledge that Raikkonen was looming behind. In the end the McLaren proved hardest on its tyres and Raikkonen pounced, finding a way past under traction out of turn 17.

By that point Alonso's race was safe and the focus switched to Maldonado who was closing fast on Hamilton. After Raikkonen's easy pass it seemed predictable that the Williams would follow, but Hamilton was not going to grant the position easily. With just one and half laps remaining, Maldonado tried to find a way past Hamilton on the outside of turn 12, but he couldn't make it stick and found himself marooned on the kerbs on the inside of turn 13. As he rejoined the track he broadsided Hamilton in what was an unnecessarily-clumsy collision that pitched Hamilton into the barriers. Maldonado limped to the finish minus a front wing but was given a 20-second post-race penalty, demoting him to 12th and handing tenth to his team-mate Bruno Senna. The impact allowed Schumacher to finish on the podium for the first time since 2006 as he kept out of problem to come through from 12th on the gird.

With his two closest championship rivals failing to finish, Alonso now leads the drivers' title chase by 20 points from Webber. Hamilton is now 23 points off the Ferrari driver with Vettel 26 adrift.

Fernando Alonso predicts injure limitation for Ferrari at Bahrain Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso says there is no reason to anticipate anything but another weekend of damage limitation for Ferrari at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Spaniard lost his Formula 1 points lead in China last weekend, when he might only finish ninth as Ferrari's lack of pace proved insurmountable in dry conditions - preventing a repeat of Alonso's surprise Sepang win.

In his diary column for Ferrari's website, Alonso warned the team's supporters to anticipate more of the same at Sakhir, both due to the nature of the track and the lack of time to make progress stuck between the back-to-back races.

"I am well aware that in Sakhir, we can be expecting another difficult weekend, which is only natural, partly because of the track characteristics and also because the car is the same one we had in Shanghai," Alonso wrote.

"Both the Scuderia and I have a good record in Bahrain: the team has four victories here and I've got three, the last of which was also my first appearance race for the Prancing Horse. But the past counts for nothing in this sport and this weekend will be all concerning damage limitation for us."

Announcement regarding Formula One finances

Formula One Group has launched a process to expand its current financing facilities. This will involve raising $2.27bn of new services with maturities in 2017/18, replacing the company’s accessible $2.92bn facilities which are due to full-grown in 2013/14. The new facilities will offer the business with a secure, long term capital structure.

Proceeds raised will be kept within the Group for general business purposes and the company has no current plans to pay a bonus.

Raikkonen targets Malaysian podium

Kimi Raikkonen says he is confident of scoring his first podium since returning to F1 in this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix after picking up points in his maiden outing for Lotus in Australia.

The Finn suffered in qualifying at Albert Park and failed to make it past Q1, even though he came through the field to finish seventh and give Lotus its first point’s finish of the year.

Having managed to come from side to side the field on race day down under, Raikkonen said he was happy with the concert shown by the E20 and felt confident that he could he could fight for more during the second round of the year at Sepang.

“The car feels very good,” he said. “In the race I was wedged in traffic a lot so it didn't show so much, and who knows what strength have happened if we had a better grid a slot. There is a lot of speed in the car.

“We'll be trying to get better our performance in Malaysia for sure. We don't know how the car will behave there but it's been good everywhere so far so hopefully it'll be the same there. It'll be hot and humid which is a confront but we have a good car. As long as qualifying goes well we might be fighting for podiums. We'll have to wait and see.

“There's much more to come. We're learning concerning the car all the time and the last race didn't really give us the chance to use its full possible. Hopefully Malaysia will be a bit more straightforward.”

Raikkonen's seventh place stop in Australia came in his first F1 start since Abu Dhabi 2009, but the former Ferrari driver insisted he felt at home straight-away in spite of the changes that have taken place over the past two years while he has been competing in the WRC.

“To be honest it didn't feel any dissimilar to when I last raced,” he said. “There have been a few rule changes but the racing itself is very similar. The DRS is easier to use in the race than in practice or qualifying because there are only certain places you can set in motion it, whereas in the other sessions people will try to push the limits of how early they can use it which can easily lead to a mistake if you are too destructive.”

Schumacher satisfied but cautious ahead of Melbourne

With the new Mercedes looking quick and dependable during its 4,250 kilometres of winter testing, fans are hopeful 2012 might see the team finally take on the frontrunners. But while driver Michael Schumacher is satisfied with how their pre-season preparations have progressed, he’s playing down the speculation before the season is fully underway.

