Alonso had to work hard to maintain his second position during the final stint of the race as Button was looking to take the position should Alonso make the slightest slip. Starting 14th, Button made a good start and was soon in the top ten. With some attrition ahead of him he found himself fifth mid race and some good strategy and slick pit work from the Honda crew moved him ahead of Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella in his final stop.

Fourth position for Michael Schumacher does not tell the take of his final Grand Prix. Starting tenth Schumacher was quickly up with Fisichella in sixth position. A daring pass around the outside into turn one and suddenly the Ferrari jinked as the left rear Bridgestone deflated.

Schumacher made it back to the pits and with a fresh set of tyres was soon back underway in 17th position a full 20s behind next man Tiago Monteiro. The fastest man lap after lap Schumacher left his second and final stop until late in the race and exited the pits for the final time ahead of Pedro de la Rosa who would go on to finish eighth.

Schumacher made short work of former Ferrari team-mate and then homed in on Fisichella once again. The Renault driver held Schumacher back for some time but finally the Italian made a mistake as he locked his front left wheel on the approach to turn one and ran wide. Next Schumacher homed in on Raikkonen and again fought hard to gain the position with a handful of laps remaining. Schumacher would set the fastest lap on his penultimate tour and take the chequered flag five seconds behind Button.

Kimi Raikkonen finished fifth in his McLaren Mercedes after a solid if quiet final outing for the squad while Fisichella did a great job holding back Schumacher when required for Renault and finished in sixth position ahead of Rubens Barrichello in the second Honda.

Pedro de la Rosa was one of few drivers to opt for a one stop strategy. Despite a mid-race scare when he found non-other than Takuma Sato closing on him fast, the strategy seemed to work and he picked up the final point for eighth position after starting 12th.

BMW Sauber and Toyota held a one point advantage over Toyota ahead of the Grand Prix and neither team would finish in the points. Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher started third and seventh both soon took to the pits suffering with the same rear damper problem. Race over for Toyota.

Robert Kubica survived a tough race to finish ninth in his BMW Sauber despite some contact with Scott Speed mid race. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld was not as lucky as he and Ralf Schumacher made contact on lap one which damaged his front wing end plate. Later in the race the F1.06 seemed to suffer a left rear suspension failure under braking for turn one. Heidfeld stepped out of the car and his race was over.

Takuma Sato drove a great race, easily the best of the season for the Super Aguri Honda team. The Japanese racer finished in tenth position ahead of Scott Speed, Robert Doornbos, Tonio Liuzzi, Christijan Albers, Tiago Monteiro and Sakon Yamamoto.

Williams Cosworth had a tough final race with Nico Rosberg running into the back of Mark Webber on lap one. Webber cruised back to the pits minus his rear wing and retired while Rosberg had a massive crash on the banked left hander approaching the main straight after something failed at the front end of the FW27. A sad end for Cosworth in Formula One.

Back at the front and a well-deserved win from Felipe Massa who maintains his third place in the championship ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella. A great final race in what was a great season and a stunning career from Michael Schumacher. Roll on 2007...

Tonio Liuzzi piped team-mate Scott Speed by a thousandth of a second in the first qualifying session and that was enough to see the Italian make it though to Q2 in his Toro Rosso Cosworth. With the demotion of Doornbos, Liuzzi will start no lower than 15th ahead of Speed.

It was a pretty disappointing day for the Spyker MF1 Toyota team. Christijan Albers was 18th fastest while team-mate Tiago Monteiro went for a wild spin on his first timed lap and was unable to continue while the Super Aguri Honda duo of Takuma Sato and Sakon Yamamoto were slowest of those to complete a lap.

It’s a perfect day for Felipe Massa as he looks forward to starting his home race from Pole Position. It remains to be seen if team-mate Schumacher will start from tenth position on the grid or if Ferrari will change engines and tactics and start the retiring German from the back of the pack. For Renault, things are looking sweet but as the recent races have all shown, there are probably more twists and turns ahead…

Tonio Liuzzi put in a strong performance for Toro Rosso as he qualified in 15th position on a day when neither his team-mate nor the Red Bull Ferrari team made it through to Q2. Another good run came from Christijan Albers in the Spyker MF1 Toyota as he firmly put team-mate Tiago Monteiro in the shade to start 16th.

Red Bull Ferrari were off the pace with David Coulthard and Robert Kubica both taking two runs to qualify a disappointing 17th and 18th ahead of Scott Speed who should have done better in his Toro Rosso Cosworth.

