2006 Bahrain Grand Prix

2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
Date	[[]], 2006
Round	1
Track	Sakhir
Laps	57
Weather	Humid & Sunny
Pole Position
Driver	Michael Schumacher
Time	1:31.431
Fastest Lap
Driver	Nico Rosberg
Time	1:32.406

The first race of the 2006 Formula One Season was in Bahrain due to Australia, and more accurately, Melbourne, was hosting the Commonwealth Games at the time. So Bahrain pinched Australia's traditional early season spot.

This race was the first to use the new qualifying rules. The 22 cars would go in three qualifying sessions. Six with the slowest time were eliminated after the first two fifteen minute sessions, leaving 10 for the final 20-minute session, which was a pole position shoot-out.

Qualfying 1 was left down to the wire, as Kimi Raikkonen's crash left a lot of people with limited time to set times to progress. Ralf Schumacher was another high-profile driver cought out by this.

At the end of all three sessions, the Ferrari's had a 1-2, with Michael Schumacher on pole. Jenson Button was third and reigning World Champion Fernando Alonso was fourth.

In the race, Alonso benifited from the superb Renault starting mechanism, which pushed him up to second. Massa span on the first corner. Alonso's team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella had an engine mapping problem, and retired on Lap 21 with another problem - a hydraulic failure. Raikkonen stormed through the field from the back of the grid.

Further back, Nick Heidfeld had a bad day. He collided with Nico Rosberg early on, and later, he hit David Coulthard. Despite this, Rosberg impressed, setting the fastest lap on debut as he finished seventh. His Williams team-mate, Mark Webber also impressed, finishing in sixth.

Jenson Button was hampered by traffic. Juan Pablo Montoya twice held him up in fifth place, and although Button overtook him, he lost his place back to him in the pit lane. Button finished on a charge, 0.6 seconds behind the podium bound Raikkonen. Montoya could only finish fifth.

Alonso stayed out longer than Schumacher at the front, and this advantage proved enough. As Alonso came out of the pit lane into the first corner, Schumacher was side-by-side with him, and went through on the inside to take the lead.

Schumacher stormed back at him over the forthcoming laps, but Alonso held firm to win the season opener.

[edit] Results

Rank	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	57	1:29:46.205	4	10
2	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	57	+1.2 sec	1	8
3	Kimi Raikkonen	McLaren	57	+ 19.3 sec	22	6
4	Jenson Button	Honda	57	+ 19.9 sec	3	5
5	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren	57	+37.0 sec	5	4
6	Mark Webber	Williams	57	+ 41.9 sec	7	3
7	Nico Rosberg	Williams	57	+63.0 sec	12	2
8	Christian Klien	Red Bull	57	+66.7 sec	8	1
9	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	57	+69.9 sec	2
10	David Coulthard	Red Bull	57	+75.5 sec	13
11	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	57	+85.9 sec	15
12	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	56	+1 lap	10
13	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	56	+1 lap	16
14	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	56	+1 lap	17
15	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	56	+1 lap	6
16	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	56	+1 lap	14
17	Tiago Monteiro	Midland	55	+2 laps	19
18	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	53	+4 laps	20
Ret	Yuji Ide	Super Aguri	35	Mechanical	21
Ret	Jacques Villeneuve	BMW Sauber	29	Engine	11
Ret	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	21	Hydraulics	9
Ret	Christijan Albers	Midland	0	Driveshaft	18