China 2006, the last time Michael Schumacher won an F1 race

When Michael Schumacher took the chequered flag at the Shanghai International Circuit on October 1, 2006, nobody in the paddock, nobody in the grandstands, and quite possibly nobody in the Ferrari garage understood they were watching history close a chapter.

They thought they were watching a championship battle tighten with two races to run.

Those onlookers were right about that, but they were also watching something else entirely: the last time, ever, that Michael Schumacher would win a Formula 1 race.

The venue was fitting in its awkwardness. The Chinese Grand Prix had been far from kind to Schumacher before 2006. In the inaugural 2004 race he finished a lapped 12th. In 2005 he somehow collided with Christijan Albers‘ Minardi on his formation lap, then spun out of the race proper, behind the safety car.

China was the one circuit he hadn’t tamed.

The weekend’s opening didn’t suggest much had changed. Qualifying was soaking wet, which heavily favoured the Michelin runners.

In Q1 there was an average gap of 2.5 seconds between the Michelin and Bridgestone cars, and the fastest Bridgestone runner was slower than the slowest Michelin runner.

Fernando Alonso claimed a comfortable pole. Giancarlo Fisichella sat alongside him on the front row. Schumacher, the only Bridgestone runner to make it out of Q2, salvaged sixth with what would later look like a remarkable lap: he was fuelled significantly longer than Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and Kimi Räikkönen, the three cars immediately ahead of him on the grid.

The gap between the two title rivals stood at just two points in Alonso’s favour.

When it rained further before the start, the early laps unfolded predictably. The two Renaults zapped away from the field with better traction. Behind them, Räikkönen drove around the outside of both Hondas at Turn 1, though a twitch of oversteer let Button barge back ahead.

Alonso, meanwhile, judged the conditions on the first lap perfectly, pulling 2.6 seconds clear of Fisichella. Schumacher held sixth, defending from Pedro de la Rosa. After 11 laps, he was over 20 seconds behind leader Alonso.

But the track was drying. And on a drying track, everything changed.

By lap 19, Schumacher had not only worked his way through the order, passing Barrichello on lap 8 and Button on lap 14, but had caught Fisichella entirely. More significantly, Alonso had begun to struggle with his tyres and was having several off-track moments.

Schumacher was by far the fastest Bridgestone runner in the field throughout this phase, running 20 seconds clear of the next-best Bridgestone car after just eight laps. His wet-weather reading had not dimmed at all.

Räikkönen’s challenge, which had threatened to complicate everything, ended with a throttle failure just as he was closing on Alonso. He later said he felt he could have won the race. Then came the first round of pitstops, and with them, Alonso’s unravelling.

Alonso’s team reported damage to one of his front tyres. He pitted and changed only the fronts, leaving the same rears on. This hindered his progress in the second stint. His 20-second lead evaporated to nothing within a few laps.

For a brief, strange period, Alonso, Fisichella and Schumacher ran nose to tail, the championship leader suddenly unable to pull away from either man. Alonso eventually conceded both positions.

Alonso finally stopped on lap 35 to make the switch to slicks himself, only for a wheel nut problem to cost him over 19 seconds in the pitlane. He rejoined in fourth place, more than 50 seconds from the lead.

The final act hinged on Schumacher and Fisichella’s decision to stay out longest, switching to slicks on laps 40 and 41, respectively.