Starting from second on the grid at his home grand Prix, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher raced to glory on Sunday afternoon, his fourth in front of loyal home fans here at the Hockenheim circuit and setting the fastest lap of the race along the way. Teammate Felipe Massa, second on the podium for the second time this season, was a very close second to his seven time championship winning teammate, the Brazilian’s time a mere three hundredths of a second off the leading pace.

Meanwhile, third placed man and pole sitter Kimi Raikkonen was third quickest, the Finn just over a tenth behind but there was a lot bigger gap back to the fourth fastest man, Toyota racer Ralf Schumacher, who was almost half a second behind, five hundredths faster that teammate Jarno Trulli, who finished seventh in the race.

He may have finished fourth overall, but the Honda of Jenson Button was only seventh fastest, behind the Williams of Mark Webber, who was forced to retire eighth laps from the end. Most astonishing was the poor lap times of the two Renault racers, Giancarlo Fisichella beating his teammate, reigning world champion Fernando Alonso by over two tenths, with the eighth best time, Alonso’s time just a tenth off being a second slower than Michael Schumacher.

The big question now is, was this the result of the removal of their mass damper system, or was it the fault of their Michelin rubber that put on display at the back of the garage in obvious plain sight of the sports media.

Fastest laps of the German Grand Prix

1. M. Schumacher - Ferrari - 1:16.357 - lap 17

2. F. Massa - Ferrari - 1:16.392 - lap 18

3. K. Raikkonen – McLaren - 1:16.475 - lap 4

4. R. Schumacher - Toyota - 1:16.763 - lap 64

5. J. Trulli - Toyota - 1:16.807 - lap 48

6. M. Webber - Williams - 1:16.812 - lap 43

7. J. Button - Honda - 1:16.818 - lap 14

8. G. Fisichella - Renault - 1:16.981 - lap 18

9. F. Alonso - Renault - 1:17.256 - lap 66

10. V. Liuzzi - STR - 1:17.407 - lap 51

11. S. Speed - STR - 1:17.450 - lap 50

12. C. Klien - Red Bull - 1:17.719 - lap 49

13. D. Coulthard - Red Bull - 1:17.811 - lap 24
14. R. Barrichello – Honda - 1:18.029 - lap 16
15. C. Albers - MF1 - 1:18.247 - lap 35 *
16. T. Monteiro - MF1 - 1:18.718 - lap 46 *
17. J. Villeneuve - BMW Sauber - 1:18.904 - lap 29
18. N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber - 1:19.264 - lap 3
19. T. Sato - Super Aguri - 1:19.413 - lap 26
20. P. de la Rosa - McLaren - 1:19.649 - lap 2

21. N. Rosberg - Williams – No time

22. S. Yamamoto - Super Aguri – No time

* Car disqualified after race