Ross Brawn

After the disappointment of Monaco, Michael Schumacher and Ferrari hit back with a superb win in the European GP at the Nurburgring. The German had a little help from the opposition, but he put in some amazing early laps to effectively secure the win within 15 minutes of the start.

What's more good strategy took Rubens Barrichello to a second place that he might not have earned had he followed what everyone else was doing. It was pretty much a perfect day for Ferrari, one that put a smile back on the face of technical director Ross Brawn, who is always the man with the plan.

"It was a great result," he said after the race. "Both drivers did a fantastic job, and Michael was so aggressive. The first part of Michael's race was incredible - the first eight laps were stunning. That was the key part of the race. Umberto Agnelli was a huge supporter of the team. We were very sad to have the news of his death last week, and I hope this goes a little way to honouring his memory."

Michael stopped incredibly early, on lap 8. That showed once again that Ferrari has to win pole at all costs. And it's not just for the obvious reason of being in front at the everyone else when the lights go out. In Monaco Trulli did the warm-up lap at walking pace, and that didn't help the Bridgestone runners get heat into the tyres. By starting at the front, Michael could dictate the pace.

"Pole was pretty important today. We needed to control the pace on the parade lap. The Michelin guys can really slow our drivers up for the start, and that's why we wanted to be on pole. Then the strategy worked out perfectly."

Even Ross admitted that Michael was helped a lot by Kimi Raikkonen, who held up the rest in much the same way that Mark Webber allowed Fernando Alonso to make his escape in Hungary last year.

"Yes, sure. That did help. But I think even without that, everything would have worked through OK. It was a perfect race."

Rubens has often tried different strategies to Michael, although they don't always work. On this occasion he went for two stops, something that the Bridgestone runners could afford to try. He sacrificed grid position but over the long haul it paid off, although he was certainly helped by Raikkonen slowing potentially quicker cars in the early laps.

"We face this problem of having two very aggressive strategies for two drivers. Sometimes you end up with a compromise. We never truly know which way the tyres are going to go in the race, and the way the tyres went was perfect for him as well. And then it was a matter of managing Rubens' pace against Sato. We came out in front at the pit stop, and that was a little bit exciting."

Barrichello has had some disappointing races of late, but on this occasion he clearly made the most of the strategy, putting in the quick laps when he needed to.

"We were giving him all the gaps he had to hold, and it worked out perfectly. It was a little bit closer than he would have liked. We thought he would do it, but the danger was that Sato was on fresh tyres, and he would attack Rubens, which is exactly what he did."

Last year at the 'Ring Ross was not very impressed by Juan Pablo Montoya's overtaking move on Michael, although the rest of the world thought it was great. This time Sato pulled off an even more dramatic pass on Rubens. Any frustration Brawn might have felt initially soon evaporated when it became clear that Taku had come off worst in the encounter.

"I think it was pretty ambitious, but he paid the price for it, so it was fair enough in the end..."

Montreal is next. Schumacher and Ferrari have enjoyed some great races there, but like Monaco, it's a quirky track which can produce strange results. It might not be as straightforward as the 'Ring.

"There are a lot of safety cars in Canada, and other things can run differently. The tyres were great today, and tyres were absolutely crucial in Canada. We've got a very important test this week, and we have a new aero package for Canada. So I'm quite looking forward to the North American races and a change of continent."