Throwing the Curve Ball

In Formula One, times change, personnel move on, partnerships are broken and new alliances formed. Yet there are some factors that never change. One is that passing at San Marino's Imola circuit is almost impossible for modern F1 cars.

Another is that Michael Schumacher will not be denied for any length of time. A third, and one that has become increasingly apparent over the last season, is that reigning champion Fernando Alonso will take whatever the opposition grant him over any given Grand Prix weekend.

It was these three factors that combined to provide the story of Sunday's San Marino GP. On Saturday, Schumacher rewrote history again, setting a new world record of 66 pole positions - poignantly, on the very circuit where previous record holder Ayrton Senna had set the final pole of his career.

Come Sunday, Schumacher had other goals in mind. Throughout his record-setting career, the seven-time champion has never come up against an opponent who consistently got the better of him in head-to-head clashes - until Alonso.

Exactly one year ago at Imola, the Renault star foiled what should have been another emotional Schumacher and Ferrari victory in front of their partisan Italian fans. Then followed the outrageous pass on the outside of Suzuka's 130R and the cheeky tactical win at Bahrain to start the 2006 season. Two weeks ago, in Australia, Alonso again hogged the limelight while a rare Schumacher driving error resulted in yet more bruised pride for the former champion.

As legendary commentator Murray Walker might have noted, it's one thing to take Schumacher's title from him, quite another to rub his nose in it. Schumacher might not be quite as hungry and aggressive as he once was, but he's also not going to see out his career playing the court jester to Alonso's king.

True to form, Schumacher exercised long overdue payback on his young successor at Imola. While it will rate as one of the most satisfying wins of his career, it must surely also be recognized as one of the most surprising. The end result left one wondering not how Schumacher had managed to win it, but how Alonso had contrived to lose it, given the speed differential between their cars during the race's key middle stint.

At one point, Schumacher held a lead of almost fourteen seconds over Alonso, thanks largely to the delaying tactics employed by his teammate Felipe Massa. Once Alonso had dispensed with Massa during the first round of pitstops, the advantage evaporated quickly.

With a visibly quicker Alonso harrying him at every turn, and Schumacher due to pit again before the Renault, it looked like Bahrain all over again. Schumacher surely had no more weapons in his arsenal to avoid another bitter defeat.

Schumacher himself had illustrated the benefits of running a longer second stint at this circuit, back in 2000. On that afternoon, McLaren's Mika Hakkinen held a narrow lead over Schumacher's Ferrari for the first two stints. Schumacher pitted four laps later than Hakkinen for his final stop, and emerged on a clear track to secure a close but controlled win. It looked like history would surely repeat itself on Sunday, this time with Schumacher as the hapless early stopper and ultimate loser.

Incredibly, Renault handed him a lifeline by calling Alonso in for an early second stop. That single extra lap on low fuel, combined with Schumacher's remarkable talent for pulling out hot laps seemingly at will, was just enough for the German to retain track position. At Imola, that is all that is required.

After the race, Renault director of engineering Pat Symonds defended the team's decision, claiming that the Ferrari was fast on fresh tyres, and that Alonso may not have been able to go further than Schumacher before having to make his final stop. The third possible explanation, that Renault were simply sold a dummy by Schumacher deliberately slowing the pace during his difficult second stint, seems the most likely answer.

In any event, the outcome was the same - Michael Schumacher ran light in qualifying, snagged pole and track position, and used that to take control away from Alonso. Under the pressure that Alonso exerted on him, a less experienced driver would have been inclined to over-drive the car in his efforts to defend.

It took extraordinary composure for Schumacher to hold back and keep something in reserve. Just as he had illustrated at Malaysia 1999, Schumacher is a force to be reckoned with - even when he is deliberately driving slowly.

Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) holds off Fernando Alonso (Renault) for the lead in the Grand Prix of San Marino © LAT

It is this priceless characteristic, of throwing the opposition a strategic curve ball and then conjuring the laptimes to make the strategy work, that makes Schumacher the most feared opponent on the grid.

Prior to the race, McLaren chief Ron Dennis was dismissive of Ferrari's return to form, claiming that his own team were still Renault's major rival for the championships. Dennis may be correct, Imola was possibly just a one-off for Ferrari, as it had been in 2005. However, if Dennis wants to pose any challenge to Renault, he could do worse than to emulate Schumacher and Ferrari's tactics.

Tactically, McLaren have become the most predictable team in the field: fuel heavy for qualifying, sacrifice grid positions, and rely on the light fuel load effect to make up the positions later. It handicapped them in Malaysia, where Raikkonen retired after a first-lap incident with Red Bull's Christian Klein. It hindered them again at Imola, where both their drivers got bogged down in traffic.

Most importantly, it's allowing Alonso to run the championship the way he wants. The only time the Spaniard has been outqualified by the McLarens this season was at Malaysia - and that was only because Renault inadvertently overfilled his fuel tank before qualifying.

Alonso is not being forced to fight either of the McLarens for track position at any stage. He starts races with both Raikkonen and Montoya in his mirrors, and pulls steadily ahead of them as the race goes on. By the time the McLarens battle free of the pack and get some clear air, they are already effectively a whole pitstop behind.

If McLaren can't match Renault for raw pace at this stage of the season, it's not enough to rely on engineering upgrades alone. Tactically, they also need to start throwing curve balls, getting their cars in front of Alonso and forcing him to do the work and take risks in getting past. That was Ferrari's and Schumacher's approach at Imola and, against expectations, it worked brilliantly.

Pat Symonds remained upbeat about the race result, and understandably so. Alonso only surrendered two points of his championship lead to Schumacher, and increased his advantage over the rest. Still, Alonso himself must feel that he should have taken the victory.

He was presented with a challenge and didn't respond as coolly and proficiently as he had in Bahrain. With his ragged attempts to rattle Schumacher over the closing laps, he also showed the field that, under pressure, he is not as calm and infallible as he seems.

It will be a pity if Ferrari cannot sustain this level of competitiveness. Schumacher is the only other driver in the field who has experienced the sort of purple patch that Alonso is currently enjoying. Logically, it follows that Schumacher is also the only driver who understands how to rattle Alonso out of it.

McLaren will be hoping for a significant performance boost from the planned engine upgrade at Nurburgring. If the new Mercedes engine doesn't deliver in spades, Michael Schumacher's vast experience and street smarts will be all that stands between Fernando Alonso and an even more controlled and comfortable WDC title than last year.