After two races without so much as a sniff of the points at the Shanghai International Circuit,
Michael Schumacher finally found the fortune he was looking for as he won a race that really should have belonged to
Renault.
Having been restricted to the outside of row three when rain in qualifying played into the hands of his Michelin-shod opponents, the German was able to turn the tables on race day, taking advantage of tyre-related dramas for main title rival
Fernando Alonso to draw level at the head of the standings.
Alonso made the most of his pole position to romp away at the start of the race and, aided by obstinate team-mate
Giancarlo Fisichella, quickly stretched a sizeable lead over the rest of the field. That left the action to happen in his wake - at least until the first round of pit-stops - beginning at the very first turn, where
Kimi Raikkonen took the outside line, despite the damp conditions, to dispose of
Rubens Barrichello and
Jenson Button surprised his team-mate by appearing down the inside to claim third.
Raikkonen then made short work of the second
Honda to move into a podium position and, despite the suggestion that he was possibly the lightest of the leading runners, began to look like Alonso's biggest threat, particularly when he caught and passed Fisichella for second on lap 13.
True to form, the
McLaren man was among the first to pit, but took on only fuel as the track continued to dry, hoping to take advantage of his wearing intermediate rubber. Whether he would have been able to do anything about Alonso remained undetermined, however, for, six laps later, the car was seen crawling to a halt, continuing Raikkonen's miserable reliability record.
