Imola, Italy ? Fernando Alonso has rescued Formula One from five years of dominance by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari.

The Spaniard captured his third straight checkered flag in last weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix by holding off Schumacher in a wheel-to-wheel duel over the final 12 laps.

The victory — in what was hailed as the greatest Formula One race in more than a decade — gave the Spaniard twice as many points as any other driver this season, and kept Schumacher winless after the opening four races for the first time in eight seasons.

Alonso won his first two races this season — in Malaysia and Bahrain — in attacking fashion. His latest win showed he can defend just as well as he attacks, a rare trait for a 23-year-old driver.

Schumacher started 13th and passed 11 other drivers — including a cunning overtake of third-place finisher Jenson Button — with the fastest car in the field.

But Alonso would not move over for the seven-time world champion on Ferrari’s home track.

Giancarlo Minardi, who first hired Alonso five years ago, was one of the few on hand who believed Alonso was up to the task.

“When Schumacher caught up to the leaders, everyone around me said, ‘That’s it, the race is his,”‘ Minardi said. “But I was certain he wouldn’t pull it off. I know Fernando well. He had a tough time with his speed, but he’s always been great at breaking. He never makes an error or has a moment of weakness.”

Schumacher constantly moved his Ferrari around the track trying to set up a pass. Each time, Alonso responded with a block. Schumacher got half his car alongside Alonso on the final lap, but Alonso would not budge and closed again.

“Michael was much quicker than me,” said Alonso, whose engine was on its second full race. “I knew that my only possibility was, first, not to catch the people in front of me and, second, in the corners where he had the opportunity (to pass) to brake a little bit more in the corner before and have better traction than him. I was playing this game at every corner.”

Fernando Alonso celebrates as he returns to the pits in front of Germany's Michael Schumacher.

It was an epic battle of the type Formula One hadn’t seen since Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell went wheel-to-wheel at Monaco in 1992.

“It was one of the best races I can remember, and I’ve been in Formula One for 16 years,” said Renault director Flavio Briatore. “(Schumacher) had a much faster car than ours, but Fernando was great, he used a great defensive tactic.”

Alonso already has an 18-point lead atop the standings, and the next race is his home Spanish GP in Barcelona on May 8.

Alonso became the youngest winner of the old F3000 series by winning in Belgium at 19. He was also the youngest driver to take pole position at a Formula One race in Malaysia in 2003 at 21, then won the Hungarian GP later the same season, 26 days after his 22nd birthday.

“Age is a wheel that turns round, and now it’s his turn. He’s the heir to Schumacher,” Minardi said.

Alonso comes from Oviedo in the heart of the stunning Asturias region north of Madrid. It is the same working-class area that gave birth 13 centuries ago to the Christian “Reconquista” that resulted in the expulsion of the Moors who had ruled most of Spain for 800 years.

Fernando Alonso on the podium at the San Marino GP. Alonso won the race Sunday in Imola, Italy.

On his helmet, Alonso wears the region’s yellow cross that Pelayo used when he defeated the Moors around 718 in Asturias.

Legions of Alonso fans follow their new hero from one race to another across the globe, waving their light blue Asturian flags with the yellow cross.

Yellow and blue are also the colors of Alonso’s Renault team, and they clash starkly with Ferrari red.

While rumors are circulating that Alonso will succeed Schumacher at Ferrari, the two drivers already share a common thread in Briatore, who guided Schumacher to his first titles while both were with Benetton in 1994 and 1995.

“Having had Michael at more or less the same age, I already know the routine and I haven’t made certain errors again,” Briatore said, adding that he has tried to limit Alonso’s sponsor and promotional appearances.

“We’ve straightened everything out with Fernando so we don’t run the risk of excess stress.”

Alonso’s fame forces him to live in relative obscurity in Oxford, England.

“Alonso is very attached to his family, but he can’t ever go to Oviedo because there would be a thousand people waiting in front of his house,” Briatore said.

“When he goes to watch Real Madrid, he goes in disguise after the game has already started.”

Asturias used to have two first-division soccer teams. Now, without any, Alonso is seen as a savior in his home region.

Crown Prince Felipe is heir to the Spanish throne and also has the title Prince of Asturias. Yet it is King Juan Carlos who calls Alonso after each of his victories.

The start of Sunday’s all-Spanish tennis final in Barcelona between Rafael Nadal and Juan Carlos Ferrero was delayed 15 minutes because of the interest in Alonso’s latest breathtaking victory.

Fans watching in the United States got a rare treat. CBS showed the race on tape delay, the first of four Formula One races it plans to broadcast this season, including the upcoming Spanish GP.

Schumacher thought the race was his when he settled in behind Alonso.

“There were still 11 laps until the end, I thought his tires were finished,” Schumacher said. “But he didn’t even allow the most minimal chance. He didn’t make any errors. It was impossible to pass him.”

Like Schumacher, Alonso got his racing start in a go-kart his father built for him when he was 3.

Alonso’s mother is a worker at a Spanish superstore chain, his father an underground explosives expert.

Alonso speaks quietly and comes across as shy. He keeps his girlfriend, Carolina, away from races to avoid celebrity photographers.

On the track, though, there is no holding back.

“In 2000, after he had signed up with us, he came in second in F3000 in Hungary,” Minardi said. “It was a fantastic race. I went to congratulate him but I saw a frown on his face. ‘I race to win,’ he said, gritting his teeth. He has a tenaciousness that strikes fear, and he is never satisfied.”