Avenue Vine

Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, finished (4th), goes out in style via Sao Paulo Brazilian Grand Prix...

Schumacher, inevitably turning in fastest lap of the race, (SEE NEXT TO PINK NUMBERS “Live Timing Block A” and “Fastest Laps” below “Final Results”), and coming all the way from P20 to finish in P4, (SEE WHITE LINE ON “Lap Chart B”)–did Michael just ran out of time and laps this year?...

“I am very happy for Felipe (Massa) who drove an amazing race. It is great for him to be the first Brazilian to win at Interlagos since Ayrton Senna. It would have been nice if I could at least have made it to the podium alongside him. I would also like to congratulate Fernando (Alonso). Today, my race was compromised after the puncture I picked up on lap nine, when I had just passed Fisichella. I was unaware of it until the team told me about it on the radio. I had a good climb back up the order, thanks partly to an amazing car and exceptional Bridgestone tyres. Today my racing career comes to an end. Obviously, it is a special moment for me and I am proud to have lived my career with some fantastic people, namely everyone who is part of the Ferrari family. There is so much I could say about them, but it is difficult to find the right words…”

He didn’t win the title or even the race. Indeed he didn’t even make the podium. However, Michael Schumacher’s farewell drive in Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix illustrated the grit, skill and determination that has made him the greatest driver Formula One racing has ever seen.

The odds were stacked against the Ferrari star from the outset after technical problems in qualifying at Interlagos left him only tenth on the grid. However, an excellent start saw him up to sixth place by the time the safety car intervened following Williams’ Nico Rosberg’s early accident.

Soon after the race restarted, Schumacher dived down the inside of Giancarlo Fisichella’s Renault to seize P4, but as he exited the Senna S he appeared to lose the back end of the car, the Italian promptly regaining the position. The cause of the slide quickly became clear - a left-rear puncture thought to have been caused by debris on the track.

Schumacher limped back to the pits to take on fuel and fresh rubber, but when he rejoined he was running 19th - and last. However, he was immediately back up to speed, slamming in fastest sector times and slicing his way past backmarkers. His progress slowed somewhat when he once more found himself behind Fisichella in the closing stages, but the Renault driver was eventually forced into a mistake by Schumacher’s relentless pressure, running wide at Turn 1 and surrendering fifth place in the process.

McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen - the man who will replace Schumacher at Ferrari - was the next target, and the Finn defended aggressively to maintain fourth place. It took a special move from Schumacher, the pair going side-by-side into Turn 1 just inches apart, with the seven-time champion ultimately emerging ahead.

That left him chasing Jenson Button for a podium, but with just two laps remaining there simply wasn’t time to catch the Honda, despite Schumacher's penultimate lap being the fastest of the race, over half a second quicker than team mate Felipe Massa’s best.

Schumacher’s competitive Formula One career may be over, but true to form, the great man entertained us to the last. Thank you Michael.

Massa, the first Brazilian to win his home race since Ayrton Senna’s emotional victory back in 1993, grabbed the lead from the start, ahead of Raikkonen, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Alonso. Further back, Schumacher ran wheel-to-wheel with the BMW Saubers of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld until the safety car was deployed after Williams’ Nico Rosberg crashed heavily at the end of the lap, bringing out the safety car for six laps. Rosberg’s demise was almost certainly linked to damage caused by a tangle with team mate Mark Webber at the start, which also forced the Australian into the pits and retirement.

As racing resumed on lap 7, Schumacher pushed Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Renault and overtook him on lap 9, only to slow immediately with a shredded left-rear tyre. As Massa led easily from Raikkonen, and Alonso stroked along in third place with Fisichella riding shotgun after the early demise of both Toyotas, Schumacher fell way down to 19th place.

The German then drove a fabulous race, setting a string of fastest laps as he clawed his way back past Rubens Barrichello in the Honda, forced Fisichella into a mistake on the 63rd lap, and then pushed down the inside of Raikkonen going into Turn One on the 69th, even though at times his Ferrari showed continuing signs of the fuel pressure problem that had humbled it in qualifying.

It was thus a bittersweet race for Ferrari, with Massa driving the race of his life, but Renault’s second and sixth places securing them the constructors’ championship too, 206 points to Ferrari’s 200.

Button drove superbly to finish feet behind Alonso, with Schumacher leading Raikkonen narrowly and Fisichella heading Barrichello. A strong one-stop drive brought Pedro de la Rosa in the second McLaren the final point.

BMW Sauber had a torrid day, with Robert Kubica having to settle for ninth and Nick Heidfeld crashing heavily close to the finish, but they retained fifth place ahead of Toyota in the constructors’ championship.

Takuma Sato was one of the stars of the race with a faultless and feisty run to 10th for Super Aguri, leading Toro Rosso’s Scott Speed home ahead of Robert Doornbos in the Red Bull, Tonio Liuzzi in the second Toro Rosso, Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro in the two Spyker MF1s and Sakon Yamamoto in the second Super Aguri. Besides the Williams pilots, the other retirement was Red Bull’s David Coulthard.

Thus ended Michael Schumacher’s Formula One career, but he pulled down the curtain with dignity and a drive that left nobody in doubt that he is retiring at the very peak of his ability.

Renault’s Fernando Alonso did exactly what was required of him in Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix - drove a clean race, kept out of trouble and scored the points required to make him the sport’s youngest double world champion.

Alonso may have finished second in the race, almost 20 seconds behind the winning Ferrari of Felipe Massa, but it was a typically measured performance from the Spaniard, who knew that just a single point would be enough to retain his drivers’ title. He actually scored eight, helping Renault to retain the constructors’ championship into the bargain.

