F1 Championship tied in Red China
A jubilant Michael Schumacher took the checkered flag at the Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai today, ahead of a disappointed Fernando Alonso who came in second, with Renault teammate Giancarlo Fisichella rounding out the podium in third. The two points Schumacher scored over Alonso brought the driver's championship to a tie.
Schumacher started the race in fifth sixth place after a disappointing qualifying session for Ferrari, while the Renault drivers took the front row. Schumacher once again earned his title of "King of the Rain" as he overcame the wet conditions to drive on to his 91st career victory. The exciting race was full of passes, crashes, spins and early retirements as the wet track gradually dried over the course of the race before the rain started again five laps before the finish.
With two races left to go in the season, the championship is in a dead heat as a retiring Schumacher strives to secure his record eighth world title over reigning champ Alonso. This season has been shaping up as the most exciting in recent F1 history; don't miss the final two rounds in Japan next week and Brazil on October 22.
_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
risingsun 4:37AM (10/01/2006)
Schumacher's pass was nuts. Great race.
Reply
chewy 5:05AM (10/01/2006)
Amazing race, just amazing. It truly showed how great of a racer Michael Schumacher really is. And a grand total of ZERO points separating MS and FA heading into 2 final races is basically a perfect scenario for a fan (I guess if there is a 0 point difference heading into the last race it could be even more dramatic, but this is still a historic season, plus a historic race as well)
Reply
Tired_Watcher 6:23AM (10/01/2006)
Rain is good. We need more of it.
Too bad Kubica was the first victim to try dry tires. He almost pulled a nice drift in the run off sections!
Man Alonso did not look happy...of course when your 25 point lead is now GONE...I wouldn't be happy too.
And what was up with Sato on that last lap into Turn 14? Something has to be done because he screwed A LOT of people over. The Spyker in front of him was smart enough to use the run off area to get out of the way and what does Sato do? HE BLOCKS! The only person to drive that Aguri chassis is Montagny! He was able to put that car 8th in practice.
Anyway awesome race! These last two races are going to be TENSE! Can't wait for it!
Reply
Stephen Waits 8:33AM (10/01/2006)
Hey Nice SPOILER you freaking unprofessional aholes! Geez.. right in the title.
Reply
Redwood 9:29AM (10/01/2006)
No kidding on the spoiler. It hasn't even come on Speed channel yet today! Jerks!
Reply
Mark MacLeod 2:20PM (10/01/2006)
Michael Schumacher actually started 6th, not 5th as stated in your post.
Reply
ZoomZoomin' 11:39AM (10/02/2006)
Damn...I'm right in the middle of watching the race right now. I shouldn't have gotten curious about the news and started surfing Autoblog. C'mon, you guys usually aren't so quick with news/results! haha
Glad to hear it though...awesome news! Go Schumi, go! Out with style...it would be soooo incredibly awesome if he takes the championship. The look on Alonso's face in that pic is classic, but I'm guessing it's from a different race since it's sans facial hair.
Reply
Ben 3:14PM (10/01/2006)
Redwood,
It was on Speed at 1:30am eastern this morning.
Reply
Rishi Khaitan 5:12PM (10/01/2006)
Absolutely agree on the spoiler comment. The original broadcast of the race was at 2AM EST so I'm sure many fans were planning on watching the re-broadcast today. But thanks to the spoiler in the title of the post, much of the drama was killed. Noah, next time please be mindful of what you include in the title if you are going to post so shortly after the finish of the event.
Reply
Alex Nunez 5:29PM (10/01/2006)
The "spoiler" comments are a bit much. Just about every media outlet covering the race has the result in the title. Come on, guys.
Reply
Rishi Khaitan 5:52PM (10/01/2006)
Alex,
Autoblog does not normally cover F1 (or any other motorsport league) race results. I was specifically avoiding all media sources and web sites that would have race coverage. Unfortunately, this Autoblog headline popped up in my RSS reader. If Autoblog did regularly cover race results, I would have specifically avoided looking at my RSS reader as well.
Reply
Julie The Crybaby 5:58PM (10/01/2006)
This spoiler has absofreekinglutely ruined my sunufabitching day. When I read the title of this goshdamn post I picked up my dam chair and thru it at the wall because now the stupidmuthafuckin race has been ruined for me and I will have to go watch Trading Spaces re-runs instead. Thanks a lot spoiler azzholes on this website I am never coming hear again. Waaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Reply
Phil 2:13AM (10/02/2006)
Doesn't take much to put a "SPOILER" in the headline and save details for after the jump, and Autoblog has done it before, so it was a bit annoying. Ar well, least Webber got in the points.
Reply
Stephen Waits 11:11PM (10/01/2006)
Apologize Autoblog!!!
Reply
Brad 1:44AM (10/02/2006)
Agreed on the spoiler bit. The last time I remember Autoblog mentioning an F1 race, it was on Tuesday and you couldn't read the results until the jump.
Please be more careful next time.
Reply
Jet Wake 2:12AM (10/02/2006)
What a bunch of cry babies...grow a set and try driving for 24 hours or drive a WRC car and become enlightened.
Reply
Meckser 7:26AM (10/02/2006)
Please stop wreckign wonderful races with spoilers, there is no need to post the win in the headline or in the photo. This was a great race, and knowing the outcome before hand wrecks much of the excitement.
Reply
Steve C. 7:55AM (10/02/2006)
In a day and time when there are satellite and cable channels that broadcast every pro hockey, football, basketball and baseball game, and multiple in-car channels of NASCAR races, F1 is dead.
If anyone really cared, every F1 race would be broadcast live.
Reply
MikeInNC 8:51AM (10/02/2006)
They could put 600 cameras inside the rolling low tech bricks they call NASCAR's but it still won't make it good racing. It's the Pro Wrestling of motorsports. At least F1 makes an attempt to develop a car. What does NASCAR offer the world outside of how to crush a beer can on your head and eat a whole fried chicken without wiping your hands? I've been to the track and watched that happen. Any series where they replace the driver if the track turns in both directions is one that is almost completely devoid of talent.
Reply
Chris 9:07AM (10/02/2006)
Could this turn out to be a TIE!!!! That is my prediction for the year end. Alfonso wins one and Shumi wins one and we have a tie. How much will that suck, yeah!!! your bother winners, or loosers" however you wish to put it.
I have to believe that Alonso is not exactly gettting a lot of love from his crew.
Reply