By Michelin Sport
October 1 2006

Defending world champion Fernando Alonso had to settle for second place in today's Chinese Grand Prix. The Spaniard finished second, 3.1s behind arch-rival Michael Schumacher, and the two men are now level on points at the head of the world championship table. Michelin drivers occupied six of the top eight positions, with Giancarlo Fisichella taking third ahead of Jenson Button, Pedro de la Rosa, Rubens Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld. Kimi Raikkonen ran as high as second early on but was forced to pull off with a technical problem.

Nick Shorrock
Formula One Director
Michelin

"That was a very exciting race. The result wasn't what we were hoping for, but from a technical perspective this has been an immensely satisfying weekend. We proved our superiority in wet conditions during qualifying and had the upper hand in variable conditions today, although a combination of circumstances ultimately thwarted us.

"The decision to switch Fernando Alonso to new intermediate tyres at his first stop was taken jointly by Renault and Michelin – and obviously that cost him time while he waited for them to scrub in. With the benefit of hindsight that was a mistake, but in the heat of a race split-second decisions have to be taken.

"Conditions were unusual today, but we can take a great deal of heart from the way our products performed and feel buoyant about our prospects as we head into the final two grands prix with both world titles still wide open."