His third gave
Ferrari 16 constructors' points from the event though, while Renault took only eleven, bringing the gap down to 21 points with seven races to go.
Ralf Schumacher took fourth, as
Toyota shone for the second race in a row. How much was to do with the Cologne-based squad improving though and how much was down to
Bridgestone, who seemed to have the edge on Michelin, remains to be seen. Either way, Ralf drove well in the TF106B and deservedly took five points.
His team-mate,
Jarno Trulli, also looked set to deliver and was running in front of Ralf until he was forced out just over the half distance mark. Mechanical problems ruined what would have been a double points haul for the team, but Ralf's five was still enough to put them ahead of
BMW Sauber in the manufacturers', albeit by only one point.
Kimi Raikkonen was next up, fifth for McLaren-Mercedes, after putting in a solid drive in the MP4-21.
His new team-mate, Pedro de la Rosa, also scored in the sister car, the Spaniard coming home in seventh on his first outing since the Bahrain Grand Prix last year. It was an impressive performance from him after his late call-up to replace the NASCAR-bound
Juan Pablo Montoya. de la Rosa would probably have finished higher too, if he hadn't had a poor start, something that dropped him behind
Mark Webber's
Williams. Although he seemed to be quicker than the Aussie, he couldn't find a way past and that heavily compromised his early pace and, ultimately, his whole afternoon.
Renault's
Giancarlo Fisichella was sandwiched between the two McLarens in sixth after a relatively quiet day, while
Nick Heidfeld scooped the final point for BMW Sauber, ahead of
David Coulthard and
Scott Speed, the latter shining in his restricted V10-powered Toro Rosso car. DC was unlucky to miss out on the last point and his two-stop strategy almost did the trick for
Red Bull.