“The car is dependable which is already good,” he told his official website. “The first impressions have been already quite positive. We were drove out of the box and everything went well, so there is potential. We are heading into the season much better equipped than in the past two years, and we can fully deliberate onto the development of our car.

“The speed is promising. I hope we can show that in Melbourne. We were able to drive a lot during the tests and therefore learnt a lot too, and we surely have made a step forward. I would just want to wait until after the first races to judge how big this step is and how much it is worth compared to our competitors.”

Last year, Mercedes finished testing on a high, confident of achieving much at the first race. But, in reality, the MGP W02 failed to match their prospect and the team struggled for much of 2011 to compete with their front-running rivals, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari. A wary Schumacher is worried they could fall into a similar trap this year, despite his belief the field as a whole will be much closer.

“We experienced last year that you can be very wrong relying on the data coming out of the winter tests,” the seven-time world champion explained. “And because we can see that the field will be very narrow this year. I do not have a clear picture yet. What we can say though is that the gap connecting the several teams will not be as big as it has been last year.

“Victory to me is not likely, I see Red Bull in front. Behind them it will be tight, and you can be either hero or zero very quickly. It will come down a lot to the skill of how well you set up your car to the respective track.”

Schumacher will take a trip to Melbourne next week for the Australian season opener which will take place in Albert Park from March 16-18.

Mark Webber beats Sebastian Vettel to win season-ending Brazilian GP

Vettel lead from the start but ran into gearbox problems. He let Webber past and concerted on ensuring he got to the finish in second place.

McLaren's Jenson Button and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso battled for third, with Button getting past with 10 laps left.

Button's team-mate Lewis Hamilton retired with a gearbox collapse.

Button's third place sealed second spot in the championship, while Webber stimulated ahead of Alonso into third by just one point.

Webber's victory will be a release for the Australian, who had faced the prospect of finishing without a win in a season which Vettel has conquered throughout, taking 11 wins and a record 15 pole positions from 19 grands prix.

"Very good," Webber said. "Felt good all weekend, Sebastian did a great lap for pole, had a little bit of the rub of the green.

vettel: I could not have done this alone

Sebastian Vettel claimed a leading second World title in Suzuka on Sunday but insists the "hardest thing is winning after winning last year."

Vettel has been by far the best driver on the grid this season, claiming 12 pole positions and nine race victories. Added to that, he also had an added five podium finishes to his name.

But while his race to the World title may have looked easy on paper, Vettel reckons winning the second is harder than claiming the first.

"The hardest thing is winning after winning last year," he said. "We won the Championship, it was so close and we were so eager, even knowing how to do it doesn't let you to forget all these steps.

"I could not have done this all alone. It is as confusing as the first one I must say. It is hard to hit upon the right words."

The German, who finished Sunday's Japanese GP in third place after being beaten by Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso in the pits, was quite emotional in the post-race press conference.

"It's hard where to start. It's such a long year and a unbelievable year and the good thing is it's not over yet," he said.

"Today's race we weren't as quick on the soft tyres and we misplaced two positions. It was difficult to get past Alonso and I don't think he's letting me throughout this way twice after Monza.

"To win the Championship here is unbelievable.

"There are so many things you want to say but it's hard to keep in mind all of them. I'm so thankful to everyone in the team, pushing hard to construct those two cars. It's great to attain the goal we set ourselves this year already now.

"One person that actually stands out this year is the person I spend most of my time with my trainer Tommi Parmakoski. He was the one not allowing me at any stage this year to start to think about things that were not in my power.

"It's great to know that it is so rigid but to know that we can come so strong out of it. This year we've always been this one step ahead. It's down to people like Tommi and persons who keep us on the right track."

Sunday's title means Vettel has gone downward in the record books as F1's youngest double World Champ and youngest back-to-back title holder.

Supreme Vettel secures victory

Sebastian Vettel took a leading victory at the Singapore Grand Prix, holding off a late charge from Jenson Button whose second place ensured the title hunt will stay alive for at least another round.

Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are now all mathematically out of the running after finishing third, fourth and fifth on the streets of Singapore. Button was the only man to take the fight to Vettel but the champion elect's attentiveness never wavered and he was rewarded with his ninth victory of the season.

