It was a dramatic and emotional end to the 2006 European season at legendary Monza.
As Michael Schumacher crossed the line to win Scuderia Ferrari's home Grand Prix, the team also announced that he would be retiring at the end of the 2006 World Championship.
After the race Ferrari Technical Director Ross Brawn commented: 'The car went well, helped by fantastic Bridgestone tyres, not forgetting the valuable support from Shell'.
Qualifying was a closely fought battle with just half a second covering the top six times. Schumacher qualified second narrowly losing out on pole to McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen. Felipe Massa in fourth place was to sit just behind BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld.
Schumacher's championship rival Fernando Alonso started from tenth on the grid, after the stewards cancelled the times from his third qualifying run as a penalty for blocking Felipe Massa.
Following the session Jean Todt, Ferrari Managing Director explained: 'For our part, we know we can count on having a very competitive car and on the support of our technical partners, first and foremost Bridgestone and Shell.'
It was an eventful and tense charge into the first corner of the Italian Grand Prix. By the end of the first lap, Schumacher had lost and regained second position, Massa had held fourth place and Alonso was up into sixth.
It remained intensely tight up front but Raikkonen and Schumacher paved the way, both setting the fastest laps.
Their duel continued until Raikkonen pulled into the pits on lap 15. The high performance Shell V-Power fuel saw the 248 F1 of Schumacher stay out longer, enabling him to gain time over the McLaren. The German emerged from the pits in front of Raikkonen, eventually taking the lead of the Grand Prix.
This pit stop scenario was repeated later on and a slick procedure from the Ferrari pit crew, meant that Schumacher was in a position to bring the car home in front.
Alonso managed to move his car up to P3, before a dramatic engine failure on lap 43 ended what was a grim Italian weekend for the Spaniard.
Felipe Massa, spent most of the 53 laps in an intense and ever changing tussle for the top points. Massa's chances were thwarted when, covered in the smoke emanating from Alonso's car he went off track causing him to pit, thus losing a point scoring position.
Lisa Lilley Shell's Formula One Project Manager said: 'this is such a tough race for the cars - you can see just how hard Monza is on the engines. A lot of cars suffered out there today but our Shell products helped bring these Ferraris home and contributed massively to the championship battle.'
Kimi Raikkonen earned second spot on the podium. BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica took an impressive third place in only his third ever Formula One Grand Prix
In crossing the line, Schumacher took a huge chunk out of Alonso's lead in the Drivers' Championship. The gap now stands at just two points.
With three races to go Ferrari take the lead in the Constructors' Championship by three points over Renault.
The Formula One teams now move onto the Chinese Grand Prix which takes place on 1 October.
Ferrari announced Sunday that it had reached a three-year agreement with Kimi Raikkonen for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 racing seasons. The team also extended its agreement with Felipe Massa through 2008. Massa and Raikkonen will form the Scuderia's official line-up as of 2007. Luca Badoer will be the official test driver.
