"Fisi was really good because it got a bit messy and he was worried that he was going to hit Fernando," said engineering director Pat Symonds after Fisichella spun at turn one in a chaotic start to the race.

"He just locked everything, knowing he would slide away from Fernando, which I think was quite a generous thing to do. He sacrificed himself and drove like a demon after that."

Alonso and Fisichella had started on the second row of the grid, behind the Ferraris of Brazilian Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher, and could easily have hit each other in the squeeze for the first corner.

While Alonso finished the race in second place, stretching his overall lead over Ferrari's Michael Schumacher to 12 points with four races left, Fisichella pitted for a new front wing and nose and fought back to sixth place.

The points kept Renault ahead in the constructors' championship by just two points.

"Michael (Schumacher) was weaving quite a lot on the track and the other drivers were having to avoid him," said Fisichella.

"I braked quite late but there was a risk of a collision with Fernando so I braked even harder which locked the rears and put me in a spin."