The Complete 2006 German GP Review

Indianapolis was said to be an aberration, Magny-Cours just an extended blip. But now, after Renault's third consecutive defeat, the truth has become unavoidable.

Their title defence is in trouble.

Fernando Alonso may still be 11 points ahead of Michael Schumacher, but that is three less than the German has gained in the last three races.

The momentum is clearly with the red cars, and with a test ban now in force and the next round just a week away, it may be some time before Renault can get back on terms.

Of course, before Ferrari went on their current winning spree, they appeared to have been left dead in the water by Alonso's streak of four early summer victories. The pendulum has swung several times already this season, and will probably do so again, as Jean Todt suggested.

"I don't think you have to put Renault in the bin because they did not do a good race," he said.

But the ease with which Ferrari are churning out the victories, the size of their speed advantage, and the sight of their drivers running 1-2 for so much of the past three Grands Prix, is so reminiscent of their dominant form of the early 2000s.

"With the performance we have shown in the last three races against our competitor, it gives us great confidence that at least for some more races we can probably keep that and hopefully reduce the gap in the championship pretty significantly," said Schumacher.

"We have to expect that Renault will come back at some stage, so it's very important that we use that opportunity."

In other words, what matters is now, and right now it is Ferrari who look peerless and Renault who are struggling to beat Hondas.

The common wisdom was that the FIA's decision to ban mass damper systems had particularly hurt Renault. Although other teams had the devices, Renault's was assumed to be the most effective.

It appears that the damper's removal increased the problems caused by a poor tyre choice. Most Michelin runners suffered blistering at some stage, but Renault were hit particularly hard, and did not even have the compensation of enhanced qualifying pace.

Alonso seemed to under-perform at Hockenheim as well. In the majority of his races alongside Giancarlo Fisichella, the world champion has clearly beaten his teammate, but they finished nose to tail in Germany.

Yet despite this, Alonso was smiling when he faced the cameras after the race.

"I am totally sure in Hungary we will be back with the right set-up and tyres, and forget the damper," he said.

"I am not worried as long as I am in front of him (Schumacher). It is true, if we keep going like this, in three or four races we will be equal for points and that is not good for me.

"I will do the maximum I can (to avoid that). As long as I can do the maximum, I am happy. I still think we can do it for sure."

To publicly bemoan Renault's, Michelin's or even his own shortcomings would probably be counter-productive, so in that sense Alonso is right to remain optimistic. But conversely, his confidence could seem delusional in the face of Ferrari's current superiority.

With his manager Willi Weber suggesting that Schumacher might be wise to retire if he wins this year's title, the 2006 German Grand Prix could have been a significant race in many ways - marking both the turning point in the championship, and the local legend's final home GP. Or it could have been the last in a hat-trick of anomalies, paving the way for Renault's second resurgence of the season.

This title race remains gloriously hard to predict, but a few more results like Hockenheim could soon change that.

Practice

Despite rain and ill-timed yellow flags blurring the picture a little, the eventual balance of power was apparent throughout practice, as Ferrari looked promising, and Renault looked vexed.

Michael Schumacher was second fastest on Friday afternoon, and comfortably the best of the race drivers, while Fernando Alonso was only 15th, 1.6 seconds slower than his title rival.

Both Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella, who took 11th, shrugged off Renault's apparent lack of pace, with the champion citing traffic and his teammate claiming that the results were deceptive - "we look quite far down the times, but that is not the real situation, I don't think."

But then Alonso only managed 11th on Saturday morning, and although that was just two places behind Schumacher, the Ferrari had been heading for the fastest time of the day before Sakon Yamamoto's late crash brought out the yellow flags.

With the final moments of practice three often seeing much of the decisive action, Yamamoto's incident clearly had an effect on the results.

Christian Klien took a shock fastest time, edging ahead of the two Hondas, but most felt this was more a consequence of the late interruption than a genuine precursor to Red Bull's first pole position.

Similar comments could have been made about Williams' Alex Wurz and BMW's Robert Kubica topping the two Friday sessions, if everyone wasn't so accustomed to Friday results being anomalous.

Wurz was very happy with his opening practice performance, being pleasantly surprised to lap in 1:16.3 on a dirty track.

The Austrian was the sole driver to bother going out in the wet early stages of second practice. It was only when this week's MF1 number three Markus Winkelhock demonstrated that dry tyres were feasible after half an hour that the rest flooded out.

