Lewis Hamilton, 22, is as surprised as anybody by his sensational start in Formula One.

Hamilton, an Englishman, fought off a couple of challenges from Mercedes McLaren teammate and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso yesterday to win the U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis, the second consecutive victory for the first black driver in F1's 61-year history.

"Coming into the season, being realistic, I never expected anything like this, but I hoped to do well," Hamilton said. "I hoped maybe I'd get a podium at some point. This is just insane."

This latest win, coming on the heels of his inaugural F1 victory a week earlier in the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, gave Hamilton his seventh top-three finish in as many starts -- one of his numerous unprecedented feats for a rookie.

Another is his lead in the points.

After being tied for the top with his teammate, Hamilton took an eight-point lead in the standings with his win in Montreal and will carry a 10-point margin over Alonso into the French Grand Prix in two weeks.

The two finished 1-2 for the third time this season, but this time the order was reversed from Malaysia in April and the race a month ago at Monaco.

Hamilton started from the pole for the second consecutive race and Alonso tried hard to pass his less experienced teammate at the start. He darted to the outside and pulled nearly alongside Hamilton for a moment, then backed off and dived to the inside as the leaders squirted through the first two narrow turns, a sharp right-hander and then a left-hander.

"I think the start was the key point of the race because after that, whatever, you were second and we finish second in the race," Alonso said.

Hamilton managed to stay in front and was able to continue to fend off pressure from the hard-charging Spaniard to the end of the 73-lap event on Indianapolis' 2.605-mile road circuit.

Alonso almost wrested the lead from Hamilton as they began lap 39. He had been dogging the back of his teammate's silver and red McLaren for several laps and pulled alongside on the main straightaway but was unable to complete the pass as they drove into the first turn. The outcome of the race remained in question until Alonso locked up his brakes on lap 47 and drove through the grass, allowing Hamilton to pull out to a 2.5-second lead. Hamilton drove on to the win without further challenge, finishing 1.5 seconds -- nearly half the main straightaway -- ahead of Alonso.

"To follow that close is not easy," Alonso said. "I did have my chance [at the end of lap 38], but it was not possible. I could get close to him but not overtake. He made no mistakes."

Asked about his teammate's attempt to pass at the midway point, Hamilton said, "I was very nervous about that. I saw him coming. But I made sure I made one move [to block], which is all you're allowed, and made it stick.

"So it was very, very tough, but he fought very well, very professional. At the end, I managed to pull a gap and ... I was able to maintain that gap and control the rest of the race."

Unlike Canada, where Hamilton had to have perfect restarts to maintain his lead after each of the five full-course caution flags, the race yesterday was very clean, with the safety car remaining behind the pit wall all day. The Ferraris of 2006 Indianapolis runner-up Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, who replaced retired Michael Schumacher, battled each other most of the race before finishing third and fourth, respectively, with Renault rookie Heikki Kovalainen fifth, followed by Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Red Bull's Mark Webber.

Other race

24 Hours of Le Mans: Audi won the race in France for the fourth consecutive year, overcoming the challenge of two Peugeot cars and a slippery track in the world's most famous endurance race. Frank Biela and Marco Werner of Germany and Emanuele Pirro of Italy drove diesel-powered Audi No. 1 to victory, taking the lead in the morning after Dindo Capello's Audi No. 2 crashed out. Fifty-four cars started the 75th edition of Le Mans, and 25 failed to finish.