By Andrew Benson BBC Sport at Monza

Fernando Alonso said his win in the Italian Grand Prix for Ferrari was one of the most enjoyable of his career.

The Spaniard, who joined Ferrari this year, was greeted by thousands of cheering fans after taking the team's first home victory since 2006.

"It's something only really to compare with the Spanish Grand Prix victory in 2006," the 28-year-old said.

"It is a very special win and very special feelings right now, difficult to express but a great feeling."

Alonso took his third victory of the season to bring himself right back into the title battle after a difficult race in Belgium and following a thrilling battle with McLaren's Jenson Button.

It was not Alonso's first victory at the historic Monza track, the oldest on the F1 calendar - dating back to 1922.

He also won here for McLaren in 2007, when his reception from the Italian fans, the tifosi, was very different.

"In 2007 there were not very nice words because I was in McLaren fighting Ferrari," he added.

"But here now it is very different, this welcome and support by everyone is great and Felipe (Massa) and me, we had a fantastic weekend.

"I never imagined being at Ferrari would be so good. The integration with the team has been fantastic. The welcome by the team and the Italian fans has been much better than I ever dreamed.

"I have been on the podium in the past with Ferrari drivers and to have them all cheering for me is fantastic and quite a shock."

Alonso arrived in Monza 41 points off the championship lead, then held by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, and in fifth place in the standings, but his win has vaulted him up to third, 21 points behind the new leader, Red Bull's Mark Webber.

The Australian took the lead back from Hamilton by five points after the Englishman retired after a first-lap clash with Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

Button is fourth ahead of Vettel, with all five drivers covered by 24 points - one point less than is awarded for a win.

Andrew Benson blog The Spaniard delivered the sort of remorseless, flawless performance that used to be his stock-in-trade

Alonso acknowledged that it was an important result for his championship hopes.

"Obviously it is very important for the championship in terms of points gap but our chances to be champion this year do not depend on what the others do," said Alonso.

"We need to find some consistency because this was a good weekend but Spa (two weeks ago) was bad and we cannot afford to have these bad weekends, we need to be on the podium at all the races.

"Sometimes we are not doing 100% and that is what we have to concentrate on."

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