2006 Japanese Grand Prix

The 2006 Japanese Grand Prix (formally known as the 2006 Formula 1 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix)[1] was a Formula One race held on 8 October 2006 at the Suzuka Circuit, in Suzuka, Japan. It was the seventeenth and penultimate round of the 2006 Formula One World Championship, and marked the 32nd running of the Japanese Grand Prix. It was won by Fernando Alonso, his last win for the Renault team before he moved to McLaren the following season. It was the first Formula One race to be broadcast in HDTV by Fuji Television,[2] and was the 20th Grand Prix to be held at Suzuka.

2006 Japanese Grand Prix
Race 17 of 18 in the 2006 Formula One World Championship
The Suzuka circuit
Race details
Date 8 October 2006
Official name 2006 Formula 1 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Location Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.807 km (3.608 mi)
Distance 53 laps, 307.573 km (191.224 mi)
Weather Fine
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 1:29.599
Fastest lap
Driver Fernando Alonso Renault
Time 1:32.676 on lap 14
Podium
First
Renault
Second
Ferrari
Third
Renault

Report

Friday drivers

The bottom 6 teams in the 2005 Constructors' Championship and Super Aguri were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.

TeamNatDriver
Williams-Cosworth Alexander Wurz
Honda Anthony Davidson
Red Bull-Ferrari Michael Ammermüller
BMW Sauber Sebastian Vettel
Spyker MF1-Toyota Adrian Sutil
Toro Rosso-Cosworth Neel Jani
Super Aguri-Honda Franck Montagny

Race

Felipe Massa started the race from pole, but Michael Schumacher passed him on lap 3 to take the lead. Meanwhile, Alonso was struggling to get past the Toyotas of Trulli and Ralf Schumacher. By lap 10 Alonso was 5.4 seconds off the leader. On lap 15 Alonso managed to pass Massa in the pitstops and chased Schumacher. He succeeded in closing the gap from 5.4 seconds on lap 10 to 4.2 seconds by lap 27 only for it to open up to 5.9 seconds by lap 34 after the two drivers encountered backmarkers. The race was crucial in the fight for the World Championship, as whoever finished ahead of the two would take the championship lead into the final race. On lap 37, after the two rivals had made their final pitstops, Schumacher's engine failed, his first engine failure since the 2000 French Grand Prix, giving the lead to Alonso, who went on to win the race. As a result, he needed only one point from the final race to secure the title.

As of 2020, Alonso's win remains the most recent victory for a car running on Michelin tyres, as the manufacturer pulled out of Formula One at the end of the season. Giancarlo Fisichella dedicated his third-place finish to his best friend, Tonino Visciani, who had died on 5 October 2006 after a heart attack.[3]

Classification

Qualifying
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
1 6 Felipe MassaFerrari 1:30.112 1:29.830 1:29.599 1
2 5 Michael SchumacherFerrari 1:31.279 1:28.954 1:29.711 2
3 7 Ralf SchumacherToyota 1:30.595 1:30.299 1:29.989 3
4 8 Jarno TrulliToyota 1:30.420 1:30.204 1:30.039 4
5 1 Fernando AlonsoRenault 1:30.976 1:30.357 1:30.371 5
6 2 Giancarlo FisichellaRenault 1:31.696 1:30.306 1:30.599 6
7 12 Jenson ButtonHonda 1:30.847 1:30.268 1:30.992 7
8 11 Rubens BarrichelloHonda 1:31.972 1:30.598 1:31.478 8
9 16 Nick HeidfeldBMW Sauber 1:31.811 1:30.470 1:31.513 9
10 10 Nico RosbergWilliams-Cosworth 1:30.585 1:30.321 1:31.856 10
11 3 Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren-Mercedes 1:32.080 1:30.827 11
12 17 Robert KubicaBMW Sauber 1:31.204 1:31.094 12
13 4 Pedro de la RosaMcLaren-Mercedes 1:31.581 1:31.254 13
14 9 Mark WebberWilliams-Cosworth 1:31.647 1:31.276 14
15 20 Vitantonio LiuzziToro Rosso-Cosworth 1:31.741 1:31.943 15
16 19 Christijan AlbersSpyker MF1-Toyota 1:32.221 1:33.750 16
17 14 David CoulthardRed Bull-Ferrari 1:32.252 17
18 15 Robert DoornbosRed Bull-Ferrari 1:32.402 18
19 21 Scott SpeedToro Rosso-Cosworth 1:32.867 19
20 22 Takuma SatoSuper Aguri-Honda 1:33.666 20
21 18 Tiago MonteiroSpyker MF1-Toyota 1:33.709 21
22 23 Sakon YamamotoSuper Aguri-Honda No time 22
Source:[4]

Race
Michael Schumacher's Ferrari is returned to the pits after an engine failure cost him the race lead, and handed Fernando Alonso a ten-point advantage in the Drivers' Championship with one race remaining.
Pos.No.DriverConstructorLapTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 1 Fernando AlonsoRenault 53 1:23:52.413 5 10
2 6 Felipe MassaFerrari 53 +16.151 1 8
3 2 Giancarlo FisichellaRenault 53 +23.953 6 6
4 12 Jenson ButtonHonda 53 +34.101 7 5
5 3 Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren-Mercedes 53 +43.596 11 4
6 8 Jarno TrulliToyota 53 +46.717 4 3
7 7 Ralf SchumacherToyota 53 +48.869 3 2
8 16 Nick HeidfeldBMW Sauber 53 +1:16.095 9 1
9 17 Robert KubicaBMW Sauber 53 +1:16.932 12
10 10 Nico RosbergWilliams-Cosworth 52 +1 lap 10
11 4 Pedro de la RosaMcLaren-Mercedes 52 +1 lap 13
12 11 Rubens BarrichelloHonda 52 +1 lap 8
13 15 Robert DoornbosRed Bull-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 18
14 20 Vitantonio LiuzziToro Rosso-Cosworth 52 +1 lap 15
15 22 Takuma SatoSuper Aguri-Honda 52 +1 lap 20
16 18 Tiago MonteiroSpyker MF1-Toyota 51 +2 laps 21
17 23 Sakon YamamotoSuper Aguri-Honda 50 +3 laps 22
18 21 Scott SpeedToro Rosso-Cosworth 48 Power steering 19
Ret 9 Mark WebberWilliams-Cosworth 39 Accident 14
Ret 5 Michael SchumacherFerrari 36 Engine 2
Ret 14 David CoulthardRed Bull-Ferrari 35 Gearbox 17
Ret 19 Christijan AlbersSpyker MF1-Toyota 20 Driveshaft 16
Source:[5]

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
  • Bold text indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

References
  1. "Japan". Formula1.com. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  2. ZAKZAK Archived 2007-05-23 at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese)
  3. "Fisi dedicates third to dead pal". ITV Sport. Archived from the original on 16 October 2006. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  4. Domenjoz, Luc; et al. Formula One Yearbook 2006-2007. Chronosports S.A. p. 200. ISBN 2-84707-110-5.
  5. Domenjoz, Luc; et al. Formula One Yearbook 2006-2007. Chronosports S.A. p. 205. ISBN 2-84707-110-5.
  6. "Japan 2006 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
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2006 Chinese Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
2006 season		 Next race:
2006 Brazilian Grand Prix
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2005 Japanese Grand Prix		 Japanese Grand Prix Next race:
2007 Japanese Grand Prix

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