2006 Turkish Grand Prix

2006 Turkish Grand Prix
Date	August 27, 2006
Round	14
Track	Istanbul
Laps	58
Weather	Hot & Sunny
Pole Position
Driver	Felipe Massa
Time	1:26.907
Fastest Lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher
Time	1:28.005

During the three week break since the Hungaroring, Renault had their mass damper system banned, as it was deemed a movable aerodynamic feature, something not allowed in Formula One.

This was thought to help Michael Schumacher even more come the race, as the Ferrari seemed to be the better car than the Renault. Ferrari were expected to dominate.

After a 19-year-old Sebastien Vettel topped the free-practice timesheets as BMW-Sauber’s third driver, qualifying would hold no real surprises. In Qualifying 1, David Coulthard was unable to make it into the top 16, with Christijan Albers knocking him out. Pedro de la Rosa failed to make it into the Pole Position finale, as he struggled in the McLaren-Mercedes.

After winning Qualifying 2 by a second, it was a surprise to see Michael Schumacher struggling to get around Turn 1. He still came in second to his brother, as he narrowly missed out on his 69th career Pole Position in the dieing seconds of qualifying. The end was frantic as drivers swapped positions regularly, and after the Ferrari 1-2, Fernando Alonso lead the two Renault’s up to third and fourth. Nick Heidfeld continued the promising weekend for BMW, and he was fifth ahead of Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen. Felipe Massa was on pole, and it was the first pole position of his career.

The race started excitingly with the perennially fast starting Renault’s trying to pass the Ferrari’s on the grid. As they entered the first corner, the two Ferrari’s sandwiched Fernando Alonso, and his braking caused Giancarlo Fisichella to spin and a chain reaction started behind him, as many drivers got caught out. Kimi Raikkonen was one of the drivers in the wrong place at the wrong time. He suffered a puncture, and upon resumption, his rear wing was so badly damaged, he could only crash out at Turn 8.

Vitanonio Liuzzi had a spin at the first corner, causing a safety car period. This helped Fernando Alonso, as whist he could pit easily, Ferrari were forced to queue both their drivers to save time. This helped Alonso to pass Schumacher, and take second place – great for him in the Championship.

Elsewhere on the track, Jenson Button was having a consistent afternoon in fourth, and his team-mate Rubens Barrichello and a recovering Giancarlo Fisichella were coming through the field by virtue of Turn 12. That saw the most chances of overtaking all afternoon.

Massa and Alonso stopped at the same time, which left Schumacher to take the lead. However, when he eventually pitted, he could only come third behind the other two. Over the closing laps, he closed the gap to Alonso, and a Grandstand finish seemed assured. Towards the end, Massa backed off, so that if Schumacher passed Alonso, he could step aside and let his team-mate through, to give him more chance of winning the championship.

As they crossed the line, Massa claimed his maiden race win, but behind him, Alonso pipped Schumacher into third by eight thousandths of a second.

In the World Championships, Alonso extended his lead to 12 points over Michael Schumacher. Felipe Massa was a comfortable third after his first ever career win. In the Constructors’ Championship, the gap between Ferrari and Renault was just two points, with Renault in the lead.

This was the second consecutive brilliant Grand Prix, and the fans hoped for a continuation in Monza, the final European race of the season, three weeks later.

[edit] Results

Rank	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	58	1:28:51.082	1	10
2	Fernando Alonso	Renault	58	+5.5 sec	3	8
3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	58	+ 5.6 sec	2	6
4	Jenson Button	Honda	58	+ 12.3 sec	6	5
5	Pedro de la Rosa	McLaren	58	+45.9 sec	11	4
6	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	58	+ 46.5 sec	4	3
7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	58	+59.3 sec	15	2
8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	58	+60.0 sec	13	1
9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	57	+1 lap	12
10	Mark Webber	Williams	57	+1 lap	9
11	Christian Klien	Red Bull	57	+1 lap	10
12	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	57	+1 lap	8
13	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	57	+1 lap	17
14	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	56	+2 laps	5
15	David Coulthard	Red Bull	55	Gearbox	16
Ret	Christijan Albers	Midland	46	Spin	22
NC	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	41	+17 laps	21
Ret	Nico Rosberg	Williams	25	Water leak	14
Ret	Sakon Yamamoto	Super Aguri	23	Spin	20
Ret	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	12	Spin	18
Ret	Kimi Raikkonen	McLaren	1	Collision	7
Ret	Tiago Monteiro	Midland	0	Collision	19