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Screams and chants can be heard in Barcelona. For Alonso, of course. But also for Schumacher, who dreams of an equal duel even in the cheering:
"Because Ferrari is loved all over the world, the home advantage is never a problem for us".
Perhaps his claim is a little too daring, Ferrari is revered, but in Spain, the fever for Alonso has now reached unthinkable levels, as demonstrated by the almost 200.000 spectators announced between Saturday and Sunday. On the other hand, it is not bold to talk about maximum balance on the track, given that on Friday, May 12, 2006, in the second hour of free practice, the usual duelists were separated by just 0.240 seconds, a breath, to the advantage of the Spaniard, caused by the excellent Renault, but probably also by the great incitement of the home crowd. In Barcelona, Fernando Alonso is eager to give his people delirium. There is great confidence in his words.
"So far we've only been inferior to Ferrari at the Nurburgring, I don't see why we should be shaking here".
But confidence also reigns supreme in Schumacher's thoughts.
"In terms of tyres, we continue to make great strides, the car is faster than when we tested in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago; we made some changes to the car and it proved to be successful, there is no reason not to dream big. Many argue that you can overtake here, but I would prefer to start on pole and that is an achievable goal, although, in the end, the most important thing remains the strategy, where we often have no rivals".
Battle on the track. And also in words, given the great optimism, deliberately not hidden, of both. They are travelling at the same pace and on the same wavelength, as the enemies also agree on the duration of the world duel. Alonso has no doubts.
"The World Championship will be decided at the last race, but that doesn't scare me. So far I've never gone lower than second place, my car never has mechanical problems, it won't be easy to take the title away from me".
Michael Schumacher echoes:
"I'm ready to fight and so is my car. In Barcelona and in all the other races. It will be a tough challenge, but now I feel on par with Renault. And I can do it, even without the help of other drivers".
Although difficult, given the McLaren crisis. Where the German driver is less resolute, however, is on his future. On the eve of the Spanish Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher made it clear that the timing of the decision is getting longer:
"End of season, the team can wait".
And Flavio Briatore observes:
"Is he deciding to retire, isn't he?"
In any case, Ferrari seems quiet. It may be that many take the signing of Kimi Räikkönen for granted, while Ross Brawn brings up the subject of Valentino Rossi again:
"He asked time for his choice, we'll wait for him".
On Saturday, May 13, 2006, the first qualifying session immediately became interesting, with the elimination of one of the two veterans: David Coulthard did not set a qualifying time and will line up behind everyone. Saving himself from the three second-tier teams is once again the Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi, with his Toro Rosso. The second session saw the elimination of another protagonist: Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya with the twelfth time. Along with the South American, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Jacques Villeneuve, Christian Klien, in sixteenth place, Vitantonio Liuzzi. In Q3, it is the Renaults that are the masters. The two drivers of the French team locked the front row, 0.061 seconds apart. The attempts of Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa, who finished in the second row, were useless, being 0.3 and 0.7 seconds apart. Excellent performance by the Toyotas, with Ralf Schumacher sixth and Jarno Trulli seventh, while the one who came out disappointed is certainly Kimi Räikkönen, ninth on the grid. The roar is deafening. Spain cheers, its fastest son did not betray, he drove his Renault to greatness and took pole position. The more than 100.000 spectators can rejoice, the hours of queueing to invade the racetrack were not a useless sacrifice, and the many fans were rewarded. Alonso had promised:
"Ferrari is not scary, we will prove to be stronger".
