Associated Press

Sakhir, April 3:

Fernando Alonso won his second straight Formula One race on Sunday, easily capturing the Bahrain Grand Prix, while Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari woes continued.

Alonso led virtually from start to finish after capturing the pole position for the second consecutive race. It was his third career victory after Malaysia two weeks ago and Hungary in 2003.

The Spaniard leads the drivers’ standings with 26 points, and Renault has won all three of this year’s races. Giancarlo Fisichella won the opening race.

Jarno Trulli was second in a Toyota, finishing 13.4 seconds back, and Kimi Raikkonen took third in a McLaren-Mercedes, 32 seconds back.

Defending champion Schumacher dropped out after just 12 laps after starting on the front row with Alonso.

After trailing the Spaniard by less than a second through 11 laps, he missed a curve and then limped back to the pits with a suspected hydraulic problem caused by track debris.

It was the first time since the German GP in 2001 that he retired from a race because of a mechanical problem. Other times, including Australia this year and Monaco last year, were because of accidents with other drivers.