Stunned: Schumi’s Scorched at Suzuka!

Alonso steals title stranglehold

Alonso gave Schumacher a run for his money at the latest Grand Prix held at Suzuka, Japan. He was the smooth operator of the day, fighting up from fifth on the grid to take victory in the Japanese Grand Prix from Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella. Yea, despite his recent whining of the Renault team’s focus on winning the constructors' championship and ‘sabotaging’ his drivers' crown, Alonso has turned that into determination to gain the one-upmanship against his rival from Ferrari.

Ferrari looked all set for a one-two finish in Japan after Michael Schumacher swept past team mate Felipe Massa in the opening stages and proceeded to build a healthy lead. All that changed on lap 37 when smoke began to pour from the rear of Schumacher’s car, forcing the German to a halt with an apparent engine failure. It was the German's first engine failure since 2001, coming at the worst possible moment.

Alonso then cruised into the lead as Schumacher looked philosophical as he trudged back to the pits. Mark Webber meanwhile tried to steal the headlines with a spectacular slide and crash in the tyre barrier in the final corner. All that was left was for Alonso to stroll to his seventh victory of the season and the fifteenth of his career ahead of Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Alonso's victory puts him ten points ahead of Schumacher meaning that all he needs to in Brazil is score one point to be sure of his second championship. For Schumacher there is a faint glimmer of hope, but to take the title he will need to win in Brazil and will need Alonso to not score any points. So, unless Alonso’s Renault gets too hot to handle in Brazil…Schumacher will not end his career on a high note. =''(

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.