2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
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The 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix was the first round of the 2006 Formula One World Championship, held on March 12, 2006 at the Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain.
Qualifying
The race was the first run under the new 2006 qualifying rules, in which the one hour session is split into three 'knock out' parts. The first part eliminated Kimi Räikkönen (rear wishbone failure) and Ralf Schumacher, who was caught out by the red flag after Raikonnen's accident and failed to set a competitive time, as well as the MF1's and the two Super Aguris. The second part saw fewer surprises, with the expected runners lining up for the final top 10 part. The result was that the Ferraris swept the front row.UK TV pundit Martin Brundle referred to the fuel credits used to represent the fuel used during qualifying as 'Tiger Tokens', referring to promotional points offered by the fuel company Esso in the United Kingdom.
The Race
At the start of the race, Fernando Alonso moved up to second in the first lap, only for Michael Schumacher to begin to pull away. Alonso was involved in a near collision with Schumacher's teammate Felipe Massa, who spun at the first corner. Massa was never a threat after this point, not helped by a delay in his pit stop to change tyres the same lap. Alonso's teammate Giancarlo Fisichella also played little part in the race due to an engine mapping problem which restricted power. He retired on the 21st lap due to hydraulic failure. To not many people's surprise, Kimi Räikkönen quickly moved his way up the field, only being delayed by Jacques Villeneuve and Fisichella for a short period of time, before passing both men.Further down the field, Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg touched at the first corner. Both men were significantly delayed, but quickly recovered. Heidfeld's day continued to get worse, as an incident with David Coulthard was investigated after the race. Rosberg was the surprise of the race though, ending up a very respectable 7th, passing Christian Klien after catching him in the last few laps of the race, putting Klien down to a still impressive 8th considering the reliability of the Red Bull. It was a good day for Williams on a whole, as Mark Webber finished in 6th, along with Rosberg getting the fastest lap of the race, while Juan Pablo Montoya finished 5th in his McLaren, having never been a threat throughout the race.
Honda suffered mixed fortunes throughout the race. Early on fans were treated to a fight between Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button, as Button slipped down the order due to a slow getaway. Button eventually fought his way back up, twice passing Juan Pablo Montoya at the end of the straight but losing out again in pitstops. He eventually finished 4th, 0.6 seconds behind Räikkönen in 3rd. Räikkönen fought hard throughout the race, stopping only once on his way to the last podium spot.
At the second set of pit stops, Alonso was able to take advantage of staying out longer than Schumacher by coming out of the pit lane side by side with Schumacher. As they came into the first corner both cars were neck and neck, but Alonso was able to pull out in front of the former world champion. Despite coming under heavy pressure from Schumacher towards the end, the reigning champion started of the season with a well earned victory.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Nat | Name | Team/Engine | Part 3 | Part 2 | Part 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:31.431 | 1:32.025 | 1:33.310 | |
| 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:31.478 | 1:32.014 | 1:33.579 | |
| 3 | Jenson Button | Honda | 1:31.549 | 1:32.025 | 1:32.603 | |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:31.702 | 1:31.215 | 1:32.433 | |
| 5 | Juan Pablo Montoya | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:32.164 | 1:31.487 | 1:33.233 | |
| 6 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1:32.579 | 1:32.322 | 1:33.922 | |
| 7 | Mark Webber | Williams-Cosworth | 1:33.006 | 1:32.309 | 1:33.454 | |
| 8 | Christian Klien | RBR-Ferrari | 1:33.112 | 1:32.106 | 1:34.308 | |
| 9 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 1:33.496 | 1:31.831 | 1:32.934 | |
| 10 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber-BMW | 1:33.926 | 1:31.958 | 1:33.374 | |
| 11 | Jacques Villeneuve | BMW Sauber-BMW | 1:32.456 | 1:33.882 | ||
| 12 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1:32.620 | 1:32.945 | ||
| 13 | David Coulthard | RBR-Ferrari | 1:32.850 | 1:33.678 | ||
| 14 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:33.066 | 1:33.987 | ||
| 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | STR-Cosworth | 1:33.416 | 1:34.439 | ||
| 16 | Scott Speed | STR-Cosworth | 1:34.606 | 1:33.995 | ||
| 17 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 1:34.702 | |||
| 18 | Christijan Albers | MF1-Toyota | 1:35.724 | |||
| 19 | Tiago Monteiro | MF1-Toyota | 1:35.900 | |||
| 20 | Takuma Sato | Aguri-Honda | 1:37.411 | |||
| 21 | Yuji Ide | Aguri-Honda | 1:40.270 | |||
| 22 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | no time |
Race
Notes
- Fastest Lap: Nico Rosberg: 1:32.406
- Rosberg was youngest driver ever to get fastest lap in a race, surpassing earlier record held by Fernando Alonso.
- Lap Leaders: Michael Schumacher 1–15, 24–35 (27); Fernando Alonso 16–19, 36–39, 41–57 (25); Juan Pablo Montoya 20–23 (4); Jenson Button 40 (1).
- After a tussle with David Coulthard, Nick Heidfeld was reprimanded by stewards post-race for positioning his car in a way that forced Coulthard off the race circuit.
- David Coulthard suffered engine failure on cool-down lap and received a 10-place grid penalty for 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix.
External links
| Previous race: 2005 Chinese Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship, 2006 season | Next race: 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix |
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| Previous race: 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix | Bahrain Grand Prix | Next race: 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix |
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