2006 Japanese Grand Prix

 2006 Japanese Grand Prix

Racing data
17th of 18 races in the 2006 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	XXXII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Date:	October 8, 2006
Place:	Suzuka
Course:	Suzuka International Racing Course
Length:	307.471 km in 53 laps of 5.807 km
Weather:	cloudy but warm
Spectator:	~ 155,872
Pole position
Driver:	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Time:	1: 29.599 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Fernando Alonso	Renault
Time:	1: 32.676 min (lap 14)
Podium
First:	Fernando Alonso	Renault
Second:	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Third:	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault

The 2006 Japanese Grand Prix took place on October 8th at the Suzuka International Racing Course in Suzuka and was the 17th race of the 2006 Formula 1 World Championship .

Reports

background

After the Chinese Grand Prix , Michael Schumacher led the drivers' standings with 0 points ahead of Fernando Alonso and 53 points over Giancarlo Fisichella . In the constructors' championship, Renault was 1 point ahead of Ferrari and 78 points over McLaren-Mercedes .

With Michael Schumacher (six times), Rubens Barrichello and Kimi Räikkönen (once each) three former winners competed for this Grand Prix.

training

In the first free practice session, which took place under rainy conditions, five Friday test drivers were ahead. Anthony Davidson achieved the fastest time ahead of Neel Jani and Sebastian Vettel . In the second free practice session, when the track dried out, Fisichella set the fastest lap ahead of Felipe Massa and Schumacher. In the third free practice session, on a consistently dry track, Michael Schumacher took the lead from his brother Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button .

Qualifying

In the first section of qualifying, Massa set the fastest time. The Super Aguri and Red Bull drivers as well as Tiago Monteiro and Scott Speed ​​were eliminated. Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap in the second section. The McLaren drivers as well as Robert Kubica , Mark Webber , Vitantonio Liuzzi and Christijan Albers retired. In the third segment, Massa was the fastest and achieved pole position in front of Michael and Ralf Schumacher.

run

After Schumacher had taken the lead on the third lap from Massa, he led the race until the 37th lap. In this he suffered an engine failure and retired.

Alonso won the race ahead of Massa and Fisichella and took the lead in the world championship again.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	01	Fernando Alonso	Renault R26	Renault 2.4 V8	M.
	02	Giancarlo Fisichella
Team McLaren Mercedes	03	Kimi Raikkonen	McLaren MP4-21	Mercedes-Benz 2.4 V8	M.
	04th	Pedro de la Rosa
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	05	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari 248 F1	Ferrari 2.4 V8	B.
	06th	Felipe Massa
Panasonic Toyota Racing	07th	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota TF106B	Toyota 2.4 V8	B.
	08th	Jarno Trulli
Williams F1 team	09	Mark Webber	Williams FW28	Cosworth 2.4 V8	B.
	10	Nico Rosberg
	35	Alexander Wurz
Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team	11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda RA106	Honda 2.4 V8	M.
	12	Jenson Button
	36	Anthony Davidson
Red Bull Racing	14th	David Coulthard	Red Bull RB2	Ferrari 2.4 V8	M.
	15th	Robert Doornbos
	37	Michael Ammermüller
BMW Sauber F1 Team	16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber F1.06	BMW 2.4 V8	M.
	17th	Robert Kubica
	38	Sebastian Vettel
Spyker MF1 team	18th	Tiago Monteiro	Midland M16	Toyota 2.4 V8	B.
	19th	Christijan Albers
	39	Adrian Sutil
Scuderia Toro Rosso	20th	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso STR1	Cosworth 3.0 V10	M.
	21st	Scott Speed
	40	Neel Jani
Super Aguri Formula 1	22nd	Takuma Satō	Super Aguri SA06	Honda 2.4 V8	B.
	23	Sakon Yamamoto
	41	Franck Montagny

• Drivers with a starting number greater than 30 only took part in the Friday training sessions.