Although Kubica eventually went fastest, BMW were not confident about their prospects this weekend, having been forced to remove the vertical wings that used in France.

Fresh from announcing that they had re-signed Jarno Trulli and would supply engines to Williams from 2007, Toyota endured a troubled practice, with customers Midland hit by an engine failure on Christijan Albers' car, and then Trulli suffering the same fate on Saturday morning.

There were fears that Nico Rosberg might also receive an engine penalty after he crashed at Turn 2 on Friday morning, but the Cosworth V8 escaped the incident undamaged.

That wasn't the case when Yamamoto put the new Super Aguri-Honda SA06 through a comprehensive crash test at the Sudkurve in final practice. He would have to resort to the old car for qualifying.

Practice round up

Sorted by total laps from all three sessions

Qualifying

Part one

For the first time since Sepang, the 'natural order' was followed in Q1, with the first six eliminations all coming from the three teams at the bottom of the pack.

Scott Speed booked his place at the back in the most dramatic style. The American ran wide at the Nordkurve and lost control on the dirt. But he refused to concede defeat and tried to hold the slide. Eventually, after what seemed like endless fishtailing, the Toro Rosso speared across the track and into the inside wall.

Demonstrating how long the accident had taken to unfold, Speed's impact came after the tyre wall had given way to concrete, meaning that there wasn't much left unbroken by the time the Toro Rosso came to a halt.

"When you're running towards the back of the field, you have to find new ways to get media coverage and I guess I did that today!" Speed joked. "How bad is the car? I didn't look!"

Speed had yet to set a time before the shunt, which caused a red flag. This was little concern to the rest of the field as the session still had ten minutes to run, although many had wasted tyres on laps that had to be abandoned due to the stoppage.

Sakon Yamamoto had already got his accident out of the way in practice. Forced to use Super Aguri's old car, he qualified a subdued 21st.

The Japanese rookie was a full 3.2 seconds slower than teammate Takuma Sato, who was absolutely thrilled to put the new SA06 19th - especially as it placed him between the two MF1s.

"We have split the Midland car times straight away in our first proper qualifying, which is a stunning job from everybody in the team," Sato enthused. "I think that, considering this is just our first step in the SA06, potentially this car could be very good."

Midland felt they had extenuating circumstances for their least impressive performance in several races, with 18th-placed Christijan Albers having endured a string of mechanical problems and facing an engine change penalty, and Tiago Monteiro raging about David Coulthard after ending up 20th.

"This was the second time in as many qualifying sessions that Mr. Coulthard, who's been around long enough to know better, blocked me on my flying lap," said Monteiro.

"It's unbelievable, because he's the first one to moan about it in the driver briefings when he thinks someone's done it to him, and yet he thinks he can do it to everyone else."

The last man to fall was Vitantonio Liuzzi, who felt that his 'underdeveloped' V10 engine was the main contributory factor in his 17th place.

At the front, the pattern emerged as soon as the Ferraris appeared, with Felipe Massa leading a team 1-2, and Kimi Raikkonen 0.8 seconds down in third.

Part two

Ferrari commanded Q2 just as comprehensively, with Massa beating initial pacesetter Jenson Button's 1:14.378 lap by 0.3 seconds, and then Michael Schumacher going a further three-tenths quicker soon afterwards.

It wasn't so long ago that Renault were the team cruising imperiously through qualifying sessions, but for a while in Germany it looked like Fernando Alonso might not even make it into the top ten, as his first lap left him perched precariously in eighth.

As it happened, the midfield cars simply didn't have the pace to cause a shock on this occasion, and Alonso was safe - although he did use another set of tyres to make a second security run and improved by only two-tenths.

Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg's 11th and 15th places looked like a portent of more gloomy times at Williams, but instead the team was relatively upbeat, believing that their package and strategy would prove far swifter in race conditions. That didn't stop Rosberg being concerned by his lack of Saturday speed, though.

"I didn't seem able to improve on my second set of tyres and I couldn't find the confidence I wanted under braking," he said.

Both BMWs also dropped out, with Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld ending up either side of Rosberg. Team boss Mario Theisson had no doubt about the cause of their slump.

"Obviously the restrictions on our aerodynamics have penalised us and dropped us back," he said.

Meanwhile Christian Klien was discovering the same jinx that had affected BMW in a few recent races - as his Saturday morning practice speed deserted him when it mattered, leaving the Austrian a puzzled 12th. His teammate Coulthard impressively made it through to the top ten.

