Ferrari finished runner-up in the World Constructors' Championship with theFerrari 248 F1.
Mclaren finished third in the World Constructors' Championship with theMcLaren MP4-21.
The2006 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 60th season ofFormula One motor racing. It featured the 57th Formula One World Championship which began on 12 March and ended on 22 October after eighteen races. The Drivers' Championship was won byFernando Alonso ofRenault for the second year in a row, with Alonso becoming the youngest ever double world champion at the time. Then-retiring seven-time world championMichael Schumacher ofScuderia Ferrari finished runner-up, 13 points behind. The Constructors' Championship was won by Renault, which defeated Ferrari by five points.[1]
The season was highlighted by the rivalry between Alonso and Schumacher, who each won seven races. Renault and Ferrari drivers dominated the field, victorious in all but one race: the Hungarian Grand Prix was won by Honda'sJenson Button, and the four second-place finishes not achieved by Renault or Ferrari were accomplished byMcLaren. This season also marked the beginning of the usage of 2.4LV8 engines in Formula One from the 3.0LV10 engines that were used in the previous seasons, which continued till the end of the2013 season. 2006 was also the first season since1988 and1997 respectively to feature multiple engine displacements and configurations, asScuderia Toro Rosso were given special dispensation to continue using V10s.
For the first time since the1956 season, noBritish constructor won any race and for the first time since the1957 season all races were won by cars powered by an engine built by the same constructor that also built chassis.
The season saw several changes occurring in the drivers' market starting already in December 2005 as Alonso sealed a move toMcLaren for 2007.[2] In September 2006, Schumacher announced his retirement from Formula One at the end of the season, with2003 and2005 championship runner-upKimi Räikkönen being announced as his replacement at Ferrari.[3][4] Among other notable departures includedJuan Pablo Montoya, who left McLaren mid-season to pursue a career inNASCAR and1997 World ChampionJacques Villeneuve who left after theGerman Grand Prix.[5] The season saw the debut of thefuture world champion,Nico Rosberg.
As of 2025[update], this is the lastConstructors' Championship for Renault, and the lastDrivers' Championship for aSpanish Formula One driver. The 2006 championship also saw the last season of the Bridgestone-Michelin tyre war which had started in2001 asMichelin withdrew from the sport at the end of this season leavingBridgestone as the sole tyre supplier for2007, a position the Japanese company would retain until leaving the sport themselves at the end of2010 and replaced byPirelli from2011 onwards. As of 2025[update], this is the last Formula One season to have 2 tyre suppliers, and is also the last season overall to feature more than one tyre supplier.
Three prominent names in the sport disappeared for this season, withMinardi,BAR andJordan changing names under new ownership, whileSauber changed ownership, and one new team,Super Aguri, entered at the last moment. Minardi were taken over byRed Bull, becomingToro Rosso, which isItalian for Red Bull. The Sauber name remained, although largely as a sentiment, asBMW had purchased 80% of the team, with Peter Sauber keeping only a 20% share. A year afterAlex Shnaider had purchased the team and following a disappointing final season under the Jordan name, Jordan was renamed toMF1 Racing after Shnaider'sMidland Group company. Late in the season, the team was bought bySpyker. Honda, who already owned a 45% stake in the BAR team, completed their takeover of the team and changed its name to Honda Racing F1 Team at the start of the season.Super Aguri F1 also entered their first season after having problems entering. They received limited backing fromHonda including technology and engines, due to them running Honda factory driverTakuma Sato despite Super Aguri being a Honda customer team. As a result ofHonda's expansion of supplying engines toSuper Aguri, this marked the first season since2002 that Honda supplied multiple teams in the sport when Honda supplied bothBAR andJordan respectively.
