Selfless Assistants

What a difference one pitstop makes. Or, at least, what a difference the lack of one pitstop can make. For the first two stints of Sunday's French Grand Prix, it looked like Renault's and Michelin's woes at Indianapolis wouldn't just be a one-off after all, and that the 2006 championships may yet be far from settled.

Despite an aggressive but futile first-lap effort to get past Ferrari's Felipe Massa from the second row of the grid, it soon became obvious that not only could Renault's Fernando Alonso not stay with Felipe Massa - he was also struggling to put daylight between himself and the next-best Bridgestone runner, Toyota's Jarno Trulli.

On Sunday, Alonso had opened a three-second gap to fourth-placed Trulli after just a few laps. In any other GP in 2006, it would have been unthinkable for Trulli, often lambasted as a 'moving chicane' when he qualifies well, to keep within sight of the runaway championship leader. Yet, when Alonso pulled into the pits at the end of his first stint on lap 17, his advantage over Trulli still stood at a fraction over three seconds.

As Trulli continued on for another three laps before pitting, the previously unthinkable started to materialise into a distinct possibility. Could Alonso, who had already seemed to surrender the race to the Ferrari pair, end up succumbing to Trulli, Toyota teammate Ralf Schumacher and possibly Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren as well?

In one of the subtlest and smartest turnarounds of the 2006 season, Alonso not only prevailed over his closer pursuers, but went on to snatch second place from Massa for good measure. After Alonso had split the two Ferraris, pitting one lap after Felipe Massa and one lap before Michael Schumacher, the knee-jerk assumption was that he would run the same three-stop strategy as his main rivals.

The reigning champion is calm and intelligent enough not to take on cars that he cannot match in sheer pace, nor overtake even if he was slightly faster. The switch to the two-stopper was telegraphed at around the time of the second stops, when Alonso ran a full eight laps further than Massa and stopped for several seconds longer. Even still, it came as a surprise how neatly and easily he leapfrogged the Brazilian - and how little resistance he met once he'd accomplished it.

Perhaps Ferrari miscalculated Alonso's strategy, perhaps Massa had no speed in reserve to mount a renewed challenge. Either way, Ferrari must feel as though Alonso picked their pockets. Michael Schumacher was naturally all smiles afterwards, particularly considering that he had just become the first man to win the same GP eight times. But historical firsts are of less immediate significance to Schumacher than this year's WDC title.

Alonso's feat of turning a potentially shaky six points into a solid eight was a body blow to the German's already slim hopes of an eighth title. With the superiority that Ferrari displayed all weekend, no driver should have been able to deny them a 1-2 finish.

France 2006 raised two intriguing possibilities simultaneously. The first is that, despite recording the most dominantly successful first half in championship history, Alonso may not be home and dry. The second, and even more startling revelation, is that the two standout drivers of the year may not be able to settle the championship on their own merits. Instead, they may have to rely on selfless assistants, in the form of their teammates.

In seven of the eleven GP to date, Alonso and Schumacher have filled the top two spots on the podium. As impressive as their consistency may be, more of the same will do little for Schumacher's prospects. Even if Bridgestone becomes the tyre of choice for all the remaining circuits and Schumacher cruises to effortless victory in each GP, Alonso needs only to trail home in second (and can even afford a single third place among them) to secure the title.

Schumacher desperately needs help from the rest of the field. Fellow Bridgestone runners Toyota and Williams seem unlikely to find the pace to challenge Alonso. That leaves Felipe Massa. For once, Schumacher may be left cursing the fact that his Ferrari number two isn't closer to his own overall race pace.

Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso © LAT

Alonso, in turn, must hope that teammate Giancarlo Fisichella can deliver in any races where Renault and Michelin regain the upper hand. It, too, is a vain hope. Only twice this season (in Malaysia and Spain) has Fisichella managed to join Alonso on the podium. On both occasions, it was of questionable value to the reigning champion. In Malaysia, Fisichella took two points off him by beating him and, in Spain, Fisichella was powerless to prevent Schumacher taking second place and only surrendering two points to Alonso.

Over the last eight GP, Fisichella has finished behind Schumacher on every occasion. Alonso can draw quiet satisfaction from that, for it proves that his championship lead is not just down to mechanical superiority. Still, like Schumacher, he'll be wishing that his teammate was closer to his own pace coming down the championship stretch, the Indianapolis result notwithstanding.

Paradoxically, the one driver who could really have shuffled the pack was missing in France - and won't return this season (or possibly ever). Juan Pablo Montoya excelled as a spoiler, both through his tendency to get involved with collisions and his ability to pull off unexpectedly competitive performances when the mood took him. Even when he wasn't challenging for the championship, Montoya was still a major player.

Just a week before his final F1 race at Indianapolis, Montoya was causing Schumacher to dive off onto the grass in Montreal. The first lap shunt that he precipitated by running into teammate Raikkonen at Indianapolis could so easily have taken either of the championship front-runners out of the race as well. Even though Schumacher was seemingly singled out by Montoya, and had little reason to like him, the seven-time champion must be wishing that Montoya was still a factor at the head of the field.

Pedro de la Rosa, Montoya's replacement at McLaren, was full of racing at Magny-Cours. Throughout the race, on a circuit where most of the other drivers settled into position with a resigned shrug that overtaking is near impossible, de la Rosa showed a refreshing willingness to harry and chase for extended periods. Still, even with his undoubted commitment to pushing hard and taking chances, it's difficult to see de la Rosa tangling with either Schumacher or Alonso. Kimi Raikkonen, though, just might...

Raikkonen is no longer distracted by his rapidly worsening relationship with Montoya, and McLaren seem to be one small development step away from contending for race wins again. If it happens, Raikkonen could find himself in a position to strongly influence which of his two most likely employers for 2007 - Renault or Ferrari - will lift the 2006 championship. It's a situation so loaded that it could draw a wry chuckle or a raised eyebrow, even from the normally inscrutable Finn.