With a lap of the restart, Alonso had already eked out nearly three seconds' advantage over his team-mate but, again, the Spaniard was not to enjoy the benefits of his pace for long. Just nine laps had elapsed before the safety car re-appeared, this time to clear up the remains of a sizeable Narain Karthikeyan accident. The Indian, like Schumacher, claimed to have been the victim of cold tyres - both drivers use Bridgestones - understeering wide at the increasingly-fast right-hander onto the back straight and then finding that there was no grip on the artificial turf laid down beyond the edge of the road. Jordan and tyre barrier made sizeable impact, bouncing the luckless Karthikeyan back into the middle of the road. Several other cars had to take avoiding action, but the Indian was able to climb out unaided - fortunately, as there were few people in attendance to help him.
Again,
Renault instructed both drivers to stop but, as the Spaniard came in, his Italian colleague reduced his pace dramatically, a move designed as much to keep the pack under control as to ensure that his pit bay was clear. Alonso duly rejoined in front of the field, but Fisichella, ironically, dropped behind Raikkonen, who was able to take on less fuel this time around. The Italian's tactics would also come back to haunt him...
Again, the field circulated for almost a quarter hour behind the pace car but, this time, there was no repeat of the incidents that followed its first appearance, as the field got away cleanly at the restart. Only the hapless Sato found himself in trouble, coasting to a halt with no drive in his BAR following a gearbox failure.
Team-mate Button was also making waves, but more for his reaction to Webber's tactics behind the safety car than anything else. The Australian appeared to drop back a lot further than the five car lengths stipulated in the 'anti-stacking' laws, preventing either from having a shot at Barrichello's
Ferrari on the restart, and effectively scuppering their chance of a good points haul.