Williams introduced numerous changes for 2006, particularly changing toCosworthV8 engines after they andBMW split.Red Bull Racing (RBR) hadFerrari engines, replacing the Cosworth power which gained them seventh in the standings in2005.Williams andToyota changed tyre suppliers toBridgestone, due toMichelin's desire to supply fewer teams in the championship. Despite this, Toro Rosso, who under the Minardi name ranBridgestone tyres, switched toMichelin in line with parent team RBR.
AfterIlmor fully sold its UK engine division toDaimlerChrysler, Ilmor-Mercedes officially renamed to Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines and thus effectively Mercedes-Benz became a sole in-house sport engine builder, assembler and tuner from 2006 onwards.
Ferrari replacedMichael Schumacher's longtime teammateRubens Barrichello with fellow BrazilianFelipe Massa, who moved fromSauber. Massa had previously tested with Ferrari in 2003. Massa was replaced at the newly renamedBMW Sauber team by returneeNick Heidfeld, who had driven for BMW's previous partnersWilliams for much of 2005 and Sauber in 2001-2003. Poland'sRobert Kubica took up the third driver's role at BMW Sauber.
Williams promoted test driverNico Rosberg, who had won the inaugural GP2 drivers' title, to their second seat alongsideMark Webber.Alexander Wurz, one ofMcLaren's test drivers from 2005, joined Williams as a third driver, alongside India'sNarain Karthikeyan, who had raced forJordan the previous season.Gary Paffett was promoted to a permanent testing role at McLaren alongsidePedro de la Rosa.
Karthikeyan's seat at Jordan, now renamed asMF1, was taken by the 2005Minardi driverChristijan Albers. MF1 decided to employ a rotation system for their third driver position. Minardi's other driver,Robert Doornbos, took up a test driving role atRed Bull.Vitantonio Liuzzi, who had shared Red Bull's second seat withChristian Klien in 2005, moved to Red Bull's newly acquired sister teamToro Rosso—previously Minardi—where he partnered his fellow Red Bull-backed driverScott Speed. The Swiss driverNeel Jani became Toro Rosso's third driver.
After theSan Marino Grand Prix Super Aguri's Yuji Ide had his superlicence revoked by theFIA and could no longer race in Formula One. He was replaced by the team's reserve driverFranck Montagny for the next race. Super Aguri hiredSakon Yamamoto, one of Jordan's test drivers from 2005, to be their third driver from theBritish Grand Prix onwards, in place of the promoted Montagny. Yamamoto and Montagny switched places from theGerman Grand Prix onwards.
After theUnited States Grand Prix,Juan Pablo Montoya announced he was moving toNASCAR for the 2007 season and leavingMcLaren. The next day, McLaren announced that Montoya would be replaced in their driver line up by test driver Pedro de la Rosa, ending Montoya's five and a half-year F1 career since 2001.
Robert Kubica was promoted to a race seat by BMW Sauber at theHungarian Grand Prix, replacing 1997 World ChampionJacques Villeneuve, possibly due to Villeneuve's injuries after a heavy crash in the German Grand Prix.[10] On the day after the Hungarian GP (7 August 2006), BMW Sauber announced that Villeneuve had left the team with immediate effect, with Kubica replacing him permanently for the remainder of the season.[11] German Formula 3 driverSebastian Vettel became BMW Sauber's third driver from theTurkish Grand Prix onwards, replacing the promoted Kubica.
On 11 September 2006, Red Bull Racing announced that the team officially sackedChristian Klien and thus Red Bull drafted its third/test driver,Robert Doornbos for the final three races of the season as a result of Klien's string of poor results.[12] For the races in China and Japan,Michael Ammermüller replaced Doornbos as third driver.[13]
The Australian Grand Prix was held later than usual, to avoid a clash with the2006 Commonwealth Games. For the first time, Bahrain hosted the first Grand Prix. Brazil hosted the last race, while Japan and China swapped their original dates.
In 2006, the FIA announced the Belgian Grand Prix would not be part of the 2006 Formula One season, since the local authorities had started major repair work in Spa-Francorchamps.[16] The Belgian Grand Prix returned in 2007.
