Schumacher’s win doesn’t bother Alonso

FERNANDO ALONSO insists he has no reason to fear Michael Schumacher’s championship challenge, despite the Ferrari driver’s dominant victory at Indianapolis.

Alonso was a distant fifth after struggling for pace in his Renault but he brushed aside Schumacher’s claims that the title race is now wide open again.

Schumacher trails by 19 points with eight races, and 80 points, remaining but Alonso believes Ferrari’s United States Grand Prix success was a flash in the pan.

“The gap was 15 points after Nurburgring so now five races later it is 19 points,” he said.

“So the races keep going and the gap never decreases below 15 points. It is a comfortable gap.

“Last year we came to North America and scored zero points — this year I have scored 14 so now I am looking forward to the next race, our home race in Magny Cours.

“I think things will go back to normal as we have seen so far this year. The opposition have done a better job but in 10 races Michelin have had the best tyre in nine of them and Bridgestone one.”

Schumacher disagrees, though, and hailed his fifth win at the Brickyard as a turning point in the championship. He ended a four-race winning streak from Alonso and, more importantly, kept the Spaniard off the podium for the first time since Hungary last July.

That phenomenal run has made catching Alonso virtually impossible but Schumacher sees light at the end of the tunnel after finally making sizeable inroads into his points lead.

“It is a big step towards the championship,” he said. “A great result for the whole team. As far as the championship is concerned we are very delighted.

“We can only hope to keep some of the edge we had this weekend and take it into the European season.

“There is still a long way to go, 80 points still to come. The gap is a lot in a way but it is not impossible at all, especially when you see how easily people can finish in between us.”

Schumacher’s former boss Flavio Briatore, however, warned that Renault will wipe the smile off his face come Magny Cours next week.

The Renault chief said: “The competition was too strong for us and the maximum we could have got from the race was 11 points. In the end we scored 10 so we limited the damage.

“We all go to France determined to win again at our home race and extend our advantage in the championship.”