| 2006 French Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 11 of 18 in the2006 Formula One World Championship
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 The Nevers Circuit modified in 2003 | |||||
| Race details | |||||
| Date | July 16, 2006 | ||||
| Official name | Formula 1 Grand Prix de France 2006 | ||||
| Location | Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours,Magny-Cours,France | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 4.411[1] km (2.741 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 70 laps, 308.586[1] km (191.746 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Sunny, 34°C[2] | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||||
| Time | 1:15.493 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | |||
| Time | 1:17.111 on lap 46 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Ferrari | ||||
| Second | Renault | ||||
| Third | Ferrari | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2006 French Grand Prix (officially known as theFormula 1 Grand Prix de France 2006)[3] was aFormula One motor race held at theCircuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, nearMagny-Cours,France on 16 July 2006.
Michael Schumacher ofScuderia Ferrari tookpole position for the race and went on to win it ahead of championship leaderFernando Alonso withRenault. It was theGerman's 88th win in Formula One.
The event was held at theCircuit de Nevers Magny-Cours for the 16th time in the circuit's history across the weekend of 14-16 July. The Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the2006 Formula One World Championship and the 56th running of theFrench Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship.[4] This race also marked thecentenary of thefirst French Grand Prix in 1906.
Going into the weekend,Fernando Alonso was leading the championship, as he had been since the start, now with 88 points, compared toMichael Schumacher with 69.Renault teammateGiancarlo Fisichella had overtakenKimi Räikkönen for third place with 43 points.
Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race: two on Friday, both lasting 90 minutes, and one on Saturday for 60 minutes.[5] The first and second sessions were led byBMW Sauber's third driverRobert Kubica and the third session was headed by both the team's regular driversJacques Villeneuve andNick Heidfeld.[6]
The bottom 6 teams in the2005 Constructors' Championship andSuper 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.
Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into three parts. The first part ran for 15 minutes, and cars that finished the session 17th position or lower were eliminated from qualifying. The second part of the qualifying session lasted 15 minutes and eliminated cars that finished in positions 11 to 16. The final part of the qualifying session ran for 20 minutes which determined the positions from first to tenth, and decided pole position. Cars which failed to make the final session could refuel before the race, so ran lighter in those sessions.[5]
Michael Schumacher scored his 68th and finalpole position. He had held therecord for the most pole positions since surpassingAyrton Senna at the2006 San Marino Grand Prix and would hold it untilLewis Hamilton surpassed it at the2017 Italian Grand Prix.
The race was held on 16 July 2006 and was run for 70 laps.[8]
At the start,Fernando Alonso challengedFelipe Massa for second place, locking up at the firsthairpin, but theBrazilian managed to hold on and protect his second place, as well asMichael Schumacher's lead. While several battles emerged in the midfield, Schumacher set a series offastest laps to grow his lead out to 8 seconds over Alonso at the time that Massa pitted on lap 16.[2]
After the first round ofpit stops was completed, Schumacher led Massa by 6 seconds, with Alonso a further 5 seconds down the road.Jarno Trulli was fourth, but he was passed byKimi Räikkönen on lap 26. Later in the race, Trulli would retire but his teammateRalf Schumacher would end up finishing in that fourth position.
Alonso lost time behind backmarkers and was trailing Schumacher by 16 seconds when theGerman made his second stop. After Alonso had visited the pits for the second time, the gap had expanded to 26 seconds, with Massa still in between the rivals. When theFerraris stopped for a third time, Alonso moved past Massa and conserved his tyres. He held on to second place and finished the race 10 seconds, but more importantly, just 2 points behind Schumacher.
Schumacher became the first driver inFormula One history to win the sameGrand Prix on eight occasions (having previously won theFrench Grand Prix in1994,1995,1997,1998,2001,2002 and2004). Schumacher also achieved his 22nd careerhat trick (pole position, win & fastest lap at the same race), also a record.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 70 | 1:32:07.803 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 1 |  Fernando Alonso | Renault | 70 | +10.131 | 3 | 8 |
| 3 | 6 |  Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 70 | +22.546 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | 7 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 70 | +27.212 | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | 3 |  Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | 70 | +33.006 | 6 | 4 |
| 6 | 2 |  Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 70 | +45.265 | 7 | 3 |
| 7 | 4 | Pedro de la Rosa | McLaren-Mercedes | 70 | +49.407 | 8 | 2 |
| 8 | 16 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 69 | +1 lap | 11 | 1 |
| 9 | 14 |  David Coulthard | Red Bull-Ferrari | 69 | +1 lap | 9 | |
| 10 | 21 |  Scott Speed | Toro Rosso-Cosworth | 69 | +1 lap | 14 | |
| 11 | 17 |  Jacques Villeneuve | BMW Sauber | 69 | +1 lap | 16 | |
| 12 | 15 |  Christian Klien | Red Bull-Ferrari | 69 | +1 lap | 12 | |
| 13 | 20 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Toro Rosso-Cosworth | 69 | +1 lap | 22 | |
| 14 | 10 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Cosworth | 68 | +2 laps | 19 | |
| 15 | 19 |  Christijan Albers | MF1-Toyota | 68 | +2 laps | 15 | |
| 16 | 23 |  Franck Montagny | Super Aguri-Honda | 67 | +3 laps | 20 | |
| Ret | 12 | Jenson Button | Honda | 61 | Engine | 17 | |
| Ret | 9 |  Mark Webber | Williams-Cosworth | 55 | Wheel rim | 10 | |
| Ret | 8 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 39 | Brakes | 4 | |
| Ret | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 18 | Engine | 13 | |
| Ret | 18 |  Tiago Monteiro | MF1-Toyota | 11 | Accident | 18 | |
| Ret | 22 |  Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 0 | Transmission | 21 | |
| Source:[9] | |||||||
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| Previous race: 2006 United States Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2006 season | Next race: 2006 German Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2005 French Grand Prix | French Grand Prix | Next race: 2007 French Grand Prix |
46°51′51″N3°09′49″E / 46.86417°N 3.16361°E /46.86417; 3.16361