In an attempt to curb the increasing engine power levels of recent years, the maximumengine displacement was reduced from 3.0 to 2.4 litres and the number ofcylinders from 10 to 8.[19] At similar engine speeds, the change was expected to cut peak power by around 200 bhp, which would equate to around three to five seconds on lap times at most circuits. (Scuderia Toro Rosso continued to use 3.0-litre 10-cylinder engines with both rev and air-intake limiters to avoid the costs of re-engineering their cars in a short period). Initial testing indicated the new engines were six seconds slower than their V10 counterparts, but early in the season, it became obvious that despite the decrease in power, lap times were not far from 2005 figures; on some circuits, the fastest laps set this year were actually faster than the ones recorded the previous year, with the V10 engines.
Some engine suppliers indicated early that their smaller V8s can rev higher than the 19,000 rpms normal for 2005-spec V10s. Northampton-based engine builderCosworth had an enviable record of success with V8 engines. It made further history by becoming the first manufacturer to have broken the 20,000 rpm limit on track in December 2005.[20]
Tyre changes returned to Formula One in 2006. Each driver is limited to 14 sets of tyres per race weekend. This consists of seven sets of dry-weather tyres, four sets of wet-weather tyres and three sets of extreme-weather tyres. The thinking behind this is that the reduced engine size will offset any performance gain.[21] The number of constructors who were supplied tyres byMichelin was down from seven to six whileBridgestone increased from three to five - Toyota and Williams both switched to Bridgestone, and newcomers Super Aguri also ran on Bridgestone, whilst Scuderia Toro Rosso switched to Michelin having run on Bridgestone in their former guise as Minardi. Michelin announced they would withdraw from the championship after the 2006 season.
All Formula One cars and entrants began to utilise mandatory 7-speed + 1 reversesemi-automatic gearbox configuration from 2006 to2013.
To keep costs down, the fuel tank capacity of all Formula One cars were mandatorily standardized to 150 litres (40 US gallons).
A new qualifying system consisting of three sessions of varying length was introduced.[21] A 15-minute session was held first, in which the six slowest cars from that session were eliminated and thus set in grid positions 17–22. After a five-minute break, another 15-minute session was held with the remaining cars, and again the six slowest cars were eliminated and set in positions 11–16. These twelve eliminated drivers were placed inparc fermé, but allowed to modify fuel loads as they see fit.
During a further five-minute break, the remaining 10 cars declared their fuel loads to the FIA. A final 20 minute session then decided the top 10 grid positions. Teams were allowed to run their fuel load low by making as many laps as possible, and thus improve their times as the weight falls. This was considered an improvement for TV audiences because teams needed to run as many laps as possible to lower their fuel loads. Following this session, the top ten cars were placed in parc ferme and required to refill their fuel load to the level of that at the beginning of the final 20 minutes. Starting with the2006 French Grand Prix, qualifying for final session was cut short to just 15 minutes, making all of the sessions the same length, and the ability for drivers to complete a flying lap after the chequered flag drop now applied in the first two sessions as well.[22]
A loophole was detected by the FIA, in that teams could declare a large fuel load but on the out lap "leak", or use a large quantity of fuel to lighten a car and permit a faster lap. The FIA decided to only count laps that are within 110% of the driver's fastest time, and allow teams to top up with the amount of fuel used for those laps.
Only one free practice session was held on Saturdays, for one hour, and it ended no less than two hours before qualifying begins, usually between 11.00 and 12.00, replacing the old system of two 45-minute sessions. Friday remained unchanged, with two one-hour sessions, starting three hours apart.
