Shell and Ferrari will be technical partners until 2010 as confirmed in a contract signed today in Imola. Meanwhile, out on the track, Ferrari recovered after Rubens Barrichello retired early when Michael Schumacher made full use of a new engine oil from Shell to recover from 13th on the grid to push race-winner Alonso all the way to a thrilling finish.

'Michael's move on Jenson was one of the best moves we have seen for months and really underlines the man's class,' said Mike Copson of Shell Global Solutions. 'The F2005 showed its true potential today, something we have seen in testing for some time. A clever strategy from Ferrari, aligned with 'power when you need it' from our V-Power racing fuel gave Michael the perfect opportunity to show us exactly why he is seven-times World Champion. Given that we have just renewed our technical commitment to Ferrari for the next five years, we are very much looking forward to the next few races.'

Speaking of the Shell and Ferrari contract renewal, Ferrari Managing Director, Jean Todt said: 'We are delighted to be continuing our technical partnership with Shell into 2010. Shell gives us a real competitive advantage in terms of reliability and performance. In fact our partnership is now even more important given the recent rule changes affecting engine life. We have one of the strongest technical relationships in the pit lane and the partnership has, and will continue to, play a key role in our success.'

The second qualifying session of the weekend in the morning saw Raikkonen take his first pole of the year, just ahead of Alonso and Button. For the Ferrari team, the session was less successful with Barrichello finishing ninth and team mate Michael Schumacher 13th after an off-road excursion at Rivazza corner on his hot lap.

Raikkonen made the jump on Alonso at the start and led the Spaniard followed by Button, Trulli, Webber and Sato through the first few laps. The Ferrari drivers made reasonable starts to more or less hold position during the first few laps although drama was not far away.Â

Barrichello was the first Ferrari to stop for fuel. Having been held at the back of a queue of cars for the first eight laps, he pitted early but was back to the garage the following lap to retire from the race.

He was however, not the first retirement. By this stage, Fisichella had spun out at Turn One and race-leader Raikkonen had retired from the lead with a loss of power, handing P1 back to the championship-leader Alonso

The eyes of the Ferrari tifosi were now firmly fixed on Michael Schumacher who was also suffering at the back of a queue of cars but was about to begin one of the drives of his career.

Staying at the back of the queue and making good use of his low-density (and therefore light), fuel efficient Shell V-Power, Schumacher stayed out on track longer than any other car. As cars around him stopped, he made excellent use of the clear track and found two seconds a lap before finally coming in.

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With 35 laps to go, good pit work from Ferrari combined with some of the best in-laps ever seen saw Schumacher exit his first stop in a stunning third position.

If that was not enough, the F2005 then set about catching Jenson Button in third place at around 1.5 seconds a lap and by lap 40 and the Ferrari fans camped on the hill at Rivazza were in a delirium as the Ferrari hustled the B.A.R. for second place.

Race leader Alonso stopped on lap 42, but the battle for second raged on behind him as Schumacher kept Button true.

As both pit crew a prepared to receive their drivers, Button and Schumacher approached two backmarkers on the run up the hill to the Variante Alta corner. Schumacher made his decisive move and slid his F2005 down the inside of the corner to pass the B.A.R. for second place.

With three laps clear track ahead of him, the Ferrari once again came into its own to lap Imola quicker than anyone else before pitting with 13 laps to go, exiting just behind of race leader Alonso.

Imola went berserk at the anticipation of this showdown.

Once again, the F2005 closed in on the Renault, catching the Spaniard easily and pushing him all the way to the finish to finish 2/10th of a second behind. Button was third, ahead of Wurz, Sato, Villeneuve, Trulli and Heidfeld - who was promoted to eighth position following Ralf Schumacher's post-race penalty for a dangerous pit-stop release.

Going into Alonso's home race in Spain, he leads the World Championship by eight points from Trulli and 26 from Fisichella, and the two Schumacher brothers - Ralf and Michael.

Spain is preparing itself for some Alonso fever, but it seems that a revitalised Ferrari is out to spoil the party.