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IN THE POURING RAIN: Visibility is almost down to zero, as Felipe Massa drives ahead of Fernando Alonso in the early part of the race. -- PHOTO: AFP
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NUERBURGRING (GERMANY) - A WET and wild European Grand Prix finished with McLaren's Fernando Alonso barging Ferrari's Felipe Massa out of the way with just four laps to go for the win.
And the Spaniard could barely contain his glee that teammate Lewis Hamilton finished out of the points in ninth.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who had pole, suffered an engine failure in a race that started with farcical scenes.
Only two points now separate Alonso, who has 68, from championship leader Hamilton, who finished off the podium for the first time in 10 races in his rookie season.
'It has been an extraordinary weekend, but it will be good experience for me,' said the 22-year-old Briton, who survived a 240kmh crash in qualifying on Saturday.
He started from a season-low 10th on the grid, but still played his part in one of the most remarkable starts to a race.
He was up to fourth by the second bend, thanks partly BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica crashing into each other.
But it was pouring by the time the cars were halfway around the first lap.
Raikkonen skidded back onto the track as he attempted to make his way down the lane approaching the pits in a bid for a tyre change.
Massa, Alonso and the rest of the cars too piled in for wet rubber.
And, as they did so, the rain developed into a virtual monsoon.
Even with the right tyres, seven cars, including Hamilton's, skidded off at the first corner into the gravel in the space of 30 seconds.
The officials were left with no choice but to re-start the race, with debutant Markus Winkelhock, in a Spyker, in the lead.
He had started from the pit lane but crucially was on wet tyres from the beginning.
Hamilton, who managed to keep his engine running, ensuring he could rejoin the race, was allowed to make up his lap because of safety-car rules.
But a move to change to dry tyres as the weather cleared backfired. He had to tip-toe around the track, which was still wet in parts, while his rivals were all on wet tyres.
At one stage, he even trundled onto the gravel, but before long, he was to speed on a drying circuit and set fastest lap after fastest lap.
He was helped further by the retirements of Winkelhock, Toyota's Ralf Schumacher - who was taken out by Heidfeld in an incident that will be looked at by the stewards - Takuma Sato and Raikkonen.
But it was not enough, and he was not helped by another late burst of rain, which helped Alonso.
When the race re-started after a 22-minute delay, it was Massa who took the lead.
But, once the rain started falling again, Alonso was much faster in the slippery conditions, reported the BBC.
It was wheel-to-wheel racing between the pair, until Alonso bumped into the Brazilian and took over the lead.
After the race, the Spaniard was seen having a war of words with Massa.
A thrilled Alonso, who took his career tally of wins to 18, said: 'Always when it rains, I'm quite happy and have some fun.'
To rub more salt in the scowling Brazilian's wounds, the winning team's trophy was presented to McLaren boss Ron Dennis by Ferrari's retired seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.
An unhappy Massa said: 'I would never do something like that on purpose.'
Mark Webber was third in his Red Bull.
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