2006 Bahrain Grand Prix

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2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
Race 1 of 18 in the 2006 Formula One World Championship
Bahrain International Circuit--Grand Prix Layout.svg
The Bahrain Circuit in Sakhir
Race details
Date12 March 2006
Official name 2006 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
Location Bahrain International Circuit
Sakhir, Bahrain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.412 km (3.363 miles)
Distance 57 laps, 308.238 km (191.530 miles)
Weather Fine, Dry and Hot
Air Temp 23 °C (73 °F) [1]
Track Temp 40 °C (104 °F) [1] dropping to 34 °C (93 °F)
Attendance 77,000 (Weekend) [2]
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:31.431
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Germany.svg Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth
Time 1:32.408 on lap 42
Podium
First Renault
Second Ferrari
Third McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders
  • 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix

The 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially the 2006 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) [3] was a Formula One motor race held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain on 12 March 2006. The 57-lap race was the opening round of the 2006 Formula One season and the third running of the Bahrain Grand Prix. It was won by the 2005 World Champions, Fernando Alonso and the Renault team. Ferrari driver and polesitter Michael Schumacher began his final season in Formula One (before his return with Mercedes in 2010) with second position. Kimi Räikkönen completed the podium after he finished in third place with the McLaren team, despite starting in last position.

Contents

The race was the first Grand Prix for future world champion Nico Rosberg, son of World Champion Keke Rosberg, who raced with the Williams team. He set the fastest lap of the race and, at the age of 20 years and 258 days, broke the record for the youngest driver to do so, which he held until Max Verstappen scored his first fastest lap, at age 19, at the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix. It was also the debut race for the BMW Sauber, Toro Rosso, Midland F1 and Super Aguri teams, and drivers Scott Speed and Yuji Ide.

It also saw the début of the 2.4 litre (146.4 cu in) naturally-aspirated V8 engines which were used by all teams except Toro Rosso, who were still using the 3.0 litre (183 cu in) V10 engines that were used from 1995 to 2005, as the team's chassis, the STR1, was reused from the Red Bull RB1 from the 2005 season. This race notably marked the first time teams had fielded V8-powered cars, since the 1997 European Grand Prix.

Report

Practice

Friday drivers

The bottom six 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.

ConstructorNatDriver
Williams-Cosworth Flag of Austria.svg Alexander Wurz
Honda Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Anthony Davidson
Red Bull-Ferrari Flag of the Netherlands.svg Robert Doornbos
BMW Sauber Flag of Poland.svg Robert Kubica
MF1-Toyota Flag of Germany.svg Markus Winkelhock
Toro Rosso-Cosworth Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani

Qualifying

Toyota driver Jarno Trulli before the start of the race. Trulli Toyota 1.jpg
Toyota driver Jarno Trulli before the start of the race.

The race was the first run under the new 2006 qualifying rules, in which the one-hour session is split into three 'knock out' parts. The first part eliminated Kimi Räikkönen (rear wishbone failure) and Ralf Schumacher, who was caught out by the red flag after Räikkönen's accident and failed to set a competitive time, as well as the MF1's and the two Super Aguris. The second part saw fewer surprises, with the expected runners lining up for the final top 10 part. The result was that the Ferraris swept the front row.

Race

At the start of the race, Fernando Alonso moved up to second in the first lap, only for Michael Schumacher to begin to pull away. Alonso was involved in a near collision with Schumacher's teammate Felipe Massa, who spun at the first corner. Massa was never a threat after this point, not helped by a delay in his pit stop to change tyres the same lap. Alonso's teammate Giancarlo Fisichella also played little part in the race due to an engine mapping problem which restricted power. He retired on the 21st lap due to hydraulic failure. A live team radio broadcast in which the team informed him that he would have to cope with the engine as well as he could led to Fisichella swearing in response; [4] this incident resulted in future team radio broadcasts being time-delayed. To the surprise of few, Kimi Räikkönen quickly moved his way up the field, only being delayed by Jacques Villeneuve and Fisichella for a short period of time, before passing both men.

Further down the field, Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg, who was making his Grand Prix début, touched at the first corner. Both men were significantly delayed, but recovered. Heidfeld's day continued to get worse, as an incident with David Coulthard was investigated after the race.

Juan Pablo Montoya finished 5th in his McLaren, having never been a threat throughout the race. It was a good day for Williams on a whole, as Mark Webber finished in 6th, while Rosberg was the surprise of the race though, ending up a very respectable 7th, passing Christian Klien after catching him in the last few laps of the race, putting Klien down to a still impressive 8th. Rosberg set the fastest lap of the race, becoming the youngest driver ever to achieve this in a Grand Prix, breaking a record held by Alonso.

