Motorsport: Alonso wins again

HOCKENHEIM, Germany - Renault's Fernando Alonso cashed in on Kimi Raikkonen's misfortune to win the German Grand Prix on Sunday and take a huge step towards becoming Formula One's youngest champion.

Raikkonen's hopes were left in tatters after his McLaren slowed, emitted a puff of smoke and came to a halt with hydraulic failure on lap 35 after the Finn had led by a comfortable margin.

Alonso inherited the lead, as he has done before in a championship that seemingly has the 23-year-old Spaniard's name written all over it, to cruise to his sixth win in 12 races by 22.3 seconds from McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya.

The Renault driver stretched his lead over Raikkonen, still second in the drivers' standings, to a hefty 36 points with seven races remaining.

"It's a fantastic day, perfect for me," he said. "I did my perfect race."

Montoya did his best to make amends for spinning off the track in Saturday's qualifying by racing through the field from the back of the grid to secure second place.

"It's a bit frustrating because based on my qualifying pace and the fuel we had, I should have won the race," said the Colombian.

"I made a mistake yesterday but I brought it back to the podium from 20 to second so it's not that bad."

Briton Jenson Button took third place for BAR, overtaking Ferrari's local favourite Michael Schumacher on the circuit's tight hairpin for his first podium finish of the season after being disqualified at Imola in April.

- REUTERS