2006 French Grand Prix
| 2006 French Grand Prix | |||||
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Race 11 of 18 in the 2006 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 | ||||
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Lap leaders | |||||
The 2006 French Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Grand Prix de France 2006)[3] was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, near Magny-Cours, France on 16 July 2006.
Michael Schumacher of Scuderia Ferrari took pole position for the race and went on to win it ahead of championship leader Fernando Alonso with Renault. It was the German's 88th win in Formula One.
Background
The event was held at the Circuit 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 the 2006 Formula One World Championship and the 56th running of the French Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship.[4] This race also marked the centenary of the first French Grand Prix in 1906.
Championship standings before the race
Going into the weekend, Fernando Alonso was leading the championship, as he had been since the start, now with 88 points, compared to Michael Schumacher with 69. Renault teammate Giancarlo Fisichella had overtaken Kimi Räikkönen for third place with 43 points.
Practice
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 by BMW Sauber's third driver Robert Kubica and the third session was headed by both the team's regular drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld.[6]
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.
Qualifying
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 final pole position. He had held the record for the most pole positions since surpassing Ayrton Senna at the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix and would hold it until Lewis Hamilton surpassed it at the 2017 Italian Grand Prix.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:15.865 | 1:15.111 | 1:15.493 | 1 |
| 2 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:16.277 | 1:15.679 | 1:15.510 | 2 |
| 3 | 1 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:16.328 | 1:15.706 | 1:15.785 | 3 |
| 4 | 8 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:15.550 | 1:15.776 | 1:16.036 | 4 |
| 5 | 7 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 1:15.949 | 1:15.625 | 1:16.091 | 5 |
| 6 | 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:16.154 | 1:15.742 | 1:16.281 | 6 |
| 7 | 2 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 1:16.825 | 1:15.901 | 1:16.345 | 7 |
| 8 | 4 | Pedro de la Rosa | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:16.679 | 1:15.902 | 1:16.632 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1:16.534 | 1:15.926 | 1:18.272 | 19 |
| 10 | 14 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Ferrari | 1:16.350 | 1:15.974 | 1:18.663 | 9 |
| 11 | 9 | Mark Webber | Williams-Cosworth | 1:16.531 | 1:16.129 | 10 | |
| 12 | 16 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:16.686 | 1:16.294 | 11 | |
| 13 | 15 | Christian Klien | Red Bull-Ferrari | 1:16.921 | 1:16.433 | 12 | |
| 14 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1:17.022 | 1:17.027 | 13 | |
| 15 | 21 | Scott Speed | Toro Rosso-Cosworth | 1:17.117 | 1:17.063 | 14 | |
| 16 | 19 | Christijan Albers | MF1-Toyota | 1:16.962 | 1:17.105 | 15 | |
| 17 | 20 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Toro Rosso-Cosworth | 1:17.164 | 22 | ||
| 18 | 17 | Jacques Villeneuve | BMW Sauber | 1:17.304 | 16 | ||
| 19 | 12 | Jenson Button | Honda | 1:17.495 | 17 | ||
| 20 | 18 | Tiago Monteiro | MF1-Toyota | 1:17.589 | 18 | ||
| 21 | 23 | Franck Montagny | Super Aguri-Honda | 1:18.637 | 20 | ||
| 22 | 22 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 1:18.845 | 21 | ||
| Source:[7] | |||||||
Race
The race was held on 16 July 2006 and was run for 70 laps.[8]
Race report
At the start, Fernando Alonso challenged Felipe Massa for second place, locking up at the first hairpin, but the Brazilian managed to hold on and protect his second place, as well as Michael Schumacher's lead. While several battles emerged in the midfield, Schumacher set a series of fastest 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 of pit 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 by Kimi Räikkönen on lap 26. Later in the race, Trulli would retire but his teammate Ralf Schumacher would end up finishing in that fourth position.
Alonso lost time behind backmarkers and was trailing Schumacher by 16 seconds when the German 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 the Ferraris 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 in Formula One history to win the same Grand Prix on eight occasions (having previously won the French Grand Prix in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2004). Schumacher also achieved his 22nd career hat trick (pole position, win & fastest lap at the same race), also a record.
Race classification
Championship standings after the race
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Grand Prix de France". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 2006-10-17. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
- ^ a b "2006 French Grand Prix". Pitpass.com. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ "French". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 2006-10-21. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ "FRANCE". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ a b "2006 Formula One Sporting Regulations" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 15 December 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
- ^ "FORMULA 1™ GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2006 - PRACTICE 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ Domenjoz, Luc; et al. (February 2007). Formula One Yearbook 2006-2007. Chronosports S.A. p. 152. ISBN 978-2-84707-110-8.
- ^ "FRANCE 2006". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ Domenjoz, Luc; et al. (February 2007). Formula One Yearbook 2006-2007. Chronosports S.A. p. 155. ISBN 978-2-84707-110-8.
- ^ a b "France 2006 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
External links