This time, 20 cars started the race, 15 cars crossed the finish line, and the five that dropped out did so through the "natural causes" of mechanical problems well into the event. Two weeks after the fiasco at the U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis when only six cars raced before 120,000 paying spectators, the series put on a bigger show for a smaller crowd of 80,000 at the French Grand Prix on Sunday.
Fernando Alonso dominated the race from start to finish and had the first home race victory for a Renault team since Alain Prost won the French Grand Prix for Renault in 1983. It was Alonso's fifth victory of the season, and it improved his lead in the championship to 69 points, 24 more than Kimi Raikkonen, who finished the race in second place in his McLaren-Mercedes.
"I am very proud to win here today, for the team, for Renault and for Michelin, who have had a difficult time in the last two weeks," Alonso said. "I think for the French people, the fans and our president also it was a great day."
Alonso owed his victory not only to a superior car and tire but also to Jarno Trulli in a Toyota, who started the race second and blocked Schumacher for the first 18 laps. During that time, Alonso built up a lead of more than 24 seconds over the Italian, with Schumacher less than a second behind the Toyota.
Despite Alonso's domination, it looked toward the end of the race as if Raikkonen's double pit stop strategy might defeat Alonso's triple pit stop strategy. The Finn made his last pit stop with 15 laps left while only 14.1 seconds behind Alonso. But by the time Alonso made his final pit stop three laps later, he held a lead of more than 34 seconds on Raikkonen and returned to the race still in charge. With 11 laps left, Alonso's Renault team-mate, Giancarlo Fisichella, who was in fourth position, made his last pit stop and stalled, dropping to finish the race in sixth position.
Although it was not one of the most exciting races in a season that had been full of great racing until two weeks ago, it was just the kind of show that Formula One had hoped to reward the spectators with. It succeeded.
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