Takuma Sato was 20th in his Super Aguri Honda but over a second slower than the Spyker of Albers. Tiago Monteiro had just one three lap stint in the second Spyker and starts 21st ahead of Sakon Yamamoto who suffered a spin and stall on his very first timed lap in his Super Aguri Honda. It was a disaster for Sakon Yamamoto in front of his home crowd.

There will be a number of very happy and teams up and down the pit lane, Renault, McLaren Mercedes, Red Bull Ferrari and Super Aguri Honda will not be among them.

The heavy rain ahead of the Grand Prix was not good news for Schumacher and Ferrari. It was clear in qualifying that the Michelin tyre was superior in the wet conditions. Fernando Alonso led away at the start and quickly established a comfortable 15 second margin over second placed Giancarlo Fisichella. At this point the race seemed to be done and dusted in terms of the win.

A dry line was however beginning to form and soon it became apparent that the circuit was in fact drying despite the high humidity. As the first round of pitstops approached a number of Michelin runners pitted and took fuel only opting to stick with the used intermediate tyres.Alonso however took on two new front intermediate tyres and soon it was clear that it was a bad decision.

Alonso’s lead soon was quickly eaten into and sure enough Giancarlo Fisichella blew by to take the lead. Schumacher’s Bridgestone’s had taken to the circuit by this point and he was right on the pace having moved up from his sixth position on the grid.

The circuit continued to dry and it was apparent that dry weather tyres would be required for the final stint. Struggling for pace, Alonso pitted from third position as soon as he could and it was then that the team had a problem fitting the left rear wheel and another ten seconds was lost and with it, any hope of retaining the championship lead.

Back out front Michael Schumacher shadowed Fisichella and with some runners now opting for slicks, timed his second stop perfectly stopping one lap before the Italian Renault driver. As Fisichella exited the pits ahead of Schumacher, it was clear that his relatively cool rubber was giving him little grip and Schumacher duly drove down the inside and took away the lead.

Schumacher controlled the pave from this point as Alonso recovered and soon caught Fisichella to take second position. Fisichella would finish in third and the result was enough to give Renault the lead back in the constructors’ championship.

While the battle for the win was a thriller, positions four through to eighth would see some great battles as well.

Jenson Button started the race in fourth position and came home fourth. In between the Honda driver moved way down the order as he struggled with his rear tyres and then fought his way passed Pedro de la Rosa and Rubens Barrichello in a dramatic final lap to claim the position.

Nick Heidfeld could and probably should have finished fourth but his final lap saw him bottled up behind the lapped Takuma Sato. With Button and de la Rosa right on his rear wing, Heidfeld had nowhere to go as Button dived down the inside to take the position. The BMW Sauber driver spun and dropped down to seventh position.

Pedro de la Rosa actually had a pretty low-key race in his McLaren. He started seventh and ran in the position for most of the race despite the retirement of Kimi Raikkonen in the sister MP4-21. Raikkonen was aggressive from the start and soon worked his way up to second before another mechanical failure. De la Rosa survived a lurid spin in the latter stages of the race and finished fifth for the team.

Rubens Barrichello finished sixth in the second Honda ahead of Heidfeld while Mark Webber took a valuable and much needed point for Williams Cosworth with eighth position.

David Coulthard had held the position until he and Felipe Massa got into a battle for position. The Ferrari driver dove down the inside of Coulthard’s Red Bull Ferrari after getting a good tow down the massive one kilometre back straight. Massa seemed to run a little too deep and Coulthard simply turned in regardless. Massa was out of the race with suspension damage and a lap later, Coulthard was unable to negotiate turn one and spun giving the position to Webber.

Massa’s retirement was significant in that had he finished the race in that eighth position, Ferrari and Renault would be tied in the constructors’ championship. Coulthard would finish in ninth position with Red Bull team-mate Robert Doornbos 11th after a pitstop for a new front wing at the end of lap one. One lap down, Tonio Liuzzi took tenth position for Toro Rosso ahead of Nico Rosberg and Doornbos.

Robert Kubica had an eventful race as he made an error on the first lap and dropped from tenth position to 19th. The Polish rookie battled his way back up the order and was soon all the way up to fifth position just behind team-mate Heidfeld. BMW Sauber or Kubica gambled and took dry tyres too soon and after a couple of off track moments, Kubica was forced to make an additional pit stop of intermediate tyres. He would finish in 13th.

Takuma Sato finished in 14th position after a solid run in his Super Aguri Honda. Team-mate Sakon Yamamoto finished his first race for the team in 17th position and four laps down. In between, Scott Speed finished 15th ahead of Christijan Albers. Neither Toyota went the distance on a most dismal Grand Prix weekend while Tiago Monteiro ground to a halt at the first turn late in the race in the second Spyker.

