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We are not fast enough. A laconic message from a concerned Michael Schumacher. That is because the impact with Canada has been tremendous, not very exciting to be in fifteenth place at the end of the second hour of free practice, but most of all what is alarming is the two-and-a-half-second gap to his rival Fernando Alonso, second in the standings behind the Polish test driver Robert Kubica (Bmw), blissfully watching TV in the Canadian morning (his Spain had won against Saudi Arabia in the World Cup) and just as happy immediately after lunch on the track, because his boss, Flavio Briatore, had ordered him to keep the Ferraris behind and his Renault seemed to be doing that easily. Michael Schumacher admitted it too.
"Being so far behind Alonso is not a good sign".
It is not encouraging, even though the thoughts of the people of the Maranello team turn to Monte Carlo, to the disastrous Thursday, to the same problems that emerged in Montreal, a slippery track that does not provide grip to the tyres, a Ferrari that is not stable, that has braking issues, that struggles to achieve competitive lap times. In the Principality Michael Schumacher was tearing his hair out, only to find out on Saturday (ignoring parking issues and the subsequent relegation to the last place on the grid) that he was among the fastest and that he had the best race pace on Sunday. Now, given the rather similar situation, the German expects the same miracle.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us, hard work, but I hope we can quickly become competitive again. I have already won seven times here in Canada, it's a lucky circuit for me".
Of course, in front of such prestigious numbers, one would expect more enthusiasm, Schumacher praising his long and glorious career, but the German is like that, he does not like the present and thinks only about that. Even Madonna's concert, which he attended with enthusiasm, does not move him much when he is dressed in his red racing suit.
"It was interesting, but now I only think about Formula 1".
And that first impression, often the one that counts, did not convince him at all.
"In Kubica's case I can think of a car with little fuel and new tyres, factors that make a difference here and mean seconds, but I do not know about Alonso. Seeing him so far ahead does not satisfy me".
It is the first taste of a race that, Ferrari does not hide it, could be Schumi's last chance. Montreal is his track, it would be bad news if he does not make up for some of the 23-point gap he has to Fernando Alonso. But the Spanish hare has no intention of letting him do that.
"A few issues under braking, but overall a very good first day".
Also because he is never alone in the fight. Giancarlo Fisichella (the other Renault) is sixth, Felipe Massa (the second Ferrari) is twenty-second. These are not good omens either. On Saturday, June 24, 2006, Fernando Alonso secured his fifth consecutive pole position. The Spanish driver of Renault will start from pole position in the Canadian Grand Prix. Next to him, there will be Giancarlo Fisichella. Kimi Räikkönen with McLaren-Mercedes and Jarno Trulli with Toyota will start from the second row. Michael Schumacher is only fifth and will start from the third row, alongside Nico Rosberg's Williams. Despite all of Ferrari's efforts, Alonso remains unreachable. Only Giancarlo Fisichella with the other Renault can keep up with his pace.
Even on the lightning-fast Montreal circuit, the World Champion proved once again to be superior to all of his opponents, lapping in 1'14''942, but he was always the fastest in all three sessions. Michael Schumacher did everything in his power to minimise the damage, but he had to acknowledge that at the moment his Ferrari is not as fast as the Renaults. Instead, Felipe Massa, with the other Ferrari, is struggling, unable to go beyond the tenth position: he will start from the fifth row alongside Rubens Barrichello. Fernando Alonso, at the end of the session, says:
"Today everything went as planned, and I am proud of my team, but for the moment we have only completed the first part of the work. Let's see if we can finish it tomorrow. However, I acknowledge that today we had a nearly perfect qualifying. The Ferraris will be competitive tomorrow, I'm sure of that".
He is the one who is always celebrating. Fifth consecutive pole, Alonso and Saturdays, a story that has known no other plot since the beginning of May. The Spaniard raises his arms to the sky, Schumacher despairs. Because while the Renault flies, with Alonso leading the way, Fisichella right behind him, the front row monopolised brutally, the heavy Ferrari of the German sadly ends up in fifth place, a third row that sounds like an ominous omen.
