Historic Alonso F1 win
From correspondents in Budapest
August 25, 2003
RENAULT's Fernando Alonso became Formula One's youngest race winner today in a Hungarian Grand Prix that reduced Michael Schumacher's championship lead to one point.
Australian Mark Webber, running second for the first 12 laps with his slower car acting as a bottleneck as Alonso sped into the distance, took sixth place for Jaguar.
With the outcome of the closest title fight in years hanging ever more on a knife-edge, the top three contenders were split by just two points with three races remaining.
Ferrari's Schumacher has 72, Williams's Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya 71 and McLaren's Finn Kimi Raikkonen 70.
None of that troubled Alonso, the 22-year-old Spaniard dominating from pole position to punch the air triumphantly as he took the chequered flag with a comfortable 16.7sec advantage over runner-up Raikkonen.
Alonso is the first Spaniard to win a grand prix and his ascendancy was rammed home when he lapped Schumacher effortlessly with nine laps to go.
"Too many things from one day," said Alonso. "It's a dream come true. I'm 22 years-old, I have my first win in my pocket and I hope for a long career with many more."
Colombian Montoya was third, despite a late spin, while five-times world champion Schumacher trailed home eighth to salvage just one point at the circuit where he celebrated his fourth title in 2001.
"A lot went wrong today. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. As a result, we have to be happy with the one point we won," said Schumacher.
In the constructors' championship, Williams seized the overall lead from Ferrari for the first time this year with 129 points to the Italian team's 121.
Ralf Schumacher was fourth for Williams, fighting back impressively and overtaking more cars than anyone else after a first-lap spin sent him from the front row to 18th, with McLaren's David Coulthard fifth.
Alonso, who turned 22 on July 29, replaced American Troy Ruttman in the record books as the youngest race winner. Ruttman won the 1952 Indianapolis 500 aged 22 and 80 days when that event counted towards the championship.
New Zealander Bruce McLaren was until today the youngest grand prix winner, taking the US Grand Prix at Sebring in 1959 in a Cooper Climax at the age of 22 years and 104 days.
Alonso was Renault's first winner as a constructor for 20 years, the last being French champion Alain Prost in Austria in 1983, and the eighth different winner from five teams in 13 starts this year.
Ferrari's hopes of staying ahead of Williams had already been dealt a blow by the departure of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, who crashed heavily on lap 21.
Barrichello plunged straight ahead into the tyre wall at the end of the main straight after what appeared to be a suspension failure.
The Brazilian walked away unhurt.
Details: Race distance: 70 laps, 306.873km
1. Fernando Alonso (Esp) Renault 1 hour and 39:01 seconds
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 1:39.18
3. Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) Williams 1:39.36
4. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Williams 1:39.37
5. David Coulthard (Gbr) McLaren 1:39.58
6. Mark Webber (Aus) Jaguar 1:40.14
7. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Renault 1 lap behind
8. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1 lap
9. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber 1 lap
10. Jenson Button (Gbr) BAR 1 lap
11. Cristiano da Matta (Bra) Toyota 2 laps
12. Jos Verstappen (Ned) Minardi 3 laps
13. Nicolas Kiesa (Den) Minardi 4 laps
Not classified (did not finish)
Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger) Sauber 47 laps completed
Justin Wilson (Gbr) Jaguar 42
Zsolt Baumgartner (Hun) Jordan 34
Olivier Panis (Fra) Toyota 33
Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Jordan 28
Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 19
Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BAR 14
Fastest lap: Montoya, 1min 22.095secs
Standings:
Drivers
1. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 72 points
2. Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) Williams 71
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 70
4. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Williams 58
5. Fernando Alonso (Esp) Renault 54
6. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 49
7. David Coulthard (Gbr) McLaren 45
8. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Renault 24
9. Mark Webber (Aus) Jaguar 15
10. Jenson Button (Gbr) BAR 12
