2006 Australian Grand Prix

2006 Australian Grand Prix
Previous←	2006 Malaysian Grand Prix
Round	3 of 2006
Next→	2006 San Marino Grand Prix
Race Details
Date	2 April, 2006
Race Number	753
Official Name	2006 Formula 1 Foster's Australian Grand Prix
Location	Albert Park Circuit Melbourne, Australia
Course	Temporary street circuit 5.303 km (3.295 mi)
Scheduled Distance	58 laps, 307.574 km (191.118 mi)
Completed Distance	57 laps, 302.271 km (187.822 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Jenson Button Honda
Time	1:25.229
Fastest Lap
Driver	Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:26.045 on lap 57
Podium
First	Fernando Alonso
Second	Kimi Räikkönen
Third	Ralf Schumacher
Lap Leaders

The 2006 Australian Grand Prix, officially the 2006 Formula 1 Foster's Australian Grand Prix, was the third round of the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship, which took place at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia, on 2 April 2006. The race, which was staged on the 80th birthday of Australia's three-time World Champion Jack Brabham, would see Fernando Alonso sweep to his second win in the opening three rounds.

As a result of the 2006 Commonwealth Games being held in Melbourne the Australian Grand Prix would be staged in April, and hence lost its status as the opening round of the season. That brought an end to a ten year streak since 1996 that the season had started in the Antipodean city, although the organisers would sign a renewed deal to return as the opening round in 2007.

Into the race weekend itself and qualifying threw up a slight shock as Jenson Button grabbed pole position for Honda, their first as a constructor since the 1968 Italian Grand Prix. Giancarlo Fisichella shared the front row with the Brit ahead of Renault teammate Alonso, while Kimi Räikkönen completed the second row.

Confusion then arrived on raceday, with Juan Pablo Montoya spinning at the end of the formation lap, and so was forced to start at the back. However, a stall for Fisichella on the grid saw the initial start aborted, and hence allowed Montoya to retake fifth on the grid.

The second attempted start would go as planned, with Button easing away from Fisichella and Alonso, with Räikkönen watching on. Behind, however, there would be more chaos, as new Ferrari driver Felipe Massa tried to go for a gap between Nico Rosberg and Christian Klien, resulting in the Ferrari getting smashed against the outside wall at turn two.

That accident ensured the Safety Car was called at the end of the opening lap, and would stay out until the start of lap three. Alonso duly went on to ace the restart and jump Button for the lead, having inherited second when Fisichella spun on cold tyres behind the #12 Honda.

However, as soon as the field were released they were to be reined back in by the SC, which was called upon again after Klien crashed heavily at Clark Corner. Likely a legacy of his clash with Massa and Rosberg at the start, the Red Bull-Ferrari had a suspected suspension failure, and was hence pitched straight into the barriers at high speed.

Once Klien's ruined Red Bull was removed the race restarted for a second time, with Alonso bursting clear ahead of Räikkönen, who pounced on Button into the first corner. With that the race would quickly become a procession, with the only change to the order coming when Vitantonio Liuzzi pulled a stunning move on Michael Schumacher at the back of the top ten.

Indeed, it was only when Button, Montoya and Jarno Trulli kick started the first pit-phase that the race gained some interest, with Alonso and Räikkönen stopping a lap later. That hence promoted Mark Webber into a brief lead for Williams-Cosworth, becoming the first Australian to lead his home race since it had become a World Championship race.

Unfortunately for Webber his moment in the sun was curtailed swiftly by a gearbox failure, handing the lead back to Alonso. Again, the race settled down once the stops were completed, until Schumacher's race came to a spectacular end with a crash at Prost, bringing out the SC once again.

This time the majority of the field poured into the pits for their second stops, although this time there would be no major changes to the order. Alonso hence took the restart still in the lead ahead of Räikkönen, although before the field was up to speed the SC was called out again, this time for Liuzzi destroying his Toro Rosso-Cosworth at Whiteford.

