2006 Turkish Grand Prix

Report

Background

Prior to the Grand Prix weekend, Renault's Fernando Alonso led the Formula One World Drivers' Championship on 100 points. He held a ten-point lead over his main rival Michael Schumacher, despite retiring from the preceding race in Hungary. Ferrari teammates, Schumacher and Felipe Massa lay second and third in the standings on 90 and 52 points respectively, ahead of the second Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella and the McLaren of Kimi Räikkönen, both on 49 points.

Renault led the Constructors' Championship with 149 points, seven clear of Ferrari, while McLaren were in third position with 89 points. They were ahead of Honda F1, who sat in fourth with 52 after picking up their first and to be only victory since their return, three weeks before in Hungary. BMW Sauber completed the top five with 26 points.

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.

Practice and qualifying

Kimi Räikkönen set the fastest time in the first free practice session, despite only completing five laps; ahead of Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button, who were both just within half a second of Räikkönen's time. In the bottom half of the order, Felipe Massa finished the session 17th and Fernando Alonso 23rd. Neither of the Williams left the garage during the session. Sebastian Vettel impressed many as he set the fastest time in the second free practice session, on his first Grand Prix weekend appearance.

The following day in qualifying, however, it was Felipe Massa who set the fastest time, taking the first pole position of his career, ahead of Schumacher by one tenth of a second. The two Renaults occupied the next row with Alonso in front of Fisichella again. Fifth spot was initially taken up by Ralf Schumacher's Toyota, before he was demoted to fifteenth for a gearbox change. This was also true for Christijan Albers, who was taken from a good sixteenth place qualifying for the Midland team, to the back of the grid. Only four hundredths of a second separated Nick Heidfeld, Button and Räikkönen qualified from sixth to eighth before all moving up a place after Ralf Schumacher's penalty. Robert Kubica and Mark Webber completed the top ten fastest times, with Christian Klien completing the top ten on the starting grid.

Race

The start of the race was affected by a multi-car accident entering the first corner. Massa, Michael Schumacher, Alonso and Fisichella all battled for position entering the first corner, with Fisichella spinning, causing a chain reaction behind him. During the chain reaction, Scott Speed collided with the McLaren of Räikkönen, causing one of Räikkönen's rear tyres to puncture. Räikkönen pitted for a new set of tyres, but soon faced a similar problem due to damaged bodywork; because of this he went straight off the outside of turn 4 and into a barrier, on the next lap. Nick Heidfeld, Fisichella, Speed and Ralf Schumacher all needed repairs from the incident, and the Midland of Tiago Monteiro was forced to retire.

On lap 13, Vitantonio Liuzzi, who had climbed to seventh place, lost control entering the first turn and spun, stalling the engine. The car was left stranded on the racing line at the exit of the corner, and the Safety Car was deployed. Massa, Schumacher, Alonso, Button, Kubica and Webber all came in to make pit stops whilst the Safety Car circulated. The first four drivers stayed at the front, but Webber and Kubica dropped to near the back of the pack. Alonso, however, was able to jump Schumacher, as his title rival was forced to 'stack' behind Massa before the mechanics could set to work on his car. The final 15 laps of the race were focused on Alonso and Michael Schumacher, who fought for second place behind Massa as part of their championship battle. Schumacher pursued Alonso for the last laps, but was unable to catch Alonso until the final corners of the final lap. Schumacher was right on the gearbox of Alonso exiting the last corner, but did not get past.

Thus, Massa took his first career Formula One victory, making it the second Grand Prix in a row with a first-time winner, following Button's win in Hungary three weeks earlier. It was the first time this had happened since 2003, when Räikkönen and Fisichella won their first victories at the consecutive Malaysian and Brazilian Grands Prix. Drivers' Championship rivals Alonso and Schumacher completed the podium. Button, de la Rosa, Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello completed the points-scorers and the cars on the lead lap.

Post-race

The podium display after the race caused controversy when winner Felipe Massa received the trophy from Mehmet Ali Talat, who was referred to as the president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This breakaway area of the island of Cyprus is only recognized by Turkey. The government of the Republic of Cyprus filed an official complaint with the FIA, the body governing the Formula One world championship. After investigating the incident, the FIA fined the organizers of the Grand Prix $5 million on 19 September 2006.

Classification

Qualifying

;Notes

• – Ralf Schumacher and Christijan Albers both received 10 place grid penalties due to engine changes.

Race

Championship standings after the race

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
• Bold text and an asterisk indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

References

References

1. "Turkish".
2. "2006 FORMULA 1 Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix". Formula One Administration.
3. (25 August 2006). "2006 Turkish Grand Prix – Fri Prac 2". formula1.com.
4. (19 September 2006). "Record fine for Turks".
5. "F1 News > Turks fined only $5m". GrandPrix.com.
6. "Turkish GP - Saturday - Qualifying Session 1 Report". GrandPrix.com.
7. "2006 Turkish Grand Prix - Qualifying Results". F1 Pulse.
8. "2006 Turkish Grand Prix - Race Results". F1 Pulse.
9. "Turkey 2006 - Championship • STATS F1".