Kimi's luck puts Alonso on top

Its Alonso all the way!

Fernando's eyes must have swirled with a rich speckling of scarlet triumph when he saw the silver-black blur in front of him come to a rolling halt. And with his own screaming blast rolling past it, the mind's eye tends to reflect on the lines of a strange poet who once said, "Nothing is unplanned, even luck…it's what you do with it that counts". This is true for the F1 season 2005, in which a flaming Fernando backed by a flambuoyant Flavio has gone on to prove that the Renault's are a force to reckon with not only because their cars are fast but also because they are the ones who tend to capitalize the most when others make mistakes. Alonso finished first, followed by Montoya, another star of the race who started last from grid and rocketed to a startling second place. Button, the BAR driver, secured a much needed third place for BAR Honda.

Kimi Raikkonen had a perfect start after having secured the pole. The atmosphere was great with the Mercedez Grand Stands screaming "Go Kimi Go Juan". With the threat of rain hovering over the Hockenheirming circuit and the great German rain-master lurking behind the title contenders, the race was all set to be a great treat. A determined Kimi would set blistering lap timings all the way up to the middle of the race, holding back a Spaniard who was looking for a sixth victory this season. But as luck would have had it, Kimi's engine failed mid-race. A travesty for the budding Finnish driver, who has been eluded the chance of finishing a race at this great circuit, a circuit so ironically close to the Mercedes head quarters at Stuttgart. The Finn walked away, knowing well that his chances for Hungary were hindered as well.

A little solace for the McLaren outfit, with Juan Pablo Montoya managing to work the magic that his driving counterpart so perfectly managed in the last two races. Montoya started right behind the pack, buldozing his way to ninth even before the first lap was out. A superb pit-strategy saw McLaren outwit Renault with Montoya coming out of the first set of pits ahead of Fissichella who was running before him. A strategy well worked, Montoya would do the same to Button, rocketing to second position, knowing well that had it not been for his own unenforced error the previous day, he could have stood atop the podium, avenging the bad luck of his team-mate.

Alonso, the eventual winner was a class act all through the race. Raikkonen and Alonso pulled ahead of the rest of the crowd at remorseless speeds, each mocking at the other's capacity with a better lap. Alonso would know well that he ran a lighter car than the Finn, for it was he who pitted first before, as against common views that Raikkonen was lighter and hence the blistering laps. Despite being in an obviously slower car, Alonso managed to hold on to Raikkonen for the first half of the race. And when Raikkonen fell, Alonso was ever so keen to grab the spoils. The site of Flavio and Fernando hugging each other at the paddocks is now common sight, for the Renault's seem to have found a better balance between speed and reliability than the McLaren's have. Fissichella, the other Renault driver, managed well to come in fourth, thus helping his team increase its Constructor's lead. Clouted initially, Fissichella managed to romp home after clipping an elderly prancing horse, which was sauntering rather than racing owing to a deceitful set of hooves.

Putting the bad events of the season behind his back, Button managed to secure podium, fending off Fissichella for third. Button had a great race, making some great moves on the German master, proving yet again that his 2004 performances were not flash in the pan incidents. Finally, something to celebrate about for the BAR team, whose 2006 season has been fraught with disasters. Their other driver, Sato, managed yet again to have a poor race, first clipping Fissichella's back and then running wide so many times that even his race engineer would have lost count.

Tyre woes continue to haunt the prancing horse, with situations getting so worse that Button, who happened to tail the German master complaining of being hit by pieces of tyre. Schumacher had to give way to Button initially after the latter made a superb move at the hair-pins and later to Fissichella on the back-straight. Barrichello also had a bad race, with both the prancing horses failing to make a mark. Schumacher finished fifth, Barrichello tenth.

It was "game over" for Webber, after a mechanical failure puts him out of action for ten laps after which he rejoined, the Grove outfit having managed to put their lead driver behind the wheels once again. Heidfeld tottered along, not managing to finish in the points.Among others, Villeneuve had a torrid time, managing to pulverise his own and an unsuspecting Monteiro's car. Massa, the other Sauber driver managed a respectful eigth position, proving that he was a good driver. David Coulthard and Klein had a good race too, with the latter stunning Barrichello in the later part of a race with a clean overtake. Some solace for the Toyota's whose good strategy saw their driver Ralf come out ahead of David Coulthard. Their other driver, Trulli, was penalized for ignoring the blue flag whislt Montoya was moving ahead of Heidfeld and himself. Trulli retired the race with a couple of laps to spare.

Overall, an eventful race, a great showing from Alonso and Montoya, a sad race for Kimi, whose hopes of winning the driver's championship this season are over. Kimi will now be the first to qualify at Hungaroaring, putting himself at a terrible disadvantage. On the standings, Alonso leads Raikkonen by an astounding thirty six points, and only a brave man could tout against him becoming champion. Renault's burgeoning success has put him at the helm of motor racing!