Lucky Renault strikes back at Nurburgring.

So near, yet so far!

Kimi Raikkonen is perhaps one of the unluckiest drivers of all time. In a race where he lead right from turn one right up to a position where he was poised for victory, a spectacular breakage of the suspension sent him,his car and with it the hopes of catching up with championship leader Fernando Alonso spinning into the gravel. Had Raikkonen's machine been intact, the race for the top slot would have been wide open with Alonso and him taking three a piece in the last six races. McLaren salvaged some pride with Montoya coming in seventh and picking up a few points on the way.

Alonso, who eventually won the race was in a position which any formula one racer would envy. He did not have to handle the pressure that a race leader would have to. Neither was he too close to Raikkonen while the former crashed out in which case his own car could have come under a rain of gravel and pieces of McLaren,which, no doubt would still be trying to stop him from winning. And to make things better, Alonso was well informed of Raikkonen's uneasyness with his front right-hand side suspension and the actual crash as and when it happened on his on-board radio. Neither could Flavio or Fernando control their emotions after they realized the stroke of luck and genius that had surpassed them and broke into celebrating a race that neither would the Renaults, nor the McLarens or any other person related to Formula One for that matter would forget for a long time!

For Nick Heidfeld, the man who set the tracks on fire in a blistering qualifying lap on saturday had a good early race but a pit stop late in the race made him lose a possible first ever victory in Formula One. His team mate, Webber, was not as lucky, getting involved in a multi-car imbroglio into turn one and facing an early exit after a promising P3.

Ferrari showed signs of comeback with Rubens Barichello taking the first podium for the F2005 and Schumacher coming a respectable fifth. It now seems more than evident that Ferrari and Bridgestone seem to be moving ahead in unlocking the massive potential that the F2005 has. Infact, thinking of where Michael Schumacher would have been had he not had to make an unscheduled pit stop after the Webber-Montoya jam points to only one direction - and that is the podium. Still, a fair amount of work needs to be done by the tyre manufacturer. As far as qualifying is concerned, Bridgestone tyres do not seem to heat up fast enough to be able to react to the way the quickish F2005 operates.

In other news, David Coulthard managed to drive amazingly well and come a respectable fourth inspite of the fact that he had to drive through the pits once. Infact, the Scotsman claims that he could have been on the podium had it not been for the penalty. Fissichella, the other Renault driver who had a stall on the starting grid would have to be happy for landing in the points, coming sixth, just ahead of the Mercedes of Montoya and the Toyota of Trulli. Trulli managed to keep the Toyota's in the points after his team mate Ralk spun out on lap 33.

The Brackley based British outfit BAR Honda, who returned to the tracks this weekend after a forced vacation that saw them sit out of Catalunya and Monaco were not as lucky. Starting first and second during qualifying, the BAR's could not match the speed of the Renault's and the McLaren's. Button and Sato managed to finish the race Tenth and Twelveth respectively, with the former being lucky enough to avoid a spinning McLaren later in the race. Sauber's throes continue with both their drivers missing out on the points once again.

As for Indian racer Narain, a small mistake late in the race cost him his position ahead of team mate Monteiro who seems to have a far smoother approach than Narain who prefers to catch his Jordan by the scruff of its neck. The Jordan did not seem to find its grip on the high downforce track. It remains to be seen if Jordan's and with it Narain's hopes of a better finish would improve with their new car all set for release at Mangy-Cours.

Overall, a different race, a sad one for those whose hearts lie in the West, a lucky one for the Mild Sevens and a rejuvenating one for the Tifosi.It would be interesting to see Kimi's mind set from now on as no driver, not even the great ice-man should be able to digest such a huge dissapointment in the course of two weeks. Incidents such as this temper the attitudes of Formula One racers and helps in the metamorphosis of would-be champions. Kimi,I am sure, would put the ghosts of Nurburgring to rest and rejuvenate to become a champion of the future.

"So near, yet so far!"