Formula One news

Champagne finish for Renault

Fernando Alonso could finally breathe a sigh of relief as he clinched his second drivers' world title with second place. He drove a steady race and withheld pressure from Jenson Button at the end. Meanwhile Giancarlo Fisichella finished fifth and did his bit to make sure Renault secured its second constructors' championship on the trot.

Fernando Alonso: "What a wonderful feeling this is. We have done a fantastic last part of the championship, scoring 26 points out of 30 possible, and that was enough to make us double champions. It is such a special moment to win both titles on the same day, and the atmosphere in the team is unbelievable right now. In 2006, they have taught me many lessons: to always stay fair play, to put in the effort, to keep the focus and the determination to win. It has been up and down for us, but they never forgot the target, and we have done it now. I am proud to have been racing with Michael as well. It is an honour to have won the final two championships of his career, and I think they will mean more than any others I can win in my career. He is retiring as the man with all the records, and it has been big pressure to race against him - and a big privilege as well."

Giancarlo Fisichella: "I am so happy this afternoon. Psychologically, this was a tough race at the end of a very hard season. But we went out there today, and did the job. For me, the key parts of the race were with Michael Schumacher in the first laps and towards the end as well. He was so quick today, that it was nearly impossible to keep him behind. The first time, he overtook me and we were side by side into the first corner - then I saw him have big oversteer in the second corner and got back past. But the key point in the race was towards the end, when he was behind me for five or six laps. I knew I had to keep him there for as long as possible, so he couldn't make up more positions, and I did my best. Eventually, I braked very late on the bumps, locked the front tyres and he got past. But I did enough. For me personally, I am fourth in the championship, which is my best ever result. It has been an incredible season, and we will be celebrating this evening."

Flavio Briatore: "It was an incredible fight with Ferrari this year, and first of all I want to congratulate Michael on an amazing race this afternoon. But we have done the job, and we deserve these titles. We have had a very difficult time this year. There have been many ups and downs, but we have never backed down, we never gave up and we are champions. As a team, we made fewer mistakes than our rivals, and Fernando made fewer mistakes than Michael. We must not forget Giancarlo, who has had a very strong season, and his points have made the difference between finishing first and second."

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