And he kept his promise. But as the Renault yellow-blue delirium plays out in the stands, the Saturday king appears strangely nervous. And with him his teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, only 0.061 seconds behind and also in the front row, and the general manager of Renault, Flavio Briatore. Never this year had the French team monopolised the noblest part of the lineup, one would expect immoderate jubilation and instead, the faces are pulled, and the mouths do not hesitate to throw poison and suspicions. Blame that great Ferrari speed on the straight, Massa (fourth on the grid) whizzing by at 319 km/h, Schumacher (third, yet very happy) reaching 314 km/h, while Fisichella is only at 311 km/h and Alonso even at 304 km/h. Two red rockets, at least on the straight, that Renault struggles to fight off. And which frighten in view of the race. So much so as to bring back to light the old issue of the irregular Ferrari wings, which arose from the very first moments of the current World Championship, in Bahrain, but which has always remained in an embryonic state, since the opponents have never presented an official protest and the FIA has made it clear that it considers these aerodynamic appendages legal. One would have thought the story was over, considering that the World Championship is in its sixth episode, but Renault, perhaps frightened by their rivals’ great strides forward, does not think so. Amid a strange nervousness, accusations pop up, with the result of triggering Ferrari’s reaction. Says Luca Colajanni, head of communication:
"If they have anything to complain about, they can file a complaint with the FIA, we are not afraid. The car is the same as the Nurburgring. It's fast on the straight because it has a great engine, good tyres, and efficient aerodynamics. The rest is just talk".
Which, however, highlights a strange situation. Those in front do not offer the utmost serenity. Those behind, on the other hand, appear almost seraphic, like Felipe Massa, who announces:
"Four-tenths of a lap time advantage, Renault is slower than us this time".
And above all Michael Schumacher, who does not hesitate to talk about victory:
"Because we sacrificed qualifying for the race, we had taken into account to start behind them, but with our pace during the race we can make a difference".
At Ferrari, there are no veiled messages, but authentic declarations of faith.
"We have very clear ideas about the strategy: on the track you can no longer overtake, it has become difficult even here in Barcelona, but in the pits you can".
As if to say, expect another Nurburgring-style mockery, Fernando Alonso starting ahead, but not making a huge gap, the German waiting and then unleashing the winning flicker. This time, however, there is a variable: Giancarlo Fisichella's second, which could slow down Michael Schumacher and favour the breakaway. The German knows and raises his game:
"I'm starting on the clean side, why couldn’t I overtake him right away?"
Yeah, and what if you cannot?
"Fisichella can still fight for the title".
Michael Schumacher exorcises. But in the meantime, the young man replies to the old man as if he already had won. Fernando Alonso almost does a lap of honour to greet his people (more than 100,000 people) who have come with the hope of celebrating him. Behind him is also his teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella. Yet, as mentioned, the Renault team is nervous: the old man, Michael Schumacher, is close. Too close for Flavio Briatore’s liking:
"Bridgestones only exist with Ferraris. Not with the other teams. It's hard to understand how that can happen, but that's how it is. These are the mysteries of Formula One, but we will be able to understand these mysteries sooner or later".
The best defence is the attack, and the general manager of the French team is a master at this: he revives the controversy, insinuating suspicions about Ferrari that - since the first Grand Prix, that of Bahrain - had ended up in the crosshairs of the other teams with the accusations of flexible wings at the limit of regularity, if not beyond. However, it was only a verbal controversy, because no investigation has ever been opened, and no team has filed appeals. The doubts at Renault remain. Even Giancarlo Fisichella thinks aloud that:
"Ferrari has a straight line speed of 8-9 km/h more than we do. Honestly, it's incredible. We didn't expect such a difference. It's not just extra horsepower, there's something that doesn’t add up".
The Italian driver grants the benefit of the doubt:
"Maybe they found something that's perfect. But it’s strange that we don't find it too".
So, curiously, those starting in pole position are afraid of losing (Renault) and those who chase (Ferrari) are certain of victory.
Someone who does not indulge in winks and allusions is Alonso: the champion chooses a different communication strategy:
"That of thinking about our own things. I would like us to focus on our work and the car".
He points out, rightly, that:
"This year the worst position was second place, and so this must be the way to go: consistency. If Ferrari is strong, settle for second place. Otherwise, aim hard for the top step of the podium".
