2006 Chinese Grand Prix
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| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 16 of 18 in the 2006 Formula One season. | ||
| Date | October 1, 2006 | |
| Location | Shanghai International Circuit Shanghai, People's Republic of China | |
| Course | Permanent Racing Facility 3.387 mi / 5.451 km | |
| Distance | 56 laps, 189.559 mi / 305.066 km | |
| Weather | Cloudy, wet track that progressively dried up. Rainy during the last few laps. | |
| Pole | ||
| Driver | Image:Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso | Renault F1 |
| Time | 1:43.951 | |
| Fastest Lap | ||
| Driver | Image:Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso | Renault F1 |
| Time | 1:37.586 (on lap 49 of 56) | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Image:Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher | Scuderia Ferrari |
| Second | Image:Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso | Renault F1 |
| Third | Image:Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault F1 |
The 2006 Chinese Grand Prix was the sixteenth race of the 2006 Formula One season. It was held on 29 September–1 October at Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai. It was won by Michael Schumacher, driving a Ferrari.
Contents |
[edit] Pre-race
Renault were very confident about their chances in the Grand Prix, they claimed that Michael Schumacher's previous two races in Shanghai were "poor". Schumacher did admit that he had bad form in China, but said that he expected it "to be better this time around."<ref>"Schumi has China flaw - Renault" BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 September</ref>
Following back-to-back wins in Turkey and on home soil, Ferrari certainly had the momentum coming into the Grand Prix, the Italian team were also ahead of Renault by 3 points in the constructors championship and Michael Schumacher was 2 points behind Fernando Alonso in the Drivers' Championship.
Following Lewis Hamilton's GP2 victory in Monza and an encouraging test session with McLaren, the Woking based team were rumoured to give the young British driver his debut in favour of Pedro De La Rosa, who had been performing well after replacing Juan Pablo Montoya. However, McLaren announced that De La Rosa would be racing in China.<ref>"No Chinese debut for Lewis Hamilton " F1-Live.com. Retrieved 25 September 2006</ref> McLaren's other driver, Kimi Räikkönen, was aiming to win the weekends Grand Prix following signs of speed in his previous Grand Prix.<ref>"Raikkonen chasing his first win of the year". F1-Live.com. Retrieved 26 September 2006</ref>
Williams annouced that they were using a revised FW28, the Williams-Cosworth FW28A. The car features a new aerodynamic package developed by Alexander Wurz and Narain Karthikeyan. The test team also carried out the first track test of the Toyota-powered interim Williams FW28B. The car itself compeleted 745 kilometres and the team only experienced minor problems.<ref>"Aiming to get back in the points with updated FW28" F1-Live.com. Retrieved 25 September 2006</ref>
Following some impressive performances at Turkey and Italy, BMW Sauber's 19-year old test driver, Sebastian Vettel, has agreed to see out the rest of the year with the German team. The young German driver had a busy schedule, as he is also competing in the Formula 3 Euroseries.<ref>"Vettel to see out 2006 with BMW" Formula1.com. Retrieved 25 September 2006</ref>
With the dismissal of Christian Klien, Red Bull annouced that Robert Doornbos will replace him for the final 3 Grand Prix. Replacing Doornbos' role as the third driver was GP2 driver Michael Ammermüller.<ref>"Red Bull drive for Ammermuller" Formula1.com. Retrieved 26 September 2006</ref>
Toro Rosso annouced during the week leading up to the Grand Prix, that they had signed Alex Hitzinger as their new technical director to replace Gabriele Tredozi. Hitzinger will begin his role in November 2006.<ref>"New technical director for Toro Rosso" Formula1.com. Retrieved 26 September 2006</ref>
Spyker Midland F1 announced their first driver for 2007 during the weekend, which was Dutch driver Christijan Albers.<ref>"Albers secures 2007 Spyker deal" Formula1.com. Retrieved 29 September 2006</ref>
Super Aguri's Takuma Sato didn't have a good start to the weekend as he was demoted ten places on the grid as his team changed the Honda engine in his car. Sato had been due to continue using the Honda V8 he ran at the last round in Italy, but the discovery of a problem, which hasn't been disclosed by Super Aguri, has prompted the team to replace the engine ahead of the Friday first practice session.<ref>"Sato hit by Shanghai grid penalty" Formula1.com. Retrieved 29 September 2006</ref>
[edit] Friday practice
Alexander Wurz was fastest in the first Friday pratice session in the Williams-Cosworth, 0.004 seconds faster than BMW Sauber's third driver, Sebastien Vettel and Jenson Button completed the top three, over six tenths slower then Wurz. Michael Schumacher, Neel Jani and Alexandre Prémat completed the top six; all within 0.07 seconds of each other. While Schumacher's championship rival, Fernando Alonso, didn't set a time along with his team mate, Giancarlo Fisichella.<ref>"Official Friday Practice 1 times" Formula1.com. Retrieved 29 September 2006</ref>
Wurz and Vettel were fastest again in the second session, Wurz was fastest with a 1:35.539, around 0.03 seconds faster than he was in the first session and 0.05 seconds faster than Vettel with Honda's Anthony Davidson completing the top three positions. The Austrian was very happy with his time, specially since this was his first time in Shanghai, "It was a good day today and driving was a lot of fun out there. I have never driven this circuit, and I attacked it right from the beginning" he said.<ref>"Friday practice - selected driver quotes" Formula1.com. Retrieved 29 September 2006</ref> Championship rivals, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, were within a tenth of a second of each other in fifth and sixth repectivley.<ref>"Fri prac - results, sector times, speed trap" Formula1.com. Retrieved 29 September 2006</ref> Felipe Massa dropped ten places from the grid after his engine gave way during the session. <ref>"Massa to drop ten places on China grid" Formula1.com. Retrieved September 29, 2006</ref>
[edit] Friday Drivers
[edit] Qualifying results
*: Felipe Massa and Takuma Sato both received 10 place grid penalties due to engine changes, therefore Massa started 20th, while Sato started 21nd. Christijan Albers was penalised by the stewards for failing to bring his car into the weighbridge when required so he started in 22nd place.
[edit] Race results
Notes
- * Takuma Sato was disqualified from 14th for ignoring blue flags.<ref name="f1racing-punish">Sato disqualified, Albers punished (October 1, 2006).</ref>
- † Christijan Albers had 25 seconds added to his final race time for also ignoring blue flags.<ref name="f1racing-punish" />
- Fastest Lap: Fernando Alonso: 1:37.586
- Last Win: Michael Schumacher
[edit] External links
| Previous race: 2006 Italian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship, 2006 season | Next race: 2006 Japanese Grand Prix |
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| Previous race: 2005 Chinese Grand Prix | Chinese Grand Prix | Next race: 2007 Chinese Grand Prix |
[edit] Footnotes
<references/>
es:Gran Premio de China de 2006 fi:Kiinan Grand Prix 2006 sv:Kinas Grand Prix 2006 vi:Giải đua ô tô Công thức 1 Trung Quốc 2006 zh:2006年中国大奖赛 ru:Гран-при Китая 2006 года
