BARCELONA, Spain -- Fernando Alonso gave his Spanish home fans exactly the kind of daring and dominant drive they came to see. Keeping them celebrating at the end of the season might be a lot more difficult, though. Alonso won the Spanish Grand Prix with a commanding performance on Sunday, but then said Ferrari still needs a little bit more pace to topple three-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel in the race for the Formula One title. Alonso was fifth on the grid but used an aggressive start to take control of the race and ended up beating Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus by nearly 10 seconds, with teammate Felipe Massa 26 behind. More importantly, Vettel was a distant 38.2 back in fourth, meaning the Alonso cut the gap to the German to 17 points in the overall standings after five races. With two Ferrari drivers on the podium and none from Red Bull, Alonso still cautioned that the Italian team still hasnt caught up to its main rival. "Last year we didnt win (the championship). We were one second off (the pace), but we managed to fight until the Brazil race," said Alonso, a two-time former champion. "This year we have a package that is still not the fastest but we are working on it." Alonso lost out to Vettel by three points last year, but will head to Monaco in two weeks time in an optimistic frame of mind. "We are not the quickest over one lap, we maybe do not set the fastest time in the race, but we have fantastic pit stops, starts, (limited) tire degradation," said Alonso, who started from fifth on the grid. "Many ingredients to have a competitive car to fight for the championship ... In the four years with Ferrari this is the best (car) weve had." Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali dedicated the day to those working behind the scenes to make Ferrari faster. "For sure, very, very happy. It was a good day for the team," Domenicali said. "The win was for the people who are working hard at the factory." The race was once again heavily affected by Pirellis fast-degrading tires, which forced teams into four-stop strategies when they had planned for three. "Our aim is to have between two and three stops at every race, so its clear that four is too many," Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said. "In fact, its only happened once before, in Turkey during our first year in the sport." There is no time for Pirelli to make changes in time for Monaco. "Well be looking to make some changes, in time for Silverstone," Hembery said. "To make sure that we maintain our target and solve any issues rapidly." Red Bull struggled a lot more than Ferrari with the tires, and the mood in the teams camp was subdued after the race. "The first three cars were a little bit too fast for us and regarding looking after the tires, they did a better job," said Vettel, who finished ahead of teammate Mark Webber. "We need to catch up; were not going the pace of the car, were going the pace of the tires and obviously we do something to make the tires wear more. The start was good, we then tried to hold on with a three-stop strategy, but had to change to four stops." Raikkonen finished second for the third straight race. It was Alonsos second win in Barcelona -- the first coming in 2006 -- and his seventh career podium on the Circuit de Catalunya. "Its very special winning at home and it doesnt matter how many times you repeat it," said Alonso, who moved up to third overall, while Raikkonen is only four points behind Vettel. Massas performance was arguably even better than Alonsos, as he started from ninth due to a grid penalty in qualifying. "I think we are in the right direction so I hope from now on we are fighting for the podium in every race," Massa said. Mercedes had a disappointing day after Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton started on the front grid. As has been the case this season, the Mercedes cars -- which are fast in qualifying -- again lacked race pace and durability as Rosberg finished sixth and Hamilton drifted way back to 12th. "Theres a growing gap to three teams ahead of us which we need to get on top of," Rosberg said. "We have a very quick car but we have to make it work for us in the race." Lotus driver Romain Grosjeans back wheels locked up early on and he had to pull out due to mechanical failure. Caterham driver Giedo van der Gardes left rear wheel came off entirely and he also had to retire. It was a busy afternoon in the pits as Sauber released Nico Hulkenberg too early and he bumped into the back of a Toro Rosso and with Pastor Maldonado -- last years surprise winner -- pitting in the wrong place. Kyrie 2 For Sale . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Kyrie Irving Shoes Wholesale . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. http://www.kyrieirvingshoescheap.com/ . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. Kyrie 3 Shoes For Sale . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. Kyrie 4 Shoes For Sale . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Marylands fast start was more than enough to make up for a sluggish second half on Saturday.Justin Jackson scored 19 points and fellow freshman Kevin Huerter added a career-high 14 as the Terrapins never trailed in a 66-56 victory over Saint Peters.Maryland (10-1) shot 68.4 percent from the floor in the first half as it won its second all-time meeting with the Peacocks. The Terps led by as many as 25 in the second half, but scored only 16 points in the final 14:22.It was kind of a boring game, Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. They were using 30 seconds even though they were down 20, 25. Our guys kind of got caught up in it and we didnt finish the game the way we would have liked.Chazz Patterson led Saint Peters (4-5) with 13 points. Forward Quadir Welton, who was averaging a team-high 16 points for the Peacocks, was held to five points on 2 of 11 shooting against the Terps.Maryland opened on a 14-0 run, and Saint Peters didnt score its first points until 11:56 remained in the first half. The Peacocks never cut the margin to less than 10 the rest of the way.I thought for a noon game, they didnt come out sleepwalking, Saint Peters coach John Dunne said. I thought they might have. I thought their energy level was really, really good. They got real physical with us to start the game.Saint Peters trailed 61-40 with 4:26 to play before closing the game with a 16-5 spurt.In situations like that, you cant let it get to 24, Dunne said. You have to keep in the mid-teens so if you do make a run late, its a little more within striking distance.The Terps held a 14-5 scoring advantage off turnovers despite forcing Saint Peters into only 10 giveaways.It was Marylands first wire-to-wire victory against a Division I team this season and its third triumph in a row.ddddddddddddWere getting there in a lot of aspects, but we have to shore up some things, Turgeon said. Heading into Christmas, hopefully we can improve and play better Monday and get better during finals with practice. Our guys will compete when they need to compete, and thats really whats important.BIG PICTURESaint Peters: The Peacocks continued their all-or-little trend on offense. Theyve scored at least 80 points in all four of their victories, and have not surpassed 65 points in any of their five losses.Maryland: The Terrapins havent enjoyed many lopsided victories this season but were never in any trouble against the Peacocks as they became the first 10-win team in the Big Ten.STAT OF THE NIGHTGuard Melo Trimble passed Joe Smith on Marylands career scoring list. The junior ranks 27th in school history with 1,291 points, one more than the 1995 national player of the year.HUERTER HEATS UPMaryland freshman Kevin Huerter made three 3-pointers in the first half, a welcome sign for a team that entered the day ranked 298th in the country in 3-point percentage at .305. The Terps were 7 of 18 (38.9 percent) from the outside against Saint Peters.UP NEXTSaint Peters does not play for another eight days as it enters its final exam period. The Peacocks will play their last two games before Christmas in the New York area --- at home Dec. 18 against Elon and at St. Francis Brooklyn on Dec. 23.Maryland has a quick turnaround as it plays host to Jacksonville State on Monday. Mark Turgeon was the Gamecocks coach from 1998-2000, the first stop in a head coaching career that eventually brought him to Maryland. ' ' '