2006 Japanese Grand Prix

The 2006 Japanese Grand Prix (formally known as the 2006 Formula 1 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix)^[2] 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.

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 miles)
Distance	53 laps, 307.573 km (191.117 miles)
Weather	Fine
Attendance	361,000[1]
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
Lap leaders

It was the 20th Grand Prix to be held at Suzuka. It was the first Formula One race to be filmed and broadcast in high-definition television. However the Fuji Television broadcast was only available in Japan.^[3]

Report

Practice and qualifying

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

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 2023^[update], Alonso's win remains the last victory for a car running on Michelin tyres, as the manufacturer pulled out of Formula One at the end of the season. Third place finisher Giancarlo Fisichella dedicated to his best friend, Tonino Visciani, who had died on 5 October 2006 after a heart attack.^[4]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	Grid
1	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:30.112	1:29.830	1:29.599	1
2	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:31.279	1:28.954	1:29.711	2
3	7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	1:30.595	1:30.299	1:29.989	3
4	8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:30.420	1:30.204	1:30.039	4
5	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:30.976	1:30.357	1:30.371	5
6	2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	1:31.696	1:30.306	1:30.599	6
7	12	Jenson Button	Honda	1:30.847	1:30.268	1:30.992	7
8	11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:31.972	1:30.598	1:31.478	8
9	16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:31.811	1:30.470	1:31.513	9
10	10	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Cosworth	1:30.585	1:30.321	1:31.856	10
11	3	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:32.080	1:30.827		11
12	17	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:31.204	1:31.094		12
13	4	Pedro de la Rosa	McLaren-Mercedes	1:31.581	1:31.254		13
14	9	Mark Webber	Williams-Cosworth	1:31.647	1:31.276		14
15	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso-Cosworth	1:31.741	1:31.943		15
16	19	Christijan Albers	Spyker MF1-Toyota	1:32.221	1:33.750		16
17	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Ferrari	1:32.252			17
18	15	Robert Doornbos	Red Bull-Ferrari	1:32.402			18
19	21	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso-Cosworth	1:32.867			19
20	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda	1:33.666			20
21	18	Tiago Monteiro	Spyker MF1-Toyota	1:33.709			21
22	23	Sakon Yamamoto	Super Aguri-Honda	No time			22
Source:[5]

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.	Driver	Constructor	Lap	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	53	1:23:53.413	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
Source:[6]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 1 Fernando Alonso* 126 1 2 Michael Schumacher* 116 1 3 Felipe Massa 70 1 4 Giancarlo Fisichella 69 5 Kimi Räikkönen 61 Source: [7]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 Renault* 195 2 Ferrari* 186 3 McLaren-Mercedes 105 4 Honda 78 5 BMW Sauber 36 Source: [7]

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

References

1. "Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 – Media Kit" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
2. "Japan". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 2006-10-20. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
3. ZAKZAK Archived 2007-05-23 at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese)
4. "Fisi dedicates third to dead pal". ITV Sport. Archived from the original on 16 October 2006. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
5. Domenjoz, Luc; et al. (February 2007). Formula One Yearbook 2006-2007. Chronosports S.A. p. 200. ISBN 978-2-84707-110-8.
6. Domenjoz, Luc; et al. (February 2007). Formula One Yearbook 2006-2007. Chronosports S.A. p. 205. ISBN 978-2-84707-110-8.
7. "Japan 2006 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.

External links

• Detailed Japanese Grand Prix results (archived)

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

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