MOTOR SPORT/Formula One Championship Chinese Grand Prix: For a season that began in such predictable fashion this one is turning out to have more twists and turns than all the circuits in F1 racing put together.
Aside from the secret defection of the incumbent champion to his team's major rivals in pre-season, the departure of two of the sport's biggest stars, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve, in mid-season and the impending retirement of the sport's most successful driver, there's a championship battle of epic proportions rushing headlong toward a conclusion at the final race in Brazil in three weeks' time. And all of it amid accusations of sharp practice and result management by the governing body and wars of words between the protagonists.
And yesterday in Shanghai, the tension was cranked up another notch as Michael Schumacher profited from an ill-judged race decision by his arch-rival Fernando Alonso to win the Chinese Grand Prix and draw level with the Spaniard, who finished second, in the points battle.
Alonso had come to the space-age Chinese city still smarting from a harsh penalty at the Italian Grand Prix three weeks' ago, a penalty he believed had been unfairly levelled against him to promote Schumacher's chances at Ferrari's home race, on the weekend when the German seven-time champion announced his impending retirement in front of his adoring faithful.
So here, with just two points separating the pair at the head of the drivers' title race there was a grudge to be settled.
And Alonso had drawn first blood, landing - in appalling conditions - his first pole position since June's Canadian Grand Prix.
In torrential rain, Bridgestone's wet tyres had performed miserably for Ferrari, leaving Alonso to coast to the front of the grid. Only two death-or-glory laps in the final two sessions kept Schumacher's hopes alive as he hurled his car to sixth on the grid, but still staring down the barrel of an all-Renault front row.
But yesterday, in similar conditions, the German's hopes looked forlorn as Alonso raced away from the start, opening a 20-second gap before the window for first pit stops had even opened a crack.
But it was when that window widened fully that the gloom lifted and Schumacher saw a ray of light.
Alonso, suffering from a badly worn right-front tyre, opted to take on fresh front tyres during his first stop, while his then-second-placed team-mate, Giancarlo Fisichella, and third-placed Schumacher opted to remain on their used intermediate-weather tyres. It was a disastrous error by the young Spaniard.
"I thought that it would take only four laps to wear the new tyres in," said Alonso, "but it took eight or nine and that was too many and Giancarlo and Michael came up very quick.
"For sure, today we lost a big opportunity," he added. "I had these laps when I was completely off the pace and too slow and I think the race finished then."
Fisichella slipped past Alonso and began his job of winning the race for Renault as Schumacher too took advantage, passing the champion and beginning to pressure the Italian.
Fisichella responded but then immediately after his second stop, the Italian erred after exiting the pit-lane and the close-following Schumacher pounced to claim the lead. Far behind, Alonso was preparing to pit for dry tyres as the track dried.
That was the cue for a phenomenal fightback by the Spaniard, who, in the closing laps, passed Fisichella and raced to within just three seconds of his main rival to claim second.
But the day was, miraculously, Schumacher's and afterward the German admitted that he had begun the race with no expectation of taking enough points to level the championship on 116 points, though he now technically leads the title fight, having claimed more wins - seven to Alonso's six.
"I went into the race today with the motto of 'damage limitation'," he said.
"That I was able to get the victory makes it all the more beautiful It was more than I had wished for - being able to hold my position at the start and then I was able to overtake a few.
"It was a good omen and I started thinking I might only fall two (more) points (behind Alonso) here and that would have been good considering the circumstances.
"If someone had offered me that before the race I would have signed immediately. But it's naturally fantastic that I was actually able to pick up two points here today."
Alonso, though, refused to give up on the title fight, which heads for Japan's Suzuka circuit this Sunday coming.
"It was a bad day, but this is a fantastic fight for the championship, and I go to Japan feeling really confident," he said.
"In wet conditions we were much quicker and in dry also as well because of our times on Friday. I am confident for the last two races.
"We had the quickest car today, and we have two more good chances to win. I believe we can do it."
The day wasn't without dramas elsewhere. All hell broke loose at the hairpin on the final lap as the rain returned for one more twist in what had been a thoroughly enthralling race.
In the final moments of the race, behind the third-placed Fisichella, three cars were battling for fourth place.
Honda's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were tussling with BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa when the quartet came upon the backmarker Takuma Sato of Super Aguri.
Button scraped past Nick Heidfeld under braking, only for his Honda team-mate Barrichello to ram the BMW from behind as the German was held up by the lapped Sato.
Button thus finished fourth ahead of de la Rosa, a noseless Barrichello and a disgruntled Heidfeld, with Australia's Mark Webber taking eighth and the final point for Williams.
A stewards' inquiry was launched and later in the evening Sato was disqualified, though the result of the fight between the quartet around him stood.
Shanghai (56 Laps)
1 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari1hr 37mins 32.747secs
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault1:37:35.847
3 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault1:38:16.847
4 Jenson Button (Brit) Honda1:38:44.747
5 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) McLaren1:38:49.847
6 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda1:38:51.847
7 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber1:39:04.647
8 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams1:39:16.247
9 David Coulthard (Brit) Red Bull1:39:16.447
10 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Scuderia Toro Rossoat 1 Lap
Also: 11 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams at 1 Lap, 12 Robert Doornbos (Ned) Red Bull at 1 Lap, 13 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber at 1 Lap, 14 Scott Speed (USA) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap, 15 Christijan Albers (Ned) Midland at 3 Laps, 16 Sakon Yamamoto (Jpn) Super Aguri at 4 Laps Not Classified: 17 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 49 Laps completed, 17 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 44 Laps completed, 19 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 38 Laps completed, 20 Tiago Monteiro (Por) Midland 37 Laps completed, 21 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 18 Laps completed Disqualified: Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers: 1 Michael Schumacher (Ger) 116pts, 2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) 116, 3 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) 63, 4 Felipe Massa (Bra) 62, 5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) 57, 6 Jenson Button (Brit) 45, 7 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) 28, 8 Juan Montoya (Col) 26, 9 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) 22, 10 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) 18, 11 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) 18, 12 David Coulthard (Brit) 14, 13 Jarno Trulli (Ita) 12, 14 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) 7, 15 Mark Webber (Aus) 7, 16 Robert Kubica (Pol) 6, 17 Nico Rosberg (Ger) 4, 18 Christian Klien (Aut) 2, 19 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) 1.
Manufacturers: 1 Renault 179pts, 2 Ferrari 178, 3 McLaren 101, 4 Honda 73, 5 BMW Sauber 35, 6 Toyota 30, 7 Red Bull 16, 8 Williams 11, 9 Scuderia Toro Rosso 1.
