HOCKENHEIM, Germany, July 30 - Ferrari's Michael Schumacher blasted the
Formula One title race wide open on Sunday with a commanding one-two victory in
his home German Grand Prix.
While the 37-year-old celebrated the 89th victory of his incredible career,
serenaded by air-horns and his jubilant army of red-shirted fans, Renault's
world champion Fernando Alonso limped home fifth.
The Spaniard's overall lead was slashed from 17 points to 11, leaving his
championship hopes on a knife-edge with six races remaining.
Schumacher, in what some fear could be his final race appearance in Germany,
took the lead after 10 laps when McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen pitted and the rest
was straightforward.
On a blazingly hot afternoon in southern Germany, Schumacher and Brazilian
team mate Felipe Massa were in a race of their own as they anchored the team's
second one-two finish in three starts and tyre partner Bridgestone's 100th grand
prix success.
They crossed the line in close formation, just 0.7 seconds apart. Raikkonen,
who had started on pole, was out of sight in third place and 13.2 seconds
behind.
Briton Jenson Button was fourth for Honda, ending a run of five races without
points.
Alonso, who had qualified a disappointing seventh on his 25th birthday, made
up two places at the start but then faded and was never in contention for the
second race in a row.
The Spaniard, who now has 100 points, would have been staring at his worst
result in almost a year had Australian Mark Webber, wrestling every scrap of
performance from his Williams, not retired eight laps from the finish while
running ahead of him.
Alonso also survived a big scare five laps from the end when he went wide,
the car bucking and jumping over the gravel before he regained the track just in
front of Italian team mate Giancarlo Fisichella.
Fisichella finished sixth, with Toyota's Italian Jarno Trulli seventh and
Austrian Christian Klien taking the final point for Red Bull.
Germany's Nico Rosberg failed to get past the first lap, crashing into the
tyre wall, while Canadian Jacques Villeneuve also had a crash in the BMW Sauber.
