Although Michael Schumacher only reduced Fernando Alonso’s championship lead by two points at Magny Cours, the German dealt his title rival a psychological blow by notching up a record-breaking eighth French Grand Prix victory with consummate ease on Sunday.
By Mike Fourie – Editor
Although Michael Schumacher only reduced Fernando Alonso’s championship lead by two points at Magny Cours, the German dealt his title rival a psychological blow by notching up a record-breaking eighth French Grand Prix victory with consummate ease.
Schumacher’s Ferrari 248 F1 has the sheer pace to power the German to his eighth F1 world championship this year, of that there’s no question. The theory that Ferrari dominated the US Grand Prix only because the team’s Bridgestone tyres worked better than those of the Michelin-shod teams at Indianapolis has been quashed. Cynics, who argued that Alonso would obliterate his rivals and romp to a second consecutive world title in 2006, must think again.
By locking out the front row of the grid on Saturday, Ferrari laid the foundation for beating Renault at its home circuit. The qualifying session was arguably more exciting than the race. During the last 15-minute session, Schumacher chased down Alonso’s R26 and out-braked his rival at the Adelaide hairpin, but the German didn’t need to overtake the Spaniard on Sunday… The Scuderia never gave the Regié a chance to avenge France’s loss to Italy in the World Cup!
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa successfully defended his second position from Alonso on the opening lap of the French Grand Prix – and that dashed the Spaniard’s hopes of victory. Schumacher sped away at the start and the fact that the Spaniard eventually split the Ferrari duo in the final standings was as a result of Renault wisely changing Alonso’s pit stop strategy. With the ambient temperature reaching 34C and the track searing at 52C, Alonso had to cope with two stops while most of his rivals had three chances to stop for new tyres.
Massa made his first pit stop on lap 16 – by which time Schumacher led by eight seconds. The Brazilian then set (what was) the fastest lap of the race on fresh rubber to ensure that Alonso wouldn’t sneak second place when he emerged from his pit stop on the next lap. Schumacher was the last of the top three to pit on lap 18.
The race order then stabilised, but both Ferraris pulled away from Alonso. The Spaniard was delayed while lapping backmarkers and when Schumacher made his second pit stop of the afternoon, he rejoined just behind the Renault, which had only stopped once at that point. Meanwhile, Toyota’s chance of a strong result disappeared when Jarno Trulli retired due to brake problems.
Schumacher lapped patiently behind his championship rival while he waited for the Renault to peel into the pits. When Alonso eventually stopped on lap 42, it emerged that the Spaniard had switched to a two-stop strategy. Although the tactical move wasn’t good enough to defeat Schumacher, Alonso managed to secure second place ahead of Massa… The defending champion’s lead in the standings is now seventeen points with seven rounds of the season left to run.
The seven-time champion cruised to his 88th career victory and fourth win of the season. Following Alonso and Massa, Ralf Schumacher recovered from a ten second delay during a pit stop to salvage fourth for Toyota. McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen and Alonso’s team-mate, Giancarlo Fisichella, finished fifth and six respectively, but neither delivered particularly stellar performances.
McLaren’s replacement for Juan-Pablo Montoya, Pedro de la Rosa, did well to secure two points on his return to F1 racing and BMW’s Nick Heidfeld scooped the final point in eighth place.
Renault and Michelin were thumped by Ferrari and Bridgestone at Indianapolis, but contrary to expectations, the French firms failed to get on terms with their rivals on home turf. The recent improvement in performances by the Scuderia and Toyota certainly suggest that Bridgestone can produce F1 tyres that are as good, if not better than Michelin’s grand prix race rubber. However, Renault will have high expectations of the engine and aerodynamic upgrade package the Enstone-based team has scheduled for the German Grand Prix… the Ferrari 248 F1 is now arguably the fastest car in Formula One.
With seven rounds of the championship left to contest, Alonso must throw conservatism out the window and adopt a cavalier approach to his title defence. Although the Spaniard was in much better form on Sunday than he had been in America, Schumi knows how to defend a world championship title, but Alonso has yet to achieve the feat. Given Massa’s competitive pace in the past few races, Alonso has one title rival, but there are two Prancing Horses to tame.