Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa scored a resounding one-two for Ferrari in today's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, the pair finishing just 0.7s apart but over 12 seconds ahead of their nearest rival. Most importantly, by taking his 70th win for Ferrari, Michael has reduced Fernando Alonso's championship lead to just 11 points, and Renault are now just ten points ahead of Ferrari.

With an ambient temperature of 33 degrees and a track temperature around 50, it was bound to be a hot and exhausting race in front of a nearly full grandstands. Poleman Kimi Raikkonen went straight into the lead from the Ferraris, while Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso overtook Honda's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. Red Bull Racing's David Coulthard and Toyota's Ralf Schumacher had a coming together at the hairpin, which resulted in Schumacher pitting.

So at the end of the first lap, Raikkonen led from the Ferraris before a gap to Fisichella, Button had re-overtaken by Alonso, then came Pedro de la Rosa's McLaren and Mark Webber's Williams. Teammate Nico Rosberg was another first lap casualty. During the first ten laps, Raikkonen rapidly opened up a 2.9s lead over the Ferraris, but then dived into the pits for a very early fuel stop, a result of a refuelling error between the second and third qualifying sessions on the Saturday. Button moved up to fourth on lap two having re-overtaken both Renaults, while de la Rosa was an early retirement.

When Raikkonen pitted, a 15s stop due to a stuck wheel meant that he re-emerged behind the Webber/Barrichello duo in eighth place. Klien was next. At the front, the Ferrari pair were still running close together, but over ten seconds ahead of third placed Button. The Honda driver pitted on lap 16, while further back, his teammate overtook Webber for sixth place. The pit stops began in earnest on lap 18 with Barrichello stopping, then Massa and Fisichella on lap 19 - which time Webber had caught Alonso, suffering severe tyre blistering. The World Champion would stop on lap 20 as did Michael, rejoining just ahead of his teammate after suffering traffic on his in lap.

The order was now was Michael just ahead of Massa, with the non-stopping Webber 17s down in second place. Button was next from Raikkonen, then the non-stopping Klien just ahead of Fisichella. Trulli, another not to stop, was next from Alonso. Fisichella was soon also suffering blistering and he began to drop away from Klien, who pitted on lap 25. On lap 28, Webber came in as did Raikkonen for his second stop and Trulli. Michael was still less than two seconds ahead of Massa, but they were a massive 25s ahead of their nearest rival, in this case Button who led the troubled Fisichella, being caught by Webber who had successfully pulled away from Alonso even though he was on a full fuel load. Raikkonen was next.

By lap 38, Webber had caught the troubled Fisichella for fourth place and quickly overtook, although the Italian would pit for the second time on the next lap. Button also came in, while Alonso would pit on lap 43 and the two Ferraris over the next couple of laps. Michael was still only a couple of seconds ahead of Massa, but Webber was 14s further back when he made his second stop on lap 48 which dropped him to sixth. It was now Raikkonen in third place with Button fourth. Trulli made a stop on lap 51 which dropped him to eighth place, behind Webber and the Renaults. Raikkonen made his final stop on lap 55, rejoining just ahead of Webber but he soon caught Button and overtook him on lap 58. Webber retired on lap 58 with engine failure due to a water leak on lap 59. So Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa took a tremendous one-two for Ferrari, with Raikkonen coming through to claim a troubled third.
 

Button was a happy fourth from the Renaults of Alonso and Fisichella. Trulli was seventh with Klien in eighth place. It was the fifth win and second one-two of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro - a fifth win for Michael Schumacher too. This was the nineteenth German Grand Prix win for the Prancing Horse, number 188 from 735 races. For Michael Schumacher this is his eighty ninth win from 244 Grand Prix starts, the fourth at this circuit and his seventieth at the wheel of a Ferrari.

Jean Todt: "A dream result! The race was trouble free, the car was perfect, the drivers impeccable with Bridgestone tyres clearly superior to their competitors. The moment from this day I will keep in my mind is the podium ceremony, that featured my three favourite drivers. Tomorrow, we will come down to earth and think about the next race in Budapest. I have always maintained that as long as it was mathematically possible, we would continue to pursue our objectives. That's what we are doing and what we will continue to do. However, we really must keep our feet on the ground even more than usual. We have "only" had a one-two, even if that in itself is quite something! Finally on behalf of all at Ferrari I would like to pay a special tribute to Bridgestone on securing their one hundredth Formula 1 victory. Finally I am happy to point out that, today, three Ferrari F430 GTC took the first three places in the Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours in the GT2 category."

Michael Schumacher: "Superb! I can't begin to find the right adjectives to describe the car-engine-Bridgestone tyre package and the performance of the whole team. We worked hard at last week's Paul Ricard test and I am very happy that today that work bore fruit. I want to congratulate Felipe, who drove a great race. It was very important to have made up several points over our main rivals at the key moment of the season. I had no problems whatsoever all weekend and I have to say that winning here in front of my fans makes it a really special victory. Already, during this morning's Driver Parade I got a great feeling seeing all the support I had in the crowd and I am happy to have been able to pay them back with this win. The fight for both titles is now very open. There are still six races to go and there is still room to push and put those in front of us under more pressure. I am confident and keen to get back on with the next few races."

Felipe Massa: "We did an even better job than expected. I saw yesterday morning that we had a really good pace for the race; especially my speed on old tyres was very surprising. I was therefore convinced we would have an even stronger car for the race. That is how it turned out. After a good start and good first pit stop I saw that I had a big gap to the following cars and from then on I concentrated on looking after the car and bringing it home. I drove an intelligent race in what was an important one for the team at this stage of the season, given our targets in both championships. Now it will be important for us to continue moving forward with this same momentum and concentration to the end of the championship. I hope that, in the short term, we can repeat this performance in seven days in Budapest."

Ross Brawn: "It would be hard to ask for a better result! The cars were perfect, as were the Bridgestone tyres and the engine: everything worked to perfection. When I saw Kimi go in for his first pit stop, it confirmed what we had been expecting and from then to the end of the race it was a case of looking after the car and the tyres which we did without any problems. In the last few races, we have introduced some new components on the 248 F1 and this result is down to all the hard work carried out by the Scuderia. Michael and Felipe were perfect and today we have made significant progress in both championships. There is every reason to be optimistic for the rest of the season, although we know we must stay calm and concentrate."

Michael Schumacher: 1st 1:27:51.693 67 laps chassis 254; Felipe Massa: 2nd + 0.720 67 laps chassis 252; Temperatures: air 33/32°C, track 45°C