Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher blasted the Formula One title race wide open today with a commanding one-two victory in his home German Grand Prix. While the 37-year-old celebrated the 89th victory of his incredible career, serenaded by air-horns and his jubilant army of red-shirted fans, Renault’s world champion Fernando Alonso limped home fifth.

The Spaniard’s overall lead was slashed from 17 points to 11, leaving his championship hopes on a knife-edge with six races remaining. Schumacher, in what some fear could be his final race appearance in Germany, took the lead after 10 laps when McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen pitted and the rest was straightforward.

On a blazingly hot afternoon in southern Germany, Schumacher and Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa were in a race of their own as they anchored the team’s second one-two finish in three starts and tyre partner Bridgestone’s 100th grand prix success. They crossed the line in close formation, just 0.7 seconds apart. Raikkonen, who had started on pole, was out of sight in third place and 13.2 seconds behind.

Briton Jenson Button was fourth for Honda, ending a run of five races without points. Alonso, who had qualified a disappointing seventh on his 25th birthday, made up two places at the start but then faded and was never in contention for the second race in a row.

The Spaniard, who now has 100 points, would have been staring at his worst result in almost a year had Australian Mark Webber, wrestling every scrap of performance from his Williams, not retired eight laps from the finish while running ahead of him.

Alonso also survived a big scare five laps from the end when he went wide, the car bucking and jumping over the gravel before he regained the track just in front of Italian team mate Giancarlo Fisichella.

Fisichella finished sixth, with Jarno Trulli, Toyota’s Italian seventh and Austrian Christian Klien taking the final point for Red Bull.

Germany’s Nico Rosberg failed to get past the first lap, crashing into the tyre wall, while Canadian Jacques Villeneuve also had a crash in the BMW Sauber.

Results:

P., No, Driver, Team - Engine, Tyres, Gaps/Laps

1. 5 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1h27′51″693
2. 6 MASSA Ferrari B + 0′00″720
3. 3 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M + 0′13″206
4. 12 BUTTON Honda M + 0′18″898
5. 1 ALONSO Renault M + 0′23″707
6. 2 FISICHELLA Renault M + 0′24″814
7. 8 TRULLI Toyota B + 0′26″544
8. 15 KLIEN RedBull Ferrari M + 0′48″131
9. 7 R.SCHUMACHER Toyota B + 1′00″351
10. 20 LIUZZI Toro Rosso Cosw. M 1 lap(s)
11. 14 COULTHARD RedBull Ferrari M 1 lap(s)
12. 21 SPEED Toro Rosso Cosw. M 1 lap(s)
13. 19 ALBERS Midland Toyota B 1 lap(s)
14. 18 MONTEIRO Midland Toyota B 2 lap(s)
15. 9 WEBBER Williams Cosworth B 8 lap(s)
16. 22 SATO S. Aguri F1 Honda B 29 lap(s)
17. 17 VILLENEUVE BMW Sauber M 37 lap(s)
18. 11 BARRICHELLO Honda M 49 lap(s)
19. 16 HEIDFELD BMW Sauber M 58 lap(s)
20. 4 DE LA ROSA McLaren Mercedes M 65 lap(s)
21. 23 YAMAMOTO S. Aguri F1 Honda B 66 lap(s)
22. 10 ROSBERG Williams Cosworth B 67 lap(s)

Post-race Driver Quotes:

Michael Schumacher:

“Superb! I can’t begin to find the right adjectives to describe the car-engine-Bridgestone tyre package and the performance of the whole team. We worked hard at last week’s Paul Ricard test and I am very happy that today that work bore fruit. I want to congratulate Felipe, who drove a great race. It was very important to have made up several points over our main rivals at the key moment of the season. I had no problems whatsoever all weekend and I have to say that winning here in front of my fans makes it a really special victory.” “Already, during this morning’s Driver Parade I got a great feeling seeing all the support I had in the crowd and I am happy to have been able to pay them back with this win. The fight for both titles is now very open. There are still six races to go and there is still room to push and put those in front of us under more pressure. I am confident and keen to get back on with the next few races.”

Felipe Massa:

“We did an even better job than expected. I saw yesterday morning that we had a really good pace for the race; especially my speed on old tyres was very surprising. I was therefore convinced we would have an even stronger car for the race. That is how it turned out. After a good start and good first pit stop I saw that I had a big gap to the following cars and from then on I concentrated on looking after the car and bringing it home.” “I drove an intelligent race in what was an important one for the team at this stage of the season, given our targets in both championships. Now it will be important for us to continue moving forward with this same momentum and concentration to the end of the championship. I hope that, in the short term, we can repeat this performance in seven days in Budapest.”

Kimi Raikkonen:

“To be on the podium is really the best result that we could have achieved today as we have had several problems. During the race I was delayed in my first pit-stop due to a crossed wheel nut; I suffered from blistering on my second set of tyres, and there was a small issue with the hydraulics, which meant that Jenson Button was able to get ahead after my first stop.” “However none of these really mattered as we were able to make up all the time in the last part of the race where we were very strong. The result today shows that the car has definitely improved, and hopefully next race we can do even better.”

Pedro de la Rosa:

“It is a real shame that my race ended so quickly, especially after I had such a good start and had moved up two places. The car felt really quick and was easy to drive. I was catching the Renault’s when all of a sudden I lost power and had to pull up, as a result of a failed fuel pump. Although I am disappointed these things happen, and I am now just looking forward to the race next weekend in Hungary where hopefully we can better demonstrate the improved competitiveness of the car.”

