Just like Wacky Races as Alonso and Massa square up over close encounter

Alonso, who narrowed his deficit on championship leader Lewis Hamilton to just two points, stepped out of the car and immediately blamed Brazilian Massa for their coming together in the pivotal overtaking incident at the Nurburgring.

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The two argued in Italian as they weighed prior to the podium ceremony, with Spaniard Alonso pointing to the damage on his McLaren and wagging a finger.

Massa, who was overtaken by the world champion as the rain tipped down four laps from the end, said: "I was really surprised when he said I did it on purpose. If he was a little bit unhappy, it is not my problem."

Alonso, who later apologised for his fit of pique, was annoyed that the two cars touched twice as he daringly went wheel-to-wheel with Massa's Ferrari around turn four. He squeezed through and the victory was his. But his initial anger soon turned to delight. He punched the air and smiled from ear to ear, showing how important he felt this race could be to his title prospects.

"The most important victories are when the main opposition are not in the points,' he said. 'I'm happy for this win, but it is also 10 points over Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis and two over Felipe, so I'm happy for that. There is a long way to go and I will give it my maximum."

Hamilton's weekend was not so successful. He crashed his car at 175mph in qualifying when his front right wheel was not attached properly, but amazingly emerged unscathed to take his place at 10th on the grid. It was the first time he had started in midfield during his amazing debut season. It would prove another test of his abilities. Would he be able to carve his way through the field?

The answer was as fast as it was emphatic. He charged up to sixth by the first corner and to fourth by the second, skipping around the entangled BMWs of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica. Calamity struck moments later when he punctured his back left tyre seemingly on the debris of their accident.

However, the drama was only just starting. Rain came tipping down. Cue mayhem.

The pits were soon full of cars changing from dry to wet tyres. When Raikkonen pitted at the end of lap two, Spyker's German rookie Markus Winkelhock led. It was the strangest sight of a remarkable two hours. His boss Mike Gascoyne, based on meteorological advice from their student adviser in Northampton, made the astute decision to bring Winkelhock in on the parade lap to put him on Bridgestone's wet rubber. Nobody else had.

Winkelhock made history by becoming Spyker's first grand prix leader, though a hydraulic problem finally denied him a finish. Water was running like a river around turn one. Off went Jenson Button (Honda), Nico Rosberg (Williams), Adrian Sutil (Spyker), Scott Speed (Toro Rosso), Toni Liuzzi (Toro Rosso) and Hamilton.

It was the end for five of the unlucky participants, but not the championship leader. Hamilton, who stopped short of the tyre wall, kept his engine running and was lifted out of the gravel and on to the track by a crane. He was soon going again.

First a yellow flag and then a red, bringing a halt to proceedings for 30 minutes, were waved. The cars again lined up on the grid as they waited for the rain to clear.

Hamilton then took a gamble. He was effectively a lap behind the rest when the race restarted behind the safety car and he opted for dry tyres despite the track still being wet at several sections. It did not work in his favour, but he refused to buckle, twice roaring past Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault and the Honda of Rubens Barrichello in spectacular displays of overtaking to claim ninth place.

Although McLaren team-mate Alonso trimmed his lead, Massa is 11 points adrift, with Raikkonen — who retired due to an hydraulic fault — still 18 points behind. Red Bull's Mark Webber was third, the team's first appearance on the rostrum since last year's Monaco Grand Prix.

Hamilton refused to be downcast after a painful couple of days which saw his run of nine successive podiums come to an end.

The 22-year-old said: "You can't have perfect weekends race after race. I pushed. I never give up. I pushed to the very end. The FIA made me back off when Felipe was four seconds behind and I was faster than him. The same with Fernando. So overall I must have lost 10 seconds. Without that I would have scored some points.

"I said from day one that there would be a time when I would not be on the podium. This weekend I have learned 100 per cent more than normal. To have one of the biggest crashes I have ever had, a puncture, and go in the gravel again today, well, I'm thrilled that I've made a big step in my development.

"I hope this is the one weekend when things go wrong. I'm still positive and leading the championship."

Massa was not satisfied. "It's a second place that leaves a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth," he said. "I had driven a strong race right up until the rain. The positive is that I have made up a lot of ground in the drivers' classification. There's still a long way to go this season."

Just to cap an incident-packed afternoon, Michael Schumacher was on hand to present the winner's trophy to McLaren's Ron Dennis, boss of his long-time rivals during his glory days at Ferrari. It was one of those days.