2006 French Grand Prix

2006 French Grand Prix
Date	July 16, 2006
Round	11
Track	Magny-Cours
Laps	70
Weather	Hot & Sunny
Pole Position
Driver	Michael Schumacher
Time	1:15.493
Fastest Lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher
Time	1:17.111

Formula One returned to Europe for the French Grand Prix.

Juan Pablo Montoya left McLaren after he caused the accident at Indianapolis. He signed up to race in NASCAR instead, leaving McLaren boss Ron Dennis upset. The seat was filled by McLaren's test-driver, Pedro de la Rosa.

In Qualifying, Michael Schumacher took pole again, with team-mate Felipe Massa alongside him. Championship leader Fernando Alonso was in touch with him in third place.

Honda slipped to a new low, as they could only get their cars in 14th through Rubens Barrichello and 19th through Jenson Button. This was a disaster for the high-spending Japanese team. Both then retired with engine faults in the race the next day.

At the front of the race, the two Ferrari's looked dominant ahead of Alonso's Renault.

Indeed, they were coasting. They used a three-stop strategy and looked good ahead of Alonso, as he looked to be three-stopping too.

However, Renault cleverly switched him to a two-stop strategy and it helped him to go pass Felipe Massa. Massa tried to get back at him, but could find no way through, and dropped back after a while.

With Ferrari so superior, second for Alonso was a good save to cut his losses to only tow points. More worrying was the fact that it looked as if the Ferrari was now the better car than the Renault for the first time in the season.

This was a record breaking race, as Schumacher won the French Grand Prix for the eighth time, a record for most wins in one Grand Prix.

The lead of Alonso was still seventeen points, a comfortable advantage.

[edit] Results

Rank	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	70	1:32:07.803	1	10
2	Fernando Alonso	Renault	70	+10.1 sec	3	8
3	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	70	+22.5 sec	2	6
4	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	70	+27.2 sec	5	5
5	Kimi Raikkonen	McLaren	70	+33.0 sec	6	4
6	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	70	+45.2 sec	7	3
7	Pedro de la Rosa	McLaren	70	+49.4 sec	8	2
8	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	69	+1 lap	11	1
9	David Coulthard	Red Bull	69	+1 lap	9
10	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	69	+1 lap	14
11	Jacques Villeneuve	BMW Sauber	69	+1 lap	16
12	Christian Klien	Red Bull	69	+1 lap	12
13	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	69	+1 lap	22
14	Nico Rosberg	Williams	68	+2 laps	18
15	Christijan Albers	Midland	68	+2 laps	15
16	Franck Montagny	Super Aguri	67	+3 laps	20
Ret	Jenson Button	Honda	61	Technical	17
Ret	Mark Webber	Williams	55	Wheel rim	10
Ret	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	39	Brakes	4
Ret	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	28	Engine	13
Ret	Tiago Monteiro	Midland	11	Mechanical	19
Ret	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	0	Transmission	21

2006 Formula One Season
	- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

French Grand Prix
1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008
Tracks: Clermont Ferrand • Dijon Prenois • Le Castellet • Magny-Cours • Reims • Rouen