He led contentedly from the start of the race, extending his advantage at more than a second a lap through the early stages. He then responded to the possible danger of a safety car period by pulling out a similarly imposing lead at the restart before defending from Button's late charge over the final ten laps.

The McLaren was within 1.7s of Vettel at the chequered flag after pushing hard on super soft tyres and trying to take benefit of back markers. However, closing the gap was one thing while really passing Vettel would have been another challenge completely and in the end the Red Bull never looked under serious threat. Webber was 27.5s behind Button in third, with Alonso another 26.1s down the road in fourth.

McLaren says team and drivers 'will remain taking risks'

A series of mistakes have proved costly for the team in 2011 with Jenson Button yielding that the title has now gone.

When asked by BBC Sport whether McLaren would continue to take risks, the team's managing director Jonathan Neale said: "Yes, very much so.

"We're dissatisfied with not endearing but [Formula 1] is not a game of being risk-adverse."

Button and McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton are 117 and 126 points correspondingly behind Red Bull's championship leader Sebastian Vettel in the drivers' standings with 150 remaining.

The two drivers have each won two races this period but also racked up two retirements apiece with the team, at times, failing to capitalise when they had the quickest car at convinced points in the season.

Button saw his race end early when the team did not completely safe his right front wheel in the pits at the British Grand Prix, while, at Spa, the 2009 world champion had to battle from 13th on the grid to third after a "miscommunication" with his team in qualifying.

In Hungary, Hamilton lost the lead when he made the wrong tyre choice and stopped out in Belgium when he tried to pass the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi.

And in Canada, the two drivers banged wheels during the race. Button went on to win but Hamilton was required to retire.

Ferrari's Alonso expects to confront Red Bull

The Spaniard drove his improving Ferrari to second position at the Nurburgring, while Vettel was fourth.

"We have been first or second in the last three races, with three different types of circuits and temperatures.

"We saw our constancy and it puts us in a very good position for the final part of the championship," said Alonso.

Alonso trails Vettel by 86 points but the Ferrari driver is positive the gap can be closed - particularly with McLaren mounting a strong defy and collecting their third victory of the season through Lewis Hamilton in Germany.

The next round of the season is in Hungary and Alonso feels his car will advantage from the warmer climate.

He added: "I am looking forward. With a little bit more temperature in the track at Budapest it will be a help for us.

"Soft and super soft tyres for next week should be an benefit for us in the way we take care of our tyres. So in one week I am sure we will have a very attractive race again.

"McLaren did a step forward and is prepared to take victories. When there is more competition, you need to take races in a different way, you need to be ideal in all things: the start, the pit stops, qualifying etc.

"We have a small chance to get well the gap in the championship, if we do races like today, we are on the podium and Vettel is not.

"We need the best probable performance from our team and, in my case, we need the best McLaren having the kind of race they did today - but hopefully we can be ahead.

"Red Bull will be extremely strong in Budapest as we saw last year, so it is demanding for us but we are looking forward."

McLaren are "not nervy" by Ferrari return to form

Fernando Alonso took Ferrari's first win of 2011 in Britain with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton only coming fourth and Jenson Button being enforced to retire.

But McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale said: "We are not unsettled.

"Up until the last week we were the only ones putting up a believable fight against Red Bull."

Alonso benefited from enhanced race pace and a pit-stop error from Red Bull's leader Sebastian Vettel to win at Silverstone.

Neale shrugged off the suggestion that McLaren, who have been Red Bull's closest rivals on track in the first half of the season, have now been overtaken by Ferrari.

"I sincerely hope not," Neale responded.

"Ferrari have made steady progress over the last four or five races in qualifying. In the latter part of the [Silverstone] race as [the track] dried up, Alonso was talented to show the underlying pace difference. We are watchful of that and not at all complacent.

"Lewis and Jenson did a unbelievable and aggressive job out there racing and, but for other factors, we should have had both cars around second and fourth and we might feel differently about the whole grand prix."

While wet weather affected performance at Silverstone, McLaren say an FIA order to restrict the use of exhaust gases to generate down force had a major impact on the competitiveness of their car.

Webber urged to stay up good work

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner hopes Mark Webber's presentation at Valencia is a sign of things to come for the rest of the season.

Webber is second behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel in the Drivers' Championship, but he has struggled to give the reigning World Champion a run for his money this year. Vettel has won six out of eight grands prix and has ongoing ahead of Webber in seven of those races.

