Monday, July 3 2006 16:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Indianapolis: Michael Schumacher led Felipe Massa in the second straight Ferrari one-two at the US Formula One Grand Prix and gained lots of ground on championship leader Fernando Alonso.

The Renault driver Alonso failed to make the podium for the first time in 11 months, having to settle for fifth place in a race Sunday that saw seven cars crash in the opening lap and only nine of 22 cross the finish line.

Schumacher got his third win of the season, his fourth at Indy in a row and 87th overall in front of early leader Massa and Giancarlo Fichella in a Renault in sweltering heat on the famous speedway.

Schumacher improved to 69 points from 10 of 18 races, cutting Alonso's lead from 25 to 19 points. Alonso now has 88 points. A victory is worth 10 points.

"Everything was spot on. With felipe alongside, it is a dream result and a big step towards the title. We gained very important points," said Schumacher.

"We can only hope to keep some of the edge and transform it into the next races. It is not impossible. I think we can do it. There are still 80 points to give away," he said.

Alonso said, "We knew Ferrari would be very competitive, the power was inferior.

Team boss Flavio Briatore said, "We knew it would be tough here, but at least we are taking home some points."

Alonso came to Indianapolis with six season wins (among them the last four races) and second place in the other three 2006 races. He made the podium in 15 races since finishing 11th at the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 31, 2005. Sunday's race saw nine cars finish, but the field was reduced to 15 cars due to the first-lap pile-ups.

Nick Heidfeld escaped unharmed when his BMW lifted into the air for a double roll into the gravel after Kimi Raikkonen lost control over his McLaren-Mercedes when hit by teammate Juan Pablo Montoya.

"I am fine. This was my first tumble of such a kind. It looked worse than it was," said Heidfeld," he said. Raikkonen said he was 'very disappointed' and did not further want to comment on his teammate Montoya, who said himself that Raikkonen 'slammed on the brakes'.

Mark Webber, Christian Klien, Scott Speed and Franck Montagny were also involved and Briton Jenson Button lasted only five laps longer due to damage from the pile-ups, which brought out the safety car to allow the wreckage to be cleared off the track.

Up front, Massa won the start against Schumacher, with Alonso storming from fifth to third and even almost passing Schumacher before the safety car phase.

But Alonso dropped to fourth behind Fisichella in the 13th lap while Schumacher regained the lead in the 31st lap for victory in 1 hour 34 minutes 35.199 seconds for the 73-lap race over 306.016 kilometres, with Massa's second place his best career result.

Behind the top three and also in the points were Jarno Trulli in a Toyota, Alonso, Barrichello in a Honda, David Coulthard in a Red Bull and Vitantonio Liuzzi in a Toro Rosso.

The next race is the French Grand Prix in Magny-Cours on July 16.