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Ferrari fans rejoiced this weekend as Michael Schumacher delivered Ferrari’s first (and possibly only) win of the season. Aleks Kempisty checks out the San Marino GP.

So that’s it for the Ferrari fans.

The realists will tell you that this was not a race that Michael Schumacher won but rather a race that Fernando Alonso (or should that be Pat Symonds) lost. Realists will also tell you that Michael Schumacher’s 66th career pole was not due to stupendously brilliant driving but thanks to a lighter fuel load.

And that’s it for the realists, which leaves only one thing to talk about — the race!

Imola has a notorious first corner and it captured another victim in its web before the end of the first lap. Midland F1’s Christijan Albers got a nasty knock by Super Aguri’s Yugi Ide which saw him barrel-rolling his car through the gravel trap. That little racing incident saw the end of Albers’ race (which he no doubt would have won) and quite possibly the end of Ide’s F1 career with rumours circulating that Anthony Davidson is next up for the hotseat.

What I find quite ironic is that Ide wasn’t picked for his driving ability but as a very effective marketing tool. Granted, a Japanese driver in the form of Sato will still form an integral part of the team but I’m curious to see by just how much sales of Hondas will plunge if Ide does in fact get the chop.

Next man sent back to the locker room was Italy’s Jarno Trulli. No one seems entirely sure of what happened — did he nudge Liuzzi into a spin and break his steering column or was it just a straightforward mechanical failure and had nothing to do with Liuzzi vying for Trulli’s ‘sexiest Italian’ crown?

If we were to run a poll for that crown we would have to include Fisichella in the mix. Based on performance (on the track) Fisi would be trumps in terms of race wins with three (including the Brazilian massacre) compared to Trulli’s solitary Monaco victory and Liuzzi hasn’t even managed a podium (but this is his first full season). Jarno has longish hair, Fisi short hair and Liuzzi has piercings. I’m thinking that perhaps I would introduce Fisi to my mum, get Vinantonio to join Motley Crew and tie Jarno to my bed…

Fantasies aside, let’s concentrate on the race. McLaren stand to lose Kimi at the end of the season but are supposed to be gaining Alonso. Based on the team’s current form, Alonso would be wise to contact Jenson Button’s legal team to see if there is a way to wrangle himself out of that one.

Jenson had another miserable race and promptly blamed it on his lollipop man — none other than chief mechanic Alistair Gibson. Jenson’s second pitstop resulted in him leaving the pitlane with the fuelrig and a few mechanics attached. No real damage done other than the loss of a potential podium but I’m sure that Mr Button is used to that kind of disappointment by now. Rubens needs to start getting creative because I suspect that he is going to run out of excuses for his lack of performance any day now. At Imola he claimed that there was a problem with his fuel rig too (at least Jenson made his obvious) and that his rear tyres kept on locking. I wonder what the problem will be in Germany.

The Red Bull team may boast the most impressive hospitality area but that money would probably be better spent on a couple of new drivers. DC didn’t finish the race; Klien didn’t finish the race and the Torro Rosso boys failed to score any points. Gone is the talk of winning races — the focus seems to have shifted to just finishing races and they can’t even seem to do that too well!

The Williams boys had a pretty lacklustre afternoon although Mark Webber did bring home some points — wonder if Uncle Frank will be rewarding his performance with a pay rise. But if Rosberg was trying to protect the virtues of his fair maiden then his performance at Imola would have resulted in the unlocking of her chastity belt!

Jackie Villeneuve finished in front of Heidfeld and Montoya finished in front of Kimi — so much for the number 1 and 2 driver theory. But maintaining the lead and second driver principle was young Felipe in his fourth outing on the back of a scarlet donkey. Coming in behind the team's main man Schumacher, he still ended in a credible fourth — but I don’t see him surpassing that performance again…

The F1 circus along with its herd of drivers and clowns heads off to the Nurburgring in a couple of weeks for what should be an interesting race.

Renault have had a strong start to the season whereas McLaren still have everything to prove so perhaps they should nab Mike Gascoyne before he gets offered a better deal by another team. Montoya has to fight tooth and nail for a seat next year whilst Golden Boy Kimi should stop whingeing and get on with it. If Michael Schumacher can win a race on a donkey then surely Kimi can win one in a silver arrow!

Let the fireworks begin.