IMOLA (Italy), April 24: Renault’s championship leader Fernando Alonso held his nerve to keep a charging Michael Schumacher at bay and win a thrilling San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday. While Alonso celebrated his third win in a row and the French manufacturer’s fourth out of four, he was pushed to the limit by the seven-times champion he hopes to dethrone.

Schumacher’s charge from a seemingly hopeless 13th place on the starting grid — the result of a mistake in final qualifying — to second in front of Ferrari’s home fans was nothing short of astonishing.

Blasting out fastest lap after fastest lap, the German’s red Ferrari harried Alonso’s blue Renault nose-to-wheel to the chequered flag in the closest race yet this year.

Time and again over the last 12 laps he tried to find a way past and each time the 23-year-old Spaniard closed the door on the wily veteran, winning by just 0.2 of a second.

Schumacher preferred to dwell on what might have been.

Briton Jenson Button, second at Imola last year after starting on pole, showed BAR were back on the fast track with third place and the Honda-powered team’s first points of the season.

Austrian Alexander Wurz, standing-in for injured Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya at McLaren, was fourth with BAR’s Japanese Takuma Sato fifth.

Canadian former champion Jacques Villeneuve, his place at Sauber a subject of constant speculation after a poor start to the season, took his first point since leaving BAR in 2003 with sixth place.

Italian Trulli was seventh and his team-mate Ralf Schumacher was eighth.

Grand Prix results: 1. Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 1hr 27min 41.921sec, 2. Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari 0.215, 3. Jenson Button (GBR) BAR-Honda 10.481, 4. Alexander Wurz (AUT) McLaren-Mercedes 27.554, 5. Takuma Sato (JPN) BAR-Honda 34.783, 6. Jacques Villeneuve (CAN) Sauber-Petronas 1:04.442, 7. Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 1:10.258, 8. Ralf Schumacher (GER) Toyota 1:10.841, 9. Nick Heidfeld (GER) Williams-BMW 1:11.282, 10. Mark Webber (AUS) Williams-BMW 1:23.297, 11. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Red Bull 1:23.764, 12. Felipe Massa (BRA) Sauber-Petronas 1 lap, 13. David Coulthard (GBR) Red Bull 1 lap, 14. Narain Karthikeyan (IND) Jordan 1 lap, 15. Tiago Monteiro (POR) Jordan 2 laps

Overall standings (Drivers): 1. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 36.0pts, 2. Jarno Trulli (ITA) 18.0, 3. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) 10.0, 4. Michael Schumacher (GER) 10.0, 5. Ralf Schumacher (GER) 10.0, 6. David Coulthard (GBR) 9.0, 7. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) 8.0, 8. Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) 8.0, 9. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 7.0, 10. Mark Webber (AUS) 7.0, 11. Nick Heidfeld (GER) 6.0, 12. Jenson Button (GBR) 6.0, 13. Alexander Wurz (AUT) 5.0, 14. Takuma Sato (JPN) 4.0, 15. Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) 4.0, 16. Jacques Villeneuve (CAN) 3.0, 17. Christian Klien (AUT) 3.0, 18. Felipe Massa (BRA) 2.0

Constructors: 1. Renault 46.0pts, 2. Toyota 28.0, 3. McLaren 24.0, 4. Ferrari 18.0, 5. Williams 13.0, 6. Red Bull 12.0, 7. BAR 10.0, 8. Sauber 5.0.—Agencies