Fernando Alonso does not deny himself, and confirms that he is impervious to pressure, trying to turn the potentially most difficult race, his home race, into pure enthusiasm:
"Can I say? The 66 laps will not be enough to enjoy the day and the crowd that Barcelona will present. Too bad there's only one Grand Prix a year".
A key role, in the Renault defence strategy, could be played by Fisichella. The start will be decisive, and the Italian driver could put the brakes on Ferrari's German in the pursuit of the Spaniard.
"But I don't slow anyone down".
Giancarlo Fisichella responds indignantly, sending the accusation back to the sender. The truth is that these are intense days at Renault, from every point of view. Flavio Briatore admits to having the new contract on the table:
"But I didn't sign it and I don't know if I'll sign it: I have to talk to myself first".
For him the priority:
"Is making Renault a winner".
Fernando Alonso had started his home race weekend in perfect fashion, claiming pole position ahead of Renault teammate Giancarlo Fisichella. Title rival Michael Schumacher would line up in third alongside his Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa, with Rubens Barrichello lining up in fifth for Honda. Furthermore, it would be formation flying for Renault at the start of the race, with Alonso sprinting off the line ahead of teammate Fisichella to claim the lead. It was a similar picture behind as Schumacher and Massa got away well in the Ferraris, although Massa almost managed to draft alongside his teammate before deciding against a move. A surprisingly clean start saw Kimi Räikkönen make the most ground of any driver, leaping from ninth to fifth, while teammate Juan Pablo Montoya also moved up the order. The two Toyotas were the biggest losers as they slipped down to the back of the top ten, while Scott Speed also made notable progress in the Toro Rosso. The early stages saw Alonso stamp his authority on the race, blasting away to build a four-second lead within four laps. Fisichella dutifully dropped back to keep Schumacher and Massa in check, with Räikkönen looming behind, as the rest of the field ran together in pairs.
Indeed, with the majority of the field running with teammates nose-to-tail there was little action of note until Ralf Schumacher made a mess of a lunge on Toyota teammate Jarno Trull, ripping the front wing from his car. Jenson Button, meanwhile, was getting frustrated behind teammate Barrichello, and would repeatedly ask to be let past the Brazilian racer as he could not force a move. As had become increasingly familiar in 2006 it was only when the first pitstop window opened that the order was changed, with Alonso dropping to fourth after stopping on lap seventeen. Fisichella inherited the lead but would only stay out for a single lap, before Schumacher made his bid for victory, completing four quick laps in clear air before diving in for his stop. Ultimately Schumacher would only just manage to jump Fisichella with his longer first stint, out-braking the #2 Renault into the first corner as he exited the pit lane. He would instantly break away to chase Alonso having claimed second, while Fisichella went for a bounce across the gravel at turn three and hence dropped back into the clutches of Massa, Räikkönen and Button. Once again the race would settle into a procession, with Alonso able to inch away from Schumacher, while Fisichella, Massa, Räikkönen and Button remained in a tense stalemate. Behind, there was little action of note, although Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld would find themselves battling at the bottom end of the points. The second round of stops was started by Alonso, with Schumacher staying out five laps longer than the Spaniard in another bid to claim the lead. Yet, Alonso's advantage ahead of the second round of stops was simply too big to overcome, meaning Schumacher emerged in a lonely second still ten seconds behind the Spaniard. With that, the race was effectively over, with Alonso easing away in the final laps to claim victory over Schumacher by almost twenty seconds. Fisichella would then complete the podium ahead of Massa, with Räikkönen and Button having fallen away from the battle for third after the second round of stops. Barrichello and Heidfeld completed the points, a lap behind the leaders. The king dressed in red, who had so excited the Germans at the Nurburgring, makes way this time. To two kings, who prance happily on the podium.
