Jun.25 (GMM) Romain Grosjean on Sunday lost his chance to become F1's eighth different winner.

The Frenchman was running comfortably behind eventual winner Fernando Alonso at Valencia when his Renault alternator failed -- the same component that halted Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull charge.

"We need to hold our hands up and apologise," said Renault's Remi Taffin.

Former F1 driver Patrick Tambay told France's RMC: "It's a shame, because the opportunities for victory are rare and you can't let them pass.

"Today it passed for Romain but it wasn't his fault," he insisted. "Until then his race was truly remarkable; his pass on Hamilton, the wisdom of his duel with Alonso in the heat.

"There are many positive things to take away for Romain.

"Unfortunately the next race will be more difficult because of the cold in England, which does not really suit Romain's Lotus.

"But I think that in Budapest we can really count on him again," added Tambay.

Grosjean's Lotus teammate Kimi Raikkonen finished second on Sunday.

"Lotus continues to demonstrate its ability in 2012 with a car that has great grip and little tyre degradation," Jaime Alguersuari said in Mundo Deportivo newspaper.

"Both Grosjean and Raikkonen are potentially the eighth winner of this season. For them it's about time," the former Toro Rosso driver added.

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