The dream season for Michael Schumacher and Ferrari continued at the French Grand Prix where the duo scored its ninth win in 10 starts this year, but the competition is edging closer and fighting harder.

Only a mid-race change in pit strategy by Ferrari assured its victory in France over Fernando Alonso, who led the first half of the race July 4 in his Mild Seven Benetton Renault.

Schumacher expects a tough fight again in the British Grand Prix on July 11 at Silverstone.

“It’s not a surprise to us that the opposition is getting closer,” he said, “and there are circuits where we were expecting certain teams to be strong. I think Silverstone is going to be another tough one for us from what we have seen in testing.”

Quick thinking on strategy issues is one of Ferrari’s strengths. Two or three pit stops are the norm in most Grand Prix races, but Schumacher pitted four times on his way to winning in France.

“The four stops was not my idea,” said Ferrari Technical Director Ross Brawn. “(Race strategist) Luca Baldisserri came up with the idea. We executed it from the pit wall, and everything fell into place. We had nothing to lose. There was no risk as we were stuck in second, and it would have been too difficult to overtake. We needed to run in free air and to be able to use the car.

“Michael drove a fantastic race: He was quick when he needed to be quick.”

Schumacher said he was expecting an even more difficult challenge from the opposition before the French Grand Prix started.

“I thought this weekend would be much more of a struggle,” he said. “If you look at the history (of this event), we have not been so strong in the race, last year in particular.

“But we have worked our way (through), have understood what to do, and now we are back on track. It was a tough fight, a close fight, and it needed some special strategy in a way to jump toward first position even though we had a quicker car. Just being on the same strategy would have been difficult.”

Still, Schumacher is surprised by just how dominant Ferrari has been this year.

“The season is outstanding by far more than we expected it to be,” he said. “If you take the whole package, and if you think what we, including all the journalists, thought this would be the easiest year (for the others) to beat us, (but) now it is the other way around, and we are quite happy about this.”

1. M SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1h30'18"133  205.035 Km/h2. ALONSO       Renault           M   +  0'08"329  204.721 Km/h3. BARRICHELLO  Ferrari           B   +  0'31"622  203.846 Km/h4. TRULLI       Renault           M   +  0'32"082  203.829 Km/h5. BUTTON       BAR Honda         M   +  0'32"482  203.814 Km/h6. COULTHARD    McLaren Mercedes  M   +  0'35"520  203.700 Km/h7. RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   +  0'36"230  203.674 Km/h8. MONTOYA      Williams BMW      M   +  0'43"419  203.405 Km/h9. WEBBER       Jaguar Cosworth   M   +  0'52"394  203.072 Km/h10. GENE         Williams BMW      M   +  0'58"166  202.858 Km/h11. KLIEN        Jaguar Cosworth   M      1 lap(s)12. FISICHELLA   Sauber Petronas   B      1 lap(s)13. MASSA        Sauber Petronas   B      1 lap(s)14. DA MATTA     Toyota            M      1 lap(s)15. PANIS        Toyota            M      2 lap(s)16. HEIDFELD     Jordan Ford       B      2 lap(s)17. PANTANO      Jordan Ford       B      3 lap(s)18. BRUNI        Minardi Cosworth  B      4 lap(s)19. BAUMGARTNER  Minardi Cosworth  B     39 lap(s)20. SATO         BAR Honda         M     55 lap(s)

Click here for the Official Kimi Raikkonen web site - designed and built by RacecarClick here for the Official Giancarlo Fisicella web site - designed and built by Racecar