2006 Japanese Grand Prix

  2006 Japanese Grand Prix
Race details
Race 17 of 18 in the 2006 Formula One season

The Suzuka circuit
Date October 8, 2006
Official name XXXII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Location Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
5.807 km (3.608 mi)
Distance 53 laps, 307.573 km (191.224 mi)
Weather Fine
Pole position
Driver Felipe Massa Ferrari
Time 1:29.599
Fastest lap
Driver Fernando Alonso Renault
Time 1:32.676 on lap 14
Podium
First Fernando Alonso Renault
Second Felipe Massa Ferrari
Third Giancarlo Fisichella Renault

The 2006 Japanese Grand Prix was the seventeenth race of the 2006 Formula One season. It was held between 6–8 October at Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka. 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,[1] and was the 20th Grand Prix to be held at Suzuka.

Felipe Massa started the race from pole, but Michael Schumacher soon passed him on lap 3 to take the lead. Schumacher was well on his way to victory and an undisputed lead in the championship with 1 race to go. On lap 37, Schumacher's engine failed, his first engine failure since the 2000 French Grand Prix, giving the lead to Fernando Alonso, who went on to win the race. This virtually gave the championship to Alonso. This was the most recent victory for Michelin, who 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 died on 5 October 2006 after a heart attack.[2]

Contents

[hide]

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.

Team Nat Driver
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

Qualifying results

From [3]:

Pos Nat Name Team/Engine Part 3 Part 2 Part 1
1 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:29.599 1:29.830 1:30.112
2 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:29.711 1:28.954 1:31.279
3 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:29.989 1:30.299 1:30.595
4 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:30.039 1:30.204 1:30.420
5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:30.371 1:30.357 1:30.976
6 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:30.599 1:30.306 1:31.696
7 Jenson Button Honda 1:30.992 1:30.268 1:30.847
8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:31.478 1:30.598 1:31.972
9 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:31.513 1:30.470 1:31.811
10 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 1:31.856 1:30.321 1:30.585
11 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.827 1:32.080
12 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:31.094 1:31.204
13 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.254 1:31.581
14 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1:31.276 1:31.647
15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:31.943 1:31.741
16 Christijan Albers Spyker MF1-Toyota 1:33.750 1:32.221
17 David Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari 1:32.252
18 Robert Doornbos Red Bull-Ferrari 1:32.402
19 Scott Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:32.867
20 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:33.666
21 Tiago Monteiro Spyker MF1-Toyota 1:33.709
22 Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda

Race results

From [4]:

Pos No Driver Team Lap Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Fernando Alonso Renault 53 1:23:52.413 5 10
2 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 53 +16.151 1 8
3 2 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 53 +23.953 6 6
4 12 Jenson Button Honda 53 +34.101 7 5
5 3 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 53 +43.596 11 4
6 8 Jarno Trulli Toyota 53 +46.717 4 3
7 7 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 53 +48.869 3 2
8 16 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 53 +1:16.095 9 1
9 17 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 53 +1:16.932 12
10 10 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 52 +1 lap 10
11 4 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 52 +1 lap 13
12 11 Rubens Barrichello Honda 52 +1 lap 8
13 15 Robert Doornbos Red Bull-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 18
14 20 Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth 52 +1 lap 15
15 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 52 +1 lap 20
16 18 Tiago Monteiro Spyker MF1-Toyota 51 +2 laps 21
17 23 Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda 50 +3 laps 22
18 21 Scott Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth 48 Power steering 19
Ret 9 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 39 Accident 14
Ret 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 36 Engine 2
Ret 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari 35 Gearbox 17
Ret 19 Christijan Albers Spyker MF1-Toyota 20 Driveshaft 16

Standings after the race

Note, only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Drivers' Championship standings[4]
Pos Driver Points
1 Fernando Alonso 126
2 Michael Schumacher 116
3 Felipe Massa 70
4 Giancarlo Fisichella 69
5 Kimi Räikkönen 61
Constructors' Championship standings[4]
Pos Constructor Points
1 Renault 195
2 Ferrari 186
3 McLaren-Mercedes 105
4 Honda 78
5 BMW Sauber 36

External links

Previous race:
2006 Chinese Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
2006 season
Next race:
2006 Brazilian Grand Prix
Previous race:
2005 Japanese Grand Prix
Japanese Grand Prix Next race:
2007 Japanese Grand Prix

References

  1. ^ ZAKZAK
  2. ^ "Fisi dedicates third to dead pal" ITV Sport. Retrieved 9 October 2006
  3. ^ Domenjoz, Luc et al.. Formula One Yearbook 2006-2007. Chronosports S.A.. p. 200. ISBN 2-84707-110-5. 
  4. ^ a b c Domenjoz, Luc et al.. Formula One Yearbook 2006-2007. Chronosports S.A.. p. 205. ISBN 2-84707-110-5.