2006 French Grand Prix

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. 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. 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.

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.

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.

Race

The race was held on 16 July 2006 and was run for 70 laps.

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.

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

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

References

1. "Grand Prix de France". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
2. "2006 French Grand Prix".
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5. (15 December 2005). "2006 Formula One Sporting Regulations". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
6. "FORMULA 1™ GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2006 - PRACTICE 1".
7. Domenjoz, Luc. (February 2007). "Formula One Yearbook 2006-2007". Chronosports S.A..
8. "FRANCE 2006".
9. Domenjoz, Luc. (February 2007). "Formula One Yearbook 2006-2007". Chronosports S.A..
10. "France 2006 - Championship • STATS F1".