The 2006 Australian Grand Prix (officially the 2006 Formula 1 Foster's Australian Grand Prix) was a
Formula One motor race held at the
Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...
in
Albert Park,
Melbourne on 2 April 2006. The 57-lap race was the 22nd
Australian Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...
as part of the World Championship, and the 71st Australian Grand Prix overall. It was also the third round of the
2006 Formula One season
The 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 60th season of Formula 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' Championshi ...
; the Australian Grand Prix had been the season opener since 1996, but this race was held later due to the
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...
being held in Melbourne at the time of the opening round. A pre-season test scheduled at the
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stands ...
, in Spain from 24–26 February was also rescheduled and moved to the
Bahrain International Circuit
The Bahrain International Circuit ( ar, حلبة البحرين الدولية, Ḥalba al-Baḥrayn ad-Dawliyya) is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2), and the annual Formula One Bahra ...
, in Bahrain. The season was instead opened in
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an a ...
, and
Australia regained its first round of the season slot for 2007.
The race was won by
Renault's
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and M ...
(Renault's third win from three races), with the
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formula ...
of
Kimi Räikkönen second.
Ralf Schumacher finished in third place to take the last podium of his career with the
Toyota team. Polesitter
Jenson Button
Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super GT ...
retired from the race when his engine blew on the final lap. He eventually stopped roughly ten metres from the finish line, losing a points scoring position (fifth place) in the process.
Murray Walker made a return to the commentary box for a one-off with Australia's
Network Ten.
When
Mark Webber took the lead on lap 21 in his
Williams-
Cosworth
Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...
he became the first Australian driver to lead his home Grand Prix since
John Bowe led the early laps of the non-championship
1984 race driving a
Ralt
Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex- Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s unde ...
RT4
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
.
This was the last race until the
2015 Mexican Grand Prix
The 2015 Mexican Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Gran Premio de México 2015) was a Formula One motor race held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City on 1 November 2015. The race, which was contested over seventy-one ...
that neither Ferrari was classified.
Report
Practice and qualifying
Friday drivers
The bottom 6 teams in the
2005 Constructors' Championship and
Super Aguri
Super Aguri F1 was a Formula One team that competed from to . The team, founded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki, was based in Tokyo, Japan, but operated from the former Arrows Grand Prix International, Arrows factory at the Leafield Technical ...
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.
Race
The race began with an unusual spin of
Juan Pablo Montoya as he completed the formation lap. He lined up at the back of the grid, however Fisichella then stalled his engine on the grid, forcing the start to be red-flagged. Fisichella had to start from the pitlane, while Montoya reclaimed his grid position.
As in
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
, the race had a first-lap accident. Felipe Massa was the victim in an incident involving himself, Nico Rosberg and Christian Klien. The Williams and Red Bull effectively sandwiched Massa's Ferrari as the Brazilian attempted to squeeze through a gap too small, pitching him into the wall hard and out of the race. Rosberg returned to the pits without the rear wing. Klien continued the race unharmed.
These incidents called the Safety Car on the very first lap. Fisichella spun but continued, again in the Jones corner. Alonso passed Button when the SC was recalled two laps later, in the start/finish straight.
On the third lap, Christian Klien had some problem with his suspension and crashed the barriers near Clark Chicane, and destroyed his car. Klien went out walking, happily. This crash had left many pieces of debris on the track and the Safety Car went out again to help the stewards clean the zone. When the race continued, Räikkönen attacked Button and gained his place. Montoya tried that as well, though unsuccessful for many laps.
Vitantonio Liuzzi made an exciting pass on Michael Schumacher, by the Sports Centre turn.
The race continued uneventful for another 10 laps when pit stops began with Montoya, Button and Trulli. Fernando and Räikkönen stopped, giving
Mark Webber the lead of his home Grand Prix. A gearbox failure then eliminated him.
Another uneventful stint was run until lap 32 when Montoya touched the grass in the Prost turn, but managed to return to the track. Michael Schumacher also had the same grass cross, although the German champion could not make it back and struck the barriers. He himself said that his car was not easy to drive, and that the tires were not warm enough. This incident called the Safety Car for the third time. Many drivers used this SC situation to go to pits. Räikkönen entered just before Montoya, making a queue. Thankfully for the Woking Team there was not much delay.
On lap 35 the Safety Car was off and the race restarted. Alonso had a strategy to give an enormous gap with the SC and slow down the cars behind, and then blasted off and leave Räikkönen and Heidfeld with the trouble of Albers, creating a 3-second gap between the two leading cars.
The 36th lap called the Safety Car once again. Vitantonio Liuzzi had jumped to the grass, crossed the road, bumped the left barrier, crossed the road again and struck the right barrier near Whiteford, leaving his car completely destroyed. The race restarted on lap 40, and Fernando did exactly the same thing and got a little advantage from Räikkönen. After the incident Liuzzi blamed Villeneuve, saying that the Canadian had screwed up one of his best races.
Lap 39 brought another incident to the race. Tiago Monteiro abandoned due to a mechanical problem. Lap 46 took Montoya out of the race as he crossed the kerbs in the curve where Schumacher had had his accident. This caused the car to jump momentarily, causing an electrical problem which forced a total shutdown of the car, thus making him retire.
The Australian Grand Prix was not free of incidents in the last laps. On the very final lap, in the final 2 corners, Jenson Button blew his engine, causing Fisichella right behind him to be covered in oil and struggling to control the car. Button ended up stalling the car about 10 metres from the finish line. He did so deliberately, giving up a points-scoring position, to avoid a 10 place position penalty in the next race.
Alonso wrapped up his tenth career victory, while Räikkönen grabbed the second place on the podium and Ralf Schumacher scored what proved to be the sole podium for Toyota in the season, and ultimately, his final podium in Formula One. This was despite a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. After the race, the stewards were busy, handing out a reprimand to
Takuma Sato for failing to pay attention to blue flags, and a 25-second penalty to
Scott Speed
Scott Andrew Speed (born January 24, 1983) is an American race car driver who has competed in numerous disciplines, including open-wheel, stock car, and rallycross racing.
In , Speed became the first American driver to race in Formula One sinc ...
for a similar offence, albeit with yellow flags. The American driver was also fined $5000 for using abusive language during a post-race hearing.
Classification
Qualifying
;Notes:
* –
Jacques Villeneuve was handed a 10 place grid penalty following an engine change before qualifying.
* –
Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli (; born 13 July 1974) is an Italian racing driver. He regularly competed in Formula One from 1997 to 2011, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault, Toyota, Lotus Racing and Team Lotus. His best result in the World Drivers' Cham ...
qualified for the final session however did not completed a timed lap due to gearbox problems.
* –
Felipe Massa lost control of his Ferrari during the second qualifying session (Q2) after running over a curb through turn 11 and crashing his car into the wall. It also prompted the session to be red flagged for some time.
* –
Giancarlo Fisichella stalled causing the first start to be aborted and started the race proper from the pitlane.
Race
;Notes:
* –
Scott Speed
Scott Andrew Speed (born January 24, 1983) is an American race car driver who has competed in numerous disciplines, including open-wheel, stock car, and rallycross racing.
In , Speed became the first American driver to race in Formula One sinc ...
finished eighth but had 25 seconds added to his race time for lack of attention to yellow flags.
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
;Constructors' Championship standings
*
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
External links
Detailed Australian Grand Prix results(archived)
(archived)
(archived)
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Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
Australian Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...
Australian Grand Prix
Australian Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...
ms:Grand Prix Australia 2012