Michael Schumacher scored a second successive tactical victory in this afternoon's 60 lap European Grand Prix. He was led by Fernando Alonso for the first 38 laps, but then Schumacher stopped three laps later than the reigning World Champion at the second round of stops and after a succession of quick laps, emerged 5.8s ahead of the Renault driver to take a popular victory. With Felipe Massa finishing a close third, Ferrari moved five points closer to Renault in the Constructors' championship.

At the start, Alonso went straight into the lead in sunny conditions while the two Ferraris were side by side for second, Michael taking the position from his team mate. Jenson Button jumped into fourth place from sixth, Kimi Raikkonen remained fifth, while Jarno Trulli moved up one place to sixth. Rubens Barrichello dropped three places to seventh from Jacques Villeneuve who picked up one place at the start. A collision between David Coulthard and Vitantonio Liuzzi briefly brought out the safety car. On lap four, Raikkonen overtook Button for fourth place, but already Alonso and the Ferraris were easing away. Raikkonen tried to stay with them, leaving Button in fourth from Trulli and then Barrichello.

Alonso briefly managed to pull away from Michael towards the end of the stint, but on lap 17 he dived for the pits and his first pit stop, Massa coming in on the same lap. Michael came in a lap later and rejoined just behind Alonso again. On lap 24, Michael had a slight fright when he ran wide, and Alonso's lead widened to over two seconds. Raikkonen had come into the pits a lap earlier, the last of the front runners to stop. In the second stint, Michael steadily cut Alonso's lead and as they neared the second round of  pit stops, the pair set a succession of fastest laps. Alonso pitted on lap 38, but Michael didn't come in for another three laps, and when he went back out again, he was ahead of Alonso by 5.8s. The gap rose to just over nine seconds during the final stint, eventually narrowing to just over three seconds in the closing stages.

By this time, however, Felipe Massa had begun to threaten Alonso. The Brazilian had been losing time to his team mate during the end of the second stint, but after the stop, he found himself 7.2s behind Alonso. However, he was soon cutting that gap, so that it was under three seconds with nine laps remaining. Massa, himself, however, was coming under pressure from Raikkonen in fourth place. The McLaren driver was soon on Massa's tail with four laps to go, and the pair closed right up on Alonso too, but none of them was able to challenge and they finished as they started that final stint, with Raikkonen claiming fourth place. The rest were left far behind. Barrichello eventually took fifth place, just ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella, but they were only just ahead of Nico Rosberg who finished seventh after suffering an engine penalty of ten places and starting last on the grid. Villeneuve claimed the final point. Fernando Alonso now has 44 points from two wins and three seconds, while Michael Schumacher is second with 31 points from two wins, a second and a sixth. Raikkonen is third with 23 points.

Luca di Montezemolo watched the Grand Prix from Abu Dhabi. He is there to follow, at first hand, the developments to the previously publicised project which will include a circuit, theme park, and many other Ferrari related activities. President Montezemolo is also there to lead the biggest ever Confindustria delegation ever organised in the Emirates with over 150 Italian business people involved. "I am very, very pleased. I spoke to Todt and Schumacher immediately after. It is a win that demonstrates, as I stated, that Imola would not be a flash in the pan. This is also proven by Massa's third place. It is an important win in Germany, our second biggest market after the USA and not only because it confirms that Ferrari is one of the contenders in Formula 1 but it promises much for the rest of the championship that should be exciting. This does much for the credibility and image of Italian sport."
 

It was the second win of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, again with Michael Schumacher. This was the Scuderia's fifth victory in the European Grand Prix, the 185th from 728 Grand Prix starts. Michael Schumacher took his eighty sixth career win, the fifth at the Nürburgring. It was also first ever podium for Felipe Massa.

Jean Todt: "A great result after a very close fight. The sixteen points we got today are no miracle, but come from a perfect combination of many elements: two drivers of the calibre of Michael and Felipe, the team, the chassis, the engine, the  high-performing Bridgestone tyres and the fundamental support from Shell, in terms of fuel and lubricants. This success, following on from the win in Imola, is further encouragement to give our all, already starting  next weekend in Barcelona, as we try and reach the goals we set ourselves at the start of the season. There is still a very long way to go, but we intend doing all we can to be in the running right to the end of the Championship." 

Michael Schumacher: "A great race, great strategy and a great performance from the whole team. I am happy for all of them and I think the result shows we are back, with car, engine, tyres and fuel all working superbly. At the start, I was in Alonso's slipstream and I thought I was safe in second place as I could not see anything in my mirrors, but then luckily, I realised that Felipe was coming alongside me very quickly, but I managed to stay ahead.

"Apart from that, my only moment was when I ran a bit wide in turn 6, before the first pit stop. I pushed too hard as I thought I could catch Fernando there. It's a very nice feeling winning my home grand prix. Unfortunately though, we have only made up two points on Fernando, but every point counts. I am also pleased for Felipe, getting his first F1 podium today and now I am looking forward to another good fight in Barcelona."

Felipe Massa: "I am very happy. Today, I stood on the podium for the first time and it was a really great feeling. I am also happy that this coincided with a win for Michael, as it shows the team is really in the fight for the title. We have to give it our all, race after race. I made a great start to such an extent that I found myself alongside Michael, but as he had the inside line at turn 1, he was able to stay ahead. The strategy worked very well and the Bridgestone tyre performance was fantastic. Only in the final stages, when I had taken on a used set, was I unable to push to the maximum. I got close to Alonso, but I had Kimi closing on me quickly. There were a few difficult moments, but I managed to keep third place, while also trying to get by Fernando. Now, I am tempted to keep my race suit on: the champagne smells nice!"

Ross Brawn: "We are very very happy. It was a challenging race, although we knew we had the pace to win if we made the correct decisions at some keys stages of the race. The team and the drivers did a perfect job. The Bridgestone tyres were very strong throughout the race and we got good performance from the whole package. Shell has done a great job with all the fluids in the car and that all came together and helped our performance today. It's clear we are going to face a tough challenge for the rest of the season, but this is a great way to start it."

Michael Schumacher: 1st 1:35.58.765 60 laps chassis 254; Felipe Massa: 3rd +4.447 60 laps chassis 250; Temperatures: air 20°C, track 30°C