Sakhir (Bahrain): Spaniard Fernando Alonso warned on Sunday that he is in no mood to give up his world drivers' crown without a fight by winning the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old made use of a perfect strategy from his Renault team to win by 1.2 seconds from German Ferrari ace Michael Schumacher and claim his ninth Formula One win.
Finland's Kimi Raikkonen, who started from the back of the grid, finished third 19.3sec off the pace in his McLaren-Mercedes.
Pole position holder Schumacher led the 22-car field into the first corner, making a decisive first-corner defence of his position from his Brazilian team-mate Felipe Massa.
The move cost Massa his momentum and he was passed at turn three by Alonso.
Behind them, Briton Jenson Button made a poor start and fell behind his Honda team-mate Rubens Barrichello of Brazil and into sixth place.
A tremendous fight followed as Button passed Barrichello on lap two but slid wide at the next corner and was re-passed.
He took the place for good on lap three.
As Schumacher extended his lead over Alonso to seven seconds by lap 15, 24-year-old Massa made an inauspicious Ferrari debut as he spun under braking at turn one on lap eight and missed Alonso by inches.
A subsequent pit-stop dropped him to the back of the field, but he fought back in typical latino style to finish ninth.
Button put pressure on new third placed McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya, and passed the Colombian for the spot at turn one on lap 11.
Schumacher pitted from the lead on lap 15 and retained the position after an 8.2 second stop once every driver on a two-stop strategy had come in.
Alonso's eight-second stop four laps later was enough to close the gap to only a few car lengths, but Montoya was the big gainer as he moved back ahead of Button and into third.
Montoya's Finnish team-mate Raikkonen who started from the back of the grid after a crash in qualifying, climbed to third by mid-distance after electing to only stop once.
That stop, which took 11 seconds, happened on lap 30, and dropped him down to sixth, but he moved up when Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella retired with engine mapping problems.
The pivotal moment of the race came on lap 39, three laps after leader Schumacher had made his final stop. Alonso, who was now in the lead, re-joined alongside the Ferrari and muscled his rival out of the position to keep the top spot.
The gap remained at a second for the rest of the race, but seven-time champion Schumacher could do nothing about Alonso.
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Button's two-stop strategy dropped him to fourth with Montoya finishing fifth ahead of Williams' Australian star Mark Webber.
Williams' 20-year-old German debutant driver Nico Rosberg, spun at the first corner and pitted at the end of the first lap, but recovered brilliantly to pass Red Bull's Briton David Coulthard with seven laps left, and then Christian Klien, from Austria, on the penultimate tour to finish seventh.
Barrichello endured a bad time as he lost third gear midway through the race and dropped to 15th overall and both Toyotas of Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli struggled for pace, ending up 14th and 16th.
It was a dreadful maiden race for Midland F1 after Portuguese driver Tiago Monteiro, started from the pitlane after suffering a late driveshaft problem.
His Dutch team-mate Christjan Albers retired at the end of lap one after sustaining damage at the first corner as a result of the clash between Rosberg and Heidfeld.
And fellow debutants Super Aguri Racing had a similarly disappointing debut as their Japanese debutant Yuji Ide was given a drive-through penalty when his mechanics failed to clear the grid after the 15-second board was shown prior to the formation lap.
He then hit one of his mechanics after turning into his pit box too quickly, and later retired. Team-mate Takuma Sato did however make it to the finish in 18th place.
Final Standing:
1. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1h29:46.205, 2. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari at 1.246sec, 3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren 19.360, 4. Jenson Button (Great Britain) Honda 19.992, 5. Juan Pablo Montoya (Columbia) McLaren 37.048, 6. Mark Webber (Australia) Williams 41.932, 7. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams 1:03.043, 8. Christian Klien (Austrian) Red Bull 1:06.771, 9. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:09.907, 10. David Coulthard (Great Britain) Red Bull 1:15.541, 11. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) Toro Rosso 1:25.900, 12. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1 lap, 13. Scott Speed (USA) Toro Rosso 1 lap, 14. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Toyota 1 lap, 15. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1 lap, 16. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1 lap, 17. Tiago Monteiro (Portugal) Midland 2 laps, 18. Takuma Sato (Japan) Super Aguri 4 laps.
Overall standings: Drivers
1. Fernando Alonso (Spain) 10.0 pts, 2. Michael Schumacher (Germany) 8.0, 3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) 6.0, 4. Jenson Button (Great Britain) 5.0, 5. Juan Pablo Montoya (Columbia) 4.0, 6. Mark Webber (Australia) 3.0, 7. Nico Rosberg (Germany) 2.0, 8. Christian Klien (Austria) 1.0
Constructors
1. Renault 10.0 pts, 2. McLaren-Mercedes 10.0, 3. Ferrari 8.0, 4. Honda 5.0, 5. Williams-Cosworth 5.0, 6. Red Bull 1.0
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