The race restarted for a fourth and final time on lap 40, with Alonso powering away for the rest of the afternoon to claim victory ahead of Räikkönen. Ralf Schumacher, meanwhile, would emerged from a wave of late retirements, which included an electrical shutdown for Montoya and a last corner engine failure for Button, to complete the podium. Nick Heidfeld, Fisichella, Jacques Villeneuve, Rubens Barrichello and Scott Speed secured the remaining points, with Button falling ten metres shy of the finishing line in his smoking Honda.

There would be one final twist, however, as Speed was relegated to ninth after the race for failing to slow sufficiently under yellow flags. He hence lost his maiden points finish, and received a $5,000 fine for abusive language during the hearing.

The race would also be notable as the last Grand Prix until the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix that neither Ferrari was classified.

Timetable and weather

Day	Timetable		Session	Weather	Air	Track	Humidity
	Local Time	GMT
31 March	11:00–12:00	03:00–04:00	Practice 1	Cloudy	20 °C	23 °C	51 %
	14:00–15:00	06:00–07:00	Practice 2	Cloudy	22 °C	22 °C	49 %
1 April	11:00–12:00	03:00–04:00	Practice 3	Rain	16 °C	17 °C	60 %
	14:00–15:00	06:00–07:00	Qualifying	Partly Cloudy	19 °C	27 °C	51 %
2 April	14:00–16:00	07:00–09:00	Grand Prix	Cloudy	18 °C	25 °C	53 %
Source:

Background

Victory for Giancarlo Fisichella would catapult the Italian racer up the early Championship table, leaving Malaysia in fourth with ten points. However, it was his teammate Fernando Alonso who left Sepang at the head of the pack, and with a fairly ominous seven point lead after just two races. Michael Schumacher had remained as the Spaniard's closest challenger in second, ahead of third placed Jenson Button on countback.

In the Constructors Championship Renault were attempting to make an early break away at the head of the field, and left Malaysia with 28 points to their credit. That left the French manufacturer thirteen clear of Ferrari in second, who were level on points with third placed McLaren-Mercedes. Honda and Williams-Cosworth then completed the top five, with BMW Sauber and Toyota having picked up their first points of the campaign.

Entry list

The full entry list for the 2006 Australian Grand Prix is outlined below:

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
1	Fernando Alonso	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	Renault	R26	Renault	RS26 2.4 V8	M
2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	Renault	R26	Renault	RS26 2.4 V8	M
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Team McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-21	Mercedes	FO 108S 2.4 V8	M
4	Juan Pablo Montoya	Team McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-21	Mercedes	FO 108S 2.4 V8	M
5	Michael Schumacher	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	248 F1	Ferrari	056 2.4 V8	B
6	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	248 F1	Ferrari	056 2.4 V8	B
7	Ralf Schumacher	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF106	Toyota	RVX-06 2.4 V8	B
8	Jarno Trulli	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF106	Toyota	RVX-06 2.4 V8	B
9	Mark Webber	Williams F1 Team	Williams	FW28	Cosworth	CA2006 2.4 V8	B
10	Nico Rosberg	Williams F1 Team	Williams	FW28	Cosworth	CA2006 2.4 V8	B
11	Rubens Barrichello	Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team	Honda	RA106	Honda	RA806E 2.4 V8	M
12	Jenson Button	Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team	Honda	RA106	Honda	RA806E 2.4 V8	M
14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB2	Ferrari	056 2.4 V8	M
15	Christian Klien	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB2	Ferrari	056 2.4 V8	M
16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.06	BMW	P86 2.4 V8	M
17	Jacques Villeneuve	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.06	BMW	P86 2.4 V8	M
18	Tiago Monteiro	MF1 Racing	Midland	M16	Toyota	RVX-06 2.4 V8	B
19	Christijan Albers	MF1 Racing	Midland	M16	Toyota	RVX-06 2.4 V8	B
20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR1	Cosworth	TJ2006 3.0 V10	M
21	Scott Speed	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR1	Cosworth	TJ2006 3.0 V10	M
22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri F1	Super Aguri	SA05	Honda	RA806E 2.4 V8	B
23	Yuji Ide	Super Aguri F1	Super Aguri	SA05	Honda	RA806E 2.4 V8	B
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
35	Alexander Wurz	Williams F1 Team	Williams	FW28	Cosworth	CA2006 2.4 V8	B
36	Anthony Davidson	Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team	Honda	RA106	Honda	RA806E 2.4 V8	M
37	Robert Doornbos	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB2	Ferrari	056 2.4 V8	M
38	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.06	BMW	P86 2.4 V8	M
39	Markus Winkelhock	MF1 Racing	Midland	M16	Toyota	RVX-06 2.4 V8	B
40	Neel Jani	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR1	Cosworth	TJ2006 3.0 V10	M
Source:

