While the Renault driver appeared able to pull away at will, having passed
Jenson Button on the first of many restarts, the rest of the field seemed more willing to self-destruct as the event turned into something of a demolition derby. Juan Montoya started the ball rolling by spinning on the warm-up lap, but was restored to his original grid position when Giancarlo Fisichella stalled. David Coulthard and
Jarno Trulli, and Christian Klien,
Nico Rosberg and
Felipe Massa all made contact in two separate first lap accidents - Klien crashing out for good five laps later - while Michael Schuamcher and Tonio Liuzzi both hit the wall later in the race.
Through it all, Alonso remained serene out front, only losing the lead during pit-stop windows - to the delight of the home corwd as
Mark Webber led before gearbox problems intervened. Kimi Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher both emerged from the chaos to join the Spaniard on the podium.
1.
Fernando Alonso Spain
Renault-Renault 57 laps
01:34:27.870
2.
Kimi Raikkonen Finland
McLaren-Mercedes +1.829
3.
Ralf Schumacher Germany
Toyota-Toyota +24.824
4.
Nick Heidfeld Germany
BMW Sauber +31.032
5.
Giancarlo Fisichella Italy
Renault-Renault +38.421
6.
Jacques Villeneuve Canada
BMW Sauber +49.554
7.
Rubens Barrichello Brazil
Honda-Honda +51.904
8.
David Coulthard Britain
Red Bull-Ferrari +53.983