It was a great race for Formula One. As the teams pack up and head to Suzuka for next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, it could hardly be closer.

Christijan Albers starts 18th ahead of Spyker MF1 Racing team-mate Tiago Monteiro who stopped early in the session with a mechanical problem. Sakon Yamamoto starts 20th ahead of Massa and the second Super Aguri Honda of Takuma Sato who also took an engine change penalty.

Championship leader Fernando Alonso has made a big gain today in his hopes for a second title. The race result is very much now down the weather….

Robert Kubica drove a stunning third Grand Prix of his career to take his first podium position. Starting sixth the Polish racer made a great start to bully his way up ahead of team-mate Heidfeld at the first turn and run fourth. He sustained a great deal of pressure race-long only to lose out to Alonso in the second and final round of stops. With Alonso’s V8 grenading a few minutes later, Kubica duly took the third position.

Giancarlo Fisichella had a low-key race in the second Renault using a one stop strategy to finish in fourth position ahead of Jenson Button who struggled for straight-line speed all day in his Honda. Rubens Barrichello finished sixth on a one stop strategy in the second RA106.

Jarno Trulli did a good job to claim two points for Toyota using a one stop strategy and some good defensive driving in the final laps of the race. For Heidfeld, a poor first lap combined with an error with his pit lane speed limiter in the first round of stops, he battled back to score the final point.

Felipe Massa’s race was effectively over as he followed Alonso down to the first chicane as the engine blew on the Renault. With oil going down onto the track surface, Massa took to the grass and when he rejoined the circuit he had picked up a front-right puncture. He would chase Heidfeld across the line to finish ninth and out of the points.

Mark Webber made a great start in his Williams Cosworth quickly gaining seven positions on the first lap. The Australian would push on to the chequered flag and take tenth position in his Williams Cosworth. Team-mate Nico Rosberg was an early retirement with a driveshaft failure.
Christian Klien beat David Coulthard home to 11th in the Red Bull Ferrari battle while Scott Speed beat Tonio Liuzzi to 13th in the Toro Rosso Cosworth in-house fight.
Ralf Schumacher had a tough race and was just 15th in his Toyota ahead of Takuma Sato and Christijan Albers in the sole surviving MF1 Toyota.

It is advantage Ferrari in the constructors’ championship and as Schumacher announces his retirement from the sport at the end of the season, it is clear the title battle is wide open with three races remaining.

David Coulthard starts 14th in his Red Bull Ferrari while Christian Klien, faster than Coulthard all weekend, will start just 16th after a spin at the end of Q1 left him unable to take part in Q2. Scott Speed did a great job to make it into Q2 in his Toro Rosso Cosworth and he starts between Coulthard and Klien in 15th position. Tonio Liuzzi starts 17th in his Toro Rosso.

Christijan Albers led the way at MF1 Toyota as he starts 17th with team-mate Tiago Monteiro in 19th. Mark Webber starts a dismal 18th after a poor qualifying session in his Williams Cosworth. Takuma Sato starts 21st in his Super Aguri Honda with just team-mate Sakon Yamamoto, who suffered a dramatic left rear tyre failure, behind him.

It was a difficult say at McLaren Mercedes with Kimi Raikkonen and Pedro de la Rosa seventh and 11th respectively seemingly unable to take the challenge to Renault this weekend. Over at Williams Cosworth, Mark Webber did a great job to make it into the top ten as he starts ninth ahead of Christian Klien who led the way at Red Bull Ferrari.

Nico Rosberg was unable to match the pace of his team-mate and starts 14th ahead of Ralf Schumacher while Christijan Albers put in a solid lap in the first session to make it into the top 16 in his MF1 Toyota. Like Ralf Schumacher, Albers loses out however as he takes his ten position engine change penalty.

David Coulthard struggled to find a clear lap in his Red Bull Ferrari and starts 16th ahead of the Toro Rosso duo of Scott Speed and Tonio Liuzzi. Tiago Monteiro starts 19th ahead of Sakon Yamamoto who was able to out-qualify Takuma Sato in the Super Aguri Honda scrap.

Back to the front of the timesheets and it’s an all red front-row with an all-blue second row. Michael Schumacher may not have had the best run in the third session today, but the 248 F1 still seems to be the class of the field in Istanbul.

 

Only four cars completed all 70-laps in an incident filled race that saw action from the outset all the way through to the penultimate lap.