“What a wonderful feeling this is,” he said afterwards. “We have done a fantastic last part of the championship, scoring 26 points out of 30 possible, and that was enough to make us double champions. It is such a special moment to win both titles on the same day, and the atmosphere in the team is unbelievable.

“I have to say thank you; thank you to everybody in the team, to all the people at Enstone and Viry, to Michelin, to my team mate Giancarlo (Fisichella) and to Heikki (Kovalainen), who has done so much good work this year. In 2006, they have taught me many lessons: to always stay fair play, to put in the effort, to keep the focus and the determination to win. It has been up and down for us, but they never forgot the target, and we have done it now.”

Alonso - in his last Grand Prix for Renault before moving to McLaren - was closely pursued by Jenson Button for much of the Interlagos race, but never the let the Honda driver get close enough to attempt a pass, only too aware that tangling with the Englishman could have spelt disaster and handed the advantage to title rival Michael Schumacher. In the end a jubilant Alonso took the flag just 0.7 seconds ahead of Button.

“My memories from this season will be from the win in Barcelona, and also these times now, celebrating with the mechanics - and the celebrations to come in the next weeks in Spain,” he added. “This is the right time to enjoy what we have done. I am proud to have been racing with Michael (Schumacher) as well. It is an honour to have won the final two championships of his career, and I think they will mean more than any others I can win in my career. He is retiring as the man with all the records, and it has been big pressure to race against him - and a big privilege as well.”

The final standings see Alonso finish on 134 points, 13 ahead of Schumacher.

FINAL RESULTS, etc.:

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RACE RECAP: F1: Massa Wins As Alonso Conquers Title in Brazil

Massa became the first Brazilian to win at Interlagos since the beloved Ayrton Senna back in 1993.

Thirteen years after Ayrton Senna's last triumph in Interlagos, a local driver again took victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix as Felipe Massa dominated from lights to flag to score an emotional win in the closing race of the 2006 Formula 1 season.

The Ferrari driver crossed the finish line 18.6 seconds ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso, who clinched his second consecutive world driver's title in his final race for the French squad before departing to McLaren next season. The Spaniard's result, coupled with Giancarlo Fisichella's sixth-place finish, also gave Renault the constructor's crown over Ferrari.

Honda's Jenson Button completed the podium, ahead of Michael Schumacher who in his farewell to F1 crowned his stellar career with a stirring comeback after tangling with Fisichella in the race's early stages. McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top-five.
At age 25, Alonso became the youngest double F1 world champion ever. (LAT Photo)

Starting from pole, the third of his career, Massa kept his lead into Interlagos' Senna esses with fellow front-row starter Raikkonen retaining his second spot, ahead of Jarno Trulli's Toyota and Alonso. Tenth on the grid after suffering fuel pump problems in the final round of knockout qualifying on Saturday, Schumacher climbed to seventh at the end of the action-packed first lap, marked by an incident between Williams teammates Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg, who made contact and lost bodywork on their FW28s. The young German ended up crashing heavily at Turn 14, bringing the safety car out for lap two, not before Schumacher moved past Honda's Rubens Barrichello to take P6.

At the restart five laps later, the Ferrari ace - who could only conquer his eighth world title by winning the race and relying on a scoreless day for Alonso - promptly resumed his comeback, engaging in a stiff duel with Fisichella's Renault.

Making a move at the end of the main straight, Schumacher got ahead of the Italian but the Renault's front wing made light contact with the Ferrari's left-rear tire, forcing the German to limp back to the pits for an early stop.

Meanwhile up front, Massa easily pulled away from Raikkonen at a rate of almost a second per lap. Then, on successive laps, both Toyotas retired with suspension problems, Jarno Trulli on the ninth and Ralf Schumacher on the 10th.

After Raikkonen kicked off the first round of pit stops among the frontrunners, Massa pitted on the 24th lap, giving up the lead to Alonso until the Spaniard made his own stop two laps later.

From then on, Massa's dominance was unchallenged, and the attentions turned to Schumacher's comeback as the German carded fast lap after fast lap. Gaining several spots as the cars ahead pitted, Schumacher gained the seventh position after a strong fight with BMW's Robert Kubica on lap 41.

The seven-time world champion passed Barrichello on the pits in the 47th lap to again climb his way to sixth, behind Massa, Alonso, Button - who himself moved up through the field from 14th on the grid on the back of an intense race pace - Raikkonen and Fisichella.

On the 62nd lap, Schuey outbraked Fisi entering the Senna esses and the Italian went across the grass. With less than three laps laps to go, the German pulled off a similar move to get past Raikkonen for P4, then proceeded to set the fastest lap of the race.

It was a brave afternoon for Schumacher but not enough to get on the podium at his very last F1 race as he settled for fourth behind Massa, Alonso and Button but ahead of his Ferrari successor Raikkonen, and of Fisichella. Honda's Rubens Barrichello and McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa, on a single-stop strategy, took the remaining points positions in the final race of '06.

After the race, Alonso paid homage to the retiring seven-time world champion.

"I always said that to become champion when Michael is still on track gives it more value," the Spaniard admitted. "I was extremely lucky to win the world championships when he races, I think we all wish him the best for his new life with his family."

For his part, Massa confessed to having realized a childhood dream.

"After 13 years without a Brazilian winning the Brazilian Grand Prix for me it is just amazing to be in front of my people, the first year I have a good car, a fantastic car," he said.

"It was probably the easiest race of my life. I could control everything and wasn't pushing a lot. It is just a dream come true. You see the whole people bringing the flag, screaming your name and jumping, dancing, whatever, just for you. It is difficult to explain...

"It is the best day of my life."

Source: “RACE RECAP--F1: Massa Wins As Alonso Conquers Title in Brazil,” Cassio Cortes, RACER Magazine, Sao Paulo, Brazil–October, 22, 2006

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