Alonso's exit appeared to have handed further championship momentum to arch-rival Schumacher - whom he had lapped, with added difficulty, prior to Raikkonen's shunt - as the German was now up to third and poised to hack another chunk of the Spaniard's points lead. With de la Rosa having made his last stop, only Heidfeld sat between the
Ferrari and new leader Button, although the Briton was well out in front until making his final stop, and taking on 'slicks' on lap 54.
Although he rejoined in front, just ten seconds split Button from Schumacher when Heidfeld pitted, but the Briton was immediately on it again, setting a new fastest lap at 1min 25.145secs within a couple of tours. Schumacher's attempts to respond were, by now, being hampered by tyres past their best, and the German quickly became a target for both de la Rosa and Heidfeld.
The Spaniard tried repeatedly to pass the Ferrari down the main straight, only to find that Schumacher had a little extra power that kept the McLaren at bay. Undeterred, de la Rosa opted to make his attack elsewhere, picking the chicane at the back of the circuit as the best place to close in. His first attempt, on lap 65, forced Schumacher off-line and through the obstacle but, although he rejoined in front of the
McLaren, Schumacher refused to relinquish his illicit advantage, and went wheel-to-wheel with the Spaniard for another couple of laps before de la Rosa's next attempt, at the same place, proved successful.
Their battling had allowed Heidfeld to close right in and, with three laps to run, the
BMW man tried his luck at the chicane. Again, the aggressor was ahead as they approached the right-hand entry but, this time, Schumi misjudged his avoidance and clipped the rear of the
F1.06, damaging his suspension and steering. While Heidfeld was able to press on with a more lightly wounded machine, the seven-time champion was finding it difficult to even make it back to the pits, the Ferrari crabbing at every corner.