The 22 drivers awoke with the sound of rain tapping on the hotel windows. Rain continued to fall until 20 minute before the start of the race. On the grid, all bar Schumacher and Barrichello seemed to take the intermediate tyre option. The race would be on of attrition, tyre choice and a little good fortune

Through it all came Button, who drove a perfect race for Honda taking the chequered flag 31 second ahead of Pedro de la Rosa in his McLaren Mercedes. For the Spaniard, the second position was also a very special result as it marked his first podium position of his career. Nick Heidfeld drove a great race for BMW Sauber and claimed third position.

For both de la Rosa and Heidfeld, the final lap were all about hauling in Michael Schumacher and making the pass. Schumacher looked set for a certain top four position but with the circuit bone dry almost two hours after the start of the race, he was on a recovery drive after all sort of problems and was not an easy man to pass.

De la Rosa and Heidfeld got the job done and Schumacher, so vigorous in his defence, was classified in ninth position after he and Heidfeld made contact in the very final stages of the race in what was a racing incident. With hindsight, Schumacher, classified ninth, should really have let the faster car though and taken the points on offer.

Rubens Barrichello started third and finished fourth having gambled on full wet tyres for the start of the race. It was the wrong decision and as a result, fourth position is a good result as he chased Heidfeld across the line.

David Coulthard drove a strong race to finish a lap down in fifth position. In contract Christian Klien took the spare car from the pit lane and crashed out very early on in the race.

Ralf Schumacher struggled for much of the day and will be most happy with sixth position while team-mate Jarno Trulli exited the race in the final laps with an engine failure.

Robert Kubica had a very tough debut in the BMW Sauber and despite two spins and a pit stop for a new front wing, drove a good race to score two points on his debut. The final point went to Felipe Massa who had a nightmare of a day and was never a factor despite starting on the front row of the grid.

It was certainly a race that Michelin shone as the Bridgestone runners fell away dramatically when the race was at its wettest. Only in the final third of the race when the circuit dried, did Bridgestone begin to look on the pace.

Starting 11th, Michael Schumacher was immediately up into the top six on lap one, but behind him, Fernando Alonso was also on a march.

Alonso was the man really on the move as he carved his way through up the order and then went wheel to wheel with Schumacher before making the pass stick with a lovely move around the outside. Schumacher was clearly struggling with the Bridgestone rubber.

Alonso ran second to Kimi Raikkonen until the Finn pitted. There was no luck today for Raikkonen who dominated the opening stages of the race. Coming up to lap Tonio Liuzzi, the Finn misjudged the gap slightly and struck the right rear of the Toro Rosso and that was his race over there and then. The consolation for McLaren Mercedes would be de la Rosa’s second position.

This handed the lead to Alonso who at the time was in a class of his own. With the safety car deployed due to the Raikkonen/Liuzzi accident, Button lined up behind Alonso and despite some less than helpful tactics from the lapped Takuma Sato was able to keep the pressure on as the circuit continued to dry.

Alonso, now under threat from Button pitted and seconds later found his Renault in the barriers. Exiting the pits the car seemed to crab to the side and by the next corner the right rear wheel nut had popped off as the R26 suffered a driveshaft failure. No points for Alonso after a very impressive race.

Of the rest, Tiago Monteiro kept it together and finished tenth, albeit three laps down in his MF1 Toyota ahead of team-mate Christijan Albers. Scott Speed finished in 12th position in his Toro Rosso having moved to slick tyres ten laps too early and then lost further time by returning to the pits for intermediate tyres. Takuma Sato was classified 14th in his Super Aguri Honda, five laps down.

Both Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber spun off for Williams, Giancarlo Fisichella had a poor race for Renault again as he too spun off and made contact with the barriers. Sakon Yamamoto continued his difficult start to his career as his race lasted just seconds again before he retired.

An incident filled race after an incident filled weekend. There are lots of questions still un answered from this weekend as Button celebrated his first and very well deserved Grand Prix win.

With the championship leaders side-lines, it opened the door for Felipe Massa to show what he could do. A good first run gave the Ferrari driver the provisional Pole but a couple of mistakes on his second and final run saw the Brazilian unable to improve his time. Raikkonen was able to find a good chunk of time in his Michelin-shod MP4-21 and snatched the Pole away from Massa by nearly three-tenths of a second.

Rubens Barrichello did a great job for Honda as he set the third fastest time while team-mate Jenson Button was also going well in the sister RA106. However, an engine change following the morning practice session sees Button drop down to 14th on the starting grid, just ahead of Alonso.

With Raikkonen on the Pole, Pedro de la Rosa set the fifth fastest time and starts from fourth position while Mark Webber did a superb job again for Williams Cosworth as he lines up in fifth position. It was another dismal session for team-mate Nico Rosberg who starts a disappointing 18th in the second FW28.

