By Elmar Dreher Apr 23, 2006, 18:32 GMT
Imola, Italy - Ferrari's Michael Schumacher on Sunday led from start to finish to take the San Marino Grand Prix from world champion Fernando Alonso in a Renault.
German Formula One driver Michael Schumacher of Scuderia Ferrari F1 jubilates after winning ahead of Spanish Fernando Alonso of Renault the Grand Prix of San Marino at the F1 race track in Imola, Italy, Sunday 23 April 2006. EPA/DANIEL DAL ZENNARO
'This was a very important victory for us after some difficult times,' he said after the race.
'It was an amazing race, a lot of work. There was a lot of struggle, but we were very competitive throughout the weekend. It feels really great to have won again.'
Juan-Pablo Montoya in a McLaren-Mercedes was third from the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in a McLaren who finished fifth.
The final points for the race went to Mark Webber in a Williams, who finished sixth, Honda's Jenson Button in seventh and the second Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella.
The safety car had to come out on the first lap as Christijan Albers in a Midland was involved in a horrific crash after being nudged in the back by Yuji Ide in a Super Aguri.
Luckily though, Albers escaped uninjured after rolling over a few times.
The seven-time world champion Schumacher managed to keep the lead from the start and pushed ahead of the rest of the field as the race progressed through the early stages.
Championship leader Alonso benefited from the first set of petrol breaks as he moved past Button and Massa into second place.
He then started gaining ground on Schumacher - with over one second per lap - but failed to overtake him on the narrow track. Schumacher said he did not know why the car was suddenly going so much slower. 'There was obviously a problem, but we do not know what it was.'
The Spaniard was then called into the pits in a tactical move to allow him a quicker run without Schumacher blocking him, but the attempts failed as Schumacher managed to come out ahead of the Renault as he went back onto the track after competing his last petrol stop a lap later.
The race then developed into a cat and mouse game as Alonso sat on Schumacher's tail wanting to overtake the Ferrari which was lapping slower than the Renault.
In a practical re-run of last year's San Marino Grand Prix when Alonso was leading but the Ferrari was the faster car but could not pass, Alonso came agonizingly close to slipping past a few times.
The Spaniard, however, made two mistakes going wide which cost him valuable time and as a result he could not catch the German who then took his 85th career victory.
'As I knew from last year it is a very difficult track to overtake and I had to keep looking back to see Alonso but I knew it would be difficult to overtake,' Schumacher said.
Alonso agreed with Schumacher that it was virtually impossible to overtake. 'There was nothing I could do. Michael did not make a mistake. We tried to achieve something by going into the pits early, but it did not work - maybe it even counted against us.
'On a different track I would have won, but it was not like that here and I am happy with second place and eight points.'
Alonso maintains his lead in the championship standings with 36 points from Schumacher, who now has 21 points.
Schumacher said he had always believed that he could still win races and challenge for the title. 'The championship had never really gone away, but it is still a long way. It is a dream result for us to have won here and the difference is now two points less.'
The next race is the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring on May 7.
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