Alonso continued to push right up to his second stop and emerged in second place, but when Raikkonen almost span at the hairpin, it allowed Alonso to close right up to his rival – but safe in the knowledge that the
McLaren man had still to make his second stop. That stop would again be beset by problems as his Mercedes engine died as he tried to leave – meaning he emerged just ahead of Schumacher.
The second round of stops didn’t lead to many changes at the head of the field, with Trulli dropping behind the one-stopping Massa and the two
BMW Sauber drivers swapping position – Heidfeld ahead of Villeneuve – but just when Alonso felt he was safe, so the race took a late twist.
Having struggled all race with an ill-handling car,
Ralf Schumacher was lapping at a pace similar to
Takuma Sato in the
Super Aguri and had already been caught in a number of awkward positions as faster cars attempted to put a lap on his
Toyota. However on lap 59, his lack of pace would catch out Villeneuve as he got onto the marbles off the racing line while trying to lap the German and slammed into the wall – putting him out on the spot and bringing out the safety car with just ten laps remaining.
Alonso need not worry however, as the restart more than played into his hands. With Trulli and Heidfeld in between him and Raikkonen, the defending champion eased away when the green flag came out with a sleeping Trulli ending any chance Raikkonen had of challenging for the victory. As it was, he wouldn’t even be safe in second as it was
Michael Schumacher who came through to start the final lap in second place – Raikkonen having run wide onto the loose stuff on the outside of the chicane and lost vital time, and the place.
There was no time for Schumacher to launch a challenge on the lead as Alonso claimed a victory more comfortable than the winning margin of 2.1 seconds will suggest, while Raikkonen was left to reflect on a missed opportunity as he took the final place on the podium.
