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Fernando Alonso led Sunday's Hungarian GP from start to finish to become the youngest race winner in F1 history.

The Spaniard, aged 22 years 27 days, drove faultlessly to finally break Bruce McLaren's long-standing record.

But just as important as Alonso's exploits is the fact that the championship battle is now closer than ever, with just two points covering the top three.

That’s because Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya finished second and third while Michael Schumacher trailed in a distant eighth.

The five-time world champ even suffered the ignominy of being lapped by Alonso, something that must have put the icing on the cake for the young Renault star.

Astonishingly, Alonso is the eighth different race winner F1 has produced this season.

The outcome of the race was effectively decided in the first dozen laps, during which the Spaniard built up an incredible 20s lead.

Alonso made a faultless start as those drivers on the dirty side of the track struggled for traction off the line.

The biggest losers were Williams duo Ralf Schumacher and Montoya. Montoya was crucially passed by title rival Michael Schumacher, who had started four spots behind him on the grid, while Ralf compounded his problems by spinning at turn two.

Raikkonen profited, moving up from seventh to fourth and quickly passing Rubens Barrichello for third when the Brazilian ran wide.

But the Finn could not find a way past Mark Webber in second place, allowing Alonso the opportunity to build his lead. By the time Raikkonen passed the Aussie in the first round of stops, the Renault was already 25s up the road.

Meanwhile, both Williams drivers were busy staging recoveries. Ralf stormed up from last to fourth, even cheekily overtaking brother Michael, a real collectors’ item.

Montoya also got past the world champion, but in less spectacular fashion. The Colombian quietly worked his way in front in the first round of pitstops.

By that time, Schumacher’s Ferrari team-mate Barrichello had departed from the race in spectacular style. The Brazilian suffered a high-speed rear suspension failure at turn one. Thankfully for Alonso and Renault, the marshals were able to clear up the debris without resorting to the safety car.

Things were to get worse for Ferrari with Schumacher sinking further and further down the order. Against all expectations, Webber remained ahead of the world champion while David Coulthard leapfrogged the German by switching to a two-stop strategy.

Ferrari had expected to struggle this weekend but, even in his most pessimistic of moments, Schumacher must have expected to do better than eighth. The German will however count himself lucky that Alonso ensured neither Raikkonen or Montoya picked up maximum points.

Montoya nearly threw away the six points he gained for third when he spun seven laps from the end. The Colombian later admitted it was down to simple driver error. The mistake almost let in team-mate Ralf but Montoya held on.

Coulthard finished fifth, while Webber hung on for an impressive sixth place. Jarno Trulli, massively overshadowed by team-mate Alonso, was a lap down in seventh but deserves credit for successfully withstanding a late rally from Michael Schumacher.

The day may have belonged to Alonso but it was an important one for the sport in general with the championship now almost guaranteed to go down to the final race at Suzuka.

It’s just a shame we’ve got to wait another three weeks for the next exciting instalment in Ferrari’s backyard.

Roll on Monza…

Race result from the Hungaroring

Drivers Team Racetime
1 Fernando Alonso Renault 1h39m01.460s
2 Kimi Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes + 16.768s
3 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams BMW + 34.537s
4 Ralf Schumacher Williams BMW + 35.620s
5 David Coulthard McLaren Mercedes + 56.535s
6 Mark Webber Jaguar + 1m12.643s
7 Jarno Trulli Renault + 1 lap
8 Michael Schumacher Ferrari + 1 lap
9 Nick Heidfeld Sauber Petronas + 1 lap
10 Jenson Button BAR Honda + 1 lap
11 Cristiano Da Matta Toyota + 2 laps
12 Jos Verstappen Minardi Cosworth + 3 laps
13 Nicolas Kiesa Minardi Cosworth + 4 laps
Retirements
14 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber Petronas +23 laps
15 Justin Wilson Jaguar + 28 laps
16 Olivier Panis Toyota + 37 laps
17 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan Ford + 42 laps
18 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari + 51 laps
19 Jacques Villeneuve BAR Honda + 58 laps
20 Ralph Firman Jordan Ford DNS