Ralf Schumacher starts sixth in his Toyota with team-mate Trulli in eighth position. Giancarlo Fisichella disappointed again in his Renault and starts seventh.

Robert Kubica did a great job in Q2 to move his BMW Sauber into the final part of qualifying. Standing in for Jacques Villeneuve, Kubica has shown the way to team-mate Nick Heidfeld by a good four-tenths of a second and made it through to Q3. He starts his first race from ninth while Heidfeld starts tenth.

Michael Schumacher has it all to do from 11th on the grid, but it is worth noting that Nigel Mansell started one place lower in 1989 in his Ferrari and won the race.

David Coulthard led the way at Red Bull Ferrari and starts 12th just ahead of team-mate Klien. With Button taking his ten position drop, Button starts 14th ahead of Fernando Alonso.

Tiago Monteiro made it through to the second qualifying session and starts a reasonable 16th in his MF1 Toyota. Team-mate Christijan Albers was always going to start at the back with his engine change penalty. He was 21st fastest on track and does indeed start last. Tonio Liuzzi was 17th in his Toro Rosso ahead of Nico Rosberg, Scott Speed and Sakon Yamamoto.

Almost lost in the Alonso-Schumacher championship battle was Felipe Massa who has had a great weekend again for Ferrari. Playing the dutiful number two, Massa did everything asked of him to cross the line in second position 0.7s behind his team-leader. The result moves the Brazilian up one position to third in the drivers’ championship.

Kimi Raikkonen’s three stop strategy in his McLaren made life very hard for him today, but the Finn took third position which was as much as he could have ever expected today given the superiority of the Ferrari team. Some aggressive racing saw Raikkonen go wheel to wheel with both Jenson Button and Mark Webber and make the move stick. His podium moves him joint fourth with Fisichella in the championship.

Jenson Button had a very good race in his Honda to take the chequered flag in fourth position but had no answer for the pace of Raikkonen. An aggressive move to re-pass Fernando Alonso into the hairpin on the very first lap was critical as it allowed him to take the challenge to Raikkonen and the ever-unfortunate Mark Webber who retired his Williams Cosworth late in the race with an engine failure whilst running fifth. While Button took fourth, team-mate Rubens Barrichello was also having a solid race until his engine failed just after his first stop.

Over at Renault and it was clear that the team struggled for grip with the rear Michelin tyres blistering on both cars. Alonso struggled home to fifth position with Giancarlo Fisichella shadowing him across the line. Renault now leads Ferrari by ten points in the constructors’ championship.

Starting at the back of the pack, Jarno Trulli put in a strong race to finish seventh in his Toyota while team-mate Ralf Schumacher survived a traumatic race, including a drive through penalty and a pit for a new wing, to finish out of the points in ninth.

Christian Klien salvaged a point for Red Bull Ferrari while David Coulthard finished 11th after contact with Ralf Schumacher on lap one cost him track position. Late in the race, Coulthard seemed to lose the balance on his RB2 and was powerless to keep the hard charging Toro Rosso of Tonio Liuzzi at bay. Scott Speed survived an off track moment to finish 12th in the second Toro Rosso ahead of the MF1 Toyota duo of Christijan Albers and the erratic Tiago Monteiro.

Just 14 cars completed the race and it was undoubtedly Mark Webber’s retirement that was the most unfortunate. Webber had fuelled for a long first stint and battled hard throughout. For Williams, it continues the point-less streak than now extends to seven races.

Over at Super Aguri Honda, neither Takuma Sato not Sakon Yamamoto were able to go the distance retiring with a driveshaft and gearbox problem. Sato did however show good pace when running keeping Monteiro behind him for the first third of the race.

BMW Sauber leaves the German Grand Prix following a disastrous showing. The very first lap saw Jacques Villeneuve pit for a new front win and team-mate Nick Heidfeld with a cut rear tyre…. Heidfeld later retired with a brake issue while Villeneuve lasted a little longer before a heavy shunt on entry into the final turn with what seemed – yet to be confirmed - to be a front wing failure.

Pedro de la Rosa was another early retirement in his McLaren Mercedes with an electrical issue while Nico Rosberg seemed to throw his Williams into the wall on lap one.

Compared to the dismal French Grand Prix, this was a classic race even if it was a foregone conclusion as to who would win. Raikkonen put in a great race for McLaren Mercedes and as the circus packs up and heads to Hungary for next weekend’s race, the championship battle seems to really be on between Schumacher and Alonso with six races remaining.

