Formula One competition continued this weekend without a break with the tenth race of the season, the United Stated Grand Prix. Indianapolis came alive with the whine of Formula One engines, hoping to leave behind the havoc caused here one year ago by the Michelin tyre debarcle.

Both Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher started the United States with new engines on board, completing just two laps in the morning’s practice to check the same.

The afternoon’s practice session was scheduled to be spent collecting data from tyre comparisons; however, as a result of separate problems, neither driver was able to complete the number of laps expected. Adding to that was Ralf Schumacher’s hitting a piece of bodywork left on the track by another machine.

The team managed to fix the problems before the end of the session, leaving their confidence of another points finish unshaken.

Finishing at the top of the field at the end of day one was Anthony Davidson (Honda) with his time of 1’12”013.

Day two of the United States Grand Prix consisted of practice and qualifying, which was held under summer-like temperatures exceeding 30 degrees C.

Period one of qualifying got underway to air and track temperatures sitting at 31 and 44 degrees C, respectively. Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli made their way onto the track on used tyres to check their setups with both drivers marking times in the 1 minute 13 second range.

Unfortunately though, problems struck Trulli’s machine at this point in the form of a broken centre element in the rear suspension (used to adjust the machine height), leaving the underside of his machine in contact with the track surface in the latter part of his attack. Trulli headed to the pits to replace the part concerned; however, as the crew were unable to complete the work in the mere 15 minutes allotted to the first period of qualifying, his challenge ended there. His starting position on the grid: 20th.

This left Ralf Schumacher to continue alone for Panasonic Toyota Racing. Seemingly spurred on by the frustration of not competing in qualifying here last year, Ralf put in a spirited performance to finish third in the first period. Then, with a full load of fuel, he secured eighth position in the final period, putting him in a good position to finish within the points for the second race in a row.

Top runner in qualifying was Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), who secured his third pole position for the season and his 67th to date. His time: 1’10”832.

Tyre problems saw all 14 teams on Michelins unable to start the race here last year at the United States Grand Prix. However, this year was problem-free for both tyre manufacturers, so all 22 machines took their place on the grid for the 1pm start.

After striking trouble with his rear suspension in qualifying on Saturday, Jarno Trulli was forced to start from pit lane. As a result, he avoided the pileup after several collisions in corner one and managed to improve his positioning to 13th by the end of the first lap.

Although he started from eighth position and therefore could easily have been caught up in the debacle, team-mate Ralf Schumacher also managed to avoid it, proceeding without hitch through corner one and two. In the process, he also improved one place to seventh to put himself in a strong position.

The early pileup saw the safety car remain on the circuit until the sixth lap, after which both Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers put in a strong show – in the seventh lap, Ralf Schumacher improved to sixth, while Trulli worked his way up to eighth to be within touch of the points in the tenth lap.

With Trulli the only driver of the top group running on a one-stop strategy, he found himself in third by the time the remainder of the group had completed their first pit stops in the 31st lap. After that, he did drop back to sixth at one point; however, by the time the same group had completed their second pit stop, he was running strongly in fourth. Ralf Schumacher was also in good form running in sixth, improving his standing to fifth when he passed championship leader, Fernando Alonso (Renault) as he took his second pit stop. This saw the team in a four-five stance heading into the final stage of the race.

Then, with just 11 laps remaining, fifth-positioned Ralf Schumacher hit problems with his left rear wheel. Although this saw the team miss out on their first double points finish of the season, Trulli went on to take the chequered flag in fourth to take home points for the second successive race and put the team in good stead at the start of the second half of the season.

Finishing first was pole-position starter Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) for his third victory of the season and the 87th of his career.