Michael Schumacher showed the world that Ferrari wasn't a one hit wonder in the Italian Grand Prix and that they are ready and willing to take the title fight to Renault and add some excitement back into F1 this season. Fernando Alonso looked like the wind was taken out of his sails (actually, it looked more like someone had sucker punched him in the gut) during the podium ceremony and final interviews. The Spaniard was visibly shaken from not being able to convert his pole into a win, and just a week before F1 goes to Spain. Maybe the honeymoon is over for the young champion. No telling how bad Flabio's yelling got during the race...
It wasn't just Schumacher's car that set the pace, Felipe Massa finished the race less than a second off of Alonso's tail. The Ferrari did have the speed this weekend and all of Renault knows it.
The potential spoiler in all of this is that Kimi Räikkönen was also just seconds off the pace indicating that McLaren might still make this a three team race to the championship. It's still early enough in the season for anything to happen so the fans should find it interesting.
While the fans may be finding it interesting, there was a whole herd of people that weren't having such a good time. Rubens Barrichello was able to out shine his over-rated team mate. The Brazilian finished one place further back at the end than he started, but he did out qualify Jenson and was able to bring the car home in one piece. Expect Jenson's star to start loosing its luster now that the ex-Ferrari driver is starting to bring results.
Giancarlo Fisichella didn't do Renault any favors by only finishing in 6th place, especially if Ferrari is able to get both cars on the podium. Now, there is a role for the bad luck lightning rod on the team, but Flabio would like the rod to finish better.
Rosberg was able to make the most out of the struggling Williams and more importantly, finish ahead of a former world champion. Sir Frank can't be happy, but at least he's still able to get cars ahead of Villeneuve. The French Canadian did finish on the lead lap, but barely. He might get to keep his job, but he's not helping the German team.
As for the also rans, well, the list really is getting to be familiar surprisingly soon in the season. This week was a little bit different. The Nurburgring was actually a very demanding track this round and only 13 of 22 starters finished. Jarno Trulli was the first car outside of the points in the Toyota, but he did finish. Unlike his extremely high paid/low return team mate. It has to be only a matter of time before they withdraw from F1, or the guy pitching the investment to the board is telling some monster tales.
Nick Heidfeld finished in tenth in the other BMW car. Probably not the best result for a German team on a track in Germany, but he did finish. Unlike Juan Pablo Montoya, much to the disappointment of Mercedes Benz's management. American Scott Speed finished in eleventh, which isn't all that great in the grand scheme of things, but there were several drivers with considerable skill that he finished in front of. But he was the only member of the Red Bull family to finish the race. Maybe it doesn't give you wings.
The last two spots went to the Midland team, which outside of the Midland team, no one really noticed.
Neither Super Aguri car finished, making them not so super. Again. Ide-san was replaced by Montagny this weekend. But, when the car really is crap, it's tough to do anything with it.
Ferrari beat Renault in the pits, meaning they've remembered 1) how to build a fast car, 2) how to work stop watches in the pits, and 3) how to get Schumacher to do his best laps as bookends to the pit stops. It started to look like the Ferrari of several seasons ago. The tifosi are hoping that they can keep the pace. Alonso is hoping that they don't make a fool of him in front of his home crowd. We will not have to wait long as Spain is this weekend.
Race Results
