Schumacher Helpless Against Alonso

This time last year the Formula One teams were racing in Canada and several of them will be wishing they were in Montreal right now since it proved to be Fernando Alonso's bogey circuit; the only place where the Spaniard committed a driving error in 2005.

Apart from a small mistake during qualifying at the opening race in Bahrain this year, the world champion has continued in the same vein by being the only driver to have scored points in all seven races. Even more impressive is the fact that he has finished either first or second each time, a feat that not even Michael Schumacher could manage at the beginning of each of several dominant years with Ferrari.

With the 2006 season edging towards half distance this weekend, Schumacher has emerged as the only threat to Alonso's chance of winning back-to-back championships. The points differential is such that, even if Schumacher wins all of the remaining races, he would claim his eighth title by just a single point if Alonso finished second each time. Fortunately, such hypothesises take no account of the deceptive closeness of their respective teams even though, for now, Alonso and Renault have a slight edge.

The key to Ferrari's emergence from the darkness of 2005 has been the reintroduction of tyre changing in the races. Last year, Bridgestone struggled to make a single set last for 200 miles but the Japanese firm have returned with a vengeance to push Michelin (suppliers of Renault, McLaren and Honda, among the top teams) to the limit during the 60-mile life of a set of tyres.

Ferrari were within a whisker of winning in Bahrain, made the wrong choice of tyre in Australia and then came back brilliantly at Imola and the Nurburgring to beat Renault and Michelin on pace. But only just. In Spain, Alonso had the measure of Schumacher while, two weeks ago at Monaco, the Ferrari driver could have offered stronger resistance had Schumacher not suffered an aberration that said more about his desperation to beat the threat offered by the most complete driver of the current generation.

Schumacher is aware that Alonso's success breeds not only more success but also a confidence that allows the Renault driver to stay cool and manage his races in a manner that Schumacher knows very well.

It is Giancarlo Fisichella's misfortune that he should be with Renault at a time when they are employing a driver who has very few flaws. Even allowing for Fisichella's appalling misfortune, he is not a match for Alonso despite having driven faultlessly to take victory in Malaysia and ensure the winning has been divided between Renault and Ferrari.

Before the season began, McLaren and Honda were tipped as likely winners, with Williams as an outsider. McLaren have come closest to interrupting the Renault/Ferrari domination but a potentially fast car has been continually let down with the sort of niggling faults that should have no place in a team with a sophisticated technical back-up that exceeds both Ferrari and Renault. The situation has become so frustrating at McLaren that Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya are in danger of colliding, if not on the track, then in their rush for the door at the end of the season.

Proof that you need to know how to win comes from Honda - arguably the biggest disappointment of the season - and Toyota as these two teams with strong manufacturer backing continually fail to think quickly on their feet with cars that are lacking. Honda's failure has dragged Jenson Button's reputation with it, particularly now that Rubens Barrichello has worked out how to drive a Honda after six years with Ferrari. Button lines up nineteenth today and must be ruing his decision to pay handsomely to nullify a 2006 contract with Williams so that he could stay with Honda.

The Williams-Cosworths have shown much promise in the hands of Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg, only to be let down by footling failures. That's the point, of course. When Renault and Ferrari build cars that appear to be constructed of cast iron, rivals cannot afford the slightest technical glitch and drivers must be as perfect as Alonso in 2005, barring that brush with the wall in Canada.