2006 Italian Grand Prix means Everything for Ferrari

On the eve of the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari awaits the decision of Michael Schumacher whether he'll call it quits after this season.

Yes, it's all getting a bit tense in the Ferrari garage. For what it's worth, the will-he, won't-he retire scenario finally gets resolved on Sunday after the Italian GP. Michael Schumacher will let everyone know if he is continuing in F1 for another couple of years or not.

It has to be a couple of years, because if he says just one year then we'll have another season of retirement questions.

Having lost Villeneuve and Montoya in one season, and probably DC in 2008, F1 will be left with a bunch of kids and no personality. Love him or hate him, he adds so much stature to F1 by just competing. We may have incidents like Monaco qualifying this year, but where would Peter Pan be without his Captain Hook?

If the decision is retirement at the end of this season, then there might be circumstances that stop him from racing beyond Monza. Unlikely, we know, but should Michael Schumacher crash out of the Italian GP and Alonso go on to win it, he would be 22 points down with three races left. Monza would be a fitting place to end his career.

However the likelihood is that he and Massa will be able to carve out a Ferrari 1-2 and reduce Alonso's lead to eight points with three races left.People were all convinced that this would be the race result in Turkey and look what happened there. In last week's testing Massa was quickest, but he didn't look as fast as he did in Turkey. And Fernando Alonso will have the luxury of a brand new improved Renault engine unit at the Milan track.

What's more the Monza start/finish straight is long and wide. If Renault get their fuel strategy right and can qualify very close to the Ferraris, they have the space to use their off-the-line acceleration advantage and get by into Turn 1.

After that it will be a strategy battle. Though Turn 1 has a large braking zone, there have been many races where cars just couldn't get close enough to use it and all the overtaking moves were done in the pit-stops. Ferrari will have a battle on their hands if either one or both of the Renaults gets between them at the start.

However it won't just be Renault looking to get a clean getaway on Sunday. There have been so many accidents at Turn 1 over the years that all the teams will be as anxious as possible to keep clear of trouble.

Come Sunday, all these questions will be answered as Michael Schumacher and the rest of Ferrari put everything, as well as their future, on the line at the 2006 Italian Grand Prix.

Can Michael Schumacher win the 2006 Italian Grand Prix? Here are the odds from Bodog.

Michael Schumacher 5/9

Fernando Alonso 3/1

Kimi Raikkonen 8/1