Thetuned mass damper system was used by several teams, notably Renault, during the latter part of 2005 and the 2006 seasons. The devices were located in the nosecone, and were particularly effective in corners and over kerbs to keep the tyres in closer contact to the track surface than they would otherwise be.[23] After theFrench Grand Prix, the FIA announced that the system would be outlawed. This had a particularly significant effect on Renault, as the team had effectively built their cars around the devices, and had introduced them as long ago as the2005 Brazilian Grand Prix.[24] At theGerman Grand Prix the Renault team submitted one of their cars for scrutineering by the race stewards, who ruled that the devices were acceptable. The FIA launched an appeal against this decision, and on 23 August 2006 the FIA International Court of Appeal issued a statement upholding this appeal and rejecting the stewards' decision. The Court of Appeal stated that the system infringed part of the bodywork section (Article 3.15) of the Formula One Technical Regulations, which stated that any specific part of the car influencing its aerodynamic performance had to: comply with the rules relating to bodywork, be rigidly secured to the entirely sprung part of the car (rigidly secured means not having any degree of freedom), and remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car.[25] The central argument was whether the mass dampers function as aerodynamic devices or as a part of the suspension system. The FIA reasoned that because the devices did not "remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car", they were illegal. But the FIA failed to explain how the damper, which was entirely enclosed with the car can be counted as bodywork when article 1.4 of the regulations defined bodywork as:
All entirely sprung parts of the car in contact with the external air stream, except cameras and the parts definitely associated with the mechanical functioning of the engine, transmission and running gear. Airboxes, radiators and engine exhausts are considered to be part of the bodywork.[26]
Following the ruling by the Court of Appeal, the system was officially banned before the2006 Turkish Grand Prix. In a later interview, Renault's Flavio Briatore namedMcLaren as the team who complained to the FIA.[27]
The calendar was initially announced as the same as for 2005, with theBelgian Grand Prix scheduled for 17 September. However, on 8 February, theFIA announced that the Belgian National Sporting Authority (RACB) were withdrawingSpa-Francorchamps from the 2006 Formula One calendar due to a lack of time to complete improvements to the track.[28] The race has traditionally received strong support from drivers and FIA PresidentMax Mosley and the Grand Prix was back on the Grand Prix calendar for the2007 season.[29]
2006 was the last season with twotyre manufacturers: The two manufacturers at the time were Japanese manufacturerBridgestone and French companyMichelin. In December 2005, the FIA announced that from the 2008 season, there would be only one tyre supplier. Five days later, Michelin announced it would quit Formula One at the end of the 2006 season as it did not want to be in Formula One as the sole tyre supplier.[30]
At the end of 2005, three well-known teams were bought out:Minardi,Sauber andJordan. The former were bought byRed Bull to be run as a junior team to house their growing list of young talent looking for an F1 drive. Despite campaigns by Minardi fans the team were renamedScuderia Toro Rosso (Toro Rosso), Italian forTeam Red Bull. The Sauber team was purchased byBMW. BMW opted to keep the Sauber name in F1 renaming the teamBMW Sauber. Jordan, who had been bought by theMidland Group in 2004, changed their name toMF1 Racing after a transition year in 2005.
2006 also saw the introduction of a new Japanese team,Super Aguri F1, founded by former F1 driverAguri Suzuki, who entered at the last moment. Super Aguri notified the FIA on 1 November 2005 (ahead of the governing body's 15 November deadline) of their intention to enter, but the FIA's initial entry list stated they had not approved Aguri's entry.[31] However, the team received the consent of the ten existing teams to compete and paid the US$48 million bond required as a deposit. The team was confirmed by the FIA on 26 January 2006.
Between the 2005 and 2006 season the ownership of Formula One changed significantly. Until November 2005 theFormula One group was owned by an Ecclestone family trust andSpeed Investments (a grouping ofBayerische Landesbank,JP Morgan Chase andLehman Brothers). On 25 November, CVC Capital Partners announced it was to purchase both the Ecclestone shares (25% of SLEC) and Bayerische Landesbank's 48% share, held through Speed Investments. By 30 March, CVC had acquired all remaining shares and later that month theEuropean Commission announced approval of this deal, conditional upon CVC relinquishing control ofDorna Sports, promoter ofMotoGP. On 28 March CVC announced the completion of the Formula One transaction.[32] Ecclestone reinvested proceeds of his stake into the new Formula One parent companyAlpha Prema.
