Felipe Massa scored a brilliant home victory in front of an adoring 65,000 strong crowd in the thrilling Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos on the outskirts of Sao Paulo on Sunday. But his victory and Michael Schumacher's great drive from last to fourth were not enough to give either Michael victory in the Drivers' series or Ferrari in the Constructors'. Fernando Alonso's well-measured second place, backed up by Giancarlo Fisichella's less exciting sixth place gave second successive titles to Alonso and Renault.

Conditions were perfect as the cars formed up on the grid with poleman Massa immediately taking the lead from fellow front row man Kimi Raikkonen while Jarno Trulli slotted into third place ahead of Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello and then Giancarlo Fisichella. Michael Schumacher picked up three places to hold seventh, demoting brother Ralf and both BMW Saubers. However, behind them, the Williamses of Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber tangled, causing Webber to head to the pits for retirement and Nico Rosberg to crash heavily. This brought out the safety car while the debris was cleared, although not before Barrichello lost places to Fisichella and Michael Schumacher.

When the safety car went in on lap six, Massa immediately pulled away from Raikkonen at a remarkable rate. Trulli wasn't far behind the McLaren driver, and Alonso was close by too. Fisichella was not far behind, pushed hard by the charging Michael Schumacher, but when he edged past Fisichella on lap eight, it seems the pair touched and Michael picked up a puncture. He had to pit after a slower lap, while both Toyotas retired with a rear suspension problem. That left Massa with a 6.3s lead on lap ten from Raikkonen, who was now over three seconds ahead of Alonso. Fisichella was dropping away from his teammate in fourth, and then came the two Hondas, Button catching Barrichello. Kubica was next from de la Rosa just ahead of Heidfeld. Michael was 19th!

In the next ten laps, before the first round of stops, Massa would build up his lead to ten seconds over Raikkonen, but Alonso still wasn't far behind the first McLaren, although Fisichella was over three seconds behind his teammate. The Hondas were within two seconds, Barrichello just ahead of Button, but the gap to seventh placed Kubica was building. De la Rosa was still leading Heidfeld. Raikkonen was the first to pit on lap 21 as did Fisichella and Barrichello. Massa pitted on lap 24, Button a lap after that, and then Alonso, Kubica and Heidfeld on successive laps. De la Rosa, on a one-stop, was now in second place, but he had Alonso, Button - who had made up two places - then Raikkonen close behind him until he pitted at half distance. Massa was suddenly left with a 24s lead, while Alonso was pushed hard by Button who was doing a great job. Fisichella was being pushed by Barrichello for sixth place before Kubica and then Speed who pitted on half distance. That let Schumacher into tenth place at half distance. All eyes were now on either the Alonso-Button battle for second, or Michael's climb through the field. He overtook Heidfeld on lap 36 for eighth place, Kubica for seventh on lap 41 after running wide at the previous attempt.

The second round of pit stops began on lap 46 with Barrichello coming in, Michael then pitted, followed on lap 49 by Fisichella and Kubica as Michael fought with old teammate Barrichello. Button pitted on lap 50, then Raikkonen on lap 51, Massa on lap 51 and Alonso on lap 54. Michael overtook Barrichello for sixth on lap 51 and overtook Fisichella more successfully on lap 63. He was rapidly on Raikkonen's tail and brilliantly squeezed down the inside into the first corner on lap 69 to claim fourth. Button had remained close behind Alonso, but never quite in a position to overtake, so they shared the podium with popular winner Massa who hadn't made a mistake all day. It was the ninth win of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, the second courtesy of Felipe Massa. This was win number 192 from 741 races entered by Ferrari, the eighth in the Brazilian Grand Prix. This is Massa's second Formula 1 career win, having competed in 71 Grands Prix.
 

Jean Todt: "Despite an extraordinary victory from Felipe and a race which for so many reasons was an historic one for Michael, in the heat of the moment I feel very disappointed. We would have liked Michael's career to end differently, but destiny had other plans. We must look at the positive aspects of this season: our team has taken the most race wins - nine in total, seven with Michael and two with Felipe - and despite getting off to a poor start, we were in the hunt for both titles right up to the final race. However, the championship is made up of eighteen Grands Prix and so we accept this result and our compliments go to our rivals. Now we have to look to the future and start a new chapter, taking into account the lessons we have learnt this year. We go into 2007 with new rules, a new driver, just one tyre supplier, but these are things we can discuss later. Today, I want to thank everyone in the Gestione Sportiva, Michael and Felipe for the great job they have done, with the support of our technical partners, especially Bridgestone and Shell and the commercial ones, first and foremost Philip Morris. Whatever the outcome, the Ferrari family has lived through a memorable season."

Felipe Massa: "Today is another dream, the dream of my life has become a reality. The car was perfect, the Bridgestone tyres were perfect, I drove an impeccable race and all of this at my home grand prix! I always had the situation under control, slowing just a bit when Michael was in front of me, after his puncture, as I did not want to pass him. I want to dedicate this race to my family , to my friends, to all those who helped me in my career and to the Brazilian people who, today, made me feel their warmth through all the fans in the grandstand. Michael now stops driving for the team, but already I know I will miss him. I have always felt his support and his friendship and I know that it will be a big responsibility to replace him. Over the last few laps, I was trying to maintain concentration, but I could not stop myself from watching all the fans celebrating in the grandstands!"

Michael Schumacher: "I am very happy for Felipe who drove an amazing race. It is great for him to be the first Brazilian to win at Interlagos since Ayrton Senna. It would have been nice if I could at least have made it to the podium alongside him. I would also like to congratulate Fernando. Today, my race was compromised after the puncture I picked up on lap nine, when I had just passed Fisichella. I was unaware of it until the team told me about it on the radio. I had a good climb back up the order, thanks partly to an amazing car and exceptional Bridgestone tyres. Today my racing career comes to an end. Obviously, it is a special moment for me and I am proud to have lived my career with some fantastic people, namely everyone who is part of the Ferrari family. There is so much I could say about them, but it is difficult to find the right words"

Ross Brawn: "Everything was extraordinary today: the car, the drivers, the Bridgestone tyres and the team work. It was really frustrating that we were unable to see Michael bring his career to a close with a win. His race was compromised by a puncture caused by the collision with Fisichella, whom he had just overtaken. It's been a very tough season. The car was competitive right from the beginning but we did not get off to a great start. Then, we staged a great comeback thanks to the work of the team and our technical partners, especially Bridgestone and Shell, to the extent that we had the best package as well as the best drivers. Today, I am very happy for Felipe, who represents the future of Ferrari. He drove an exceptional race and it was a great way to finish the season."

Brazilian Grand Prix Result: Felipe Massa: 1st 1.31.53.751 71 laps chassis 256; Michael Schumacher : 4th + 24.094 71 laps chassis 255; Temperatures: air 25/23°C, track 43/40°C