Ralf Schumacher starts ninth in his Toyota and has every reason to believe he could have started further up the order. The German pulled out to pass Pedro de la Rosa in the fuel-burn phase of qualifying only for the Spaniard to turn into the Toyota having failed to see Schumacher move alongside. De la Rosa’s McLaren make contact with the left front of the Toyota and both limped back to the pits. De la Rosa had a new set of tyres put on and off he went again while the Toyota team worked hard to repair some front left damage to the TF106B.

De la Rosa starts ninth in his second race for McLaren behind Ralf Schumacher while David Coulthard did a great job again for Red Bull Ferrari to make it through to Q3. With a heavy fuel load on board for the race, he starts tenth while Christian Klien starts 12th.

Williams looked well balanced all day long but neither Mark Webber not Nico Rosberg could coax enough pace out of the FW28 to make it though to Q3. Webber starts 11th with his team-mate four positions back. Jarno Trulli took the spare Toyota and set the 13th fastest time. With his engine change penalty he will start the German Grand Prix from the back of the field.

Robert Kubica may have been the fastest man in Friday practice for BMW Sauber, but the team struggled today with Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld setting the 14th and 16th fastest times. Will Trulli taking his penalty, they both move up a position.

It was a pretty disappointing day for Toro Rosso with Scott Speed throwing his STR1 into the wall on his first qualifying lap and Tonio Liuzzi failing to make it into Q2. Speed, starting his first timed lap ran wide at the first turn and opted to keep the foot firmly to the floor as he bounced across the grass. When the rear tyres gripped, he was sent – unsurprisingly – into a wild spin that saw him make heavy contact with the inside retaining wall. A rookie error from the American.

Christijan Albers was 18th fastest in his MF1 Toyota but he has also had an engine change so he starts further back while Takuma Sato was 19th fastest in his new Super Aguri Honda but with engine penalties applied, starts 16th in the first race for the new car. Team-mate Sakon Yamamoto was forced into the spare SA05 for qualifying and was slowest in the older car.

Back to the sharp end and the battle for the German Grand Prix has taken an added complexity with McLaren Mercedes suddenly finding such stunning pace. Raikkonen will certainly be pitting before his rivals, but with the speed, comes a chance to try and pull out a gap and perhaps remain in contention with the Ferrari team as the race unfolds.

Juan Pablo Montoya was caught out and ran into the back of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. This pushed Raikkonen in to Jenson Button who in turn was showed into Nick Heidfeld who was sent into a series of high-speed barrel rolls. Button made his way back around as the others climbed from their damages cars. Button would soon retire with accident related damage however. Takuma Sato managed to not get involved in the carnage and saved his rash move for the re-start on lap nine when he got it all wrong and struck the side of Tiago Montero ending both of their races on the spot.

Back on track and perhaps the drive of the day came from Jarno Trulli who started the race from the pit lane after Toyota opted to work on his TF106B’s problematic suspension. Perhaps it was good fortune as had he started as planned in 19th position, then he too may well have been eliminated on the first lap.

As it was, Trulli drove a strong one stop race with good pace throughout. Team-mate Ralf Schumacher was cruising to fifth position after a solid race when his front left wheel bearing sent him to the pits and into retirement.

Championship leader Fernando Alonso finished in fifth position to record his first US Grand Prix finish of his career. It was a low-key run in a car that Alonso simply could not find the right balance for. Alonso’s race highlight was his race start in which he managed to duck inside Michael Schumacher into turn two just as the incident behind were triggered. Alonso will leave American soil with a 19 point lead in the championship.

Rubens Barrichello started the race in fourth position in his Honda, but again on race day, his qualifying pace did not reflect his race pace. For Button, his retirement marked his fourth straight race without any points.

The battle for the final points positions was pretty fierce and fraught in and around the second round of pit stops. Seventh position went to David Coulthard who drove a good one stop race to hold off Tonio Liuzzi who scored the final point in eighth position. Liuzzi’s point brings Toro Rosso their first point in Formula One a year on from Minardi's final points scoring result at this venue last year.

Nico Rosberg was the final finisher in ninth position and that pretty much summed up the young German’s race weekend. Williams struggled for pace and Rosberg just did not have the pace to stop Liuzzi blowing past late in the race and taking the final point. Williams have now not scored a point in five races…

Christijan Albers lost time in the first lap incidents and ran at the back until a gearbox problem eliminated him from the race. Jacques Villeneuve was running well in seventh position in the first third of the race before an engine failure capped off a disappointing day for BMW Sauber.

The F1 circus packs up now and heads back to Europe for testing and then the French Grand Prix a week next Sunday.