Jarno Trulli also departed after this session. Toyota took his engine penalty into account and made only a token gesture in Q2, preferring to save tyres for the race. He was 13th fastest.

Part three

No 'phantom' race amongst the championship contenders to commence Q3 this time. Instead the Ferraris simply stormed ahead when the light went green and disappeared.

The first time Alonso saw Schumacher was when Ferrari sent the German out into Alonso's path as they both rejoined after their tyre stops - prompting a waved fist and some radio grumbling by the Spaniard.

It was Schumacher's second pit lane close call in the space of a minute. Trying to maximise his pit entry speed in preparation for the race, he understeered onto the grass and had to catch a massive slide.

The younger Schumacher had an incident of his own during the fuel burning, inadvertently punting Pedro de la Rosa into a spin at the Spitzkehre. Both cars limped back to the pits, but while the McLaren only required a fresh tyre, Ralf had to wait while suspension repairs were carried out.

Toyota then earned a fine for allowing Schumacher back out just as Button was coming down the pit lane. Swift action from both drivers avoided a collision.

The tangle was less than ideal preparation for Schumacher and de la Rosa's final qualifying runs, so it was little surprise that they ended up eighth and ninth.

They headed the phlegmatic Coulthard.

"It's great to get through to the top ten, it's just disappointing that once we're there, that's where we stay, in tenth," he said, having had no tyres left for a serious attempt at a fast Q3 time.

Alonso hadn't run out of tyres and hadn't collided with anyone, yet he was only seventh fastest, beaten not only by the Ferraris and Kimi Raikkonen, but by teammate Fisichella and both Hondas.

The latter team were making a surprising but welcome return to form, with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello taking fourth and sixth - sandwiching Fisichella. While Button and Barrichello tempered their delight with a hint of fears over race pace, the Renault pair insisted that although their qualifying had been below par, all would come right when their race strategy took effect.

So it was left to Raikkonen to fight the Ferraris for the front row.

The Finn's first flying lap was a stunning 1:14.070, two-tenths better than Schumacher's response and half a second clear of Massa.

As it happened, none of the trio improved at the second attempt, with Raikkonen spearing through the gravel at the entrance to the stadium.

"I was a little bit slower than on my fastest lap at that point so I didn't have anything to lose and tried to run a bit too fast," he said. "Actually, quite a bit too fast, but anyhow it was nice to get pole."

It was Raikkonen's first pole in almost a year, and given that McLaren hadn't looked like Ferrari-beaters in a while, there were immediately suspicions that it had been achieved on a less-than-ample fuel load.

Subsequent rumours suggested that Raikkonen was even lighter than McLaren had intended, with suspicions that a fuel sensor probably had prevented the full load of fuel going into the car. All would be revealed on Sunday...

Qualifying results

The grid

Pos  Driver        Team
 1.  Raikkonen       McLaren-Mercedes    (M)
 2.  M Schumacher    Ferrari             (B)
 3.  Massa           Ferrari             (B)
 4.  Button          Honda               (M)
 5.  Fisichella      Renault             (M)
 6.  Barrichello     Honda               (M)
 7.  Alonso          Renault             (M)
 8.  R Schumacher    Toyota              (B)
 9.  de la Rosa      McLaren-Mercedes    (M)
10.  Coulthard       Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)
11.  Webber          Williams-Cosworth   (B)
12.  Klien           Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)
13.  Villeneuve      BMW-Sauber          (M)
14.  Rosberg         Williams-Cosworth   (B)
15.  Heidfeld        BMW-Sauber          (M)
16.  Liuzzi          Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)
17.  Sato            Super Aguri-Honda   (B)
18.  Monteiro        MF1-Toyota          (B)
19.  Speed           Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)
20.  Trulli          Toyota              (B) *
21.  Albers          MF1-Toyota          (B) *
22.  Yamamoto        Super Aguri-Honda   (B) *

* High profile engine penalty victim Trulli only went down as far as 20th due to Albers' similar problem, and Yamamoto being demoted right to the back for switching from the spare SA05 to his repaired SA06 for the race.

The Race

The fact that Kimi Raikkonen, Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa were nearly four seconds clear of the rest of the pack as they crossed the line for the first time showed just how frenetic the start had been for all bar the serene top trio.

