Alonso claims European GP

Nurburgring, July 22:

Double world champion Fernando Alonso brilliantly won the European Grand Prix on Sunday as confusion reigned at the Nurburgring.

Alonso’s third win of the season leaves him just two points behind McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton in the overall drivers’ standings. The Spaniard made the most of his opportunity when torrential rain and car failures combined to leave him in a straight fight with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.

Alonso passed Massa superbly in the closing stages to win by eight seconds. Mark Webber was third for Red Bull Racing. Massa’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen started from pole position but retired after 34 laps.

It was a tough weekend for Hamilton, who came ninth. A bad crash in qualifying left Hamilton starting from 10th on the grid and he spun off the track early on. Hamilton’s Mclaren was lifted back onto the track by a crane but the rookie rejoined the race at the back of the field, a lap behind and with too much ground to make up.