NURBURGRING - Renault driver Fernando Alonso won a thrilling European Grand Prix here Sunday when leader Kimi Raikkonen crashed out on the final lap when his McLaren failed spectacularly.
Raikkonen looked set for victory as he struggled with an ill-handling car in the closing stages after both he and Alonso made mistakes and ruined their tyres during the race.
But the Finn, who took the lead from pole man Nick Heidfeld at the start, suffered a disastrous blow to his championship hopes when the suspension collapsed and he crashed out with less than one lap to go.
Cooler weather than seen over the rest of the weekend, with temperatures around six degrees below the high of 31 degrees Celsius seen on Saturday, failed to prevent the teams struggling for grip.
But although Alonso also suffered problems with his tyres it was Raikkonen`s McLaren that gave up before the end to hand the Spaniard his fifth victory and a 32-point lead in the championship race.
Heidfeld came home second to post his third podium finish of the season while Rubens Barrichello showed some hope for Ferrari when he claimed the final podium place - his first of the season - after starting seventh on the grid.
David Coulthard, who led the race at one point for Red Bull, finished fourth, just ahead of world champion Michael Schumacher, who had a late trip over the gravel in his Ferrari.
Giancarlo Fisichella climbed through the field to claim sixth for Renault having stalled on the grid and started from the pitlane while Juan Pablo Montoya in seventh and Jarno Trulli in eighth secured the final points.
Raikkonen made a strong start to claim the lead with Heidfeld tucking into second but as Montoya tried to pass the second Williams of Mark Webber around the outside into the first corner the field was sent into a spin.
The two cars touched, spinning Webber around and into retirement, and their collision caused several other drivers to spin in avoidance, with Takuma Sato and Ralf Schumacher both forced into the pits for repairs after the first lap.
Alonso made it through the melee to claim fifth spot, despite being hit in the rear by Schumacher`s Toyota, while Coulthard picked his way through to climb from 12th on the grid into fourth.
Raikkonen and Heidfeld traded fastest laps at the front to grow a 10-second advantage over third-placed Trulli by lap five as Montoya climbed up to ninth and Fisichella made progress up to 12th after starting in the pitlane.
Trulli was handed a drive-through penalty at the end of lap eight because his team failed to prepare his car in time before the race and were still on the grid 15 seconds before the start of the formation lap.
With ten laps down Raikkonen had a 2.2-second lead on Heidfeld while Coulthard, now third, was a further 15.2 seconds back with Alonso pushing him close behind.
The first round of pit stops began on lap 11, when Barrichello peeled in followed one lap later by Heidfeld, who had secured pole position by running light on fuel, but Raikkonen stayed out until lap 18.
Coulthard stopped on lap 20 but was handed a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane and came back in on lap 23, the same lap as Alonso made his first stop.
That left Raikkonen leading Heidfeld and Alonso with Barrichello up to fourth and Coulthard down to fifth but Raikkonen lost the lead to Heidfeld when he made a mistake on lap 30 and ran wide.
Heidfeld dropped to third one lap later when he made his second stop of the race but Raikkonen appeared to be in trouble and lost time but not position when he went wide again lapping Jacques Villeneuve at the hairpin on lap 34.
Ralf Schumacher`s difficult day came to an end when he put a wheel on the grass at turn six and spun his Toyota into the gravel trap on lap 34 to post the second retirement of the race.
By lap 40 Raikkonen had a 14.9-second lead over Alonso with Heidfeld a further 14 seconds back in third, Barrichello another ten behind in fourth, Coulthard fifth, Massa sixth and Schumacher and Montoya scrapping for seventh.
Raikkonen stopped on lap 43 to hand Alonso the lead but the Spaniard made a big mistake when he locked up heading into turn seven on lap 46 and returned to the track after a trip across the grass and came in two laps later.
Heidfeld stopped again at the end of lap 50 and lost second to Alonso but came out just ahead of Barrichello to claim the final podium place with ten laps of the race left to run.
Massa`s tyre broke apart with five laps to go and he was forced to change it for safety reasons while Raikkonen struggled on with his vibrating McLaren before it gave up right at the end.
05/29/2005 13:51 GMT