Webber, though, put up a much enhanced display at the European Grand Prix and he rated his third-place finish as "probably the best of the season".

Horner agrees with Webber's sentiments and is pleased that he is starting to bridge the gap to his team-mate.

"It was Mark's best race of the season in terms of his performance on those tyres," Horner is quoted by Reuters as saying. "It's the closest he has been to Sebastian all season. He drove well this weekend. Nobody is taking whatever thing for granted."

Horner is also hopeful that the Australian will continue to improve as he's finally coming to grips with the new Pirelli tyres.

"I hope he keeps building up the impetus from this weekend," he said.

"He's made no covert of the fact he's struggled more on these tyres than Sebastian. I think he's understanding them better now.

"If you look at the time dissimilarity between the guys during the race he was never more than four or five seconds away for 90 percent of the race, which is the best we've seen all year.

"He'll take a lot of self-assurance out of the weekend."

Race - Vettel holds off Hamilton for nervous Spanish win

There may not have been as much overtaking as we saw in Turkey, but Lewis Hamilton made it a riveting Barcelona race on Sunday as he hounded Sebastian Vettel from the 20th to the 66th and final lap. The reigning world champion had to work every inch of the way as he took his fourth triumph of the season for Red Bull, and the two drivers were estranged by a mere 0.6s after more than 300 kilometres of flat-out racing.

There was drama that the crowd loved at the start when Ferrari's Fernando Alonso rupture through from fourth place to slam down the inside of poleman Mark Webber going into the first corner. It was the lead up to a disappointing afternoon for the Australian, who had been focusing on keeping Vettel at bay and didn't spot the Ferrari in time.

Alonso kept it in the lead until his first of four pit stops on the 10th lap, and his second on the 19th, but thereafter the race was between Vettel and Hamilton, who stopped at first on Laps Nine and 11 and then 18 and 23 respectively, and also congested four times in total.

As they raced ahead, Alonso kept a aggravated Webber at bay, and McLaren's Jenson Button worked his way back from a awful start that dropped him originally from fifth on the grid to 10th at the end of the opening lap.

Alonso was third when he rutted for the third time on the 29th lap, and again he held off Webber, but the Spaniard soon scorched a set of hard tyres and gradually dropped away as he had to make his final set of hard Pirellis last from the 39th lap to the end.

Not so Vettel and Hamilton, who went at it hammer and tongs. The gap fluctuated between two seconds and half a second, but in a race in which DRS failed to produce as much overtaking action as had been predictable, a 0.6s to 0.7s stalemate set in over the final 15 laps and Vettel worked the traffic well to maintain this small but critical advantage after a super-cool drive.

Hamilton was a fearless second, and McLaren picked up the third podium place after three-stopping Button made the most of his final set of soft tyres to jump the slowing Alonso and Webber. Webber fought back at first after his final stop, but was 12.2s behind the 2009 champion by the flag, and Button in turn was 35s adrift of his team mate.

Alonso clung on to a lapped fifth place, ahead of the duelling Mercedes. Michael Schumacher kept team mate Nico Rosberg at bay to take his best result of the season with sixth, but by the end Nick Heidfeld's heady race from the back of the grid in his Renault saw him only four-tenths away from Rosberg.

It was a good day for Sauber, with Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi driving hard races for ninth and 10th, the Japanese driver clawing back after being delayed by a pierce picked up on the opening lap.

Renault's Vitaly Petrov dull from the points in the closing laps, but was too far ahead for Paul di Resta to challenge after another race in which the Scottish rookie contentedly beat Force India team mate Adrian Sutil as they both stopped only three times.

FIA press conference schedule - Spain

The grid’s two Spaniards, Jaime Alguersuari and Fernando Alonso, will join three rivals to face the media in Barcelona on Thursday, while on Friday it’s the turn of senior team personnel counting Ferrari’s Stefano Domenicali and Williams’ Adam Parr to answer questions. The line-up in full…

Thursday, May 19, 1500 hours local time (1300 GMT)

Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Sergio Perez (Sauber) and Mark Webber (Red Bull).

Friday, May 20, 1600 hours local time (1400 GMT)

Jose Carabante (HRT), Jean-Francois Caubet (Renault Sport F1), Stefano Domenicali (Ferrari), Mark Gallagher (Cosworth) and Adam Parr (Williams).

The qualifying and post-race conferences with the top three drivers will take place right away after the respective sessions.