Another Ecclestone victory involved theGrand Prix Manufacturers' Association's proposal for an alternative world championship. On 27 March, the five car manufacturers involved lodged applications for the2008 season, reducing the likelihood of a breakaway series. On 14 May, Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association (GPMA) members confirmed they had signed aMemorandum of Understanding, a move toward signing a newConcorde Agreement. Five days later, Bernie Ecclestone and CVC Capital Partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the GPMA which should see the five "rebels" continue racing in Formula One at least until the 2012 season.
Alonso won a dominant victory atMonaco after Schumacher was demoted to the back of the grid for attempting to stop Alonso taking pole position.
After a disastrous2005 season and slow start to the 2006 seasonMichael Schumacher won consecutive races atImola and theNürburgring. During the final lap of his qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix, Schumacher came to a stop at the La Rascassehairpin, resulting in yellow flags, meaning that other drivers could not go at maximum speed. After the session there were immediate complaints from the other teams claiming that this was a deliberate move by Schumacher to ensure he started inpole position[33] – Alonso's flying lap that was affected by the yellow flags had been likely to beat Schumacher's fastest time – at the end of the second sector, Alonso was more than two-tenths of a second ahead of Schumacher's time, and his final time was just 0.064 seconds slower than Schumacher.[34] Although Schumacher insisted that he had simply locked up his brakes at the corner,[35] a stewards' inquiry stated, "We are left with no alternative but to conclude that the driver deliberately stopped his car on the circuit." The penalty was that Schumacher's qualifying times were all deleted, demoting him to 22nd position on the grid. He opted to start from the pitlane, and finished fifth, after an incident in the race that required the safety car to be deployed. The Safety Car failed to aid Schumacher however, but in fact hampered him; because he was the last car to be lapped by leader Alonso, and under 2006 FIA rules; he was not allowed to un-lap himself under Safety Car conditions. This meant he was almost a full lap down on third placed Coulthard, and fourth placed Barrichello on the resumption of the race. But by the end, he was threatening to pass them for position; finishing less than two seconds off a podium spot.
At the British Grand Prix, Alonso became the first Spanish driver and the youngest driver (24 years and 317 days) to win a race from pole and get fastest lap, leading every lap of the race except one. Schumacher won theUnited States Grand Prix, his fourth consecutive victory at Indianapolis and fifth career victory there, and theFrench Grand Prix. Indianapolis also marked the final F1 race for 7 time race winnerJuan Pablo Montoya as he moved to theNASCAR Cup Series for 2007 after he decided that he'd, had enough with F1 resulting in his contract with McLaren being terminated early. He was replaced byPedro De La Rosa for the rest of the season.
The FIA decided that the 'Mass Damper' system used by Renault up to this point of the season did not meet the technical regulations, and it was banned – a polemical decision, since the FIA itself was consulted about the system during its development, and authorised its use. The effect of the ban was clear at the next race where the Renaults struggled to even get points. Schumacher also won theGerman Grand Prix at Hockenheim, with Alonso finishing 5th. Hockenheim also marked the last race for1997 world championJacques Villeneuve as he leftBMW Sauber due to a heavy crash during the race and falling out with the team over a shootout with new talentRobert Kubica for the second BMW seat in2007.
Jenson Button achieved his first Formula One career victory in theHungarian Grand Prix. Alonso had a mechanical failure whilst leading in the latter stages of the race whilst Michael Schumacher retired after a collision withNick Heidfeld. However Schumacher was promoted to eighth place in the standings (having been classified ninth following a retirement three laps from the end) because Robert Kubica's debut ended in disqualification. The Polish driver had finished seventh in the BMW.