Renault's anticipated march to the front began as Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso went either side of Jenson Button off the line (although Button's getaway was at least a little bette than teammate Rubens Barrichello's), with Alonso then taking a brief look down the inside of Fisichella before settling for fifth.

But two corners later the unthinkable happened and Button successfully came back at the world champion, storming down the inside of Alonso at the Spitzkehre.

Pedro de la Rosa also got alongside his countryman as the Renault went wide, although it had sufficient momentum to fend off the McLaren at Turn 7. Meanwhile Barrichello paid a brief visit to the run-off to avoid clouting Alonso as he gave Button room.

This was all very tidy compared to events behind. Nick Heidfeld had gone wide through the Sudkurve but made up ground down the outside at Turn 2. However as he did so, he was hit from behind by teammate Jacques Villeneuve, who was busy racing Christian Klien into the corner. Both BMWs had to head for the pits - Villeneuve with a floppy wing, Heidfeld with a puncture.

Then at the hairpin, Ralf Schumacher saw a chance to pounce on the battling Mark Webber and David Coulthard, but succeeded only in locking up and hitting the side of the Red Bull, which then took a quick trip through the air when their wheels connected. Remarkably, it landed intact and Coulthard could continue, while Schumacher stopped for a new front wing.

"The tyres locked up and I could not steer away from him," Schumacher explained. Coulthard chose not to comment...

The final first lap casualty was Nico Rosberg, who had lost places avoiding the hairpin mess and was repassing Christijan Albers when he dropped the Williams on the high speed entrance to the stadium and looped off towards a meeting with the barrier.

"I probably overdid it because I wanted to get too much out of the first lap," he admitted.

At the front, Raikkonen set a smattering of fastest laps and established a three second lead over the Ferraris. But the question mark over his fuel load remained, until McLaren answered it by coming out into the pit lane at the end of lap 10.

The fact that this was six laps sooner than anyone else suggested that Raikkonen had been badly compromised by the fuel sensor glitch, but McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh revealed that the pit stop was actually only "a little bit" earlier than their aggressive strategy had called for.

Still, it was enough to show that Raikkonen was not a victory contender - a point underlined by the cross-threaded wheel nut that cost him an extra six seconds in his stop.

With the McLaren out of the way, the Ferraris had the rest of the race entirely to themselves, and never really needed to push too hard. They were briefly side by side as Schumacher emerged from his first of two pit stops, but Massa sensibly chose not to force the issue. Other than occasional fluctuations in traffic, they ran in one-two formation for the rest of the duration.

"I have to say it was a bit of a surprise being that much in front but we'll take it, we'll really take it," said Schumacher after clinching what may have been one of the most important victories of his astounding career.

"It's the right moment in time when we need to have such a performance in order to bring down the gap in the championship and keep the pressure on. Because we had such a margin we could really drive safely.

"A superb a weekend for all of us."

It was Ferrari's third double podium in a row, and once again Massa had been impressively close to his team leader, although he already seems a tad impatient with playing the support role.

"I'm getting used to the podium, just not the first place," said Massa. "It's important to be on the podium at every race and I think my time will come."

The race offered something to please everyone except ardent Renault fans. For while the patriotic home crowd could revel in Schumacher and his deputy's demolition of the field, neutrals could enjoy the unpredictable and extremely close battle for the final podium spot.

Not content with passing Alonso, Button swiftly closed in on and overtook Fisichella's Renault as well, putting the Honda up to third after Raikkonen's stop. Admittedly Button would stop three laps earlier than Fisichella, but that did not account for the rapid manner in which he pulled away from the Renault.

By lap 10 Fisichella trailed Button by five seconds while leading the struggling Alonso - who was grappling with rear tyre wear - by a similar margin.

De la Rosa had been next up until a fuel pump failure forced him out on lap three.

That elevated Webber, who lurked within three seconds of Alonso while defending against Barrichello's increasingly urgent advances.

Raikkonen's premature (and slow) pit stop sent him all the way back down to eighth, just behind the Webber/Barrichello dice.

But rather than challenging them, Raikkonen had to deal with yet another problem, as McLaren dedicated a hydraulic leak and had to shut off various systems in a bid to isolate it and keep the car running.

In Whitmarsh's words, this made the McLaren "fairly exciting to drive", and it was during this period that Button made his first pit stop, rejoined behind Raikkonen and quickly passed him.

