By winning the European Grand Prix on Sunday, Michael Schumacher proclaimed himself a genuine championship contender, and defending champ Fernando Alonso might find the German a far tougher title competititor than Kimi Raikkonen was in 2005.
By Mike Fourie, Editor.
By winning the European Grand Prix on Sunday, Michael Schumacher proclaimed himself a genuine championship contender, and defending champ Fernando Alonso might find the German a far tougher title competititor than Kimi Raikkonen was in 2005.
Many Schumacher detractors dismissed the seven-time world champion’s recent Imola victory as a fluke… The San Marino Grand Prix has been Ferrari/Bridgestone stronghold for a while now and when Renault called in Alonso for an early second stop, Schumi cruised to victory at a circuit notorious for its lack of overtaking opportunities.
But Schumacher’s performance at the Nürburgring proved that Imola wasn’t a fluke! When I attended last year’s European Grand Prix, I witnessed droves of red-clad Germans trapse off to drown their sorrows in Weissbier (or something stronger?) after their beloved Schumi trailed home in a disconsolate fifth place. The German was hardly in the race and finished no less than 50 seconds behind his victorious Spanish rival. How things have changed since then!
The European Grand Prix saw a masterful performance from the German. He matched Alonso right until the second pit stops and putting fast laps in when it counted to beat the championship leader for the second successive race. Felipe Massa finished third.
Alonso started from pole position and led Schumacher into the first corner. Massa made a good start and almost nicked second position from the German, but took up station behind his Ferrari team leader. Honda’s Rubens Barrichello dropped from fourth to seventh. Down the field, Williams’ Mark Webber went from twentieth to twelfth and Super Aguri’s Takuma Sato climbed up to fifteenth.
In the melee, Antonio Liuzzi lost control of his Scuderia Toro Rosso and collided with David Coulthard in the sister Red Bull Racing car. Both were early casualties and the safety car made a brief appearance, but by lap three the racing resumed.
Alonso and Schumacher began trading fastest laps with just half a second separating them. Over the next fifteen laps the gap stabilised at just less than one second as the Spaniard and the German edged away from Massa and Raikkonen’s McLaren-Mercedes in fourth.
Alonso made his first pit stop on lap 17 and Schumacher went into the lead. However, when the German completed his first stop soon thereafter, Alonso’s Renault regained the lead of the race.
Raikkonen briefly led the race by virtue of having six more laps of fuel in his MP4-21, but was back in third position after stopping for fuel and a new set of Michelin boots on lap 23. Honda’s Jenson Button retired on lap 29 due to an engine failure, which promoted Nico Rosberg to fifth – the Williams driver running a one-stop strategy after an engine change before qualifying meant he started last.
At the front, Alonso and Schumacher continued to match each other until the second round of pit stops. Alonso upped his pace in the five laps before his second pit stop (on lap 38), but Schumacher matched him. With 1,2 seconds between them, Alonso’s pit stop released Schumacher into the lead and the German set a new fastest lap… He continued for three more laps and after a very swift pit stop rejoined the race comfortably ahead of Alonso’s Renault.
Schumacher cruised to his second win of the season and the 86th of his career. Moreover, the German reduced the championship gap to Alonso by two more points to 13. Massa brought the second Ferrari 248 F1 home in third to claim his first F1 podium finish. The double-podium finish for Ferrari moved the Scuderia ahead of the Woking-based McLaren team in the constructors’ championship.
How long will it take for Schumi to wipe out Alonso’s lead in the championship? Last year, Alonso won the title because of his metronomic finishing record. On the days that he couldn’t match the pace of Raikkonen’s McLaren, the Spaniard often minimised th