Michael Schumacher won a shoot-out with world champion Fernando Alonso to win the European Grand Prix in front of 120,000 fans at the Nurburgring.

Ferrari driver Schumacher harried Alonso for 38 laps before unleashing a volley of fastest laps after the Enstone-based Renault F1 team's ace made his second pit stop.

That left the German out in front when he emerged following his pit stop three laps later and he romped home to complete a brilliant victory and check Alonso's championship optimism.

Alonso started the weekend by writing off Ferrari's chances but after being put in his place by seven-time champion Schumacher, his championship lead has been trimmed to 13 points.

Schumacher, after his 86th grand prix win, claimed Alonso should have expected a stern challenge from Ferrari.

"It is not a surprise that we see Renault up the front but neither should it be a surprise to see us up front in the battle to win," he said.

"At the end of the day, on the tyres side and the car side, it was just superb.

"If you finish first what can you say? It makes everybody happy. It was a great race, great start, great performance all the way through."

Alonso claimed he was "not at all" disappointed with his second consecutive defeat at the hands of Schumacher and admitted Renault were distinctly second best today.

The Spaniard, who was held at bay by Schumacher at Imola two weeks ago, revealed he was never confident of victory despite leading for more than half the race from pole position.

He said: "We came here with some questions as to how Ferrari would perform and I think we found ourselves not too competitive to be honest overall.

"I kept the lead in the first pit stop but in the second one it was not possible. It was nearly impossible to keep them behind. It was a question of time when they overtook us.

"It was not perfect even though we were on pole yesterday, it is difficult to understand how, but today you saw the true picture that we needed something more to win."

Once behind Schumacher's Ferrari, Alonso dropped his pace and settled for second place, bringing him into the sights of an on-form Felipe Massa.

The Brazilian claimed his first Formula One podium thanks to a mature drive which saw him match Schumacher's pace and hold off an aggressive Kimi Raikkonen in the latter stages.

Massa came in for criticism from Ferrari boss Jean Todt earlier in the season after an erratic start to life at Maranello, but he responded in style to cut Renault's constructors' championship lead to 16 points.

He said: "I am really happy with my first podium, everything has worked fantastically for us this weekend, the car was working perfectly.

"My car was very competitive and consistent during the whole race. I did a good race without mistakes which is good for me. Fighting every race is important for us and hopefully now we can."

Massa endured Raikkonen's pressure in the closing laps, condemning the McLaren driver to fourth place.

Massa's fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was the only Honda to finish after Jenson Button's engine failed on lap 29.

He scored his best result of the season with fifth, one ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella, who battled from 11th on the grid, taking advantage of Ralf Schumacher's late retirement to reach the top six.

Rookie Nico Rosberg equalled his best-ever finish with seventh for Williams despite starting at the back while Jacques Villeneuve completed the scoring for BMW-Sauber. David Coulthard retired after a first-lap shunt.