Felipe Massa won the next Grand Prix inTurkey, so for the second race in a row, Formula One had a maiden victor.Fernando Alonso extended his lead overMichael Schumacher by two points after he managed to finish a tenth of a second ahead of the German in second place.
At theItalian Grand Prix, Alonso was given a penalty for 'holding up' Massa during the final qualification session. Many in the Formula One 'paddock' were reported to disagree with the penalty and Max Mosley has since said that he would not have issued the same penalty as the race stewards.[36] Schumacher reduced Alonso's lead to only two points after winning the race while Alonso suffered an engine failure in the late stages of the race. Despite a fourth-place finish for Alonso's teammate,Giancarlo Fisichella, and a flat-spotted tyre causingFelipe Massa to score no points, the race also sawFerrari pull ahead ofRenault for the first time in 2006.Polish driverRobert Kubica took hisBMW Sauber to his first podium finish, in only his third race, but the race results were largely overshadowed by Schumacher announcing, during the post-race press conference, that he would retire at the end of the season. Afterwards he did say that he would hold a position in the Ferrari F1 team for 2007, though he did not disclose what.
Three weeks later, with his victory atShanghai right ahead of Alonso, Schumacher drew level on points with him at the head of the championship. Schumacher led the World Championship for the first time in 2006 after the race, as he had won seven races compared to Alonso's six. Massa did not finish the race, and Renault gained again the lead in the Constructors' Championship thanks to Fisichella's third place. As Shanghai would prove to be the German's last victory of the season as well as the 91st and last victory of his career before retiring at the end of the season.
Schumacher retired inJapan, handing the championship lead and the momentum back to Alonso entering the final race of the season.
A week later at theJapanese Grand Prix, Felipe Massa took pole ahead of Michael Schumacher in second and Fernando Alonso in fifth. Schumacher quickly took the lead and set about gaining a five-second lead, which continued until after the second round of pit stops. However, Schumacher's engine failed with 17 laps to go, forcing him to retire and handing Alonso the win ahead of Massa.
At the final round, theBrazilian Grand Prix, Massa again took pole. Drama in qualifying saw Michael Schumacher have a mysterious failure, meaning that he started down in tenth, while Alonso began in fifth. In the race, Schumacher had yet more bad luck, suffering a puncture just a few laps in. He recovered to finish fourth, while teammate Massa became the first Brazilian to win his home Grand Prix sinceAyrton Senna in 1993. Alonso finished second to secure his second successive championship, adding the record of the youngest man to secure back-to-back titles to his ever-increasing list of records. Fisichella finished sixth for Renault, meaning that the French outfit secured their second successive Constructors' title. McLaren failed to secure a single win in the season for the first time since1996 and it was the first season since1956 that a British constructor failed to win a race.
^Midland entered last three Grands Prix as "Spyker MF1 Racing".
^In the event that two or more drivers achieve the same best result an equal number of times, their next-best result will be used. If two or more drivers achieve equal results an equal number of times, the FIA would have nominate the winner according to such criteria as it thought fit.[39] Under this system one first place was better than any number of second places, one second place was better than any number of third places, etc.[39]
^Tanaka, Hiromasa.Transition of Regulation and Technology in Formula One. Honda R&D Technical Review 2009 - F1 Special (The Third Era Activities), 2009, p. 8.
^FIA Formula One Technical Regulations For 2006FIA.comArchived 1 September 2006 at theWayback Machine (Page 11, Article 3.15: Aerodynamic influence). Retrieved 21 September 2006.
^FIA Formula One Technical Regulations For 2006FIA.comArchived 1 September 2006 at theWayback Machine (Page 5, Article 1.4: Bodywork). Retrieved 29 December 2006.
^Bishop, Matt (2006). "The Long Interview: Flavio Briatore".F1 Racing (October):66–76.
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Alexander Wurz
Anthony Davidson
Robert Doornbos
Michael Ammermüller
Robert Kubica
Giorgio Mondini
Alexandre Prémat
Ernesto Viso
Sakon Yamamoto
