IT may not have been held on the treacherous fourteen-mile Nurburgring of old, but last Sunday's European Grand Prix gave us a concise version of greatness that was worthy of a place in the annals of legendary races held there. Historically, the wetter this place is, the better. And with that, the heavens opened as if on cue for a great battle.

Alonso v Massa, McLaren v Ferrari, Honour v Glory. If ever there was a metaphor for the espionage saga still to be played out in the headquarters of the FIA later that week, surely this race was it. So when Alonso, McLaren and Glory won outright, Massa and Ferrari could only cling to Honour, and wait four days for that result.

Alonso possesses an exceptional talent that hasn't been show-cased as often as we expected or anticipated this season, but last Sunday he unleashed it in all its glory. With Raikkonen and Hamilton out of the picture, only Massa impeded his view of the chequered flag.

Told adage 'Talent does what it can, genius does what it must' sums up Alonso's audacious overtaking of Massa on the outside, at 125 mph in a corner that drops away and tightens up, at a part of the circuit where it's lunacy to contemplate such a move let alone carry it off. If it was a heart-stopping, oxygen-depriving moment for the spectator, for Alonso it must have been the whitest of white-knuckle rides.

Massa didn't go down without a fight or cow-tow to this monster assault on his lead; he played rough - which ultimately could have cost the pair a lot more than just first and second place.

Post-race, a wounded Massa met a chest-beating Alonso in the not-so-private locker room and the war continued as insults were traded like cheap commodities, under the glare of TV cameras, with all picture and no sound. Alonso, who instigated it, had begun his psychological warfare against Massa.

Then, later in the interview room, Alonso performed a volte-face, and subtle as a juggernaut, he apologised to Massa for his verbal tirade against the Brazilian. A naked and disarmed Massa was confused. He needed to hate Alonso so they could bring their battle to Hungary and yet here was Alonso feigning friendship and patting his opponent's forearm like he was orphan Annie.

It was Alonso torturing Massa. First he takes the lead off him, against all odds, and then Massa almost kills the two of them trying to stop him. Alonso unleashes a verbal diatribe against the Massa who rises to the bait. Then it's kiss-and-make-up time, orchestrated by Alonso for Alonso's benefit. Cunning stuff.

And so there ended a great day at the Nurburgring and a fine third place for Webber in the Red Bull, surprisingly only his second podium in six years of F1. Torrential rain afforded us a Grand Prix to remember where there was never a dull moment.

It may have all gone wrong for Lewis Hamilton but he showed great stoicism in getting back into the race from the sand trap, when most would have jumped out and given up the ghost long ago.

So back to that question of honour. In the espionage scandal where McLaren is accused of benefiting from documents stolen from Ferrari, the World Motor Sport Council found McLaren to be in breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code by being in possession of unauthorised documents belonging to Ferrari.

But they also said there was insufficient evidence to suggest McLaren had used the confidential Ferrari information "in such a way as to interfere improperly with the F1 World Championship".

So for now they escape penalty. But if proof emerges at a later date then they'll be stripped of their 2007 points and banned from competing in 2008.

Jean Todd was livid. He is emphatic that McLaren gained a "huge advantage" in this year's championship. He said: "From this verdict a strange situation comes up: it's like having played poker against a rival who knows your cards," he added. "The advantage is evident."

And then just to remind everyone of honour, the Frenchman added: "One thing is certain: we at Ferrari can calmly look at ourselves in the mirror. I think others, since yesterday, can't do the same thing."

You could argue that neither men have much reason to be looking in mirrors, but it will hurt Ron Dennis deeply if his team is perceived to be cheating, even if there is insufficient evidence to support that. But McLaren did query the legality of Ferrari's 'flexible floor' prior to the start of the season, which would imply they were acting on inside information.

You have to sympathise a bit with Todd, but he should be mindful of that Latin expression Inter arma enim silent leges or 'In time of war the law falls silent'.

The Hungaroring is the next stage for the 'clash of the titans' before F1 takes a three-week hiatus. Alonso and Schumacher retired from the race last year and handed Button his maiden win. Pedro de la Rosa was second for McLaren, while Heidfeld in a BMW and Barrichello in a Honda completed the top four.

So, Mansell, Hill and Button all won here, will Hamilton follow that British success? Not if Alonso, Massa and Raikkonen have anything to do with it. And for those of you with a meteorological interest, the long-term forecast doesn't predict rain.

David Kennedy is F1 analyst with Setanta

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 70

2 Fernando Alonso (Spn) McLaren 68

3 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 59

4 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 52

5 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW 36

6 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW 24

7 Giancarlo Fisichella (It) Renault 17

8 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 15

9 Alexander Wurz (Aut) Williams 13

10 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 8

10= David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull 8

12 Jarno Trulli (It) Toyota 7

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1 McLaren-Mercedes 138

2 Ferrari 111

3 BMW 61

4 Renault 32

5 Williams-Toyota 18

6 Red Bull-Renault 16

7 Toyota 9

8 Super Aguri-Honda 4

NEXT RACE

Hungarian Grand Prix. Friday - Practice 1, 9.0-10.30; Practice 2, 1.0-2.30. Saturday - Practice, 10.0-11.0. Qualifying, 1.0. Sunday - Race, 1.0