Qualifying

Qualifying Results

The full qualifying results for the 2006 Australian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3		Grid
					Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time
1	12	Jenson Button	Honda		8	1:28.081		8	1:26.337		1	1:25.229	1
2	2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault		5	1:27.765		6	1:26.196		2	1:25.635	2
3	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault		13	1:28.596		1	1:25.729		3	1:25.778	3
4	3	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes		2	1:27.193		5	1:26.161		4	1:25.822	4
5	4	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren-Mercedes		1	1:27.079		2	1:25.902		5	1:25.976	5
6	7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota		7	1:28.007		9	1:26.596		6	1:26.612	6
7	9	Mark Webber	Williams-Cosworth		3	1:27.669		4	1:26.075		7	1:26.937	7
8	16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber		6	1:27.796		3	1:26.014		8	1:27.579	8
9*	17	Jacques Villeneuve	BMW Sauber		12	1:28.460		10	1:26.714		9	1:29.239	19
10	8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota		4	1:27.748		7	1:26.327		NC	—	9
11	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari		9	1:28.288		11	1:26.718				10
12	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Ferrari		11	1:28.408		12	1:27.023				11
13	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso-Cosworth		16	1:28.999		13	1:27.219				12
14	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull-Ferrari		14	1:28.757		14	1:27.591				13
15	10	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Cosworth		10	1:28.351		15	1:29.422				14
16	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari		15	1:28.868		NC	—				15
17	11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda		17	1:29.943							16
18	19	Christijan Albers	Midland-Toyota		18	1:30.226							17
19	21	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso-Cosworth		19	1:30.426							18
20	18	Tiago Monteiro	Midland-Toyota		20	1:30.709							20
21	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda		21	1:32.279							21
22	23	Yuji Ide	Super Aguri-Honda		22	1:36.164							22
Source:

• ^T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
• Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.
• * Villeneuve received a ten place grid penalty for changing his engine.

Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
	______________
Row 1	1	______________
	Jenson Button	2
	______________	Giancarlo Fisichella*
Row 2	3	______________
	Fernando Alonso	4
	______________	Kimi Räikkönen
Row 3	5	______________
	Juan Pablo Montoya	6
	______________	Ralf Schumacher
Row 4	7	______________
	Mark Webber	8
	______________	Nick Heidfeld
Row 5	9	______________
	Jarno Trulli	10
	______________	Michael Schumacher
Row 6	11	______________
	David Coulthard	12
	______________	Vitantonio Liuzzi
Row 7	13	______________
	Christian Klien	14
	______________	Nico Rosberg
Row 8	15	______________
	Felipe Massa	16
	______________	Rubens Barrichello
Row 9	17	______________
	Christijan Albers	18
	______________	Scott Speed
Row 10	19	______________
	Jacques Villeneuve	20
	______________	Tiago Monteiro
Row 11	21	______________
	Takuma Sato	22
	______________	Yuji Ide

• * Fisichella started the race from the pitlane after stalling during the aborted start.

Race

Report

Fernando Alonso won for the second time in 2006, after Jenson Button's Honda blew up at the final corner, after starting from pole. Scott Speed was docked his first point (and what would have been the first for an American since 1993) for ignoring yellow flags. Thus, David Coulthard was promoted to eighth. Speed was also fined $5000 for swearing at Coulthard during the hearing.