Michael Schumacher started on pole for Ferrari and finished the race in second position. Marlboro-Ferrari.jpg
Michael Schumacher started on pole for Ferrari and finished the race in second position.

Honda suffered mixed fortunes throughout the race. Early on fans were treated to a fight between Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button, as Button slipped down the order due to a slow getaway. Button eventually fought his way back up, twice passing Juan Pablo Montoya at the end of the straight but losing out again in pitstops. He eventually finished 4th, 0.6 seconds behind Räikkönen in 3rd. Räikkönen fought hard throughout the race, stopping only once on his way to the last podium spot. He rose 19 places in the race which is more than any driver since Fabrizio Barbazza started 25th and finished sixth in the 1993 San Marino Grand Prix. [5]

At the second set of pit stops, Alonso was able to take advantage of staying out longer than Schumacher by coming out of the pit lane side by side with Schumacher. As they came into the first corner both cars were neck and neck, but Alonso was able to pull out in front of the former world champion. Despite coming under heavy pressure from Schumacher towards the end, the reigning champion started off the season with a well earned victory.

After a tussle with David Coulthard, Nick Heidfeld was reprimanded by stewards post-race for positioning his car in a way that forced Coulthard off the race circuit. Coulthard suffered engine failure on cool-down lap and received a 10-place grid penalty for 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix.

This was the first race for the Midland, BMW Sauber, Toro Rosso, Honda F1 and Super Aguri teams, although only Super Aguri was a completely new team, the others all representing buyouts or rebrandings of existing teams. Along with Rosberg, Scott Speed and Yuji Ide were also making their Grand Prix débuts.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.No.DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q3Grid
15 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:33.3101:32.0251:31.4311
26 Flag of Brazil.svg Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:33.5791:32.0141:31.4782
312 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jenson Button Honda 1:32.6031:32.0251:31.5493
41 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso Renault 1:32.4331:31.2151:31.7024
54 Flag of Colombia.svg Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 1:33.2331:31.4871:32.1645
611 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:33.9221:32.3221:32.5796
79 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1:33.4541:32.3091:33.0067
815 Flag of Austria.svg Christian Klien Red Bull-Ferrari 1:34.3081:32.1061:33.1128
92 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:32.9341:31.8311:33.4969
1016 Flag of Germany.svg Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:33.3741:31.9581:33.92610
1117 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve BMW Sauber 1:33.8821:32.45611
1210 Flag of Germany.svg Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 1:32.9451:32.62012
1314 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari 1:33.6781:32.85013
148 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:33.9871:33.06614
1520 Flag of Italy.svg Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:34.4391:33.41615
1621 Flag of the United States.svg Scott Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:33.9951:34.60616
177 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:34.70217
1819 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota 1:35.72418
1918 Flag of Portugal.svg Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota 1:35.900PL 2
2022 Flag of Japan.svg Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:37.41120
2123 Flag of Japan.svg Yuji Ide Super Aguri-Honda 1:40.27021
223 Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes no time 1 22
Source: [6] [7]
Notes

Race

The podium ceremony after the race. Bahrain 2006 podium.jpg
The podium ceremony after the race.
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
11 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso Renault 571:29:46.205410
25 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 57+1.24618
33 Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 57+19.360226
412 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jenson Button Honda 57+19.99235
54 Flag of Colombia.svg Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 57+37.04854
69 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 57+41.93273
710 Flag of Germany.svg Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 57+1:03.043122
815 Flag of Austria.svg Christian Klien Red Bull-Ferrari 57+1:06.77181
96 Flag of Brazil.svg Felipe Massa Ferrari 57+1:09.9072
1014 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari 57+1:15.54113
1120 Flag of Italy.svg Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth 57+1:25.99715
1216 Flag of Germany.svg Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 56+1 Lap10
1321 Flag of the United States.svg Scott Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth 56+1 Lap16
147 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Toyota 56+1 Lap17
1511 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Honda 56+1 Lap6
168 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Toyota 56+1 Lap14
1718 Flag of Portugal.svg Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota 55+2 LapsPL
1822 Flag of Japan.svg Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 53+4 Laps20
Ret23 Flag of Japan.svg Yuji Ide Super Aguri-Honda 35Engine21
Ret17 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve BMW Sauber 29Engine11
Ret2 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 21Hydraulics9
Ret19 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota 0Driveshaft18
Source: [10]

Championship standings after the race

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References

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  11. 1 2 "Bahrain 2006 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
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26°01′57″N50°30′38″E / 26.03250°N 50.51056°E / 26.03250; 50.51056