There was little surprise in today’s final Formula 1 race of the season. There were however many retirements, several car failures and accidents.

The important story of the day was Felipe Massa’s win, the first by a Brazilian since Ayrton Senna in 1993 on the home track. Massa dominated from the beginning and finished with a substantial lead over Fernando Alonso who finished second followed by an impressive third place finish by Jensen Button.

The finish meant that Fernando Alonso won the 2006 F1 Championship and Renault walked away with the Constructor’s Championship. It also meanth that with Schumacher finishing fourth, up from his 10th place start, that Ferrari finished second in the Constructor’s competition.

As for Michael Schumacher, today marked his last F1 race, but also represented an impressive display of driving. Early in the race, Schumacher’s left rear tire was nicked resulting in a very early pit stop, costing him dearly. He rejoined at the back of the pack. Combined with several retirements and what can only be described as amazing driving, Schumacher worked his way from 17th (after the pit stop) to fourth by the end of the race.

It is the end of the 2006 season and the end of Schumacher’s career, but 2007 will hold new challenges for Formula 1 with many changes for many teams and changes to the sport, some of which will affect the business-side of Formula 1.

Check back soon when Beyond the KM discusses implications of changes that F1 will make over the break and how that will affect the sport.

In just a few short hours Michael Schumacher will start (and hopefully complete) his last race as a Formula 1 driver in Brazil, the last F1 race of the season. Schumacher holds many F1 records. Most notably, he holds 7 F1 titles.

Schumacher has also had the opportunity to take his 69th and final career pole, but due to an engine blowout, his hopes were dashed at the start of his final qualifying round.

Interestingly, Schumacher’s teammate at Ferrari, Felipe Massa took the pole despite also having problems. Massa’s problem required the changing of the gearbox, a process that took a mere minutes. In Formula 1 though, exchanging an engine, despite all of the money spent on R&D and technicians/engineers, still takes a long time. Moreover, an engine change means that Schumacher would drop from his previously guaranteed 5th row start to a more harrowing, and difficult 10th row start.

Meanwhile for Schumacher to win the title, he would have to have a flawless race AND Fernando Alonso would have to drop out. With those odds, Ferrari will have to settle for second place in both the individual and constructor’s championships.

Stay tuned for more analysis on the Brazil Grand Prix to follow after the race Sunday.

Update: Schumacher’s Ferrari suffered a fuel pump failure rather than an all out engine failure. This means that he will start 10th as he was unable to make a final round qualifying run.