Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher scored his 86th Grand Prix win at the Nurburgring after an epic contest with Renault’s Fernando Alonso.
Alonso led from the start on pole position but lost out in the second pit-stop as Schumacher was carrying more fuel and had the fastest car to ‘leap ahead’ of the Spaniard.
The German had three extra laps before his pit-stop and with the speed of the Ferrari 248, he was in a comfortable position to gain the lead and ultimately, the race win.
Not a thrilling Grand Prix in my opinion, it was all down to tactics in the pit-stop strategy. But it does indicate that Michael and the Italian team are back in the hunt for the World Championship.
Felipe Massa drove well and finished third. This was the Brazilian first podium with Ferrari. McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen was fourth and I reckon he is disappointed to finished outside the top three, despite an engine upgrade from Mercedes-Benz. When will we see McLaren win again?
Honda’s Rubens Barrichello finished fifth ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella in the Renault. Williams’s Nico Rosberg drove a great race to seventh, considering he started from the back after a ten-grid engine penalty. While BMW Sauber driver, Jacques Villenuve, had a solid race to finish eighth.
The next race is the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona and Fernando Alonso hopes to achieve a good result in front of his passionate home crowd.