MOTOR SPORT/European Grand Prix Details: In Imola two weeks ago the victory celebrations in the Ferrari camp had gone largely unnoticed amid the immediate rush to rule Michael Schumacher's first real win since October 2004 as a home-turf aberration that the apparently crisis-ridden team would fail to repeat.

Yesterday, in Schumacher's backyard, north-western Germany's Nurburgring, the celebrations were a lot more noticeable. The German, born and raised a stone's throw away in Kerpen, climbed out of the cockpit of his car, raised a fist in salute to European Grand Prix victory and threw himself into the embrace of Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn. In the Ferrari garage seconds before, the team principal, Jean Todt, has been wrapped in a bear hug by the burly Brawn. In pitlane the mechanics went wild.

The Italian team, counted as down and out, look to have bottomed out and are marching back to real competitiveness.

It wasn't just that Schumacher had dragged champion Fernando Alonso down a peg, to second place again, with both tactical smarts and racing potency.

The comeback was also signalled in the third-place finish of Schumacher's young team-mate Felipe Massa, who comfortably held off a late charge from McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen.

It was a win built on cunning and craft. Schumacher had been quick all weekend. Not jet-propelled, but enough to let the paddock know that Ferrari had more bite than the bark in Imola might have showed.

But when Alonso took pole from the German on Saturday, the presumption was that we would witness another Alonso march to victory that left the Ferraris trailing.

But there is guile in the Ferrari camp that accounts for most eventualities.

Alonso retained his lead through the first corner as Schumacher and Massa held second and third and slotted in directly behind the Renault. The first stint ebbed, and the Spaniard eked out a marginal gap over Schumacher. They pitted a lap apart, starting with Alonso on 17, and the champion maintained his edge by less than a second as Schumacher exited the pitlane after his stop.

But Ferrari's Brawn had another gambit up his sleeve, fuelling the German heavier and trusting their improved car and reinvigorated driver doing the rest. In the end, the strategy was simple, but, as so often with Schumacher, superbly effective.

Initially he faded, dropping to six seconds behind Alonso, but slowly, as his car lightened and his tyres held firm, he reeled the champion in.

And when Alonso divided for the pits on lap 38, Schumacher made his trademark surge. Fastest sector times were translated into back-to-back fastest laps, enough time, added to the slight advantage he had gained by stopping on lap 41 to refuel and emerge ahead of the Spaniard, with just over a dozen laps to go.

Schumacher said, however, the victory had been difficult. "There is no surprise that this was difficult because we were driving pretty competitively," he said. "Both as quickly as we could. But on the tyre side and car side and engine side and fuel and everything, it was superb."

The Spaniard admitted he could not have won, though he was happy with the result. "It was a pretty interesting afternoon today. Second place is a fantastic result for me this afternoon. We had to admit Ferrari were quicker than us today, and I knew Michael would get past at some point. I am not worried, because we will win more races this year."

Alonso perhaps should be. The gap between his lead of the championship and Schumacher's pursuit is now 13 points.

Not time to panic just yet. But the message for Alonso is clear - look out behind you.

European Grand Prix

1 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari..1:35:58.765

2 F Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:36:02.465

3 F Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:36:07.565

4 K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 1:36:12.365

5 R Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:37:11.265

6 G Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:36:12.865

7 N Rosberg (Ger) Williams1:37:11.265

8 J Villeneuve (Can) BMW1:37:28.065

9 J Trulli (Ita) Toyota at 1 lap, 10 N Heidfeld (Ger) BMW at 1 lap , 11 S Speed (US) S Toro Rosso at 1 lap, 12 T Monteiro (Por) Midland at 1 lap, 13 C Albers (Ned) Midland at 1 lap.

Not Classified: J Montoya (Col) McLaren at 8 laps, R Schumacher Ger Toyota at 8 laps, 16 T Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri at 15 laps, 17 F Montagny (Fra) Super Aguri at 31 laps, 18 C Klien (Aut) Red Bull at 32 laps, 19 J Button (Brit) Honda at 32 laps, 20 M Webber (Aus) Williams at 48 laps, 21 D Coulthard (Brit) Red Bull at 58 laps, 22 V Liuzzi (Ita) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 60 laps.

Drivers Championship

1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 44

2 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 31

3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 23

4 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 18

5 Juan Montoya (Col) McLaren 15

6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 15

7 Jenson Button (Brit) Honda 13

8 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 7

9 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BMW Sauber 6

10 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams 6

11 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 6

12 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 5

13 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 4

14 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 1

15 Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull 1

Manufacturers' Championship

1 Renault 62, 2 Ferrari 46, 3 McLaren 38, 4 Honda 19, 5 BMW Sauber 11, 6 Williams 10, 7 Toyota 7, 8 Red Bull 2