Fernando Alonso:

“We were not competitive this weekend, but I did the maximum I could and so did the team. I think that without the blistering we experienced, the podium was a possibility for me today — even from seventh position. I got a good start and passed both Hondas, but the tyres then blistered in the opening stint and I lost too much time to be able to fight for third place.” “Things were much better in the second and third parts of the race, and I was still pushing hard in the final laps when I went off because there was a chance of catching Button. When you look at the level of performance over the weekend, and consider the blistering, then the result is not too bad. But we did not have enough to fight Ferrari here, and that was the problem for us.” “Now, we need to think positive and look to Hungary. The tyres we use there are totally different to what you need for Hockenheim, and I have confidence in Michelin to give us the right products. We need to improve our performance for next week, and fight back strongly.”

Giancarlo Fisichella:

“Both of the Renaults had the same problem today with tyre blistering, and for me it came in the second stint. After just a few laps, the car had become nearly undriveable. We need to investigate everything to find out why, but we also saw some other Michelin cars that were quicker than us today, and we were missing something in terms of performance all the way through the weekend.” “On the positive side, we stayed reliable, got both cars to the finish and managed to score points on a very tough weekend for us. Now we need to look ahead to Budapest. Everything starts again for us on Friday, and we will be going there hoping to fight for the podium.

Jarno Trulli:

“As always, the German Grand Prix brings unexpected results and this weekend has not gone how we had hoped for. It is quite unfortunate that we did not qualify better yesterday. But even though I started from the back of the grid, we can be very happy with the performance of the car and the fantastic results.” “I had an incredible start and could do a lot of overtaking which made the race quite exciting for me. Our race pace was very quick and we can be encouraged by the results we ended up with today. I owe a great thanks to the team, because the car was very competitive and I think we have huge potential to bounce back at the coming races.”

Ralf Schumacher:

“It is a very disappointing weekend for us because we could have achieved much better results. The start of the race was quite difficult and then I had the unlucky collision with David Coulthard in the third corner. The tyres locked up and I could not steer away from him. These things are normal racing incidents that can happen.” “The results are unfortunate for the team who have been working so hard to bring us forward. But I truly believe that had we been able to follow our original strategy, we could have reached a podium position. As you can see from Jarno’s performance, we have shown that this is definitely possible. I am looking forward to Hungary to make things better.”

Jenson Button:

“I had a great race today and the first two stints were very enjoyable. To get past both Renaults at the start and then past Kimi during the race felt very good and I had a lot of fun out there. The last stint was really tough because I had massive amounts of tyre graining on the front left and a lot of rear locking, so I just couldn’t fight off Raikkonen.” “I’m really happy though. We’ve made a definite step forward here and we’ve been strong all weekend but we have to continue that into Hungary now which will be hard work. It looks like we’re getting back on track though.”

Rubens Barrichello:

“We made some good progress here this weekend, so it’s very disappointing for me that we let that go with a bad start and an engine failure. In the first few laps the car was running well and with the strategy and long run pace we had I think we should have done well today.” “Not long after my first pit stop the engine caught fire and there was oil on the tyres which caused me to spin and that was the end of my race. I just have to hope that we can carry this progress through to Hungary now because everyone has been working so hard to take this step forward.”

Nick Heidfeld:

“My start was only average, but in the second corner I managed to overtake several cars on the outside, and among them was Jacques. Although I braked very late, I got through the corner all right. Then I suddenly felt a hit on the right rear. I had to pit with a right rear puncture and changed all the tyres. But the brakes were also damaged. The pedal became longer and longer, so it was too dangerous to continue. Later I found out Jacques and myself had touched, which was unfortunate.”

Jacques Villeneuve:

“The impact was quite hard. After we changed the nose at the end of the first lap the car was very oversteery and every time I tried to push I was sideways. I just pushed a little too hard and I got caught out there. Just before the accident I was very sideways entering the corner, but when I caught it it just went straight.”

Tonio Liuzzi:

“That was a cool race! On the first lap I was on fire! For the team, to finish ten and twelve from the back of the grid is a good result. It was fun out there, fighting with Jarno, Ralf and David. It was difficult to keep them behind because they were quicker. A shame that in the end I was not quick enough to keep the two Toyotas behind me. It would have been a great opportunity for points, but we just did not have the power.”

Scott Speed:

“The mechanics did an awesome job to get my car rebuilt after my qualifying crash. A big thanks to all the team. We drastically screwed up the car set-up for the start, having way too much front wing and just keeping the car on track was a challenge. We fixed that in the stop and then in the middle stint it was still a bit too much and by the end it was getting better.”

Takuma Sato:

“The debut of the SA06 in Germany has been positive and the car performed very well in Qualifying yesterday. We were expecting a little bit more in terms of race pace today, so we are a little bit disappointed, but it is a big step up from the SA05 so this will come in time. It was exciting to be able to race with the Midland’s and in the second stint I was still ahead of one of them.” “In the end I had a gearbox related oil issue so I had to retire from the race, but because this is a new car it is not really surprising that we encountered some kind of problem. Although it was obviously a disappointing race today, overall it was a good weekend for us, not easy, but definitely a good weekend.”

Sakon Yamamoto:

“I am disappointed not to have raced here today as I only completed one lap. On the positive side, we have collected more data than we had for the SA06 today, so we shall study this before we arrive in Hungary. The SA06 is easier to drive than the SA05, so I hope that I can continue to adapt well and learn more about the car for the race in Hungary next week.”

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