Michael Schumacher finished a fighting second to Fernando Alonso in Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, at the halfway mark in this year's World Championship. The second of two safety car periods, ten laps from the end of the 70 lap race, saw the field bunch up and Michael was able to snatch second place when Kimi Raikkonen ran wide on the penultimate lap and Michael took second. Teammate Felipe Massa finished fifth.

On a warm day in front of a large crowd, Alonso took the lead at the start from Raikkonen after Renault teammate Giancarlo Fisichella jumped the start which resulted in a penalty and cost him a place off the grid. Jarno Trulli held on to his fourth place, while Nico Rosberg picked up a place as did Juan Pablo Montoya at the expense of Michael Schumacher who dropped two to come round seventh. Jenson Button held on to eighth place from Ralf Schumacher who leapfrogged Felipe Massa.

Montoya and Rosberg collided on lap two which left the Williams in the wall and Montoya requiring a new nose section, so everyone behind moved up two places as the safety car came out for two laps. When it went in, Alonso and Raikkonen set off on a duel for the lead, leaving Fisichella in third place until he came in to pay his penalty for the jumped start. That promoted Trulli to third, pushed hard by Michael Schumacher who was obviously desperate to overtake. Fisichella rejoined in fifth, ahead of Button and then came Jacques Villeneuve pushed by Massa and Nick Heidfeld.

Raikkonen shadowed Alonso all the way to the Renault driver's first stop. Behind, Trulli was still pushed by Michael Schumacher and Fisichella, but it was only after Alonso pitted on lap 23 that changes occurred. First Michael overtook Trulli, just before the Toyota driver pitted. And then Raikkonen suffered clutch trouble at his pit stop on lap 25 and afterwards the gap to Alonso had opened up to over five seconds. Trulli and Fisichella also stopped on lap 25, the Renault driver overtaking the Toyota, but it wasn't until lap 32 that Michael pitted for the first time, rejoining third. Teammate Massa pitted for the first and only time on lap 36, just after half distance. Alonso had stretched his lead over Raikkonen to more than seven seconds but there was a 22s gap back to Michael in third. Fisichella was next trom Trulli, then Massa after his pit stop, followed by the BMW Saubers of Villeneuve and Heidfeld.

The track was now treacherous. It had started to break up in places, and 'marbles' of rubber made it as slippery as ice off-line. Fisichella, Raikkonen and Michael were all victims of brief off-circuit moments. Approaching the second pit stops, Alonso now had a 13s lead over Raikkonen, with Michael still around 23s further back. Raikkonen had further problems at this pit stop as the clutch was now inoperable and his deficit to Alonso grew to 25 seconds. Michael stopped later again and rejoined 18s behind, while Fisichella was fourth, from Massa fifth, the last unlapped runner. Trulli was next from Heidfeld who had leapfrogged team mate Villeneuve at the final pit stop.

But the local hero was surprised by a slowing Ralf Schumacher with ten laps to go and hit the wall hard, which brought out the safety car, closing everyone up. When it went in, with seven laps to go, Alonso had a 3.8s lead over Raikkonen who was just two seconds ahead of Michael. But with two laps to go, the Finn ran wide in the hairpin, and Michael was through to second and just 2.1s behind Alonso at the flag. Raikkonen recovered for third, Fisichella was fourth from Massa in fifth place.
 

Trulli was lapped in sixth with Heidfeld seventh, while David Coulthard came through to claim the final point after starting at the back of the grid due to an engine change. He pipped Button with three laps to go.

Jean Todt: "We leave Montreal with the same result we got in Silverstone a fortnight ago; that's to say a second place with Michael and a fifth for Felipe. We expected a tough, closely fought race and that's what we got. These twelve points can be looked at in two ways: negatively when you think that the gap in the two classifications has got bigger; positively if you consider where we started from on the grid and how things went at the start. The Canadian Grand Prix marks the end of the first half of the season. We are second in both championships, but a long way back, especially when one takes into account the consistency in results terms and the performance level of our main rivals. But this does not mean we are throwing in the towel: not us, nor our friends at Bridgestone."

Michael Schumacher: "Today was about damage limitation. Second place is the best we could do in a race that was already complicated by my grid position and was made even harder by what was definitely a far from perfect start, which forced me to be stuck behind Trulli for many laps. The safety car and Kimi's mistake towards the end helped me to make up a place. It was a very hard race, especially as it was very difficult to drive: you only had to stray off the ideal line by a tiny amount and you ran the risk of ending up off the track, as the track was so dirty and the track surface was breaking up. Towards half distance, I lightly touched the wall at the exit to the final corner, but luckily the car was not at all damaged. We must not give up and I know we won't, starting already next weekend in Indianapolis, where tyre performance will be crucial."

Felipe Massa: "I am happy with the outcome of today's race, both with my result and with Michael's. These are important points in both championships. We had chosen a different strategy to the others, based on just one stop to refuel and change tyres. Even with a heavy fuel load, the car and tyres performed well and I was able to run a competitive pace. Only after the safety car did I feel a slight lack of grip, but in this particular situation, we were in much better shape than yesterday."

Ross Brawn: "Overall, this weekend we were simply not quick enough to overtake our main rivals. We have to make an extra effort to close the gap that separates us from them. The final safety car helped us, allowing Michael to make up a further place and limit the damage in the classification. It was a shame Michael had to spend so many laps behind Trulli. It was frustrating as our driver could run at a much higher pace, as we saw when he was able to push with a clear track ahead of him. The Bridgestone tyres worked well during the race, which is what we'd expected. As the saying goes, "never give up," and we will stick to that saying!"

Michael Schumacher: 2nd + 2.111 70 laps chassis 254; Felipe Massa: 5th + 25.172 70 laps chassis 250; Temperatures: air 28°C, track 41/44°C