There was a certain inevitability, given the history of Michael Schumacher's career, about the fact that his first podium finish since his comeback involved a degree of controversy.
In Valencia, Schumacher drove the latest in a series of strong races to finally deliver on the potential he has shown with Mercedes more or less since the start of the year.
In the end, the controversy was much ado about nothing - the man who is notorious for pushing the boundaries of acceptability did nothing wrong.
Red Bull's Mark Webber reported to his team that Schumacher had his DRS overtaking aid, which boosts straight-line speed, open as they passed waved yellow caution flags late in the race.
The rules say a driver must slow down significantly for yellow flags; Schumacher did - case closed.
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His third in the European Grand Prix has been a long time coming. It was Schumacher's first podium finish since the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix, when he was driving for Ferrari, but it should arguably have happened already this season, by far his strongest since his comeback at the start of 2010 after three years in retirement.
In 2010 and 2011, Schumacher struggled compared to team-mate Nico Rosberg.
In the first year of his comeback, Schumacher was nowhere near him; by the second half of last year the two were evenly matched in races, but the younger man out-qualified the veteran 15-4 over the whole season.
This season, finally, has been different. On performance, there has been virtually nothing to choose between them in qualifying or races.
Each has scored a pole position - although Schumacher lost his in Monaco to a grid penalty - and only a dreadful reliability record on the seven-time champion's car has stopped him scoring many more points than he has.
While Rosberg has completed every lap, Schumacher has finished only three races and of his five retirements only one has been his fault.
So where might a podium have come based on his performances prior to this one?
Schumacher was running third in Australia when he retired, but he would probably have finished fifth there. His tyre degradation was too severe to challenge Lewis Hamilton's McLaren or hold off the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Webber, who filled the three places behind winner Jenson Button.
Mercedes think Schumacher would have gone on to finish second to a dominant Rosberg in China had he not retired immediately after his pit stop because a front wheel had not been fitted correctly.
But other teams believe the two McLarens would have beaten Schumacher and possibly the Red Bulls, too.
His pole lap in Monaco was particularly impressive and that would almost certainly have been converted into at least a podium finish. But first there was a five-place grid penalty for causing a crash in Spain, and then he retired from the race with a fuel-pressure failure.
When it finally came, the podium finish owed something to the unusual circumstances of the race and a lot to Hamilton being taken out by Williams's Pastor Maldonado. But it would be hard to argue Schumacher didn't deserve it on the balance of the year.
When he announced his comeback, he said he wanted to win another world title. But as soon as it became obvious from early in 2010 that he was going to struggle, he has always maintained that getting back on to the pace would be a long-term matter.
No-one expected it to take as long as it has. But perhaps that is to underestimate how much he lost in his three years away, his age - he is now 43 - and the incredible depth of talent in today's field.
Schumacher is still some way short of the driver he once was, a man who could consistently dance on a limit beyond that of anyone else.
But taking this season on average, there is now virtually nothing to choose on pace between him and Rosberg - the one exception being China, where the younger man had the best part of half a second on his team-mate.
That, though, puts Mercedes in an intensely awkward position and facing a very difficult decision - because Schumacher's contract runs out at the end of this year.
The problem is, good as Rosberg is, few outside Mercedes believe he is a match for the three towering talents of this generation - Fernando Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel.
Yet this is a team with aspirations to win the world title and some would argue they are putting themselves at an automatic disadvantage with their current driver line-up.
So do they offer Schumacher another contract on the basis of his improved performance, continue to benefit from the undoubted marketing benefits of his presence in the team as a driver and hope they can build a car that is better than a Red Bull, a McLaren and a Ferrari? Or do they go for someone else?
They are known to be interested in Hamilton, the only one of the big three who is potentially available to take his place.
But Hamilton may well not be available - he seems more likely to either stick with McLaren or to try to persuade Red Bull they should take him on given the reasonable possibility they could lose Vettel to Ferrari at the end of next year.
Yet how long can Mercedes expect Schumacher - who will be 44 next January - to be able to continue at this level?
In which case, should they gamble on a younger man who may represent the future, someone like the increasingly impressive Paul di Resta, for example, who just happens to be a Mercedes protege?
What would you do?
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/06/schumacher_finally_makes_his_r.html
Piers Courage Chris Craft Jim Crawford
