A case of genius, talent and good rubber!

Schumacher takes championship lead in China

Conditions started off perfectly for Renault as the tracks was damp and greasy. Alonso was leading the pack with Fisichella behind him. The rain however, had stopped falling and the tracks were beginning to dry. So, here comes the exciting part that caused a turn of events. Pit stops visits became a must.

On lap 35 Alonso pitted for dry tyres, but the team struggled to get the rear right tyre on, costing him another four seconds to Schumacher. By lap 39 Alonso was a second faster a lap than the leaders on the grooved tyres and Ferrari responded instantly pulling Schumacher into the pits. Fisichella pitted on the next lap and despite emerging comfortably ahead of the Ferrari, lost it completely in the first corner and let Schumacher just waltz through into the lead.

Why did Fisichella let Schumacher past during the corner turning??? Cos, he pitted 1 lap after Schumacher. The Ferrari driver had 1 lap allowance to ‘warm’ up his dry Bridgestone tyres and knew that even if Fisichella managed to stay ahead of him after his stop, he would have the chance to pass Fisichella going into the first corner as he would be in trouble with the temperature of his tyres and that is what happened.

This, my friend, is called strategy.

And with this, Michael Schumacher scooped his seventh win of the season, his first points in the Chinese Grand Prix ever, and crucially the lead in the drivers' championship in a completely intense and unpredictable Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai.

What an extraordinarily beautiful sport Formula One racing is!

P/S:
Kimi Raikkonen is an exceptional driver. However, Mercedes McLaren is seriously doing his skills and talent a great disservice. On Lap 14, Raikkonen finally dispatched Fisichella for second place and immediately set a new fastest lap of the race, cutting Alonso's lead by half a second to 16 seconds. Unfortunately, Raikkonen's hopes disappeared on lap 19 when his McLaren slowed and spluttered to a halt in the middle sector. ARGH!!! No wonder he’s ditching McLaren for Ferrari next season. Enough is enough. 2007 is the time for Kimi to win.