Fernando Alonso won the race with ease from his 17th career pole position to come home six seconds clear of teammate Lewis Hamilton.

With the victory, he reduced the rookie's lead atop the drivers' standings to just three points, as Hamilton had to hide his disappointment after a weekend in which he struggled to match the Spaniard.

However, it was also a triumphant moment for McLaren's beleaguered team chief Ron Dennis, who stood on the victors' podium to accept the winning constructors' trophy.

In recent weeks, he and his team had been perceived by many observers as being the victims of a witch-hunt, after a 780-page technical dossier on Ferrari cars was found at the home of McLaren's suspended chief designer Mike Coughlan.

McLaren are already facing expulsion at a FIA hearing on Thursday.

To make matters worse, they found out yesterday that police are expected to serve writs on Dennis and five other senior McLaren personnel, including Coughlan.

The writs are for alleged sporting fraud, industrial espionage, and unlawful possession and duplication of financial information.

McLaren said in a statement: 'We are completely confident that, were any proceedings of this type ever to be brought, we would be completely exonerated.'

At least, they engineered a crushing triumph in Ferrari's home ground.

Brazilian Felipe Massa retired after 11 laps, before Finn Kimi Raikkonen, fighting a neck problem suffered when he crashed in qualifying, came home third.

It was McLaren's first one-two finish at Monza, and fourth in 13 races so far.

Said Alonso: 'It has been a perfect weekend for me, all things going in the right direction.'

Added Hamilton: 'Obviously, I didn't get the best of getaways on the dirty side of the grid.

'Felipe clipped me and I went off at the second part of the chicane. Then, at the restart, Fernando did a great job to defend against me.

'Later I had some tyre vibrations, so I pitted earlier than my scheduled stop to avoid any trouble. Then I just drove to bag the points.'

Hamilton now leads by just three points with 92 to Alonso's 89.

It looks increasingly like a two-man battle, dependent on the outcome of the Thursday hearing in Paris that could wreck their title hopes.

Four more races remain - next Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, and then the Grands Prix in Japan, China and Brazil.

Said Raikkonen: 'We were not quick enough, and I found I could not keep my head up under braking after the accident yesterday. That was a big problem for me.'

Nick Heidfeld finished fourth for BMW Sauber ahead of his teammate Robert Kubica, Williams' Nico Rosberg and Renault's Heikki Kovalainen.

Briton Jenson Button collected the final point, finishing eighth for Honda.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE