Alonso stunned by victory in Singapore night race
The last three races of the season are in Japan, China, and Brazil.
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Monday, 29, Sep 2008 08:49
Fernando Alonso admits it will take days for his victory in the Singapore grand prix to sink in.
The Renault driver came from 15th on the grid to win formula one's first-ever night race ahead of Williams' Nico Rosburg and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.
Alonso profited from an early first pit-stop which allowed him to jump to fifth place when other drivers pitted in a safety car period after his team-mate Nelson Piquet had crashed.
It contrasts with the double world champion's luck 24 hours earlier when a fuel feed problem halted his progress in qualifying.
Alonso said he was delighted to be back on the podium after a year-long wait.
"I'm extremely happy, I cannot believe it," Alonso said.
"I think I need a couple of days to realise that we won a race this year.
"It seemed impossible all through the season to be close to the top guys, but here, on Friday and Saturday we were competitive.
"I was unlucky in qualifying but very lucky in the race."
Renault made the shock decision to send Alonso into the race with just 12 laps of fuel and the unpopular soft tyres.
Alonso said the tactic paid off thanks to the pace of the car.
"We chose to do a very aggressive first stint because we knew that you can't overtake anyone here," Alonso said.
"We thought about a one-stop strategy, but we had some concerns with the brakes, so we said one stop was not possible.
"We tried to make up as many places as possible at the start and on the first lap, then we would see from there.
"All through the race we were able to pull some distance to the guys behind us, and the car was super."