Formula One: Alonso Closes in on Title

Any thoughts that Fernando Alonso and Renault might to cruise to the championship with three races to run were dispelled impressively when the Spaniard took pole for today's Brazilian Grand Prix and applied pressure to Kimi Raikkonen, rather than the other way round. Alonso needs just six more points - third place today would settle the title - and the belief was that Raikkonen, with everything to play for, would claim pole and win for the seventh time in the hope that that Alonso would get the jitters and make a mistake.

It was Raikkonen who succumbed when he locked the brakes of his McLaren going into the first corner of his qualifying lap. A similar fundamental error had already cost the Finn victory at the European Grand Prix in Germany in May. Now the black streak of rubber leading into the 55mph left-hander may mark the point where Raikkonen's already slim chances disappeared in a puff of blue smoke.

The mistake cost him more than half a second and dropped the McLaren to fifth on the grid. McLaren's only consolation was the second fastest time for Juan Pablo Montoya, which means the Colombian is in a position to spoil Alonso's progress. But Montoya is likely to have his hands full since he starts from the dirty side of the track and will have to fend off an attack from the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella, who qualified third and will line up directly behind his team-mate.

The one thing Alonso has to avoid is the sort of spectacular incident that eliminated him from this race in 2003. Interlagos may be frayed round the edges but the drivers love the test provided by a variety of corners laid across steep terrain which adds to the challenge. It was while climbing the curving incline towards the start/finish straight that Alonso crested a blind brow at over 150 mph, only to find the track littered with the debris of Mark Webber's Jaguar after the Australian had just had a massive accident.

Alonso, arguably going too fast in the wet conditions, slammed into the remains of the Jaguar, tearing wheels off the Renault as he did so. Alonso was lucky to get away with bruising to his knees, which had been bashed against the cockpit sides and a similar incident this weekend might allow the championship to run until the final race in China on 16 October.

For Jenson Button the 2005 championship ended long ago as his season crumbled from the moment the BAR-Honda team was stripped of points earned in the fourth round and then banned from the next two. Button made life even more difficult by becoming involved in a contractual tug-of-war with Williams, one which was resolved last week as Button agreed to pay Williams an undisclosed sum (believed to be £9m) not to drive for the team from Oxfordshire.

Button says his 2006 season starts this weekend as he and BAR plan ahead. They will need to prepare assiduously. There are no excuses now and BAR has to provide Button with a winning car, just as much as Button must prove he has the skill to succeed with the sort of consistency Alonso has shown when putting together his championship campaign. Button, more relaxed than he has been for some time, worked hard at improving the handling of his car during practice yesterday and set the fourth fastest qualifying time to join Fisichella on the second row.

Williams may be better off financially but their future looks the poorer given the paucity of top-line drivers available to fill the void. The choice boils down to Antonio Pizzonia (currently acting as stand-in at Williams for the injured Nick Heidfeld - who will join BMW/Sauber next year) or Nico Rosberg, the son of Keke Rosberg who won the 1982 world championship with the team.

'We had an option on Nick Heidfeld and we could have taken that up,' said Patrick Head, one of the founding partners of Williams. 'The senior members of the company have discussed all the options. Rosberg has done testing for the team and he is certainly in the frame, as is Pizzonia.

'As regards Jenson Button, it is a settlement we came to. We have a high regard for him as a driver and he certainly would have been a strong part of our continuing wish to win races. But ultimately we looked at the position of our company and Jenson's very strong desire not to be with Williams. We took a view and made the decision we took.'

Pizzonia may not be particularly quick but has the advantage of bringing support from a Brazilian fuel company. Rosberg is a leading light in the GP2 category and he could win the series at the final round in Bahrain later this week.

The GP2 series for single-seaters - in effect, mini Formula One cars - has provided superb entertainment, a number of promising young drivers including Rosberg, Heikki Kovalainen and Britain's Adam Carroll and offered supporting races for the grands prix in Europe. The A1GP championship, a much-touted series of similar origins which starts at Brands Hatch today, will have to work hard to provide the same standard of competition and enjoyment.

Meanwhile, F1 is poised to welcome a champion other than Michael Schumacher, for whom winning the title has become something of a habit during the past five years.