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So, as was pedicted by most of those in the know, Michael Schumacher has finally confirmed that he will bow out from Formula One racing after the final race of the season in Brazil; and what a perfect set of circumstances to make that announcement.

The apparent plan was for Schumacher to announce his retirement at the post-race press conference should he win the Grand Prix, and win he did, in front of the adoring tifosi. Not only that, but his championship rival Fernando Alonso suffered a rare Renault engine failure, meaning Schumacher has closed up to within two points of the Spaniard's championship lead. On top of that, Ferrari have assumed the lead of the constructors' championship for the first time in 2006, so all in all a pretty apt time to announce the end of an era.

Whatever you may think of him, he will hold legendary status in Formula One for evermore, and his name will forever be mentioned in the same breath as Senna, Stewart and Clark, like it or not.

But what of the championship? Surely the ultimate piece of choreography would be for Schumacher to retire from F1 with an 8th world title in the bag, and it's looking likely. China will be interesting, some of Schumacher's most embarassing on-track moments have occured in the last two Shanghai races, so he has some demons to rest there; and it would certainly be foolish to think that Renault and Michelin cannot get the better of Schumacher and Bridgestone in these final three flaway races.

As seen in Hungary and Turkey, a drop of rain or an untimely safety car could prove very costly for Schumacher, particularly when you consider the Bridgestone tyres' performance in the wet.

He may be bowing out of the sport, but the final chapter of his F1 career is not yet complete, will he bow out a champion, a-la Prost, or second best?

If you wanted a race that encapsulated the 2005 Formula One championship, then in many ways the Italian Grand Prix was it. Kimi Raikkonen's bad luck, which had been such a feature of the season, reared its ugly head yet again at Monza, as his team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya gave McLaren some consolation with the teams first Italian Grand Prix victory since David Coulthard took the chequered flag in 1997.

Raikkonen's bad luck story began when he was forced to change his fragile Mercedes engine prior to qualifying, meaning another engine penalty that would push the Finn back 10 places on the grid for the third time in the season, following similar angst in France and Britain.

However despite this, Raikkonen put in surely one of his best every qualifying laps by claiming pole, nearly two tenths clear of team-mate Montoya despite carrying five laps more fuel onboard - an impressive effort. The McLaren may have been the fastest thing out there, but nevertheless his qualifying effort was epic.

Trying desperately to reduce Alonso's 24 point championship lead further, Raikkonen was well in the points and on for a podium if not a shout at 2nd place when his left rear Michelin tyre began to delaminate. A big chunk of rubber flew off the tyre and Raikkonen, who had already made his one and only pit stop, was forced to come in again pushing him well out of the points.

Despite all this, and a spin in the closing stages, Raikkonen managed to finish 4th, just off the podium places. But even with all this drama going on behind him, Fernando Alonso - who battled briefly with Raikkonen as the drivers strategies unfolded - as ever maintained his consistency to finish 2nd behind race winner Montoya, who himself suffered tyre delamination dramas in the closing laps.

Giancarlo Fisichella finally got back onto the podium finishing 3rd, a full 14 races after his last visit onto the podium, which was onto the top step in Melbourne at the beginning of the year. The Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher held up well in 5th and 6th, while Antonio Pizzonia, in for the apparently 'injured' Nick Heidfeld, worked his way up the field to an impressive 7th for Williams, having started 16th on the grid.

Behind him in 8th was Jenson Button, whose qualifying pace did not hold up. A second row grid slot only produced one point, but at least he was ahead of the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello who gave the tifosi little joy, a rare pointless Italian grand prix for the might of Ferrari in an increasingly desperate 2005 campaign.

Alonso's championship lead was back up to 27 points with just four more races to go. The championship was looking like a question of when and not if for the young Spaniard.

One final point, the director for this Grand Prix was at times embarassingly awful. For example we were frustratingly forced to watch Montoya onboard while Raikkonen struggled to make it back to the pits as his tyre delaminated. Lets hope this years director can distinguish between the two McLarens!

With just four races remaining this season, the reality that Michael Schumacher's illustrious and often controversial Formula One career could be coming to an end is dawning.

Speculation in recent weeks has suggested that Schumacher will choose to bow out of the sport he loves so much if he manages to win his 8th world title. Racing against Kimi Raikkonen may not necessarily set fear into Schumacher, but having suffered such a baron season in 2005, the desire to go out in style, with an incredible 8th world title, would be the ideal and perhaps sensible way to culminate an incredible career.

Whether Ferrari will end the speculation on Sunday or merely announce Schumacher, Raikkonen and Massa as their pool of drivers for 2007 remains to be seen. Has Schumacher been allowed the extra time he wants to make his decision? After all, the result in Turkey has put an 8th world title in doubt, and whatever happens in Monza it is unlikely that the destination of the trophy will become much clearer.

A Ferrari 1-2 at Monza is likely, but a Renault resurgence in time for the final three flyaway races is a real possibility. As is a drop of rain or an untimely safety car, note Hungary and Turkey.

So will Schumacher get to bow out of F1 with another world title, will he choose to race on irrespective? Whatever the case, enjoy these final races of 2006, because they may be his last, and in years to come we will be envied for having witnessed a racing legend applying his craft.

The Turkish Grand Prix witnessed Felipe Massa's first ever Formula One victory in his 67th race. More interestingly however, Massa's triumph came off the back of Jenson Button's own maiden win at the previous race in Hungary. Given the Alonso, Schumacher stranglehold on the championship, this double maiden triumph would surely have garnered long odds at any bookmakers if such an eventuality were considered back in July.

The last time two consecutive F1 races witnessed maiden winners was early in the 2003 season, when Kimi Raikkonen won his first Grand Prix in Malaysia, and Giancarlo Fisichella (eventually) claimed glory in the rain hit Brazilian grand prix a fortnight later. Interestingly since then, and prior to Button's victory, only Alonso and Jarno Trulli had added to the list of Formula One winners.

Even more incredibly than any of this however, is that you would have to go back to the 1980s to find the previous double maiden triumph before Malaysia, Brazil 2003.

How many years then before Button, Massa 2006 in repeated? Place your bets