A Fairytale Finish to the European Grand Prix in Spain VALENCIA, Spain - Once again, Formula One has produced a race that would have appeared over-the-top if scripted in advance. But this was the real thing, unplanned, impossible to make up. After qualifying only 11th, Fernando Alonso, the local star driver in the Ferrari, won the race on a track notorious for its difficulty in overtaking. Behind him, aside from Kimi Raikkonen, who finished second in a Lotus, was the other unbelievable and popular result: Michael Schumacher finishing third in a Mercedes. It was the famed driver's first podium finish since returning from retirement two years ago - and he started the race from 12th on the grid. In a country wracked by financial woes - with the race itself likely to become a casualty of those problems - and at a track that has always produced boring processions from start to finish, Sunday's race was one of the high points of the season. It was also the first time that the winner of one of the previous eight races of the season won again. For a long time, the winner looked as if it would be Sebastian Vettel, who scored pole position and led until the 35th lap when his engine stalled and cut out. Alonso had just passed Sebastian Grosjean for second place, and as he inherited the lead, the hometown crowd went wild. By the end of the race, 22 laps later, of the top qualifiers, only Raikkonen would still be there. In addition to Vettel, Grosjean, who had qualified fourth, dropped out with a technical problem on Lap 40, then Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren Mercedes and Pastor Maldonado in a Williams - who had qualified second and third - collided while fighting with each other for position and both dropped out of the race, paving the way for Schumacher to take third. It had been a wild race from the start, as I wrote in my race report, and one that was never expected on the narrow street circuit that has produced so many uneventful races of late. But it raises the question of just how much Formula One will miss this circuit in the end. With the usual great weather, a lively downtown night life and a large beach within walking distance of the track, it is a weekend like none other on the Formula One calendar. And while the number of spectators has fallen greatly since the race began here in 2008, those Spaniards who could not afford to see the race were no doubt shocked to see what they missed. "Here now with the Euro football championship also," said Alonso, talking about his national team's victory in the quarterfinals of the soccer tournament the night before, "there is a lot of Spanish atmosphere inside all of us. Feeling very proud to be a Spanish sportsman at the moment and winning in Spain this race is probably the best victory I ever felt in terms of emotions.