Michael Schumacher stormed to within two points of world championship leader Fernando Alonso by winning the Italian Grand Prix at Monza today.
The seven-time world champion held off McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen by eight seconds to win his sixth race of the season and the 90th of his career. Those ten points slashed Alonso’s advantage to just two after a rare Renault engine failure robbed the world champion of third place.
Alonso had overcome a controversial penalty in qualifying to fight up to third from tenth on the grid but he retired in a plume of smoke with just ten laps remaining. Not only did that failure put Alonso’s second world title in jeopardy, it left Ferrari into the lead in the constructors’ championship by three points.
Alonso’s late drama overshadowed a stunning performance from Robert Kubica, who became the first Polish driver on a Formula One podium, with third place for BMW-Sauber.
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Giancarlo Fisichella was the only Renault running at the finish, in fourth, while Jenson Button took fifth, just ahead of Honda team-mate Rubens Barrichello. Toyota’s Jarno Trulli held off the other BMW-Sauber to claim seventh but David Coulthard was out of the points in 12th.
Things had looked so much more positive for Alonso at the start, when he blasted past several cars as Schumacher needed the brake late into the first chicane to claim second back from Nick Heidfeld.
Alonso battled past Heidfeld for sixth as the German slipped down the order, although he was fortunate to avoid Button’s Honda after bouncing over the chicane.
Raikkonen led away from pole position and managed to keep Schumacher around a second away throughout the opening exchanges.
The front two pitted close together on laps 15 and 17, respectively, to create a piece of history. Kubica became the first Pole to lead a lap in Formula One.
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More significantly though, Schumacher was able to leapfrog Raikkonen in the pits, resuming just ahead of the Finn in sixth.
Alonso also lost out, with Heidfeld reclaiming his position, but that did not last long. Heidfeld was given a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane and had to concede eighth.
He hit back though and moved back into the points as the one-stopping drivers made their only stops and he took seventh on lap 33 by passing Fisichella. Little changed at the front, with Schumacher holding Raikkonen two seconds at bay and Kubica continuing his fine run towards an unlikely podium.
The Pole was a long way adrift of the leading pair, who were able to make their final pit stops without losing ground.
Kubica had no such luxury and pitted on the same lap as Alonso, with the Renault driver right on his tail. The pair were side by side exiting the pits but Alonso won the test of nerves to move into third. That lasted only until lap 44 when a plume of smoke signalled a heart-breaking engine failure.
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Felipe Massa was following close behind Alonso and took a trip through the dirt after being caught out by oil, forcing him to pit and drop out of the points.