Indeed, Schumacher had been dominant all weekend but made a mistake on his qualifying lap to gift Massa a first ever pole position too. Getting a good start, Massa led Schumacher as the Ferrari duo eased away from Alonso.
However, when a safety car period mid-way through the race threw strategies in the air, Ferrari were forced to bring both of their cars into the pit-lane at the same time, Massa leading Schumacher. With Schumacher forced to wait, Alonso did just enough to get out ahead again, where the two embarked on a thrilling cat and mouse chase over the final few laps. Eventually, Alonso prevailed by just a few tenths from Schumacher, but both were comfortably behind an emotional Massa.
Jenson Button followed up his breakthrough win a round before at Hungary with fourth position, ahead of Pedro de la Rosa – who battled bravely from 11th on the grid -,
Giancarlo Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher and
Rubens Barrichello.
1.
Felipe Massa Brazil
Ferrari-Ferrari 58 laps
01:28:51.082
2.
Fernando Alonso Spain
Renault-Renault +5.5
3.
Michael Schumacher Germany
Ferrari-Ferrari +5.6
4.
Jenson Button Britain
Honda-Honda +12.3
5.
Pedro de la Rosa Spain
McLaren-Mercedes +45.9
6.
Giancarlo Fisichella Italy
Renault-Renault +46.5
7.
Ralf Schumacher Germany
Ferrari-Ferrari +59.3
8.
Rubens Barrichello Brazil
Honda-Honda +60.0