Fortunately for Raikkonen, McLaren were able to ascertain that the problem wasn't terminal and gave him back a few more car functions.

Barrichello managed to pass Webber at the hairpin on lap 15 and then took some serious looks at Alonso before pitting for the first time, But that was effectively the end of his race as the Honda engine caught fire on Barrichello's out-lap, causing a hairy spin on the backstraight kink as oil reached his tyres.

As he predicted after qualifying, Webber's Williams was proving extremely competitive in the race. With the group around him all pitting a lot sooner, the Australian advanced to third before stopping for the first time on lap 28, and made it out ahead of Alonso.

That lap saw Raikkonen make his second stop too, having suffered from his first tyre wear issue of the weekend.

So at half-distance, Button held third again, eight seconds ahead of Fisichella, who had five seconds in hand over Webber and his close companion Alonso. Raikkonen held seventh, 20 seconds adrift of Button, and seemingly out of contention as the whole pack only had one more stop to make.

Fisichella was the next Michelin runner to encounter blistering problems, allowing Webber to catch up and eventually pass him at Turn 8.

"After just a few laps, the car had become nearly undriveable," reported Fisichella. He handily pitted as teammate Alonso appeared in his mirrors shortly after Webber's pass.

Button came next time around (lap 41) and rejoined 2.4 seconds behind Raikkonen. But whereas the McLaren was finally in good health, the Honda started losing pace as its tyres wilted - not an ideal situation with a 26 lap stint ahead.

Indeed Webber and Raikkonen began storming away from Button, while Alonso (who had made his last stop on lap 43 and jumped Fisichella in the process) started slowly eroding the 16 second gap between them.

Jarno Trulli was also beginning to feature. He had moved from 20th to 12th with an aggressive first lap, briefly dropped back behind Coulthard after Vitantonio Liuzzi went over the Nordkurve dirt just ahead of them on lap five, but then repassed the Red Bull a couple of laps later.

A long first stint brought Trulli even closer to the podium pack, and by the time he passed Klien on lap 45 he was only seven seconds behind Button, albeit with a stop still to make.

Webber couldn't pull far enough ahead of Button before his lap 48 pit stop, but did rejoin within four seconds of the Honda.

Raikkonen did slightly better. He lapped up to 1.5 seconds quicker than Button, stayed out until lap 55 before pitting, and then benefited from a flawless stop.

The McLaren emerged right alongside Webber, held the Williams to the outside as it challenged through Turn 2, then charged off in pursuit of Button.

The chase did not take long. Raikkonen was on Button's gearbox within a lap, got a better exit from the Spitzkehre, and easily moved ahead into Turn 7. Despite the fuel sensor problem, the cross-threaded wheel nut, the blistered tyres and the hydraulic leak, Raikkonen had claimed a remarkable third. Appropriately enough, a heat shield then caught fire on the slowing down lap!

"We had a lot of problems, but in the end we were still quick enough to gain all that time back on the circuit, so it shows we have definitely improved the car," Raikkonen accurately summarised.

Webber would probably have passed Button as well, had his Williams not been halted by a water leak on lap 58. He deserved a lot better.

Button still had to keep an eye on his mirrors, for now Alonso was chipping away at the six second gap between them - and was bringing Fisichella and the flying Trulli with him.

A close finish seemed likely, but Alonso was asking more from his Renault that it wanted to give, and was lucky to get away with a wild trip through the gravel at the stadium entrance on lap 61.

Although he somehow wrestled the car back onto the track still in fifth, Alonso's pursuit of Button was over, and he spent the remaining laps fending off Fisichella and Trulli. Not quite what the championship leader wanted, or expected, from Hockenheim.

The final point went to Klien, who had driven a solid race, keeping the crowd ahead just about in sight during the early laps before dropping back a little with graining.

Ninth belonged to Ralf Schumacher, who ended a bizarre afternoon with strong late moves on Liuzzi and Coulthard. He had made swift progress through the backmarkers after his early stop for repairs, but then lost more ground by speeding in the pit lane during.

Liuzzi earned 10th by getting alongside the unhappy Coulthard out of the hairpin and claiming the inside for the fast Turn 7 on lap 54.

The last classified finisher was Scott Speed, who had a long battle with Albers. He stayed a few seconds ahead of the Midland until running off the road in the stadium on lap 45 and seemingly handing the place to the Dutchman. But when Albers' engine faded late in the race, Speed was able to cruise back past and take 12th.