"Certainly not the ideal position to hope for a race win".
The problem is that Ferrari could not have done more. The men of the Maranello team, given the poor grip of the tyres, with a car that is not stable, likely opted for a conservative strategy, filling the car with fuel, but this does not fully explain the one-second gap between Schumacher and Alonso. A result that sends the Spaniard into ecstasy.
"I'm halfway there, now I have to finish it off, winning again, climbing up the standings, creating a gap, leaving my mark on the championship. Having two cars in the front row in the ninth race, halfway through the season, is a strong signal, it means that my team is working well and is eager to reclaim the title. Looking ahead to the race I have no worries at all".
That signal, however, that Ferrari failed to send, in the preview of a race that many consider a last chance. On a circuit where Michael Schumacher has won seven times, where he can reach the threshold of a thousand points with the red suit on (he needs four more, a fifth place), it was necessary to take some points away from Fernando Alonso, and instead, the German risks losing even more ground.
"We never managed to find the right grip, I do not know if it was the tyres, of the car or some other strange combination, the fact is that we have improved very little and the growth has not been enough. Now, I don't know if a miracle is possible, I don't know some dark secret, but if anyone has any, I am ready to gather any information. It's not normal for Trulli to be fourth, yet he's ahead of me. It is tough to see the two Renaults and even Räikkönen in front, but it's the reality we have to live with. Help from Massa? He's tenth, I don't think he can do much from where he starts. I console myself with Germany, they won against Sweden, I watched the game and I was thrilled. I can't say the same about Ferrari, even though I am not giving up. I expect a tough battle, I'll try to fight as hard as I can. This is a long race, seventy laps, unpredictable, but don't ask me if I expect help from potential safety cars. How can I predict their use? They could come onto the track at the right moment or the wrong one. There are other things I'm counting on: I hope to have something up my sleeve with the strategy. It's different from the others, I hope it's the best one".
A strategy that needs to overturn a prediction that for now speaks openly in Renault's favour. Even the revenant Kimi Räikkönen, third with McLaren, is categorical:
"I'm happy, surprised by my performance, but I don't think I have many chances of winning".
A chance that instead Giancarlo Fisichella feels upon him.
"Alonso is very strong, he has such an advantage in the World Championship that I don't think he needs my help. So I expect a free race, without team orders. And, after this great qualifying performance, I aim to win. A one-two finish would be fantastic. It would allow us to wrap up the Constructors' World Championship as well".
To the delight of Flavio Briatore:
"Everyone is going fast, but we're going faster".
A joy that only Jarno Trulli, surprisingly fourth, dares to overshadow. The Italian driver is furious with Giancarlo Fisichella:
"He slowed me down twice".
And he went to complain to the race stewards. Massa, on the other hand, insults his radio:
"It wasn't working, my engineer couldn't hear me. So, on my fast lap there was oversteer. And goodbye lap time”.
On Sunday, June 25, 2006, the start of the Canadian Grand Prix was expected to see some formation flying from the two Renaults, only for Fisichella to slightly creep forward before the lights went out. That allowed Räikkonen to immediately charge past him as the Italian hit the brakes as the lights went out, and would result in a drive-through penalty later in the race. Otherwise, it was a clean start to the race, with Alonso establishing an early lead, while Michael Schumacher slipped behind Rosberg and Juan Pablo Montoya. However, by the end of lap two the German ace would be back ahead of both the Williams and the McLaren-Mercedes, as a clash between the pair in turn three would result in the Safety Car making its way onto the circuit. Montoya had moved to dive past the Williams into the right-left chicane and hence had his nose alongside the rear of Rosberg's Williams as they braked for the chicane. Rosberg did not sense this and so steered across Montoya's path, with the resulting contact sending the Williams sliding straight into the outside wall, while Montoya limped to the pits for a new front wing. The restart saw Alonso try and sprint away from Räikkonen, while Fisichella quickly abandoned third after being slapped with a penalty for jumping the start. Without Fisichella to challenge him, the Finn was soon free to harass Alonso, with the Finnish McLaren driver remaining tucked under the Spanish driver Renault's rear wing throughout the early stages. Their fight, which saw Räikkönen almost snatch the lead with a lunge at the final chicane on lap twelve, would continue through to the first round of stops, with Alonso stopping first. Räikkönen hence made his bid for victory by completing two hot laps in clear air, only for an issue on the right-rear wheel during his stop to undo his hard work and drop him back behind the Renault. That appeared to be that for Räikkönen's victory bid, for the Finn would continue to drift away from the back of Alonso throughout the second stint. Indeed, the second round of stops would prove even more disastrous for Räikkönen, as he not only spun on his in-lap but had an anti-stall when trying to leave his pit box. With ten laps to go the race looked to be sown up in Alonso's favour until the safety car made its second appearance of the race.
