Alonso inherits the place to move to within five points of his team-mate, while Hamilton drops down to fifth as Ferrari finish one-two.

At the next race in Italy, Hamilton is off the pace as Alonso storms to victory, but a late move on Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen means he finishes second and his lead is cut to three points.

And Alonso chips away another point as Hamilton finishes behind the Spaniard in fourth at the next race in Belgium.