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In the end it all looked so straightforward, as Fernando Alonso did far more than he needed to do by securing second place in Interlagos. The result gave him an unexpectedly healthy margin of 13 points over Michael Schumacher, who could have only won the title on equal points with a tie-break of wins settling things in his favour. It was a little bit closer in the constructors' championship, but a five-point margin was still more than enough to see Renault secure their second consecutive title.
Of course, it wasn't quite that straightforward up on the French team's pit wall. Everything was fine as long as Alonso was still running, but in the closing laps there was still a chance that if the Spaniard retired, Schumacher could jump Jenson Button for second, and Felipe Massa would slow down, and the tables would turn. It didn't happen, of course.
Despite the result, this was not an entirely straightforward weekend for the team. Before practice began on Friday, Alonso was given the engine from the T-car. It was to the same spec as the one originally earmarked for him, but it was newly built. The original engine had been in the T-car in Japan, and contained a part that came from the same batch as one that had given cause for concern in a dyno test back in Europe on Thursday. Rather than risk another problem, the team went for the newer engine.
