After qualifying 12th on the grid, Ralf was confident that his strategy would allow him to challenge in the race, and so it proved. Early in the race, he ran at the back of a six-car train also comprising David Coulthard, Felipe Massa, Giancarlo Fisichella, Juan Pablo Montoya and Christian Klien, after an incident-packed first lap. Unfortunately, team mate Jarno Trulli fell victim to first lap contact and had to make a pit stop.

Schumacher, however, did not make his first pit stop until lap 25 of the 67, proving that his qualifying lap had been achieved with a heavy fuel load. In the process he jumped three places and came back out in 8th position, just 2s behind Coulthard.

“The start wasn’t perfect,” Ralf said, “but I also had a bit of bad luck after the pit stop because I didn’t expect it to be so difficult to get the grip back into the tyres and I lost two positions. I gained one of them back and I think against Fisichella I wouldn’t have been able to maintain my position anyway because he had a stronger car. But, coming from 12th, I was quite happy and the car felt good throughout.”

A strong second stint vaulted Schumacher ahead of Coulthard and he finished right on the tail of Fisichella’s Mild Seven Renault and his brother’s Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro car, which battled for fourth place right to the chequered flag.

For Trulli, Germany was a race to forget.

“I was pushed wide by Webber at the first corner and I picked up a puncture, which effectively ruined the race for me,” he said. “Then, later, I found that the pneumatic consumption was high and I had to stop twice to have the air bottle topped up. Finally, it ran out just before the end.”

Trulli was also given a Drive Through penalty when he was adjudged to have ignored blue flags warning him about the presence of Juan Pablo Montoya, who was on his way to second place having started at the back of the grid. Altogether then, he made five visits to the pits, on lap 1, 26, 47, 53 and 54. He was finally classified 14th, three laps down.

After race leader Kimi Raikkonen broke down, Fernando Alonso scored his sixth victory in 12 races and now has a 36-point lead over the Finn in the world championship with seven races to go. Third place was taken by Jenson Button’s Lucky Strike BAR Honda, ahead of Fisichella and the Schumacher brothers. The remaining points went to Coulhard’s Red Bull and Felipe Massa’s Sauber Petronas.

Technical Director, Chassis, Mike Gascoyne said: “Jarno had one of those afternoons where just about anything that could go wrong, did, while Ralf put in a very strong drive from 12th on the grid. The aim was to score points and his sixth place was a genuine one – he also recorded the sixth fastest lap of the race.”

Formula 1’s frantic summer schedule of four races in five weekends now heads for Budapest and round 13 at Hungaroring on July 31. Trulli is equal fifth in the Drivers’ championship with 31 points, while Schumacher is eighth, with 26. Panasonic Toyota Racing retains fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship with 57 points, 10 clear of the BMW Williams F1 Team.