Alonso repeats at Monaco Grand Prix

MONTE CARLO, Monaco May 27, 2007; Salvatore Zanca writing for the AP reported ythat Fernando Alonso won the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, becoming the first driver to win back-to-back with different teams. The 25-year-old Spaniard finished ahead of McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton with third-place Felipe Massa of Ferrari the only other car on the same lap as Alonso took the checkered flag.

Alonso finished 4.095 seconds ahead of Hamilton and 1:09.114 in front of Massa after 78 laps on the twisting 2.076-mile street circuit.

"I've never won with more than a minute to the third guy (before)," Alonso said. "For sure, this was one of the easiest and nicest victory so far."

The two-time Formula One champion won last year's race for Renault from the pole position after Michael Schumacher was stripped of the honor for hindering him in qualifying. It was Alonso's 17th overall win and the second this season as McLaren claimed its 150th F1 victory.

"It has been a fantastic weekend, no doubt," Alonso said. "A hat trick: fastest lap, pole position and win. It is so good to drive such a perfect car for 78 laps."

Alonso and Hamilton share the lead in the standings with 38 points, five ahead of third-place Massa.

Hamilton has five straight top-three finishes but no wins in his debut F1 season.

"I wasn't going to do anything crazy," Hamilton said. "It was best to finish 1-2."

Alonso started well with Hamilton tucking in behind him in front of Massa, before quickly moving four seconds ahead of his McLaren teammate after 10 laps as Massa fell another three seconds back.

After 20 laps, the two McLarens started lapping cars — but that also gave Alonso some problems.

"I was stuck behind Jarno Trulli for three laps, losing two seconds a lap," he said. "I was nine seconds ahead, then suddenly I was three seconds ahead. I had problems at key moments of the race."

The margin between the two McLarens stayed around five seconds midway through the race, before extending to 10.8 seconds by the 48th lap as Massa dropped to more than 36 seconds behind.

Following pit stops by the two McLarens, the gap by the 58th lap was less than a second, but that was as close as it got with Alonso gradually pulling away over the next 20 laps.

"After we (pit-)stopped, we just cruised to the end," Alonso said. "There was nothing more to push."

Hamilton acted under team orders by not pushing his McLaren teammate.

"I tried to get as close as possible and get ahead, but I was told to take it easy," Hamilton said. "The goal of the team is to score as many points (as possible). It was easy for me to push a little harder, but it would have been a negative on the team. Coming into the season, I expected to be the No. 2 driver."

Massa knew he couldn't keep up with the McLarens.

"Even if I pushed 150 percent on the limit it would stay the same — they were pretty quick today," he said. "Given the situation, I concentrated on just managing my race and bringing the car home. These points are very important."

Giancarlo Fisichella of Renault finished fourth, Robert Kubica of BMW-Sauber was fifth with teammate Nick Heidfeld next. Alexander Wurz of Williams came in seventh.

Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari, who won the first race of the season, was eighth after starting 16th when he broke a wheel steering arm in qualifying Saturday.

The Finn moved up to 12th after the first lap, but dropped to almost a minute behind on the 20th lap and was lapped by the 40th.

"We knew we were facing an uphill battle and that's how things turned out," Raikkonen said. "I got a good start, quickly moving up to 12th, but from then on I was nearly always in traffic, never getting a chance to overtake. I never had a clear track ahead of me "

After two races in Europe, the series shifts to North America with the Canadian GP on June 10 followed by the United States GP.