Schumacher’s Final Win: Twenty Years Since Victory No. 91

From sixth on the grid, Michael Schumacher beat Fernando Alonso in Shanghai to draw level on championship points and take the lead on race wins.

On October 1, 2006, Michael Schumacher won a race that put an eighth world championship within reach. Twenty years later, it carries another distinction: the last of his 91 Formula 1 victories.

The Ferrari driver started sixth. Championship rival Fernando Alonso was on pole, with Renault teammate Giancarlo Fisichella alongside him. Schumacher had two Renaults to overcome on a wet track that would gradually dry.

A race turned by tire choices

Alonso controlled the opening stages, but changing his worn front intermediate tires at his first stop cost him pace. Schumacher and Fisichella kept their existing tires and closed in.

Renault’s problems didn’t end there. Alonso lost more time during his later switch to dry-weather tires when a wheel-nut problem delayed his stop.

Schumacher still had to beat Fisichella. After making his own switch to dry tires, he attacked as the Renault emerged from the pits. Fisichella slid wide at the first corner on tires that weren’t yet up to temperature. Schumacher took the lead.

Alonso recovered to second, but Schumacher completed the 56 laps with 3.121 seconds to spare. Ferrari had turned a third-row start into a victory over both front-row Renaults.

116 points each, seven wins to six

The result awarded Schumacher 10 points and Alonso eight, erasing the two-point gap between them.

Both now had 116. Schumacher’s seventh victory of the season put him ahead on the wins tiebreaker, with Alonso on six. With only Japan and Brazil remaining, Schumacher led the championship for the first time that year.

That was the immediate significance of Shanghai. Victory No. 91 was a result that changed the title fight, earned through changing conditions, tire decisions and a decisive move for the lead.

It would also be his final Grand Prix win.