The cause this time was Jacques Villeneuve, who had got caught out by a limping Ralf Schumacher and ended up smashing his BMW Sauber into the wall. However, Alonso was not to be beaten and duly aced the restart to claim an early lead aided by the fact that the lapped Jarno Trulli and Nick Heidfeld were between himself and Räikkönen. The Finn would hence lose valuable time lapping the errant duo before a mistake at the final chicane allowed Michael Schumacher to sweep past. With that, the race was over, with Alonso easing away to claim victory and enhance his already substantial Championship lead. Schumacher and Räikkönen completed the podium as they limited the damage to their title bids, while Fisichella recovered to fourth ahead of Felipe Massa, Trulli, Heidfeld and David Coulthard. Now Fernando Alonso knows what it feels like to win in Canada. He had been missing this seal, he had never even managed to get on the podium in Montreal, but this time he easily managed to fill that void too. The Renault's Spanish driver, who the more he wins, the more he chooses to keep a low profile, swears that there are no easy victories, especially on a track like this, where an error is always lurking, you can never lose concentration, but the display of superiority he unleashed yesterday is disarming for any opponent, starting with Michael Schumacher, who fought hard to secure a second place, achieved at the last minute thanks to the providential help of a Safety Car and one of Kimi Räikkönen's many mistakes, but still unable to threaten the Spanish rival even for a few metres in his solitary run towards another triumph. Fernando Alonso kissed the cup on the podium. This is his fourth consecutive success, the forty points earned from Barcelona to Montreal, passing through Monte-Carlo and Silverstone, have dealt a severe blow to Ferrari's championship hopes. Michael Schumacher on the other hand enjoys the booing on the podium. He has spoken ill of the local idol Jacques Villeneuve in recent days, saying that he has a better future as a singer than as a driver, and now he is paying the price for his unfortunate joke. He does not seem particularly bothered by the Canadians' hostility. What undoubtedly annoys him more is realising that in Montreal his Ferrari was clearly inferior to Renault, just like Bridgestone which supplies him tyres was outmatched by Michelin which can proudly claim its hundredth victory. The German never gave up and deserves credit for that.
At the start, he had a very heavy car (he stopped for his first refuelling ten laps after Alonso) and this prevented him from passing Jarno Trulli at the start. Not only that, he was also fooled by Nico Rosberg and Juan Pablo Montoya, finding himself in seventh place, and luckily for him the two collided and got out of the way by the second lap. Through Safety Car and luck (Fisichella moving too early on the starting grid and receiving a drive-through penalty that dropped him from third to fifth place), the German defended his fourth place, but he managed to overtake Jarno Trulli only on lap 24. By then it was already too late, Fernando Alonso was ahead of him even though he had already pitted, Kimi Räikkönen started a comical series of misadventures with his first pit stop (they struggled to change his right rear tyre), losing precious seconds here and there, but he still had a better pace than the German. Despite his unique strategy, third place seemed to be the best Michael Schumacher could aspire to, and he was even lucky that on lap 29 it was only a scrape against the wall and that his continuous trips on the grass at turn 15 chicane caused no damage. While Fernando Alonso is moving with great strides towards his achievement (after nine races he has 84 points, four more than the stratospheric Michael Schumacher of 2004, capable of eight wins out of nine races), Ferrari realises they have to settle. The German had a 40-second gap to Fernando Alonso, and a 20-second gap to Kimi Räikkönen, dreaming of something more is a utopia. But luck, at least in Canada where he has won seven times, is on the German's side. Jacques Villeneuve, the local hero, crashed into the wall (if this will be his last time here before retiring, it is very sad), losing eighth place and making the Safety Car come in, which brought Michael Schumacher closer, Kimi Räikkönen (who had already wasted more seconds with his second pit stop) did the rest, making a mistake at the hairpin. It was the penultimate lap, Schumacher was miraculously in second place. In the last four races, he has lost only 12 points to Alonso. However, he is 25 points behind. If the championship fight is not closed, it is very close to it. In three words, it is called a state of grace, the one that Fernando Alonso is experiencing competitively, in Formula 1 he is breaking his taboos one by one, getting closer and closer to reconfirming his world title.
