With Hamilton's pace not what it needed to be – indeed lapping more slowly than those ahead of him – the laurels looked like going the way of his team-mate, albeit a staggering 40 seconds adrift of the two Ferraris, with a solitary point separating all three title contenders had the race ended on lap 48.
With 21 laps remaining, Massa made the switch-over to the super-soft rubber, and the big question now was would Hamilton have to stop again? If he did, his title dreams were surely over. The
Ferrari ace rejoined tucked up right behind the lapped Coulthard, and with Raikkonen carrying on for several laps – and carrying on very quickly indeed – a Magny-Cours style switchover was looking to be on the cards.
That was indeed the case, the Finn regaining the track in front, and with the McLarens' poor pace it began to look like Ferrari might just be on for a double championship celebration. Hamilton was making little in-roads on Trulli ahead in seventh, and was six seconds adrift of where he needed to be. At the end of lap 57, though, his mechanics were out in the pit-lane once again, and when the Briton pitted with 14 laps remaining, it was all over. Now it was between Raikkonen and Alonso, and the key player in that battle would be Kubica up in third. If he too had to stop again the crown would go the way of Alonso; if not, Raikkonen.
Another fearless move saw Hamilton go all the way around the outside of fellow Brit Coulthard as he suddenly found the pace he had needed earlier on. Setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 59, he set about hunting down Trulli once again, but the Italian was more than 20 seconds up the road.