Both Albers and teammate Tiago Monteiro would find themselves disqualified from the race when the stewards decided that the Midlands' rear wings were excessively flexible. It was a suitably low end to a disappointing weekend for the team.

Indeed Monteiro looked set to finish behind Takuma Sato until the Super Aguri hit gearbox problems on lap 38. Up to that point, Sato had been able to fend the Midland off.

Sakon Yamamoto's grand prix debut proved to be a non-event, as a clutch problem delayed his start and forced him out after just one lap.

BMW-Sauber's home race was almost as unproductive. Neither car was quite right after their first lap tangle, but while Heidfeld pulled out on safety grounds after nine laps, Villeneuve pressed on for another 21 laps before slamming into the Sudkurve barriers.

"The end of a totally disappointing weekend," said Mario Theissen.

Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds were probably thinking much the same thing as their cars pulled quietly into parc feme while the Ferrari celebrations erupted all around.

Race results

67 laps; 306.458km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)  1h27:51.693
 2.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  +     0.720
 3.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  +    13.206
 4.  Button        Honda                (M)  +    18.898
 5.  Alonso        Renault              (M)  +    23.707
 6.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  +    24.814
 7.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  +    26.544
 8.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  +    48.131
 9.  R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)  +  1:00.351
10.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  +     1 lap
11.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  +     1 lap
12.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  +     1 lap

Fastest lap: M.Schumacher, 1:16.357

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Webber        Williams-Cosworth    (B)    60
Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)    39
Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber           (M)    32
Barrichello   Honda                (M)    20
Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (M)    11
de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes     (M)     3
Yamamoto      Super Aguri-Honda    (B)     2
Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)     1
Albers        MF1-Toyota           (B)    DQ
Monteiro      MF1-Toyota           (B)    DQ


World Championship standings, round 12:

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Alonso       100        1.  Renault              149
 2.  M.Schumacher  89        2.  Ferrari              139
 3.  Massa         50        3.  McLaren-Mercedes      77
 4.  Raikkonen     49        4.  Honda                 37
 5.  Fisichella    49        5.  Toyota                23
 6.  Montoya       26        6.  BMW-Sauber            20
 7.  Button        21        7.  Red Bull-Ferrari      12
 8.  Barrichello   16        8.  Williams-Cosworth     10
 9.  R.Schumacher  13        9.  Toro Rosso-Cosworth    1
10.  Heidfeld      13
11.  Coulthard     10
12.  Trulli        10
13.  Villeneuve     7
14.  Webber         6
15.  Rosberg        4
16.  de la Rosa     2
17.  Klien          2
18.  Liuzzi         1

Team-by-Team

RENAULT

A disastrous lack of pace all weekend - largely due to tyre issues but probably exacerbated by the banning of the mass damper system. Fisichella and Alonso are fifth and seventh on the grid, make good starts, then find themselves being overtaken by Button. Alonso's tyre problems are most severe early on, Fisichella's come in the middle of the race. Webber's retirement allows them to salvage fifth and sixth, with Alonso losing a chance to challenge Button when he goes through the gravel near the end.

Verdict: A serious blow to their title chances.

Raikkonen takes pole - helped by a fuel sensor glitch that leaves him very light in Q3. Leads until an early first pit stop on lap 10, then delayed first by a wheel nut problem in the pits, then a hydraulic issue, then blistered tyres. Despite all this and an additional pit stop, he manages to hunt down Button and snatch third at the end. De la Rosa qualifies only ninth after a tangle with Ralf Schumacher, then retires early with fuel pump failure.

Verdict: Against-the-odds podium is a sign of genuine progress.

If Raikkonen had carried a 'real' fuel load, Schumacher and Massa's second and third on the grid would have been another Ferrari front row. Once the McLaren makes its first stop, they command the race, running in formation and winning with ease.

Verdict: Suddenly looking unstoppable.

Schumacher qualifies eighth despite colliding with de la Rosa, and finishes ninth despite losing his front wing against Coulthard at the start and later receiving a pit lane speeding penalty. Trulli's engine fails in practice, so 13th in qualifying becomes 20th on the gid. A superb start, great pace, two long stints and some sharp passing moves take him to seventh, right behind the Renaults.

Verdict: Catalogue of incidents make this a wasted opportunity, because the package was clearly quick.

