Nurburgring (Germany): The raised index finger seemed to say it all as Michael Schumacher crossed the finish line to win the European Grand Prix on Sunday.
He could have raised two fingers, for his pair of victories in his last two races.
Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, who dominated FormulaOne from 2000 to 2004, may be back to being No. 1.
The seven-time world champion won the European Grand Prix for the sixth time, beating out Fernando Alonso for the second straight time.
It was the 86th career victory for Schumacher, who has won the European GP five times at Nuerburgring and in Spain in 1994.
The victories come after a disappointing start to the season. After second place in Bahrain, he was sixth in Malaysia and then crashed in Australia.
Two weeks ago, Schumacher won the San Marino Grand Prix from the pole.
He thought the early results were not an indication of the team's strength.
"I thought we looked good already at the first race, honestly, so it's not a surprise," Schumacher said. "We had the package available. We didn't make use of it all the time."
On Sunday, he overtook Alonso during the second pit stop on the 42nd lap of the 60-lap race.
"I felt we had a good strategy," Schumacher said. "I knew we had a good race pace on new tires. I knew we could push and it all worked out."
Alonso started from the pole, the first time he has done so this season, and just ahead of Schumacher.
They stayed out front, separated by about a second, through the first pit stop. Then things changed on lap 39.
Schumacher had the fastest lap of the race, 1 minute, 32.067 seconds, while Alonso pitted for fuel and tires.
PAGE_BREAK
After coming out of the pits, Alonso needed 1:55 to completed his next lap, enabling Schumacher to build a lead of nearly 23 seconds.
With Schumacher's fuel tank near empty and Alonso's full, the German was able to add another two seconds to his lead, giving Schumacher a better-than 24-second advantage by the time he entered the pits.
By the time he was refueled and re-entered the race on lap 42, Schumacher was six seconds ahead and in control.
"I felt we had a good strategy," he said. "I knew we had a good race pace on new tires. I knew we could push and it all worked out."
Alonso knew he was beaten.
"I was controlling the pace a little bit," Alonso said. "The first pit it worked out. The second pit stop we were maybe 3-4 laps early and that was too much."
"It was impossible to stay ahead of them for 60 laps," Alonso said.
Alonso now looks forward to his home race, the Spanish GP this coming Sunday with the tires on his car giving him an advantage.
"I think Barcelona will be a good point, because we have always been quick there in testing. Michelin has been in a dominant position in Barcelona over the last two years, so Im really looking forward to winning that one," Alonso said.
Alonso still leads the driver standings with 44 points after his third second-place finish of the season. Schumacher is second with 31 points.
Alonso was not that disappointed with his finish to go with a pair of victories in the five races this season.
"Second place is a fantastic result for us," Alonso said. "We were a little bit down compared to Ferrari's performance this weekend. To get the eight points means everything is OK and means we should win again."
Comments
0 comment