16 China - Michael Schumacher wins Shanghai classic!
The 56-lap Chinese Grand Prix will undoubtedly go down as one of Michael Schumacher's most important victories in his long and illustrious career. Against the odds the Ferrari star took the chequered flag three seconds ahead of arch rival Fernando Alonso. It was in fact a race that Alonso should have won were it not for two critical mistakes.
As Michael Schumacher beamed on the podium, Alonso gave a wry smile despite well aware of the fact that he has now lost the lead in the championship to Schumacher. With equal points at the head of the drivers' table, Schumacher takes the lead courtesy of his seven wins to Alonso's six.
The heavy rain ahead of the Grand Prix was not good news for Schumacher and Ferrari. It was clear in qualifying that the Michelin tyre was superior in the wet conditions. Fernando Alonso led away at the start and quickly established a comfortable 15 second margin over second placed Giancarlo Fisichella. At this point the race seemed to be done and dusted in terms of the win.
A dry line was however beginning to form and soon it became apparent that the circuit was in fact drying despite the high humidity. As the first round of pitstops approached a number of Michelin runners pitted and took fuel only opting to stick with the used intermediate tyres. Alonso however took on two new front intermediate tyres and soon it was clear that it was a bad decision.
Alonso's lead soon was quickly eaten into and sure enough Giancarlo Fisichella blew by to take the lead. Schumacher's Bridgestone's had taken to the circuit by this point and he was right on the pace having moved up from his sixth position on the grid.
The circuit continued to dry and it was apparent that dry weather tyres would be required for the final stint. Struggling for pace, Alonso pitted from third position as soon as he could and it was then that the team had a problem fitting the left rear wheel and another ten seconds was lost and with it, any hope of retaining the championship lead.
Back out front Michael Schumacher shadowed Fisichella and with some runners now opting for slicks, timed his second stop perfectly stopping one lap before the Italian Renault driver. As Fisichella exited the pits ahead of Schumacher, it was clear that his relatively cool rubber was giving him little grip and Schumacher duly drove down the inside and took away the lead.
Schumacher controlled the pave from this point as Alonso recovered and soon caught Fisichella to take second position. Fisichella would finish in third and the result was enough to give Renault the lead back in the constructors' championship.
While the battle for the win was a thriller, positions four through to eighth would see some great battles as well.
Jenson Button started the race in fourth position and came home fourth. In between the Honda driver moved way down the order as he struggled with his rear tyres and then fought his way passed Pedro de la Rosa and Rubens Barrichello in a dramatic final lap to claim the position.
Nick Heidfeld could and probably should have finished fourth but his final lap saw him bottled up behind the lapped Takuma Sato. With Button and de la Rosa right on his rear wing, Heidfeld had nowhere to go as Button dived down the inside to take the position. The BMW Sauber driver spun and dropped down to seventh position.
Pedro de la Rosa actually had a pretty low-key race in his McLaren. He started seventh and ran in the position for most of the race despite the retirement of Kimi Raikkonen in the sister MP4-21. Raikkonen was aggressive from the start and soon worked his way up to second before another mechanical failure. De la Rosa survived a lurid spin in the latter stages of the race and finished fifth for the team.
Rubens Barrichello finished sixth in the second Honda ahead of Heidfeld while Mark Webber took a valuable and much needed point for Williams Cosworth with eighth position.
David Coulthard had held the position until he and Felipe Massa got into a battle for position. The Ferrari driver dove down the inside of Coulthard's Red Bull Ferrari after getting a good tow down the massive one kilometre back straight. Massa seemed to run a little too deep and Coulthard simply turned in regardless. Massa was out of the race with suspension damage and a lap later, Coulthard was unable to negotiate turn one and spun giving the position to Webber.
Massa's retirement was significant in that had he finished the race in that eighth position, Ferrari and Renault would be tied in the constructors' championship. Coulthard would finish in ninth position with Red Bull team-mate Robert Doornbos 11th after a pitstop for a new front wing at the end of lap one. One lap down, Tonio Liuzzi took tenth position for Toro Rosso ahead of Nico Rosberg and Doornbos.
Robert Kubica had an eventful race as he made an error on the first lap and dropped from tenth position to 19th. The Polish rookie battled his way back up the order and was soon all the way up to fifth position just behind team-mate Heidfeld. BMW Sauber or Kubica gambled and took dry tyres too soon and after a couple of off track moments, Kubica was forced to make an additional pit stop of intermediate tyres. He would finish in 13th.
Takuma Sato finished in 14th position after a solid run in his Super Aguri Honda. Team-mate Sakon Yamamoto finished his first race for the team in 17th position and four laps down. In between, Scott Speed finished 15th ahead of Christijan Albers. Neither Toyota went the distance on a most dismal Grand Prix weekend while Tiago Monteiro ground to a halt at the first turn late in the race in the second Spyker.
It was a great race for Formula One. As the teams pack up and head to Suzuka for next weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, it could hardly be closer.