Top 5 races between Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher

#2 Chinese Grand Prix 2006

Schumi was dogged at China, 2006

A race that will always be regarded as a classic, the Chinese Grand Prix in 2006 would be Michael Schumacher's last win at the highest level in motor-racing.

But in China, the two F1 icons would find their cars discover their sweet spots at different intervals in the race, but not before producing a spellbinding Ferrari versus Renault show.

A titanic duel under the wet weather, Schumacher proved to Fernando Alonso in the end, that winning a Grand Prix requires as much grit and perseverance; and that aggression alone wouldn't suffice.

But that was not before producing some thrills.

Schumacher, with those harder tyre compounds fitted to his Ferrari, found early traction in the race as Alonso led the pack at the very front. While on the one hand, Kimi Raikkonen passed both Hondas, Schumacher made a legendary move over Rubens Barrichello, on lap 8 to emerge fifth.

This would be a fighting position from where the German driver would begin his eventual domination and the spectacle of cars going flat out under the rains was enigmatic.

Soon, the Renault of Fernando Alonso now stood 15 seconds ahead of Schumacher's Ferrari. Then, from the onset of Lap 21 to 30, Alonso, Fisichella and Schumacher battled closely with the Spaniard maintaining the lead.

1 lap before, on lap 29, Alonso's teammate, Fisichella tried to pass the Spaniard but braked too late, managing only to run wide, allowing Fernando Alonso, already struggling with tyrewear, to maintain his lead. A lap later, the Italian succeeded, only to be pursued by the German.

But Fisichella's failure to pass Fernando didn't mean that the Renault driver was unscathed from the attack of the shark, Michael Schumacher in Ferrari.

On Lap 31, Schumacher successfully mounted a move in his attack over Fernando and passed 'El Nino' right before entering the chicane.

It wasn't hard to understand Fernando's predicament, whose rear tyres had been left unchanged on this front-limited circuit during the regulation stop.

In the final 20 laps, the situation of the Grand Prix changed dramatically. Alonso, who, at one point was the leader and being pursued by Schumacher, now drove pursuing Michael, their positions swapped by changing vagaries of the circuit.

In the words of Peter Windsor, "Fernando's aggression was about as palpable as the shrinking gap to track-leader Schumacher."

As the track dried, the Renault quickly rediscovered its mojo and allowed Alonso to push and drive to the limit. At one stage, the wide gap between first-placed Michael and second-placed Fernando being around 8 seconds was reduced to under a second.

This is precisely where Schumacher produced a master-class in defensive driving, just managing to keep the tail of a visibly-withering Ferrari ahead of the attacking Renault, the latter the fastest car on the grid.

In the same moment, as Alonso seemed determined, pushed by a fanatical urgency to reclaim what was rightfully his, having clinched pole a day earlier, Schumacher proved that poise and grit would offset any counter-attack. And that is what happened in the end as Schumi pop opened the champagne from the top step of the podium having kept his cool under pressure.