The Return of the Michael and Kimi Show
British Grand Prix

By Erik Nielsen
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media

The Ferrari faithful are learning to breathe easy when Schumacher is not on pole. They're starting to come to terms with the fact that the red team doesn't have to be the fastest car in qualifying to win a race. Ron Dennis, on the other hand, knows that he has to do more than just build a quicker car.

Kimi Räikkönen finally had a top tier car as the flying Finn managed to get the most out of the revised MP4-19B and put it on pole. McLaren had been struggling most of the season and was even behind Sauber in the points for a while. The team has lost focus, probably because of two major projects outside of F1 -- the construction of their new headquarters, and the SLR. While the former was an excuse to do something with the profits off of the F1 team, the latter is turning out to be a dilution of the brand equity that McLaren built up with their first road car.

But the team from Woking seems to have put some of those issues behind them, and the latest development of the car has started to bear fruit. Räikkönen lead from the start, but after Schumacher's first pit stop, the typical Ferrari race strategy arose. The German would have had an even bigger gap at the end if Jarno Trulli’s crash into the tire barrier hadn't brought out the safety car on lap 40. The Finn tried to push, but today just wasn't going to be it.

Schumacher is well on his way to another consecutive title and more records. It's not time to get the calculators out to determine mathematically when he will clinch the titles, but some people have gone out to get new batteries. With Rubens' third place finish, Ferrari now has a 95 point lead over the second place team, Renault. With McLaren fielding a better car, the French team will only be in a position to lose points.

There was a lot of hype around Jenson Button and the BAR team this weekend with the "home field advantage" spin being put on everything. With the return of Kimi, nobody paid any attention to the young Brit even when he finished in fourth. His team mate managed to finish without blowing an engine, but was way back in 11th.

Juan Pablo didn't do much, but he toned down the rhetoric. "I am satisfied with today's outcome. Although the car is not quick enough, it worked pretty well and I believe we got the best out of it today." If he keeps talking like that, he might be able to drive the car until the end of his contract. Marc Gene is still filling in for Ralf. But, if he keeps finishing behind a Jaguar, that may not last long.

Giancarlo Fisichella finished in 6th with what he described as the best car he has had all season. I wonder if the Swiss team is buying more than just the engine from Ferrari.

The last two points-paying positions were captured by English teams. David Coulthard came in 7th for McLaren. It's better than he had been doing, but still not the level of performance that Darth Vader is looking for. Mark Webber brought the Jaguar home in 8th. This impressed Sir Frank who signed the driver to Williams-BMW this week. More importantly, it probably sealed the fate of Gene.

There were some other teams that ran this weekend, but nobody was watching them. Less people will probably watch them as the top teams were sandbagging during the first qualifying session due to forecasted showers during the second session. Schumacher spun, Rubens mowed the lawn and Juan Pablo coasted through the third sector. Basically, the session was a joke and the teams know it. If the back markers want more TV time, have the cars blow up more spectacularly.

The teams have two weeks to figure out what they did right and what needs improvement. Hockenheim is next.