The pit-stop had also got Alonso ahead of Massa, the second Ferrari unable to run at the same pace as its sister after dropping behind Kubica at the start. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, however, his determination to make up as much ground as possible eventually paid its price. Heading past the pits for the 44th time, the first wisps of smoke quickly became an eruption, with oil and debris quickly being thrown from the rear of the pale blue machine. The only consolation for Alonso and
Renault will be that the failure removed the questions of 'what if?' had the points difference to Schumacher been affected merely by the penalty the Spaniard claimed had made him decide that
F1 was 'no longer a sport'.
Alonso's exit largely removed the last vestige of interest in the race, as Schumacher cruised to victory and Raikkonen likewise to second spot. Having survived the Spaniard's cloudburst despite running under his rear wing at the time of explosion, Kubica had a similarly easy run to the flag, as Massa, trailing the pair of them, locked up into the chicane and stripped a tread from his right-front
Bridgestone, forcing him into an unscheduled pit-stop that dropped him out of the points. Although he battled back up to Heidfeld's tail, the Brazilian was destined to go home empty-handed.
With one man apiece rendered scoreless, it was left to Fisichella to limit
Ferrari's gain, and the Italian drove a sensible event to convert a one-stop strategy into fourth spot from ninth on the grid. Although generally quiet on the day, Fisichella managed to keep the damage to five points, enough for the Scuderia to head to China leading the constructors' championship for the first time, but only by three markers.
