Dominant Alonso Secures Three-in-a-row

Fernando Alonso dominated the British Grand Prix to win for the third consecutive race and move one step closer to retaining his world championship.

The Renault driver led from pole position on the grid and was never in any real danger at a sunny Silverstone, where over 80,000 fans saw home hopes disappear with Jenson Button's early retirement.

Alonso finished 13.9 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher, who battled all through the race with Kimi Raikkonen for second.

Schumacher is now 23 points behind Alonso in the championship, while Raikkonen recorded only his third podium of a disappointing season for McLaren.

Giancarlo Fisichella added to Renault's points tally with a fourth place which helps the reigning champions stretch their advantage over Ferrari in the constructors' championship to 31 points.

Fisichella overhauled the other Ferrari of Felipe Massa, relegating the Brazilian to fifth, while Juan Pablo Montoya was way off team-mate Raikkonen's pace, finishing sixth.

Red Bull's David Coulthard finished a distant 12th - the only Briton to complete the race. Jenson Button's race ended on lap 10 with flames licking his Honda engine following a strong start from 19th on the grid.

Alonso led Raikkonen into the first turn, but a pile-up behind him brought out the safety car before the lap was over, after Scuderia Toro Rosso's Scott Speed tapped Ralf Schumacher into a spin. The Toyota driver quickly regained control but veered back across the track, clipping Williams' Mark Webber and taking out both cars.

When the racing resumed, Alonso reasserted his control, even allowing himself the luxury of easing off slightly with a comfortable cushion of over 10 seconds from Raikkonen.

There was nothing the Finn could do about it, as he had his hands full fighting off the attentions of Schumacher, and the gap between the pair hovered around the one second mark as they fought through the backmarkers. Schumacher squeezed ahead of Raikkonen on lap 42, and maintained his second place until the end without ever threatening Alonso.