Going in to Turn One on the final lap, with Alonso thirsting along right behind, Raikkonen felt his front suspension snap under the strain, and as his car pitched into a lurid spin before kissing the outer tyre wall, he missed Jenson Button's BAR Honda by millimetres.Alonso could not believe his fortune. The rules say you can only change a punctured or damaged tyre. A late pit stop would certainly lose him the race, and the FIA, the sport's governing body, might not accept that the tyre needed changing. Better to gamble - and pray."I had a well-balanced car until that flat-spot," Raikkonen said. "It caused terrible vibrations.""He was able to cope with the inevitable blurred vision for over 15 laps," said the McLaren team principal, Ron Dennis. "The team discussed with him his tyre condition and jointly we decided to go for the win.

Both his car's onboard camera and trackside lenses captured the fearsome vibration his damaged tyre was generating, and Alonso and Renault smelled blood. The Spaniard himself went off the road on the 45th lap, losing six seconds. The two pretenders were in good company; Michael Schumacher, in an undistinguished fifth for Ferrari, did likewise on the 50th lap.His right front wheel now wobbling like an undamped gyroscope, Raikkonen faced a dilemma. Having regained the lead as the young German pitted for fuel at the end of the lap, Raikkonen then had another moment in Turn One, running wide while trying to lap Jacques Villeneuve's Sauber Petronas.That was the moment at which McLaren's fortunes turned, though the denouement would wait, agonisingly, until that final lap. The Finn had flat-spotted his right front Michelin tyre in the manoeuvre, and from the 45th lap he was in major trouble. Fernando Alonso has won three grands prix this year, and finished first in a fourth.

An uncharitable distinction, perhaps, but apposite after yesterday's Grand Prix of Europe was snatched away from Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren Mercedes by a dramatic suspension failure on the last lap. Alonso and Renault appeared beaten as what had been a dull affair entered its final 10 laps. Like weary boxers who had each been down on the canvas, Raikkonen and Alonso seemed set to preserve their first and second places after each experiencing off-road dramas due to high tyre wear.Raikkonen had actually lost the lead to Nick Heidfeld after 30 laps, slithering off in Turn Five. Laconi broke ahead at half distance and held off Corser to win by just 0.096 seconds.Corser broke into another early lead in race two, but this time Toseland was unstoppable despite starting from the second row of the grid. He passed Corser on lap 17 and held on to win by nearly half a second, after Laconi had crashed on the first lap..