Schumacher grabs 4th Indy win

Michael Schumacher clinched once again the American GP thanks to a very well Ferrari-Bridgestone alliance. Furthermore, teammate Massa is second and both men are joined by Fisichella on the podium. Fernando Alonso struggled all day long and is 'only' fifth but still comfortably leads the world championship.

The start was immediately proof of a will to put on a good show for the fans. However, for the drivers involved it was not what they expected. The crash in the very first corner of the race Montoya touched his teammate resulting in several cars getting hooked up into each other. The event looked like a racing incident with several cars sliding onto each other. Heidfeld flipped over several times in the event, and obviously retired from the race. Together with him are Montoya, Raikkonen, Montagny, Klien, Speed and Webber. As usual, the FIA will investigate the incident after the race.

The accident caused the safety car to come out, and only 2 laps later Button enters the pitlane with a water pressure problem. Yet again a disappointment for Button who is suffering badly at Honda.

When the safety car left the track after 5 laps, positions remained the same while Sato this time touched Monteiro. The Japanese retired from the race while Monteiro could continue with some broken bodywork at the right sidepod. Monteiro however also retired from the race a few laps later. As a result, after 14 laps only 12 cars are still in the race. Massa leads Schumacher after a very good start who on his behalf is confortable ahead of both Renaults led by Alonso. The world champion visibly holding up his teammate overtook two cars during the start but is struggling badly with the balance of his Renault. When the Roman got past Alonso in lap 14, the two are already closely followed by Barrichello, Ralf and Villeneuve.

Lap 20 and Villeneuve is the next to give up, this time with an engine blow-up.

After 31 laps, the best four of te race thus far enter the pits, resulting in Schumacher overtaking Massa and taking the lead. Trulli on the other hand kept running until just past halfway the race before entering the pitlane. One lap after Trullli's stop, Albers rejoins the pitlane while his crew was obviously not ready. The Midland engineers kept working on the car for several laps after the driver indicated a gearshift problem but were unable to solve the problem, leaving only 10 cars in the race with 32 laps to go.

Luizzi luckily still thinks about the spectators and overtakes Rosberg with 17 laps to go. The second series of pitstops at Renault also made clear how badly Alonso is struggling with his car. As he comes out of the pitlane Ralf has already passed by and the world champion is only in 6th place. Ralf's pleaure would however not last as he retired in lap 63 by entering the pitlane slowly. The abandon puts Liuzzi in 8th place which would be good for he first ever championship point for Toro Rosso.

At the end, it's Schumacher who again wins the American GP, ahead of Massa and Fisichella. Rosberg is the only unlucky to finish this race without scoring points.

The full results are as follows:
1 M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:34:35.199 10
2 F. Massa Ferrari + 7.984 8
3 G. Fisichella Renault + 16.595 6
4 J. Trulli Toyota + 23.604 5
5 F. Alonso Renault + 28.410 4
6 R. Barrichello Honda + 36.516 3
7 D. Coulthard Red Bull + 1 laps 2
8 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 1 laps 1
9 N. Rosberg Williams + 1 laps Did not finish
10 R. Schumacher Toyota + 10 laps 11 C. Albers Midland F1 + 36 laps 12 J. Villeneuve BMW + 50 laps 13 T. Monteiro Midland F1 + 62 laps 14 T. Sato Super Aguri + 67 laps 15 J. Button Honda + 70 laps 16 K. Räikkönen McLaren + 73 laps 17 N. Heidfeld BMW + 73 laps 18 JP. Montoya McLaren + 73 laps 19 M. Webber Williams + 73 laps 20 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso + 73 laps 21 C. Klien Red Bull + 73 laps 22 F. Montagny Super Aguri + 73 laps