Jacques Villeneuve did a great job for BMW Sauber and starts sixth while team-mate Nick Heidfeld also made the final phase of qualifying but suffered a mechanical problem early in the 20 minute session pulling his F1.06 to a halt. Heidfeld starts tenth.

Jenson Button starts seventh in the second Honda while McLaren Mercedes seemed to suffer more than their other Michelin rivals today with Kimi Raikkonen starting back in ninth position and Juan Pablo Montoya failing to make the final phase of qualifying and starting 11th. Raikkonen is sure to be a little heavy on fuel, but at nearly two seconds off the ultimate pace in qualifying, will not be a major factor Sunday afternoon.

It was again mixed fortunes in qualifying for Toyota with Ralf Schumacher starting in eighth position while Jarno Trulli completed just one timed lap in the first phase of qualifying in his TF106B, but found the car running too low and therefore starts a dismal 20th.

Mark Webber starts 12th in his Williams Cosworth, a position he has occupied for much of the weekend to date. Nico Rosberg has struggled all-weekend in the second FW28 and is a disappointing 19th on the grid.

Scott Speed did a good job at his home event for Toro Rosso and starts 13th while Tonio Liuzzi struggled and was just 21st. MF1 Toyota meanwhile has taken a step forward this weekend with their Bridgestones with Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro lining up 14th and 15th.

Christian Klien did what he could with the difficult RB2 while his red Bull Ferrari team-mate was one of the six eliminated in the first phase of qualifying and starts 17th ahead of Takuma Sato in Super Aguri Honda, Rosberg, Trulli, Liuzzi and Franck Montagny.

With a second on the field, Ferrari should be able to dominate the 73 laps US Grand Prix. The battle behind will be for third position.

Jenson Button finished ninth and out of the points in his Honda while team-mate Rubens Barrichello was an early retirement with a suspected engine failure.

Scott Speed finished tenth in his Toro Rosso, gaining position over Christian Klien who ran wide at the hairpin late in the race. Over at Williams it was a bit of a disaster as Nico Rosberg eliminated himself from the race almost immediately as he turned in on the challenging Montoya. Mark Webber finished in 12th in the second Williams five seconds behind Klien.

Tonio Liuzzi was 13th in his Toro Rosso while Tiago Monteiro was classified in 14th position four laps down. Monteiro made a huge mistake on the opening lap under braking for the hairpin and took out MF1 Toyota team-mate Christijan Albers. Certainly there is no love lost between these two team-mates.

Franck Montagny was an early retirement in his Super Aguri Honda with an engine failure while team-mate Takuma Sato found the wall on the very last lap of the race. Juan Pablo Montoya survived his skirmish with Rosberg but would later brush the wall and damage the right hand side of his McLaren...

Next on Alonso’s 'to do list' is his first US Grand Prix win as the circus packs up and heads to Indianapolis for next weekend’s tenth round of the championship.

 

Kimi Raikkonen qualified his McLaren Mercedes in a solid third position but at four-tenths down on Alonso, faces a very tough task if he is to challenge for the race win tomorrow afternoon.

Jarno Trulli, rumoured to have a new deal in place with Toyota, qualified an impressive fourth in his TF106B, taking the honour of being the front running Bridgestone qualifier. Team-mate Ralf Schumacher struggled with the handling of his Toyota and starts back in 14th.

After bolting on new rear wings in the morning practice session in the quest to find more speed, Ferrari ended the day a disappointing fifth with Michael Schumacher who was a second off the pace of Alonso. Felipe Massa starts tenth with a heavy fuel load, but the fact remains that the 248 F1 package does not look particularly well suited to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Nico Rosberg did a sensational job for Williams Cosworth as he qualified in sixth position but while he will be delighted with his place on the third row of the grid, team-mate Mark Webber was complaining about Rosberg claiming he was blocked on his hot lap and that is why he is starting back in 17th position. Webber isn’t going to protest officially against his own team-mate, so action is unlikely from the FIA.

Last year’s race winner Juan Pablo Montoya starts seventh, almost a second behind team-mate Raikkonen while Jenson Button got the better of Honda team-mate Rubens Barrichello for the first time in five races as he starts eighth ahead of the Brazilian.

BMW Sauber were the disappointment of qualifying. After showing great pace all weekend long and running right up at the sharp end of the timesheets, qualifying saw both Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld set the 11th and 13th best times respectively. Points will be possible for the team, but undoubtedly they had hoped for a great deal more today in Montreal.

Christian Klien led the way at Red Bull as he starts 12th in his RB2, four places ahead of team-mate David Coulthard. Tonio Liuzzi did a good job to qualify in 15th position with Scott Speed back in 18th.

