French Grand Prix: Michael Schumacher wrote another paragraph in F1 history at Magny-Cours with his eighth Grand Prix victory at the French track, and what should have been a race of title-leading consolidation for Renault and Fernando Alonso turned into an exercise of damage-limitation as the home team struggled to cope with the pace of an upgraded Ferrari package.
On Saturday, despite expectations that on home tarmac Renault and Michelin would assert their car and tyre advantage over Ferrari, it was the Italian team that stole the front row of the grid, the Bridgestone tyres of Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa working better to lock out the first two grid spots from Fernando Alonso in third and the twin Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher in fourth and fifth.
It looked as if Bridgestone had a distinct advantage with four of the top six running on the Japanese tyre but by yesterday morning the suspicion grew that Ferrari at least were considering multiple stops to cope with rubber degradation and the extraordinary heat.
At the start Alonso, from third, made an almost perfect getaway, pressuring Felipe Massa into turn one. But the Brazilian held fast, hanging on grimly to second as Alonso thought better of making a robust move up the inside.
It was a crucial moment for Ferrari as, untroubled by events behind him, Schumacher surged forward, converting his pole position into a healthy lead.
Within five laps he had built a three-second lead over Alonso with Massa provided the bulwark between the championship rivals.
Trulli and Ralf Schumacher in the slower Toyotas lay a further three seconds back, providing another barrier to the McLaren of Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn desperate to find a way through to attempt to hunt down the Renault.
As Schumacher built on his lead, the question again was raised: how soon would the Ferraris have to pit for tyres and fuel? If they were considering the brave option of three stops the window would open on lap 16 of the 70-lap race.
It was Massa who first dived for the pits, at the end of lap 16, freeing Alonso to begin clawing back the eight-second lead of Schumacher.
The expectation was that Schumacher would follow the next lap. But surprisingly, Alonso made the first move, taking on fuel and tyres at the end of lap 17.
Schumacher led. But he too had to come in, a further lap into the race. Status quo was maintained between the title contenders. The advantage still lay with Bridgestone, Ferrari and Schumacher.
By lap 27 the pace of the front three had settled, Schumacher leading his team-mate by six seconds, Alonso a further five back.
And with the German capable of lapping some four-tenths of a second quicker than the champion, the confidence that Renault would dominate their home grand prix, as they have dominated so many this season, began to ebb.
And with it disappeared some of Alonso's composure. Normally so assured and calm, the Spaniard suddenly began to show his frustration, clipping kerbs too hard, launching his Renault into the air, losing time, shaking a fist at back markers. In his team's homeland to be relegated to third would be too much.
By the time Schumacher headed towards pitlane for his second stop at the end of lap 38 he had built an unassailable-looking 16.5-second lead. There would be no way back for Alonso. Schumacher arrived back on track directly behind the Renault and immediately began to pressure the champion.
Renault ran a long second stint for Alonso and, when they finally bought him in, fuelled the car to the finish, briefly prompting speculation the Spaniard could pull this one out of the bag. But Schumacher stamped firmly on the notion with his - and the race's - fastest lap: 77.111 seconds.
And while the Renault strategy promoted Alonso to second at the expense of Massa when events played out and the second Ferrari made its next stop, there was nothing to be done about the superiority of Schumacher, whose own final visit to the pit was calm and clinical and saw him retain the lead with a comfortable margin.
What followed was largely processional. Trulli, Webber and Button joined the earlier retirees Sato, Monteiro and Barrichello - it was a particularly grim weekend for Honda, their cars battling all race at the back of the field before meekly retiring.
At the front the gaps remained static. Schumacher took his eighth French Grand Prix and closed the gap on Alonso to 17 points.
Ralf Schumacher bought his Toyota home in fourth, followed by Raikkonen's McLaren and the second Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella.
Pedro de la Rosa began his renaissance with a steady run to seventh, while Nick Heidfeld ended what had been a promising weekend for BMW with a solitary point.
Alonso's expression on the podium was reserved; he knows he can afford to finish every race in second and retain his title, though the margin would be much closer than anyone outside of Maranello was anticipating only a month ago.
While Magny-Cours failed to provide much excitement out on track, its effect on the two championship races is electrifying.
Magny-Cours, France 70 Laps
1 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1hr 32mins 07.803secs
2 Fernando Alonso (Spn) Renault 1:32:17.903
3 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:32:30.303
4 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:32:34.903
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 1:32:40.603
6 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:32:52.803
7 Pedro de la Rosa (Spn) McLaren 1:32:56.903
8 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber at 1 lap
9 David Coulthard (Bri) Red Bull at 1 lap
10 Scott Speed (USA) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 lap
11 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BMW Sauber at 1 lap
12 Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull at 1 lap
13 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 lap
14 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams at 2 laps
15 Christijan Albers (Ned) Midland at 2 laps
16 Franck Montagny (Fra) Super Aguri at 3 laps
Not classified: 17 Jenson Button (Bri) Honda 61 laps completed, 18 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams 53 laps, 19 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 39 laps, 20 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 18 laps, 21 Tiago Monteiro (Por) Midland 11 laps, 22 Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri 3 laps. Fastest lap: M Schumacher 77.111.
Drivers' standings: 1 Alonso 96 pts, 2 M Schumacher 79, 3 Fisichella 46, 4 Raikkonen 43, 5 Massa 42, 6 Juan Montoya (Col) McLaren 26, 7 Button 16, 8 Barrichello 16, 9 Heidfeld 13, 10 R Schumacher 13, 11 Coulthard 10, 12 Trulli 8, 13 Villeneuve 7, 14 Webber 6, 15 Rosberg 4, 16 De la Rosa 2, 17 Klien 1, 18 Liuzzi 1.
Manufacturers' standings: 1 Renault 142pts, 2 Ferrari 121, 3 McLaren 71, 4 Honda 32, 5 Toyota 21, 6 BMW Sauber 20, 7 Red Bull 11, 8 Williams 10, 9 Scuderia Toro Rosso 1.
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