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	begin
01	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1: 30.112	1: 29.830	1: 29.599	01
02	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	1: 31.279	1: 28,954	1: 29.711	02
03	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	1: 30.595	1: 30.299	1: 29.989	03
04th	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1: 30.420	1: 30.204	1: 30.039	04th
05	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1: 30.976	1: 30.357	1: 30.371	05
06th	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	1: 31.696	1: 30.306	1: 30.599	06th
07th	Jenson Button	Honda	1: 30.847	1: 30.268	1: 30.992	07th
08th	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1: 31.972	1: 30.598	1: 31.478	08th
09	Nick Heidfeld	BMW clean	1: 31.811	1: 30.470	1: 31.513	09
10	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Cosworth	1: 30.585	1: 30.321	1: 31.856	10
11	Kimi Raikkonen	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 32.080	1: 30.827	-	11
12	Robert Kubica	BMW clean	1: 31.204	1: 31.094	-	12
13	Pedro de la Rosa	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 31.581	1: 31.254	-	13
14th	Mark Webber	Williams-Cosworth	1: 31.647	1: 31.276	-	14th
15th	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso-Cosworth	1: 31.741	1: 31.943	-	15th
16	Christijan Albers	Midland Toyota	1: 32.221	1: 33.750	-	16
17th	David Coulthard	Red Bull Ferrari	1: 32.252	-	-	17th
18th	Robert Doornbos	Red Bull Ferrari	1: 32.402	-	-	18th
19th	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso-Cosworth	1: 32.867	-	-	19th
20th	Takuma Satō	Great Aguri Honda	1: 33.666	-	-	20th
21st	Tiago Monteiro	Midland Toyota	1: 33.709	-	-	21st
22nd	Sakon Yamamoto	Great Aguri Honda	no time	-	-	24
107 percent time : 1: 36.420 min (based on Q1 best time of 1: 30.112 min)

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Fernando Alonso	Renault	53	2	1: 23: 53.413	05	1: 32.676 (14th)
02	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	53	2	+ 16,151	01	1: 33.296 (37.)
03	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	53	2	+ 23,953	06th	1: 33.564 (13th)
04th	Jenson Button	Honda	53	2	+ 34.101	07th	1: 33,451 (35th)
05	Kimi Raikkonen	McLaren-Mercedes	53	2	+ 43,596	11	1: 33,344 (24.)
06th	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	53	2	+ 46.717	04th	1: 33.866 ( 02.)
07th	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	53	2	+ 48.869	03	1: 33.607 ( 02.)
08th	Nick Heidfeld	BMW clean	53	2	+1: 16.095	09	1: 34.525 (31st)
09	Robert Kubica	BMW clean	53	2	+1: 16.932	12	1: 33,509 (39.)
10	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Cosworth	52	2	+ 1 lap	10	1: 34.802 (33.)
11	Pedro de la Rosa	McLaren-Mercedes	52	2	+ 1 lap	13	1: 34,120 (22.)
12	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	52	3	+ 1 lap	08th	1: 34.071 (40th)
13	Robert Doornbos	Red Bull Ferrari	52	2	+ 1 lap	18th	1: 35.099 (37th)
14th	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso-Cosworth	52	2	+ 1 lap	15th	1: 34.131 (22.)
15th	Takuma Satō	Great Aguri Honda	52	2	+ 1 lap	20th	1: 35.082 (26.)
16	Tiago Monteiro	Midland Toyota	51	2	+ 2 rounds	21st	1: 35.260 (27.)
17th	Sakon Yamamoto	Great Aguri Honda	50	3	+ 3 rounds	22nd	1: 35.594 (22.)
18th	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso-Cosworth	48	2	DNF	19th	1: 34,560 (37th)
-	Mark Webber	Williams-Cosworth	39	2	DNF	14th	1: 35.092 (19.)
-	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	36	2	DNF	02	1: 32.792 (32nd)
-	David Coulthard	Red Bull Ferrari	35	2	DNF	17th	1: 35.052 (20.)
-	Christijan Albers	Midland Toyota	20th	0	DNF	16	1: 36.036 (19.)

World Cup stands after the race

The first eight of the race got 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item	driver	constructor	Points
01	Fernando Alonso	Renault	126
02	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	116
03	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	70

Constructors' championship

Item	constructor	Points
01	Renault	195
02	Ferrari	186
03	McLaren-Mercedes	105

Web links

• Overview of the race at motorsportarchiv.de
• Weekend statistics at Motorsport-Total.com