But that is exactly what he did at Monza and, if anything, his latest drive at Shanghai was an even greater result. Alonso looked to have it easily in the bag but ended the day with a stunning defeat and, on top of it, having seen a 25 point lead in the championship now drain away to nothing. The advantage now lies with Schuey, with seven wins to Alonso's six which technically gives him the lead, despite being drawn on points.

Amazingly the wet weather disadvantage of Ferrari’s Bridgestone tyres continue to be a crass weakness. In qualifying Schuey was the only Bridgestone running who forced his car into the top ten. Team-mate Massa managed no better than 13th on the grid, with a time some 1.5 seconds slower than the German.

With the two Renaults at the front of the grid and a wet Sunday it all seemed a foregone conclusion. Everyone started on intermediate tyres and Alonso disappeared into the lead, driving some three seconds per lap quicker than Schumacher until he was some 25 seconds out. Although the slightly drying track helped Schumacher to then keep the gap constant, it was at the first pit stop when Renault made one of its uncharacteristic errors. Was the pressure beginning to tell? Whilst everyone else kept their worn intermediates on, Alonso was put on to new front intermediates and instantly found himself with an uncontrollable car. He became one of the slowest of the runners and was quickly hauled in by both Fisichella and Schuey.

At Alonso's second pit stop the nightmare continued when his right rear wheel nut refused to go on cleanly and he was stationary for some 19 seconds instead of the usual seven or eight. The team, however, made the inspired decision to put him on to dry tyres in response to the drying track and he showed his class by instantly picking up the pace and starting a dramatic pursuit of Schumacher, in front of him, and Fisichella, who was further up the road in first place.

Fisichella disappointed yet again, being quite unable to make a quick transition from intermediate to dry tyres after his second pit stop and he was instantly passed by Schumacher and the flying Alonso. The last few laps were nerve-racking to watch as Schumacher's lead was quickly eroded, but Alonso had left himself insufficient time and crossed the line just three seconds in arrears, with Fisichella a further 40 seconds behind.

This was one of those races that showed an awful lot about the various drivers. Schuey remains supreme under all circumstances and can extract the maximum from any given situation. Alonso is surely not far behind and the worrisome thought arises that Ferrari have hired the wrong driver for 2007. Whilst Raikkonen has his occasional moments of competence, he appears to be increasingly in the shadow of the Spaniard. Perhaps he is just demob happy, having known for a long time that he was leaving McLaren, but it was worrying to note in a TV interview that he described himself rather smugly as being lazy. This is quite in contrast to the regime which Schumacher has always followed at Ferrari. And despite Massa’s win in Turkey he remains in my view a journeyman, maybe keeping a seat warm for a year or two for one of the numerous youngsters now coming along. I note that fellow-scribbler Tony Cotton, in his (otherwise) excellent Turkish GP report, thinks otherwise so we’ll have to wait and see.

McLaren definitely seem to have got the better end of all this dealing and must be rubbing their hands at the thought of Alonso's arrival. Quite what one makes of Renaults' decision to retain Fisichella for next season is beyond this reporter to figure out. He showed serious weaknesses at Shanghai and for Renaults' sake one can only hope that their new arrival, Heikki Kovalainen, can quickly take control.

Button and the Hondas did well again and I began to wonder whether my Honda victory prediction for 2006 was really quite correct but just one year out. Rubens has also overcome his initial difficulties with the car and the two of them look like good solid prospects for lots of points and probably a few wins next year. With all the driver changes amongst the top teams the Hondas, going in to the next season with a stable package, could well cause an upset. As for Toyota, probably the biggest spenders of all, one can but wonder what is going on there and why they persist.

So, just two more races now to go and the slight advantage lies with Schumacher because of his extra win. If he wins the Japanese Grand Prix and Alonso gets no points then Schumacher has done it. Even if roles are reversed then Alonso still has to take it all the way to the end of the final race. This is going to be good [Er. 'fraid not - Ed.].

Footnote
Ferrari sales more than doubled in China last year with 42 being sold in 2004 and 100 in 2005. Ticket sales for the GP increased dramatically with the news of Schumacher's impending retirement, with the Chinese tifosi keen to see him in action one last time. Of course he delivered big-time, firmly laying to rest his unhappy history at Shanghai. As I've said before, of all the constructors a win by Ferrari must make the biggest perecentage difference to their sales and bottom line.

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Chinese Tifosi

The performance of Bridgestone's inters again gave cause for concern

Stunning performance by Schuey in Qualifying

Early on and Fred's gone!

Schuey scythes past Fisichella - who just does not seem to have what it takes

Good performance by the Hondas - will next year be their year?

Aguri-watchers will have noted that Sato beat the cocky Speed

Why do Toyota bother?

Your reporter still considers Massa only to be a journeyman...

...unlike the Maestro - how we will miss him!

click for FIA lap chart

Meanwhile...

The win will have done Fazza's prospects in China no harm at all

pics by Ferrari Media, FIA, Reuters, XPB, LAT, & Sutton