Auto racing roundup: Wire-to-wire win for Alonso in F1
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SILVERSTONE, England -- Fernando Alonso is making his Formula One world title defense look easy.
He led the British Grand Prix yesterday from the pole to the finish for his 13th career victory, third in a row, and fifth this season.
He said he and his Renault team are still looking to get better.
"We need to improve the car," Alonso said. "We need to keep developing, and we need to keep winning races. We want to defend our position."
Michael Schumacher of Ferrari was second and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen took third, his fourth consecutive podium finish in Britain without a victory.
Alonso -- who also won in Monaco and Spain a month ago -- leads the standings with 74 points. Schumacher is second with 51, while Raikkonen is third with 33 after eight rounds.
"For me the last three races is a dream come true," Alonso said. "They are circuits with big names and big emotions."
It was even a home victory of sorts. Although a Spaniard, he lives in nearby Oxford.
"To win in this country, 20 minutes away from my home, it gives me a good feeling and a fantastic day," Alonso said.
Alonso, 24, who last year became F1's youngest world champion, has finished on the podium in every race this year and 14 in a row including last season.
Alonso, Raikkonen and Schumacher -- the top three in order -- moved away from the rest of the field until the 18th lap when Schumacher pitted first.
A safety car came out after an accident between Williams' Mark Webber and Ralf Schumacher of Toyota on the first lap put them out of the race. The rest of the field was racing again two laps later.
Alonso has his first pit stop four laps later as he increased his lead over Raikkonen to more than 10 seconds. Schumacher was 12 seconds back.
"We saw we had more fuel than others and this also helped," Alonso said.
Raikkonen said his car was "a bit too slow on a straight line" to challenge the Spaniard and Schumacher conceded that he also had problems.
First Published June 12, 2006 12:00 am
