Alonso scores home victory at F1 Spanish Grand Prix

Former two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso scored his 32nd career victory in the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya after starting the 66 lap race from fifth place.

The Spaniard made a forceful start to move from fifth to third at the start and looked the favourite to win after the Mercedes W04s of polesitter Nico Rosberg and second place starter Lewis Hamilton yet again succumbed to extreme tyre wear.

The German squad has made a visible step forward this year in terms of single lap pace, which has led to Hamilton and Rosberg claiming pole at the last three race weekends. However, the team is yet to find the mechanical grip required to make the tyres last over a full race distance.

Also leap-frogging the 'Silver Arrows' was Lotus F1's Kimi Raikkonen who finished second after starting fourth, managing to finish two places ahead of championship rival Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull.

Vettel still leads the drivers' championship with 89 points but now has only a four point lead over Raikkonen, who finished the race ahead of the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa.

Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber took fifth while Rosberg managed to take sixth while Hamilton languished in 12th, at one point voicing his irritation over the team radio at having to drive too slowly to conserve his tyres.

The subject of the longevity of the tyres supplied by F1's official tyre supplier Pirelli was a talking point in the race that saw 82 pit stops between the 22 drivers.

Pirelli Motor Sport director Paul Hembrey admitted that the tyres were too aggressive for the nature of the Circuit de Catalunya that puts an extreme strain on tyres, in particular the left-fronts. Hembrey admitted that the ideal situation was one where a race would see only two to three pit stops.

The F1 championship now moves to its sixth round out of 19 for the Monaco Grand Prix on the 23 to 26 May weekend.

Results (provisional)

1) Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1:39:16.596

2) Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault) +9.338

3) Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +26.049

4) Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) +38.273

5) Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) +47.963

6) Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) +68.020

7) Paul Di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) +68.988

8) Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) +69.506

9) Sergio Perez (McLaren-Mercedes) +81.738

10) Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +1 lap

11) Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber-Ferrari) +1 lap

12) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +1 lap

13) Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) +1 lap

14) Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Renault) + 1 lap

15) Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber-Ferrari) +1 lap

16) Valtteri Bottas (Williams-Renault) +1 lap

17) Charles Pic (Caterham-Renault) +1 lap

18) Jules Bianchi (Marussia-Cosworth) +2 laps

19) Max Chilton (Marussia-Cosworth) +2 laps

DNF - Jean Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso-Ferrari)

DNF - Giedo van der Garde (Caterham-Renault)

DNF - Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Renault)