That of Spain, the fan Juan Carlos, who rewards with a wide smile the pupil Fernando Alonso, and that of the track, who had never managed to triumph in Barcelona in his career, and now enjoys all of his emotions, in front of the endless crowd in delirium, to the more than 100.000 fans who with their roars pushed him towards apotheosis and gave new breath to his escape in the standings, while the downsized Michael Schumacher, again without a crown and with his face marked by disappointment, questions the unexpected step backwards of his car. Alonso won, as the grandstands dreamed. But above all Ferrari lost, perhaps the victim of the sin of presumption, the certainty of being clearly stronger than its rival in the race pace and of being able to afford a car with much more fuel at the start. It does not matter if Michael Schumacher does not grab pole position, because then it is strategy that makes the difference. Ferrari is running faster, it can stay glued to Fernando Alonso and at the right moment, with the extra laps asked of the wild German, pull off the usual mockery, with the overtaking in the pits that so mocks the competitors. A precise plan, resoundingly denied by the facts. Because the decisive moment, the one that gave the glory to Fernando Alonso, is not the pyrotechnic finale, the Spaniard who begins waving to the crowd two kilometres from the finish, who lets go of the wheel, first with one hand and then with both, who in front of the finish line tries his hand in a gymkhana, right, left, zig-zags and people go crazy. The decisive moment is at the start, the first straight, Fernando Alonso immediately running away, Giancarlo Fisichella hounding him at the first corner and then tailing off, Michael Schumacher struggling and unable to keep the pace, settling for third place. The German, the development of the race will reveal, has 15 kilos of extra fuel, and makes the first stop at the beginning of lap 24, six laps after Fernando Alonso. If he had put in the same fuel the day before as the Spaniard, he would have pulled down 0.5 seconds off his time and taken pole position, a result that would perhaps have given a different imprint to the race. So instead the delayed pit stop allows him to overcome only Giancarlo Fisichella, who was then guilty of further worsening his disadvantage with an adventure on the gravel. But with Fernando Alonso, there is nothing to do. The Spaniard is inevitable: after nine laps he had an 8-second lead, after twelve Michael Schumacher was 10.2 seconds apart, a margin that allowed him to comfortably maintain the lead after the first stop and also after the second and last. The German’s Ferrari also made its final stops six laps later, at the beginning of lap 47, but this time there were no exciting rides or thrilling comebacks.
Michael Schumacher is lacking pace, after 47 laps he is 12 seconds down, after 59 he is 16 seconds behind, and he will finish the race with a gap of 18.5 seconds. The defeat is clear and perhaps, for once, it began the day before, the exact opposite of the Nurburgring, where the Ferrari genius had overturned the predictions. Massa also lost his confrontation with Giancarlo Fisichella: he is a little slower, the strategy does not help him, the Italian driver goes on the podium, and the Brazilian is fourth. Fernando Alonso, the greatness of a historic celebration is also given by statistics. Right?
"I don't know, this is a day full of emotions for me that I will always remember, for the rest of my life".
Another dream come true.
"Now I slowly realise everything: my ride with the king on the circuit in the morning. The start. The first lap. The cheering crowd after Schumacher's pit stop. The chequered flag. So many flashes in my mind, unbelievable".
And the jubilation.
"What an atmosphere. How wonderful to see all that yellow and blue. My people".
Never had any doubts, afraid of Ferrari?
"I was expecting a stronger Ferrari in the race, but I think the credit is all ours".
A day of perfection.
"That’s it, the right definition. The set-up of the car was optimal, the tyres at their best. We did well from the beginning".
Actually, Fisichella was playing a trick on you at the start.
"He was more reactive, but all in all it went well. But it was a tough race, certainly not a walk in the park".
When did you realise it was game over?
"Let's say I saw that Schumi wasn't going faster than me, and so I could also breathe".
You also put things back in place in the standings.
"There, the question is long. Schumi is always there, and the others will get closer too".
In the meantime, you have more points than last year. An impressive road map.
"That’s good, but the credit goes to the team if the set-up of the car is great and you can get the most out of the results".
After a day like this, you can also relax for a moment. Or not?
"Absolutely yes. I touched the limits of the car, and I only did it for my people present at Montmelò. I thank the crowd who cheered for me and made me race as hard as I could. Thanks to them I was able to 'push' the car and myself".
