By Elmar Dreher Apr 24, 2006, 14:58 GMT
Imola, Italy - Just how long will Ferrari magic last?
(L-R) Second placed Spanish Formula One driver Fernando Alonso (Renault), winner German Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) and third placed Columbian Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren Mercedes) jubilate on the podium after the Grand Prix of San Marino at the F1 race track in Imola, Italy, Sunday 23 April 2006. EPA/GERO BRELOER
Ex-world champion Michael Schumacher beat title holder Fernando Alonso of the Renault team in a thrilling San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday for his first proper Formula One victory in 18 months, but the two drivers then had a different outlook into the future.
'We should be competitive everywhere from now on. But it is always the same at the end of the day, who maximises their opportunities will be in front,' said Schumacher.
Alonso said: 'We have to remember that Ferrari had a very bad season last year but here at Imola they were one second quicker than us. Imola is a quite different circuit so we will find out in the next two or three races who the quick cars are in 2006.'
The next races are in the drivers' home countries Germany (European GP) and Spain, but for now there was plenty of delight about the Imola thriller and Ferrari's win.
'Schumi fantastico,' titled the La Gazetta dello Sport daily on Monday, adding that the victory was 'a leap into the future.'
The Corriere della Sera spoke of 'the resurrection of Ferrari' and La Stampa named the 37-year-old Schumacher 'The grand old man.'
There was similar delight in Schumacher's home country Germany.
'Our Schumi is the best, after all,' said mass circulation paper Bild on the front page. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung agreed, saying: 'Schumacher can still win.'
For the drivers and teams, the outcome was no real surprise as Schumacher had been upbeat all the way heading into the weekend and Alonso had rated Ferrari the most dangerous rivals.
Ferrari confidence was further boosted when Schumacher grabbed a record 66th pole position on Saturday, bettering the mark of 65 from Ayrton Senna who crashed to his death on the same track in 1994.
Good team tactics and a reliable car on Sunday then allowed Schumacher to avenge his narrow Imola defeat against Alonso from last year and to underline his championship ambitions.
'It was great. What else can you say? All of us at Ferrari had an amazing weekend. We did a lot of work in general over the weekend. There was a big push from everybody and it paid off,' said Schumacher.
It was the first proper victory for Schumacher and Ferrari since he won the Japanese race in October 2004. The German won the US Grand Prix last year, but only six cars participated on that race as all other teams include Renault did not compete over tyre concerns.
As much as morale is restored for Schumacher and his team, the championship lead could still be far away.
Alonso leads the way with 36 points ahead of Schumacher, who has 21.
Even if Schumacher continues to beat the Spaniard for victory, it will take him eight races to go on top if Alonso finishes second all the time, easily achievable given Renault's reliability. Alonso has won two races this season and placed second in the other two.
Alonso named Schumacher 'a contender and a big rival at the end of the championship,' but also expressed his happiness that he left the other rivals, team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella and McLaren's Kimi Rikkonen, behind him.
'Championship-wise it was a perfect result,' said Alonso.
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