Results from the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
The first race of the 2006 season proved immediately that fans are in for an exciting three way duel for the Driver and Constructors' Championship with the return to form of Ferrari, awesome power of the McLarens and the unstoppable Fernando Alonso in the super reliable Renaults.
It was World Champion Alonso who drew first blood, snatching victory from former Champion Michael Schumacher who returned the Ferrari to pole position for a change. However, it was the incredible drive by Finn Kimi Raikkonen - from last to third place, although finishing 20 seconds behind the first two - that hinted that his time as World Champion might come this year. Another contender for the honours is Briton's Jenson Button who managed fourth in his Honda.
Schumacher secured pole by qualifying on a lighter fuel load and held onto the lead before losing the lead to a sublime Renault pit stop time which gifted Alonso the lead. In an exciting duel the two were wheel to wheel upon Alonso's exit from the pit lane with the Spaniard barely managing to hold the German off.
After the race Schumacher remarked; "If you said last week I would be second here, I would be happy because our testing was not so good. "Fernando was a bit close when I came out of the pits, and it was quite exciting." With both cars on the front of the grid Ferrari will be pleased with the pace of their cars following a disastrous 2005, although new team mate Filipe Massa only managed ninth. Meanwhile McLaren are still battling reliability problems as an engine change meant Raikkonen had to start from the back and only a full load of fuel for a single pit stop strategy could help him reach the podium.
After a disastrous start that saw him drop three places to sixth, Jenson Button will have been satisfied with fourth place splitting the two McLarens who ultimately finished the best of the day with a fifth place for Juan Pablo Montoya. The other Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella retired on lap 36. The best of the Renaults on the starting grid was Alonso's fourth, and with the two Hondas within the top six and the other McLaren of Montoya also among them, it shows that the season could well be the most exciting we’ve seen in a long while.
Another revelation was the debut of Nico Rosberg, driving for the Sauber BMW team. Son of former Swedish driver Keke, the rookie impressed with his daring and audacious middle order moves towards the end of the race, which eventually saw him finish seventh behind his team mate Mark Webber, with Red Bull's Christian Klein taking the last of the points.
Results from Bahrain
- Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault one hour 29 minutes 46.205 seconds
- Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1.246 seconds
- Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes at 19.360
- Jenson Button (GB) Honda 19.992
- Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) McLaren-Mercedes 37.048
- Mark Webber (Aus) Williams-Cosworth 41.932
- Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Cosworth 1:03.043
- Christian Klien (Aut) RedBull-Ferrari 1:06.771