Monaco Grand Prix: What goes through a sportsman's mind in the moment of extreme pressure is almost impossible for anyone removed from the situation to understand.
On Saturday, at the showpiece Monaco Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher made a colossal error of judgment that caused uproar in the paddock. It saw the former champion damned as a cheat in the most vociferous outbursts since he attempted to drive Jacques Villeneuve off the track during a championship decider in Jerez in 1997.
With seconds left on the clock during the final session of qualifying on Saturday, Schumacher, with provisional pole position in his grasp, headed into the Rascasse hairpin. Seconds behind him, Fernando Alonso was midway through a supremely fast lap. If the Spaniard could claim pole at the notoriously tight and twisty circuit, Schumacher's hopes of victory would be dashed.
As he speared his Ferrari towards the corner, he appeared to lose control. His car went straight on, trundling to a rest in the middle of the circuit, stalled. Out came the yellow flags, forcing Alonso to slow as he approached the stricken Ferrari.
As soon as the session ended the fury erupted. Renault boss Flavio Briatore fumed that Schumacher had "parked his car", called his action "f***ing disgusting" and protested to the FIA. Keke Rosberg, the 1982 champion and father of race driver Nico Rosberg, demanded Schumacher "should leave F1".
The powers that be had to act. Schumacher was banished to the back of the grid, stalling expectations of a stiffer punishment, despite his protestations that nothing untoward had happened.
Alonso is the man who stole his crown, Schumacher is 37, making, most now acknowledge, his last tilt at the championship. If he doesn't win it, he will leave the sport. On Saturday, with Alonso 15 points ahead in the drivers' title race and on course for dominance in Monaco, Schumacher reacted. Badly.
But the demotion made for a thrilling race. With the snarling criticism ringing in his ears, Schumacher responded in the only way he knows how: by letting his driving defend him. His reputation may be tattered, but running repairs were effected by another drive of panache, focus, daring and sustained aggression, aided by the late-race surge of dropouts that saw engine fires rob McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen of second place and Williams's Mark Webber of third.
Schumacher passed four by the middle of lap two and kept pushing until the next batch swam into view. Honda's Jenson Button was dismissed with a burst of pace and a flick of the wrist that made the Englishman look pedestrian. More followed.
With 17 laps to go Schumacher was sixth and when Jarno Trulli ground slowly to a halt, Schumacher stole into fifth, from 22nd at a circuit where overtaking is supposedly impossible.
He was, however, never going to deny Alonso a first Monaco victory. The Spaniard won from lights to flag, though there was a slice of luck in the eventual comfort of his maiden win in the Principality.
From the start he was shadowed by an uncharacteristically quick McLaren in the hands of Raikkonen. The Finn pushed and probed but couldn't find the chink. An early stop for Raikkonen looked to have handed things to Alonso - surely a heavily fuelled but still quick Renault would now stretch out a lead? - but a sequence in which traffic balked the Spaniard and yellow flags closed the pair up put the race back in the Finn's hands.
He closed to almost half a second behind Alonso. But when Nico Rosberg crashed his Williams and the yellow flags came out again, the two leaders pitted for fuel and tyres, but the slow pace behind the safety car had fatally raised the temperature of Raikkonen's McLaren.
Add to that seconds sitting in pit lane for fuel and the heat in the engine went beyond critical. Almost as soon as he was back on track his car was billowing black smoke and out, a casualty that handed the race to Alonso. With the second McLaren of Juan Pablo Montoya some 13 seconds back, the win was guaranteed.
Surprise of the day, though, came from Red Bull Racing's David Coulthard in third place, a first podium for the team.
FINAL PLACINGS
1 F Alonso (Spn) Renault 1hr 43mins 43.116secs; 2 J Montoya (Col) McLaren 1:43:57.630; 3 D Coulthard (Bri) Red Bull 1:44:35.414; 4 R Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:44:36.453; 5 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:44:36.946; 6 G Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:44:45.188; 7 N Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber at 1 lap; 8 R Schumacher (Ger) Toyota at 1 lap; 9 F Massa (Bra) Ferrari at 1 lap; 10 V Liuzzi (Ita) S Toro Rosso at 1 lap; 11 J Button (Bri) Honda at 1 lap, 12 C Albers (Ned) Midland at 1 lap, 13 S Speed (USA) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 lap, 14 J Villeneuve (Can) BMW Sauber at 1 lap, 15 T Monteiro (Por) Midland at 2 laps, 16 F Montagny (Fra) Super Aguri at 3 laps,; 17 J Trulli (Ita) Toyota at 6 laps.
Drivers championship standings: 1 Alonso 64pts; 2 M Schumacher 43; 3 Fisichella 7; 4 Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 27; 5 Montoya 23; 6 Massa 20; 7 Button 16; 8 Barrichello 13; 9 Heidfeld 8; 10 R Schumacher 8.
Manufacturers: 1 Renault 91pts; 2 Ferrari 63; 3 McLaren 50; 4 Honda 29; 5 BMW Sauber 14; 6 Williams 10; 7 Red Bull 8; 8 Toyota 8.
