Conquistador Fernando claims Crown/McLaren finish One-Two.

It is said that the Spanish name the most celebrated of their conqueror's as "Conquistadors". The cavalry might have metamorphozied into cars, gunpowder might be replaced by V10 engines, but the crux of the cranium would always hold one idea - to conquer.And that is what Fernando, in his blue silhouette did on a cloudy afternoon at Interlagos, Brazil. The Spaniard clinched his maiden Formula 1 Championship by claiming six points for finishing third at Sau Paulo. McLaren drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen came in first and second in a race that was pretty much a McLaren cavalcade. Michael Schumacher, the reigning champion finished fourth, managing to keep the faster Renault of Fissichella at bay. Barrichello, Button and Schumacher were among others who landed in points.

Qualifying saw a couple of changes at the top with the Finn, Kimi Raikkonen failing to qualify within the first two rows since almost the beggining of this season. Snatching his breaks before turning into corner 1, Kimi lost seven hundredths of a second. A rare mistake from the usually ice cool McLaren driver that saw Alonso take his fifth pole of the season. Juan Pablo, the other McLaren driver came in second, straddling himself between the two Renaults. Kelin's impressive run saw him start on row three along side Raikkonen. The stage was set, and the game was on for Fernando to thwart Brazilian Emerson Fittpaldi's record of being the youngest ever Formula 1 champion.

Just before the start of the race, Mercedes boss Norbert Haug gave Fernando,(Yes! Fernando) a friendly slap and wished him good luck, an excellent gesture proving that not all of the patrons of "Planet Paddock" were soulless money-mongerers.

The race started with David Coulthard, Pizzonia and Webber getting involved in a start line incident that ended the afternoon for all three drivers. Sadly, for the Grove team, the race ended even before it had started. The safety car came out, with Alonso leading Montoya, Raikkonen, Michael and Fissichella. When it pulled off, Alonso made a rare mistake, moving out of the racing line, thus allowing the mercurial McLaren driver to blow past at the back straight. Raikkonen, already having powered his way to third was all over Alonso, snapping at the Spaniards heels at every opportunity.

The first set of pit stops started with Renault predictably going into the pits ahead of their McLaren counterparts. Clearly, the McLarens were faster inspite of being heavier. Montoya and Raikkonen traded fastest laps, even as Schumacher the beleagured fought his way past Fissichella after his first pit stop. Montoya pitted on lap 28 with Kimi making a rather longish pitstop on lap 31. A brilliant strategy that would have allowed Raikkonen a six-lap window at the end of the race that might even see him take the top-step on the podium. However, a flag incident saw Raikkonen make his second stop a lap or two earlier, leaving him at the heels of fellow driver Montoya.

The championship was all over with Montoya leading Raikkonen and Alonso. The stage was all set for the pretender to be crowned King. The Renault mechanics were on the wall to welcome the first Spanish Drivers Champion, even as Ron Dennis, the man behind the McLarens looked on, making sure that a last minute hick-up would not prevent his cars from finishing in a one-two position - an achievement after a gap of five years.

As for the others, it was a great race for the Ferrari's with Schumacher and Barrichello coming in fourth and sixth. Fissichella came in fifth, bringing in vital points for his team in the Constructor's tally. Button, who had a lonely race came in seventh, with Ralf coming in eigth. Sato, who started in the pits as punishment for his Belgian GP incident with Schumacher came in tenth, while Klein's impressive performance saw him come ninth. The two Saubers of Massa and Villeneuve came in eleventh and twelveth with Trulli dragging along at thirteenth ahead of Albers and Karthikeyan.

It was a sad race for Tiago Montiero who was looking to complete his seventeenth successful race. The Potrugese driver had mechanical problems and called it quits with just twenty laps to go.

It was a historic moment for Fernando Alonso and Flavio Briatore the Renault team principal. Incidentally it was Flavio who was leading Benneton-Ford(thence Renault) when Michael Schumacher won his first world championship back in 1994. Surely, a sign of things to come.

Now that the Driver's champion has been crowned, it is time for all and sundry to concentrate on the Constructor's championship. This weekend saw a change of guard at the top with McLaren edging out Renault by two points. This season, McLaren have undoubtedly been the fastest cars on the grid, winning nine out of seventeen races. However, their achilees heel has been the reliability of their cars sans which the Woking team would have had the possibility to claim both the Constructor's and the Driver's crowns. On the contrary, Renault have thrived on reliability, often being able to capitalize on the fast but fragile McLaren's failures.

Do check out this space after Suzuka, Japan - the venue of many a legendary joust, be it for the Driver's or the Constructor's crown.