Wurz is fastest in first practice (where Rosberg crashes), but the race drivers are only 11th and 15th in qualifying, Webber ahead. He predicts a better race and is proved right, moving up to sixth on the first lap and then running third at the end of a long first stint. This strategy and improved pace puts him into contention for a podium until a water leak ends his race. Rosberg crashes in the stadium on the first lap.

Verdict: Deserved - and really needed - a top four finish at least.

Button and Barrichello are thrilled to qualify fourth and sixth. Both lose ground at the start, but Button soon overtakes both Renaults and looks set for third for much of the race. Late tyre problems slow him, though, allowing Raikkonen to steal the podium. Barrichello is trapped behind Webber at first and succumbs to engine failure straight after his pit stop.

Verdict: Lots of rough edges (starts and engine failures, for instance), but an overdue resurgence nevertheless.

Coulthard qualifies 10th and expects better than 11th in the race. But he is pitched in the air by Ralf Schumacher at the hairpin on lap one and loses a lot of ground and pace as a result. Klien is quickest in final practice but only 12th on the grid. He makes up for this with a quietly impressive drive to eighth, despite some tyre issues.

Verdict: Promising in places - Klien didn't lose much to the Renaults, Hondas and Webber until his tyres blistered.

Kubica is fastest on Friday, as usual, but otherwise the weekend is a disaster for the team. Villeneuve and Heidfeld are only 14th and 16th in qualifying, then make contact on the first lap. Heidfeld pits with a puncture and retires with suspected brake damage soon afterwards. Villeneuve needs a new wing and makes little progress before crashing heavily on lap 30.

Verdict: Couldn't have been a lot worse.

Albers' engine failure on Friday sets the tone for a disappointing weekend. His 18th place in qualifying becomes 21st after the penalty, but the race is promising until a late loss of power sees him repassed by Speed, who he had raced with all afternoon. Monteiro qualifies 20th and accuses Coulthard of blocking him. Stuck behind Sato until the Super Aguri retires, by which time everyone else is long gone. They officially finish 13th and 14th, but both are disqualified for running illegally flexible wings.

Verdict: Back down to earth just when they seemed to be getting somewhere.

Speed has a big crash at the start of qualifying and fails to set a time, while Liuzzi can only manage 17th. But the Italian has a strong race, getting up to 11th on the first lap. Has dices with both Toyotas, and overtakes Coulthard late on to secure 10th. Speed has to fend off Albers for much of the afternoon, briefly losing the place by going off the road, but eventually regains 12th.

Verdict: Eventful, but encouraging.

Sato is delighted by the new car and qualifies 19th - splitting the Midlands. Gets up to 13th on the first lap but is eventually edged back, although he holds off Monteiro until retiring with an oil leak on lap 40. Little goes right for Yamamoto on his debut, as he crashes the new car heavily in practice, has to qualify the old chassis (a long way off Sato's pace), then only manages a lap in the repaired SA06 before clutch failure ends his first F1 race.

Verdict: Despite the problems, the new car looks like a step in the right direction.

Lap-by-Lap

Lap 1: On pole position for the first time this season, Kimi Raikkonen makes a clean start to break away from Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa. He leads by 0.8s at the end of the lap.

Jenson Button is squeezed out by both Renaults and drops to sixth, but he repasses Fernando Alonso before the end of the lap to annexe fifth, behind Giancarlo Fisichella.

Kimi Raikkonen leads the field into Turn 1 at the start © XPB/LAT

Pedro de la Rosa runs seventh ahead of Mark Webber, Rubens Barrichello, Christian Klien, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Jarno Trulli (up from 20th) and Takuma Sato.

Snagged by Ralf Schumacher at the hairpin, David Coulthard drops to 14th, ahead of Scott Speed, Tiago Monteiro and Christijan Albers.

Ralf Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld pit for repairs in the wake of the hairpin skirmish. Nico Rosberg spins into retirement at Turn 12. Sakon Yamamoto starts late from the pit lane.

Lap 2: Raikkonen laps in 1m17.383s and increases his lead to 1.1s. Button passes Fisichella for fourth. Coulthard gets ahead of Sato for 12th.

Lap 3: Raikkonen posts a 1m16.780s and edges 1.6s clear. De la Rosa pulls off to retire from seventh. Yamamoto pits and drops out of his first grand prix.

Lap 5: Raikkonen leads by 2.4s.

