5. Schumacher’s hopes of eighth title goes up in smoke – 2006
In the second half of the 2006 season, everything had been going Michael Schumacher’s way. It had been a tough start to the year, but a win at Monza meant he closed the points gap on championship leader Fernando Alonso. An even more memorable win at the next race in Shanghai, China, meant he moved ahead going into the penultimate race of the year at Japan.
After qualifying things were looking good too, with Schumacher on the front row behind his team mate, with Alonso only fifth. The team started to dream about an eighth, and last, world title together. As expected, Massa put up little fight at the start and Schumacher surged into the lead, but then, in the most heartbreaking fashion, it was all over.
Ferrari’s reliability had been bullet proof for years, but it let them down at the most important moment. Shortly after making a pit stop, and still ahead of Alonso, Schumacher’s engine failed. With Alonso going on to win and claim the maximum ten points, any chance of Schumacher winning the title had, quite literally, gone up in a cloud of smoke.
There were touching scenes in the garage afterwards, as Michael personally thanked every member of the team for their effort in what had been an emotional roller-coaster of a season.
Photo Credit: Ferrari