In Montreal he dominated on a circuit where he had never conquered the podium, continuing the magical streak that has seen him always victorious from Barcelona to Monte-Carlo, passing through Silverstone to Montreal, in Grands Prix where he had never achieved anything good in his career. This 2006 of Fernando Alonso (at the moment six victories out of nine Grand Prix) seriously risks becoming Michael Schumacher's 2004 (thirteen wins out of eighteen Grand Prix), also considering the conditions of the other drivers and the teams' errors: the Spaniard now drives with a smoothness, and with a confidence, that is recognised even by his Ferrari adversaries.
"Alonso? Objectively he has grown a lot since last year".
Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari's Sporting Director, admits with fair play. In the heat of the moment, right after the race, the Spanish driver focused on analysing the race, avoiding as usual general proclamations and closing himself off from what he considers to be the greatest danger, i.e. journalists' questions about the already closed World Championship.
"Absolutely not. You saw that Schumi finished second and is always right there, he doesn’t give up".
It is better to comment on the continuation of this great streak, which began in Istanbul last year and is still going on: fifteen consecutive podium finishes.
"It was fantastic. Winning here, after it had always gone badly for me in previous years, between my own mistakes and mechanical problems, tastes great. It was a great result, achieved in a truly challenging race due to the track conditions".
Renault’s World Champion celebrated yet another win of the season, his fourth in a row and the sixth in nine races.
"It was not easy at all to drive today, because the dirt and dust on the track wore tyres out a lot, and it was very easy to make mistakes, in fact I saw many accidents. I struggled to keep my concentration and stay in the lead, but fortunately the car and the tyres performed great, and we secured another important victory".
The Spanish driver’s last mistake dates back to the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix: he touched the wall with his Renault and was forced to retire. Since then, such an episode has not occurred again and Michael Schumacher's record, nineteen podiums in a row, is now within reach.
"But I don't think about that. History teaches me to focus on the present, take this Grand Prix, which I have now won: then the Safety car, my twenty-second lead nullified in an instant, and I almost had a close call. Because the truth is that if you're not a hundred per cent focused you lose reflexes and concentration".
Even at the start, you were almost caught by surprise by Kimi Räikkönen:
"True. He tried, but I reacted well. And then I decided to push to create some gap and avoid a situation like that again".
For his first Canadian victory, there is also some of his family present, his mother Anna and Lorena, his older sister. An event, because they are rarely seen in the F1 paddock.
But, for Fernando, it will be a chance to spend a couple of days with them in New York, before diving into the final challenge, the last taboo to break: Indianapolis.
"A cursed race for me so far. Last year it went the way it went, now we have the potential to make up for it, both us and Michelin. We also owe it to the spectators, they deserve a great show".
Finally a warning for the future:
"At Magny-Cours, there are upgrades planned for the car, and that will be the best defence".
As if to say: lay down your arms and hopes. Kimi Räikkönen, on the other hand, consoles himself:
"Second or third place doesn't matter much. I would have been more upset if I had lost the first position".
The Finn commented on his mistake two laps from the end.
"It was not an easy race, even though the car had a great set-up. Unfortunately, we had a small problem in the first pit stop that forced us to anticipate the second and again we lost those 2-3 seconds, but there was no other way".