Lap 6: Coulthard passes Trulli for 11th, Speed deprives Sato of 13th and the MF1s swap places. Albers is now 15th ahead of Monteiro.

Lap 7: Liuzzi runs wide at Turn One but hangs on to 10th.

Lap 9: Fastest lap to Michael Schumacher - 1m16.435s. The gap comes down to 2.9s. Trulli retakes Coulthard.

Lap 10: Raikkonen makes his first scheduled stop and drops to eighth. Michael Schumacher leads. Albers passes Sato for 14th. Heidfeld pulls into his pit garage.

Lap 14: Delayed while lapping Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher leads Massa by 0.9s. Button is 10.2s further adrift.

Lap 16: Button pits.

Lap 18: Barrichello pits. Button passes Raikkonen for sixth.

Lap 19: Massa and Fisichella pit. Barrichello pulls off to retire. Ralf Schumacher passes Sato for 14th.

Lap 20: Leader Michael Schumacher pits, as does world championship leader Alonso. The former rejoins just ahead of team-mate Massa.

Fernando Alonso pits the Renault R26 © Reuters

Lap 21: Schumacher leads Massa by 0.8s. Webber - yet to stop - is third. Coulthard pits.

Lap 24: Ralf Schumacher passes Albers for 12th. Monteiro pits.

Lap 25: Ralf Schumacher passes Speed for 11th. Klien pits.

Lap 26: Liuzzi pits.

Lap 27: Speed and Sato pit.

Lap 28: Webber and Trulli peel in for their first stops; Raikkonen makes his second.

Lap 29: Ralf Schumacher and Albers pit.

Lap 30: Villeneuve passes Sato for 15th.

Lap 32: The lapped Villeneuve crashes heavily at Turn 17. He emerges from the wreckage unaided.

Lap 33: Approaching half-distance, Michael Schumacher leads Massa by 1.1s. Almost half a minute in arrears, Button is third from Fisichella, Webber, Alonso, Raikkonen, Klien, Trulli, Coulthard, Liuzzi, Ralf Schumacher, Speed, Albers, Sato and Monteiro.

Lap 35: Ralf Schumacher serves a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. It doesn't cost him any places: he's still 12th.

Lap 38: Sato makes a lengthy stop.

Lap 39: Webber dives past Fisichella for fourth.

Lap 40: Fisichella and Coulthard pit.

Lap 41: Button pits.

Lap 43: Alonso pits. Trulli passes Klien for what is now seventh. Monteiro serves a drive-through for ignoring blue flags.

Lap 44: Massa makes his final stop.

Lap 45: Leader Michael Schumacher does likewise. He rejoins with 1.3s in hand. Speed runs wide onto the grass at Turn 13 and loses a place to Albers.

Mark Webber retires the Williams © XPB/LAT

Lap 47: Klien pits. Ralf Schumacher tries to pass Liuzzi for 10th but the Italian is having none of it. The German pits at the end of the lap.

Lap 48: Webber, Albers and Speed all pit.

Lap 49: Liuzzi comes in for fuel and tyres.

Lap 51: Trulli pits from fifth.

Lap 52: With most of the leaders having made their final stops, Michael Schumacher leads Massa by 1.8s. Raikkonen is third from Button, Webber, Alonso, Fisichella, Trulli and Klien. Ralf Schumacher passes Coulthard to run a lapped 10th as best of the rest.

Lap 54: Liuzzi passes Coulthard for 11th.

Lap 55: Raikkonen makes his third and final stop. He rejoins just in front of Webber and manages to repel the Australian to hold fourth.

Lap 57: Raikkonen is within 0.5s of third-place Button. He's by far the fastest man on the circuit, lapping in the 1m16s bracket: the leaders are in the 1m18s.

Lap 58: Raikkonen passes Button.

Lap 59: Webber slows up dramatically and heads for the pits with flames licking around the rear of the car. Speed passes Albers for 12th.

Lap 61: Alonso runs wide through the gravel entering the stadium, but he stays fifth... just.

Lap 67: Michael Schumacher wins his home Grand Prix, beating Massa by 0.7s. Raikkonen is third, 13.2s, behind the victor. Button, Alonso, Fisichella, Trulli and Klien complete the scorers.

Ralf Schumacher, Liuzzi, Coulthard, Speed, Albers and Monteiro take ninth to 14th places. No other cars finish. Alonso's world championship lead is provisionally cut to 11 points.