Results from the 2006 French Grand Prix
Schumie does it again! Just when it looked like Fernando Alonso was cruising to a second championship title, the Ferraris and their former World Champion have made it very clear they are still very much in contention, with back to back victories for the German, as he took the chequered flag at Magny-Cours for the eighth time.
Renault, however, did well in damage limitation, spoiling another Ferrari one-two, as Alonso popped out of the pits ahead of Filipe Massa to take second. Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher drove a solid race for fourth ahead of McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen. Renault picked more critical points in sixth with Giancarlo Fisichella, Pedro de la Rosa finishing seventh for McLaren's sacked Montoya, while Nick Heidfeld squeezed home in eighth.
Once again Briton's Jenson Button failed to finish, as his season becomes increasingly abyssmal. He made it as far as lap 61 before his notoriously unreliable Honda blew up, while teammate Rubens Barrichello only made it as far as lap 18. Other high profile drivers who failed to finish were Williams' Mark Webber and Toyota's Jarno Trulli.
But the day belonged to the Ferraris, with Schumacher driving a faultless race from pole to finish 10 seconds ahead of Alonso. It also signalled a return to form of the Prancing Stallions and sets up an exciting duel for the remainder of the season.
The French Grand Prix produced no pile ups at the start and was an uneventful race except for differing pitstop strategies that saw Ralf Schumacher reclaim fourth after a diasatrous 17 second pitstop – which was fortunately one less pit stop than his Finn rival during the race.
Although Schumacher has only shaved a further two points off Alonso’s lead, leaving him 17 ahead, the sheer pace of their new package will be pressuring the Renault team to ensure they finish well into the points for the rest of the season. And with Ferrari making up a total of 5 points in the Constructors’ Championship to leave Renault 21 points ahead, they are becoming a real threat. Meanwhile, behind this two-horse race, Fisichella, Raikkonen and Massa are separated by just four points, while McLaren trail second placed Ferrari by a massive 50 points, with Honda accumulating just 32 points this season to hold on to fourth.
Results of the French Grand Prix 2006
- Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari one hour 32 minutes 7.803 seconds
- Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault +00:10.131 seconds
- Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 00:22.546
- Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 00:27.212
- Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren -Mercedes 00:33.006
- Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 00:45.265
- Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) McLaren 00:49.407
- Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1 lap
- David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull - Ferrari 1 lap
- Scott Speed (US) Toro Rosso - Cosworth 1 lap
- Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BMW Sauber 1 lap
- Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull - Ferrari 1 lap
- Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Toro Rosso - Cosworth 1 lap
- Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams - Cosworth 2 laps
- Christijan Albers (Ned) Midland - Toyota 2 laps
- Franck Montagny (Fra) Super Aguri - Honda 3 laps
Retired:
Jenson Button (GB) Honda 61 laps completed
Mark Webber (Aus) Williams - Cosworth 53 laps
Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 29 laps
Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 18 laps
Tiago Monteiro (Por) Midland - Toyota 11 laps
Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri - Honda 1 laps
Fastest Lap: Michael Schumacher, 1:17.111