FORMULA ONE – Alonso Won in Japan – October 8, 2006

Surprisingly and against any expectations, world champion Fernando Alonso won the Japanese Grand Prix. He hailed his victory as a gift of god on Sunday after an engine failure forced Michael Schumacher to stop the race. The chances for the seven-time Formula One World Champion to retire with an 8th title are now very slim.

Thanks to the penultimate race of a thrilling season, the Renault driver is now 10 points clear of his Ferrari competitor scoring in total 195 point this season compared to 186 for Schumacher. Alonso needs just one more point to get his second championship title for the second year in a row. It was his seventh win of the season but first since Canada in June.

While he had to retire from four previous races, in Hungary and in Italy, the Spaniard felt the wheel of fortune had finally turned his way again. Indeed Renault was very unlucky also in Italy an recently in China. The team lost a lot of points in bad luck moments according to Alonso. That is why the Spanish driver hailed this victory as a gift of god.

Last weekend in China, the 25-year-old driver had led the whole race but only to lose out to Schumacher after he and the team made a wrong tyre choice. In Monza he has been penalized five places to 10th on the starting grid for allegedly impeding Ferrari's Felipe Massa in qualifying and was then sidelined when his engine blew. Alonso also led in Hungary before a wheel nut came loose and pitched him out. Renault has also suffered from the Formula One governing body's decision to outlaw a mass damper system that may have given the team a performance advantage.

Team boss Flavio Briatore was explaining that the season has been very difficult and that he had the feeling that there was some justice in Formula One, taking for example that the same way Renault broke an engine in Monza and Frerrari broke one in Suzuka.

FORMULA ONE – Alonso to Sacrifice Speed for Safety in Title Clinch Race – October 10, 2006

As he looks for the single point which will seal his second world titles, Fernando Alonso will be given the most reliable engine Renault can come up with for the Brazilian grand prix in order to avoid any mechanical problems.

The world championship leader needs only to finish eighth or higher to see off the challenge of Michael Schumacher, who will retire after the race in Sao Paulo on October 22. Alonso won Sunday's Japanese GP thanks to a rare engine failure in Schumacher's Ferrari. Renault's operations manager, Denis Chevrier, explained that the team will not gamble on reliability with the championship on the line preferring to have a reliable engine that an engine which could boost Alonso’s car. The Anglo-French team is also nine points ahead of Ferrari in the constructors' championship and a 10-point haul from the final round will guarantee their second title in two years.

As for David Coulthard, the driver is looking forward for next year when he expects to gain high spots on the grid in 2007. This season has been pretty harsh for him because of the porr development of his car. The Scot has spent the last half of this season vying with tail-enders of his car. He did not have any choice left after his Red Bull team put all their eggs into next year's basket. Development ceased on the 2006 car. The team focused on the next season car. The new car has been designed by expert Adrian Newey. The team's much- anticipated new machine is expected to allow Coulthard to target victories next season.

Eventually Turkish grand prix organizers have appealed against a record $5million fine handed down last month after a podium controversy at the race in August. The International Automobile Federation (FIA) announced in a statement that the appeal hearing would be held in Paris on November 7, with a decision expected the following day. The case started after Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat presented the winner's trophy to Ferrari's Felipe Massa at the race in Istanbul and was introduced to viewers around the world as the "President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus".