EPIC! Schumacher wins; F1 title will likely come down to finale.(Motorsports)

Byline: ALAN HENRY

Why is Michael Schumacher retiring? Has he lost his appetite for close racing? Or can he just not bring himself to pull risky overtaking maneuvers any longer? Watching him in the Chinese Grand Prix, as he put two wheels of his Ferrari on the curb at 160 mph and slammed his way through to take the lead from Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault R26 at Shanghai, you found yourself appreciating just what a giant void will be left in the sport after the final race in Brazil later this month.

Schumacher's speed on Bridgestone intermediates on a damp-to-wet-track surface in the opening stages of this 56-lap epic helped him snuff out what looked set to be a Renault grand slam after Fernando Alonso and Fisichella tore away in 1-2 formation during the race's opening stages. But then Alonso gambled wrong by fitting fresh intermediate Michelins on the front of his R26, perhaps understandably, as the left tire was worn almost down to a slick (more on that in a minute). That dropped the Renault team leader back into the clutches of Fisichella and Schumacher. By the time the Renaults got their challenge back under control, Schumacher had slipped through. Alonso's decision to keep the old rubber cost him eight or nine laps before they were fully scrubbed in. The end result was Schumacher's 91st career win.

The two protagonists will now go into the Oct. 8 Japanese GP at Suzuka with 116 points, making it almost certain that the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos on Oct. 22 will not only be the last race of Schumacher's career but also the world-championship decider at the end of one of the closest-fought campaigns in F1 history.

From pole position, Alonso had eased confidently into the lead with teammate Fisichella dutifully slotting in behind as they drove through the first corner in a huge cloud of spray thrown up from the wet track surface.

Yet the whole outcome in China would be crafted on the 22nd of the race's 56 laps when Alonso, by now nursing a commanding 19-second lead over his teammate, steered into the pit lane for what appeared to be nothing more than a routine refueling stop.

However, even as the blue Renault R26 rolled to a halt in front of the team's well-drilled mechanics, it was clear the Spaniard was nursing a potential problem. His car's left-front Michelin intermediate tire had been worn almost smooth during the opening stint of the race, and, rather than leave it on the car, it was decided to change both front tires for fresh intermediates.