• Italian Grand Prix

Alonso hails 'special moment'

Fernando Alonso compared his victory to his first Spanish GP win © Getty Images

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• News:
• Ferrari ready to focus on title charge - Domenicali
  
• Report:
• Alonso thrills home crowd with victory
  

• Race:
• Italian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Fernando Alonso hailed his first victory in the Italian Grand Prix for Ferrari as one of the greatest of his career, only comparable to wining his home grand prix in Barcelona.

"It's something I can only compare with the feeling in 2006 winning in Barcelona, my home grand prix, because it was a very special moment that one, and it's a very special moment this one," said Alonso. "So it's obviously a fantastic feeling. It was a very tough race with a very strong opposition today with a fantastic drive from Jenson and we tried to put both Ferraris in the first two positions but after the start it was difficult with Jenson's good start and good pace."

Alonso bided his time on the gearbox of Jenson Button until his pit stop, squeezing out of the pit lane just ahead of the McLaren.

"I think the team did a fantastic job again with a fantastic pit stop and thanks to them we are sitting here because we made the overtake in the garage. We were thinking [of pitting] at the time to be honest. Obviously the possibilities were to come in one lap later or one lap earlier, we had to find the right choice in the right moment. When we saw Jenson coming we had the two choices and we decided we had one lap to push and we relied on the mechanics. The lap was more or less ok but the pit stop was superb."

His victory means that Alonso is now third in the drivers' standings, 21 points behind championship leader Mark Webber.

"I think this result gives you some extra confidence and good motivation for the whole team. We'll keep working hard and try not to give up - one race or bad race can change the points a lot in the championship."

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