It was not until 2016 that America ended its long wait for F1 points in the form of U.S. team Haas.

Results

The full results for the 2006 Australian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	57	1:34:27.870	3	10
2	3	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+1.829s	4	8
3	7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	57	+24.824s	6	6
4	16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	57	+31.032s	8	5
5	2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	57	+38.421s	2	4
6	17	Jacques Villeneuve	BMW Sauber	57	+49.554s	19	3
7	11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	57	+51.904s	16	2
8	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Ferrari	57	+53.983s	11	1
9*	21	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso-Cosworth	57	+1:18.817	18
10†	12	Jenson Button	Honda	56	Engine	1
11	19	Christijan Albers	Midland-Toyota	56	+1 Lap	17
12	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda	55	+2 Laps	21
13	23	Yuji Ide	Super Aguri-Honda	54	+3 Laps	22
Ret	4	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren-Mercedes	46	Electrical	5
Ret	18	Tiago Monteiro	Midland-Toyota	39	Steering	20
Ret	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso-Cosworth	37	Accident	12
Ret	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	32	Accident	10
Ret	9	Mark Webber	Williams-Cosworth	22	Engine	7
Ret	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull-Ferrari	4	Suspension	13
Ret	8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	0	Collision	9
Ret	10	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Cosworth	0	Damage	14
Ret	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	0	Collision	15
Source:

• ^T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
• * Speed received a 25 second time penalty for speeding under yellow flags.
• ^† Button was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.

Milestones

• 2000th individual entry for a car using Michelin tyres.
• Nick Heidfeld made his 100th Grand Prix start.
• Jenson Button scored the second and final pole position for Honda as a constructor.
  • It was also the first pole for a Honda chassis since the 1968 Italian Grand Prix.
• Tenth career victory for Fernando Alonso.
• 28th win for Renault as a constructor.
  • Also their 108th win as an engine supplier.
• Kimi Räikkönen secured the 150th podium finish for a Mercedes engine.
• Ralf Schumacher claimed his 27th and final podium finish.

Standings

A second victory in the opening three rounds left Fernando Alonso in early command of the Championship, having left Australia with 28 points to his name. That translated into a fourteen point lead over teammate Giancarlo Fisichella in second, with the Italian racer level on points with third placed Kimi Räikkönen. Behind, Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button remained tied on eleven points, with fifteen drivers on the score sheet.

In the Constructors Championship Renault had already built a comfortable lead at the head of the pack, leaving Australia with more than a race's worth of points in hand. Indeed, McLaren-Mercedes had slipped nineteen behind the French squad as a result of the battle of Australia, but had moved eight clear of Ferrari in third. Honda, meanwhile, had retained fourth ahead of BMW Sauber, with eight constructors having scored across the opening three rounds.

World Championship for Drivers Pos. Driver Pts. +/- 1 Fernando Alonso 28 — 2 Giancarlo Fisichella 14 ▲2 3 Kimi Räikkönen 14 ▲3 4 Michael Schumacher 11 ▼2 5 Jenson Button 11 ▼2 6 Juan Pablo Montoya 9 ▼1 7 Ralf Schumacher 7 ▲4 8 Nick Heidfeld 5 ▲9 9 Jacques Villeneuve 5 ▲1 10 Felipe Massa 4 ▼3 11 Mark Webber 3 ▼3 12 Rubens Barrichello 2 ▲2 13 Nico Rosberg 2 ▼4 14 David Coulthard 1 ▲1 15 Christian Klien 1 ▼3

World Championship for Constructors Pos. Team Pts. +/- 1 Renault 42 — 2 McLaren-Mercedes 23 ▲1 3 Ferrari 15 ▼1 4 Honda 13 — 5 BMW Sauber 10 ▲1 6 Toyota 7 ▲1 7 Williams-Cosworth 5 ▼2 8 Red Bull-Ferrari 2 —

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References

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References:

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