Italian GP - 90th win for Schumacher, 190th for Ferrari
Michael Schumacher won an emotional Italian Grand Prix on
Sunday prior to announcing that it would be his last, with
Ferrari immediately naming runner-up Kimi Raikkonen as his
replacement to team up with Felipe Massa. The Brazilian finished
just out of the points, but in the Drivers' championship,
Fernando Alonso still leads the series by two points over
Michael in spite of suffering engine failure, while Michael's
10 points score over Giancarlo Fisichella's fourth place five
points means that Ferrari now lead the Constructors' series
by three points.
In front of a crowd of 80,000 enjoying a warm sunny day,
the field rushed down to the first corner with Raikkonen taking
the lead. Michael was briefly passed by Nick Heidfeld who
was third on the grid, but Heidfeld lost momentum and Michael
moved back up to second, and Heidfeld was also overtaken by
BMW Sauber teammate Robert Kubica, up to third from sixth
on the grid. Massa was next, holding on to fourth place, Jenson
Button was fifth, while Heidfeld ended up sixth. Alonso picked
up three places to finish lap one in seventh while Pedro de
la Rosa was eighth.
Raikkonen quickly opened up a 1.4s gap to Michael but there
it remained for lap after lap. However the pair were pulling
away nicely from third placed Kubica, but he was under pressure
from Massa, with Button challenging initially but then dropping
back a fraction, as Alonso closed on them. There was then
a gap to Heidfeld, initially challenged by Pedro de la Rosa,
with Fisichella next.
Raikkonen's lead remained at around 1.5s as they approached
the 15 lap mark. De la Rosa pitted on lap 14, and teammate
Raikkonen came in on lap 15. Michael stayed out for a further
two laps before pitting and when he rejoined he was 1.3s ahead
of Raikkonen. However, that left Kubica leading only his third
Grand Prix and when Massa came in on lap 19 - as did Alonso
- and Button came in on lap 20, the BMW drivers were now first
and second.
But Heidfeld pitted on lap 21 and Kubica a lap later. Unfortunately,
Heidfeld exceeded the pit lane speed limit and had to pit
again for a drive-through penalty on lap 25. But when Kubica
came out, he was in fourth place behind Michael now leading
Raikkonen by 2.3s, then Fisichella in third but yet to pit,
followed by Kubica in fourth. Barrichello was next, just ahead
of compatriot Massa.
Fisichella pitted on lap 26 which dropped him out of the
points. Michael now had a 2.4s lead, gradually increasing
by a tenth every lap. But then came a big gap to Kubica who
was nearly three seconds ahead of Barrichello, who finally
came in on lap 30. Alonso was next from Button.
Kubica had gradually been caught by Massa and then Alonso
and they were running nose to tail as they approached the
second round of pit stops. On lap 38, Raikkonen became the
first of the leaders to pit, with Michael and Massa pitting
on lap 39. Heidfeld pitted on lap 40. Kubica, Alonso and Button
all pitted on lap 41.
Michael had emerged with a lead of over three seconds over
Raikkonen and after the pit stops, Alonso had emerged in third
place, with Kubica now fourth and being pushed by Massa .
But on lap 44, Alonso's engine failed at the first chicane,
Kubica braked, Massa locked up and flat-spotted a tyre, pitting
at the end of the lap for a new set.
That took the pressure off Kubica who duly followed Michael
and Raikkonen home when the chequered flag came out on lap
53. Raikkonen was second, eight seconds down, with Kubica
third. Fisichella was caught by Button at the end, while Barrichello
finished sixth from Trulli with Heidfeld close behind and
claiming the final point while Massa just failed to score.
On the rostrum, an emotional Schumacher acknowledged his
fifth Monza win before announcing that it would be his last.
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