World champion Fernando Alonso scorched to a crushing home win in the Spanish Grand Prix to send a sell-out 130,000 crowd wild in Barcelona yesterday.

Alonso received his winner's trophy from King Juan Carlos after a dominant display - but for the blue-shirted hoards in the packed grandstands, there was only one king of Spain.

The 24-year-old delivered a devastating performance to comfortably end Michael Schumacher's winning streak.

Despite a faster strategy, Schumacher had no answer to Alonso's pace - and the Ferrari driver slipped 15 points behind in the title race after finishing a distant second.

Alonso almost leapt out of his cockpit with delight on his slowing-down lap, waving frantically to his adoring public after becoming the first Spaniard to win his home race.

Formula One has only recently caught the Spanish imagination as a result of Alonso's emergence, and the national hero revealed this emotional triumph was more enjoyable than his world title win last year.

''So far this is the best thing that has happened to me in Formula One,'' said Alonso, who drove the King around the track in a Renault Megane before the race.

''I won the championship, but this is a better feeling.

''I finished in front of my people, my supporters - and it was the best feeling in a Formula One car. To race here in front of all-blue grandstands is a different feeling, compared to all the other races."

Team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella made a better start but just failed to squeeze through into turn one, leaving him to play the rear-gunner role and hold off Schumacher.

Renault's early pit stops gave Schumacher a clear track on which to rein in Alonso. But his Ferrari fell short - and by the time he made his second stop, his victory chances had evaporated.

Just behind Fisichella, Felipe Massa finished in the top four for the third consecutive race to add more points to Ferrari's tally, although they now trail Renault by 19.

McLaren's chances of muscling in on that battle look slim, after Kimi Raikkonen's fifth place brought them their only points following Juan Pablo Montoya's spin.

Raikkonen held Jenson Button at bay to leave the Honda driver down in sixth - his best result in four races - while team-mate Rubens Barrichello was one place further back.

l A deal has been reached to secure Formula One's future after Bernie Ecclestone and the five rebel manufacturers agreed terms.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis revealed in Barcelona that all five members of the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association are now prepared to sign up to Formula One for 2008 and beyond. They had held out for more money and a greater say in how the sport is run and talks have now reached an amicable conclusion.