May 28, 2007	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 11, 1428

MONACO, May 27: Double world champion Fernando Alonso won the Monaco Grand Prix for the second year in a row on Sunday, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton completing a dominant McLaren one-two.

The Spaniard's second victory of the season, and 17th of his career, took him back to the top of the Formula One championship on race wins but level on 38 points with 22-year-old rookie Hamilton.

The Briton, runner-up for four races in a row, crossed the line four seconds behind Alonso with Ferrari's Felipe Massa 69.1 seconds and almost a lap behind. The Brazilian remained third overall with 33 points.

“It was a fantastic weekend,” said Alonso, who won from pole with the fastest lap, after collecting his trophy from Prince Albert.

“I have never won with more than a minute to the third guy,” he added. “For sure, this is the easiest and probably nicest victory so far.

“It's not easy to enjoy driving here, and I did today thanks to a fantastic car.”

Hamilton, the youngest driver to lead the championship, continued his stellar start to the season with his fifth successive podium finish after repeatedly skimming the unforgiving barriers as he roared around the harbourside circuit.

Renault's Italian Giancarlo Fisichella was fourth for the champions' best result so far this year.

McLaren extended their lead over Ferrari in the constructors' standings to 20 points.

In an uneventful race through the metal-fenced streets, the top four followed their grid positions with Alonso – a winner with Renault last year – lapping all but his team mate and Massa.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, with retired predecessor and seven times champion Michael Schumacher among the spectators, finished eighth after a costly error in qualifying forced him to start 16th at a circuit where overtaking is rare.

The Finn remained fourth overall but a hefty 15 points adrift of the McLaren drivers.

Poland's Robert Kubica and Germany's Nick Heidfeld were fifth and sixth respectively for BMW Sauber with Austrian Alexander Wurz opening his tally for Williams in seventh place.

The two points allowed Toyota-powered Williams to pull clear of Toyota in fifth place.

Only four of the 22 drivers failed to finish, with Toro Rosso's Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi stopping on the second lap with a broken rear diffuser and Australian Mark Webber retiring with a gearbox problem in his Red Bull.

Neither Spyker driver made the distance.

Result:

1. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 1 hour 40 mins 29.329 seconds; 2. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren +00:04.095; 3. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 01:09.114; 4. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Renault 01:14.000; 5. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1 lap; 6. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1 lap; 7. Alexander Wurz (Austria) Williams-Toyota 1 lap; 8. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1 lap; 9. Scott Speed (US) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 lap; 10. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1 lap; 11. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1 lap; 12. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams-Toyota 1 lap; 13. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Renault 2 laps; 14. David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull-Renault 2 laps; 15. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 2 laps; 16. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Toyota 2 laps; 17. Takuma Sato (Japan) Super Aguri-Honda 2 laps; 18. Anthony Davidson (Britain) Super Aguri-Honda 2 laps.

Retired: Christijan Albers (Netherlands) Spyker-Ferrari 6 laps; Adrian Sutil (Germany) Spyker-Ferrari 25 laps Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull-Renault 61 laps; Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 77 laps.

Fastest lap: Fernando Alonso, 1:15.284, lap 44.—Reuters