The cheering was also on the limit.
"A little show, for an extra smile. I don't think it hurts anyone".
Giancarlo Fisichella, on the other hand, finally tells what no one has ever dared to admit: communications with the pits are a torture - and a serious distraction - for the drivers:
"Today I had an exceptional start, behind Fernando, at the first corner we were first and second, I kept a fast pace throughout the first part of the race, Ferrari was very good after the first pit stop and Michael overtook me. From that moment on, the engineers were calling me often and I lost control of the car, with the stones I took, it wasn’t the engine that was damaged, but the tyres lost grip...".
Flavio Briatore, however, does not agree:
"The tyres did not affect the race, I was pleasantly surprised that we pulled away from the two Ferraris from the start. Fisichella by the way did not block Schumi: they were hoping to overtake him, and we were hoping for a one-two, but that was not the case. We did everything right, beating a great Ferrari. They had a great race too. These are the races that get people excited about F1".
This time he got the predictions wrong. He had deluded himself, Michael Schumacher, that he was much faster than Fernando Alonso, that he could beat him with ease at home, even with a much heavier car at the beginning due to the greater amount of fuel. The German thought that could make a difference with the exhilarating rhythm put on the track on Friday, during free practice, and instead in the race he was forced to surrender, he could not help but recognise the obvious superiority of Renault. Schumacher, why were your plans not fulfilled?
"There is only one reason: we were too slow. In the last laps of the race, it took us a second more to run a lap than on Friday. An inexplicable fact".
How much does it weigh in this defeat to have had Fisichella ahead in the first part of the race?
"Little or nothing. In the first few laps, he probably had some problems, but I can't say he slowed me down. You have to be honest: even without him, I would never have been able to keep up with Alonso's rhythm. I didn't have the right speed to take up the challenge".
Did Renault amaze you with this speed?
"I was more surprised by our slowness. The temperature was the same as on Saturday, and the conditions on the track were not very different, I can't understand why we suddenly became less competitive. Alonso made no mistakes, he was perfect, and he deserved the victory. I dreamed of it on the eve, but in the race, I understood from the beginning that there would be no history. I am very disappointed".
Do you not think you were wrong in your strategy too? Why all that fuel on board, stopping six laps after Alonso, was that not a little too much?
"The strategy was right, what was lacking was the speed. Our plans were based on Friday and Saturday's performance, a performance that dropped badly in the decisive moment".
When did you decide to give up?
"I usually only do it on the last lap, I don't give up until the last chance is gone. But there was nothing to do here: after the last pit stop I only thought of defending second place from Fisichella's attacks".
Do you promise a redemption in Monte-Carlo?
"I don't want to make any more predictions, I just hope to find my speed again. When you are slow, winning is impossible".
He does not like to lose. At the end of the race, the German is angry:
"I don't understand why we suddenly became so slow, unable to keep up with Renault's pace".
And he does not change his mind the next day, even if he declares himself satisfied with his second place in Barcelona, although he does not know the reason for the step back compared to Friday and Saturday. This does not detract from the fact that his optimism in general perspective remains unchanged:
"I will fight to win the eighth world title".
This is somewhat the reasoning shared by Jean Todt:
"If we're so disappointed for a second and fourth place, that's a good sign. It means that we are back to being strong, and able to fight for the final victory. Just a few months ago we would have shouted a miracle for these placings, now they leave a bitter taste in our mouths".
And the desire to immediately think about Monte-Carlo, where Michael Schumacher admits that Renault, because of its traction, is favoured.
"But we have no intention of giving up without a fight".
So much so that on Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 May 2006 the German will be on track in Fiorano. Then he will travel to Monte-Carlo, where there may be the announcement by Ferrari of the signing of Kimi Räikkönen. The fate of Michael Schumacher, on the other hand, will be known in September. It is Jean Todt himself who states this:
"At the Italian Grand Prix, you will know next year's team".