2006 French Grand Prix

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2006 French Grand Prix
Race 11 of 18 in the 2006 Formula One World Championship
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 km (2.74 mi)
Distance	70 laps, 308.77 km (191.8 mi)
Weather	Sunny, warm
Pole position
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:15.493
Fastest lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:17.111 on lap 46
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Second	Fernando Alonso	Renault
Third	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2006 French Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grand Prix de France 2006)^[1] was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, near Magny-Cours, France on 16 July 2006. The 70-lap race was the eleventh round of the 2006 Formula One season, the 57th French Grand Prix as part of the World Championship, and the 92nd overall. This race also marked the centenary of the first French Grand Prix in 1906.

This race was a scene of yet another record breaking milestone for Michael Schumacher, who became the first driver in F1 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. Fernando Alonso, driving a Renault at the team's home race, finished second, whilst Schumacher's Ferrari team-mate, Felipe Massa, completed the podium by finishing in third position.

This was the first time that neither Honda was classified. It was also the 68th and final pole position of Michael Schumacher's career. Schumacher held the record for the most pole positions until Lewis Hamilton surpassed it at the 2017 Italian Grand Prix.

Report[]

Practice and qualifying[]

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.

Constructor	Nat	Driver
Williams-Cosworth		Alexander Wurz
Honda		Anthony Davidson
Red Bull-Ferrari		Robert Doornbos
BMW Sauber		Robert Kubica
MF1-Toyota		Adrian Sutil
Toro Rosso-Cosworth		Neel Jani
Super Aguri-Honda		Sakon Yamamoto

Classification[]

Qualifying[]

Home driver Franck Montagny driving for Super Aguri. It would be his last outing for the team in the 2006 season.

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:[2]

Race[]

The race was won by Ferrari's Michael Schumacher.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	70	1:32:07.803	1	10
2	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	70	+10.131	3	8
3	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	70	+22.546	2	6
4	7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	70	+27.212	5	5
5	3	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+33.006	6	4
6	2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	70	+45.265	7	3
7	4	Pedro de la Rosa	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+49.407	8	2
8	16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	69	+1 lap	11	1
9	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Ferrari	69	+1 lap	9
10	21	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso-Cosworth	69	+1 lap	14
11	17	Jacques Villeneuve	BMW Sauber	69	+1 lap	16
12	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull-Ferrari	69	+1 lap	12
13	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso-Cosworth	69	+1 lap	22
14	10	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Cosworth	68	+2 laps	19
15	19	Christijan Albers	MF1-Toyota	68	+2 laps	15
16	23	Franck Montagny	Super Aguri-Honda	67	+3 laps	20
Ret	12	Jenson Button	Honda	61	Engine	17
Ret	9	Mark Webber	Williams-Cosworth	55	Wheel rim	10
Ret	8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	39	Brakes	4
Ret	11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	28	Engine	13
Ret	18	Tiago Monteiro	MF1-Toyota	11	Accident	18
Ret	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda	0	Transmission	21
Source:[3]

Championship standings after the race[]

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Fernando Alonso 96 2 Michael Schumacher 79 3 Giancarlo Fisichella 46 4 Kimi Räikkönen 43 5 Felipe Massa 42 Source: [4]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 Renault 142 2 Ferrari 121 3 McLaren-Mercedes 71 4 Honda 32 1 5 Toyota 21 Source: [4]

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

See also[]

• 2006 Magny-Cours GP2 Series round

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2006 French Grand Prix.

• Detailed French Grand Prix results

Coordinates: 46°51′51″N 3°09′49″E / 46.86417°N 3.16361°E / 46.86417; 3.16361