The Finnish McLaren driver explains the problem in changing the right rear tyre during the first pit stop. What is certain is that by now the championship standings are taking a clear direction, as explained by Renault's General Manager, Flavio Briatore:
"There are still many races left. Today we earned important points. I think McLaren is now out and it will be a battle between us and Ferrari until the end. This race was tough, we wanted to take care of the tyres and it was difficult at the beginning. Then we tried to control McLaren because everyone had brake issues. The Safety car? It didn't bother us too much because we still had a twenty-second lead over the second car".
Michael Schumacher, on the other hand, is over the moon after the Canadian Grand Prix, and regrets not having had a few more laps to complete his comeback over Renault's driver, Fernando Alonso.
"Too bad there weren't another ten laps. I was very close, and maybe I could have overtaken Alonso. Unfortunately there were only two laps to go...".
Schumacher, who started from fifth place after an unremarkable weekend for Ferrari, still managed to finish second behind Fernando Alonso.
"Considering the starting position I would say it went very well. I tried to attack right from the start and, as I said, at the end, also thanks to the entry of the safety car, I was very close. But even then you would need a mistake from the driver ahead of you. However, it could have happened, given the track conditions that caused several incidents".
Nevertheless, the German driver is satisfied with the outcome of the race in Montreal.
"Thinking about our weekend I would say this is an excellent result. Last year was frustrating. This season is not. Alonso and I often battle, at least I'm having fun. It's true: he's been winning for a while, but I am not giving up. Tyres continue to be a decisive factor and here ours were inferior. We never had enough grip, the car kept sliding all weekend, hopefully, things will be different at Indianapolis".
Schumacher does not seem ready to wave the white flag after the defeat in Montreal. He likely did not enjoy seeing Alonso always far ahead on the horizon, seconds and seconds ahead, while he was touching walls (it happened on the twenty-ninth lap), going off the track (a couple of times at the chicane of turn 15), unable to pass Trulli and inexorably losing ground. However, the fact that he limited the damage with an unexpected second place makes him smile a little.
"We managed to get an excellent result, considering the conditions we started in. Did I touch the wall? Of course. And from that moment on the car was faster. We only lost two points to Alonso, the fight is not over, and the World Championship has not slipped away yet. Of course, we need to reverse the trend as soon as possible, we need to start winning too, but it's not certain that this can't happen already in Indianapolis. It all depends on the tyres".
Those cursed tyres: they made him suffer so much in Canada. And they almost made him fall behind the McLaren as well. Speaking of which, does Räikkönen's comeback scare you? If he also joins the fight, there really is nothing left to do for the title. But Michael Schumacher disagrees:
"I need someone's help. The resurgence of McLaren could be a disadvantage for me, but it could also be a good thing if it takes points away from Alonso. When I'm behind, every point is crucial, you can't waste anything. Here I lost only two, at one point I thought it would be worse. I must also admit that driving here has become very complicated, there was dirt everywhere, and making a mistake was very easy, even if you kept the right racing line. At turn 13 the wall is very close, a simple drift can be fatal, making it to the finish line is already very important".
Even if you find yourself dealing with increasingly deficient standings. And with a not-so-encouraging near future, given that Michael Schumacher may be indomitable, but you cannot blame him if he begins to think he cannot make up 25 points to a Fernando Alonso who never makes mistakes. But perhaps the German is already focused on the distant future, on a future as a top executive, a figurehead, a role that Ferrari is ready to offer him. The final decision, as always, is up to him, it is up to Schumacher to choose whether to continue racing or not, but for months the Maranello team has also already prepared an alternative plan for its champion. It would certainly have been put into practice if Valentino Rossi had decided to switch to Formula 1. With Kimi Räikkönen's arrival considered as certain (Ferrari does not want to lose him for any reason in the world), signing Rossi would have prompted the Maranello team’s men to persuade Michael Schumacher to transition into a managerial role, taking advantage of his vast experience. Now the invitation is less pressing because the German's retirement would result in making room for Felipe Massa. So Michael Schumacher can decide with great freedom. If he continues, he will be paired with Kimi Räikkönen. If he calls it quits and feels like it, he becomes a Ferrari manager.