At the back of the field, MF1 Toyota claim row ten of the gird with Tiago Monteiro a fraction ahead of Christijan Albers while the final row goes to Super Aguri Honda with Takuma Sato leading Franck Montagny by less than a tenth.

For Michelin, that all-important 100th Grand Prix win seems to be edging closer.

 

Raikkonen finished in third position withstanding the pressure from Giancarlo Fisichella in the closing stages. It was an important position to hold as it gives him his third podium of the season and more importantly moves him ahead of Fisichella in the standings.

Felipe Massa had a quiet day in the second Ferrari as predicted, losing fourth position to Fisichella in the first round of stop and then bringing the 248 F1 home a low-key fifth.

Juan Pablo Montoya survived a first lap bump with Jacques Villeneuve and went on to finish sixth in his McLaren Mercedes. Montoya lost a lot of ground in the first stint of the race from the fast-starting Nick Heidfeld. The Colombian regained the position in the pit stops but by then the damage was done and he finished half a minute behind Massa.

BMW Sauber started the race from ninth and tenth and with the early demise of Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello having his bi-weekly struggle for pace, moved into the final two points paying positions. Nick Heidfeld took the chequered flag seven second behind Montoya with Jacques Villeneuve the same distance behind.

Nico Rosberg pushed hard in his Williams Cosworth but was unable to seriously challenge Villeneuve for the final point while it was an early shower for team-mate Mark Webber in the second FW28.

The only major incident of the race took place on the first lap as the fast-starting Scott Speed met up with the slow-starting Ralf Schumacher at Chapel. The Toro Rosso driver clipped the back of the Toyota sending Ralf spearing across the circuit and into the unfortunate Webber. A weekend to forget for the Australian racer.

With Ralf out of the action on lap one, Jarno Trulli fought his way from flat last on the grid to chase Rubens Barrichello across the line in 11th. For Barrichello, it was another nightmare of a race with the RA106 now showing any real pace and he finished four positions lower than he started and a lap down on Alonso.

Honda team-mate Jenson Button started the race 19th and worked his way quickly up to the back of David Coulthard who finished in 12th position in his Red Bull Ferrari only for his race to end in a cloud of Honda smoke.

Tonio Liuzzi had a busy race in the sole surviving Toro Rosso Cosworth and did a great job to split the two Red Bull Ferrari racers as he took 13th ahead of Christian Klien.

Christian Albers had a good race for Mf1 Toyota finishing a lap ahead of team-mate Tiago Monteiro who had shown such good pace right through the weekend but sadly not in the race. Takuma Sato and Franck Montagny finished three laps down for Super Aguri Honda.

The 2006 British Grand Prix was a bit of a parade again this year. The GP2 machinery showed this morning that passing is possible at Silverstone but at the pinnacle of the sport, the only passing seems to occur in the pit stops. A dream result for Fernando Alonso who now is surely set to line up back-to-back titles with Renault.

Toyota also had a case of fixed fortunes as Ralf Schumacher qualified his TF106B in seventh position while Jarno Trulli’s bad luck continued as he suffered an engine failure even before he set a time. He therefore starts 22nd and last.

Juan Pablo Montoya qualified the second McLaren Mercedes in eighth position unable to match the pace of team-mate Raikkonen. More seriously for the Columbian is allegations of blocking in the second phase of qualifying from David Coulthard. It remains to be seen if he will be placed under investigation or not by the race Stewards.

For the first time this year, BMW Sauber qualified with both Nick Heidfeld and Jacques Villeneuve in the top ten underlining the impressive pace they have shown all weekend long.

David Coulthard starts a disgruntled 11th in his Red Bull Ferrari but at least he will have the advantage of adjusting his strategy to whatever he likes being outside the top ten. Team-mate Christian Klien starts 14th.

Nico Rosberg did what he could in the Williams Cosworth but the team is struggling this weekend. Rosberg starts a solid 12th while Mark Webber, like Button, only completed one run and starts just 17th.

Toro Rosso Cosworth ran well with Tonio Liuzzi qualifying 13th and Scott Speed in 15th. Tiago Monteiro did a solid job to make it through to the second phase of qualifying in his MF1 Toyota and starts 16th ahead of Webber and team-mate Christijan Albers.

With Button just 19th, Takuma Sato and Franck Montagny made it three Honda powered machines in the final four positions on the grid. For Montagny, he was using the older and heavier SA05 chassis once again, giving away an estimated 15 kilos to team-mate Sato.

The race is all set. It is Alonso vs Raikkonen vs Schumacher. A three-way fight for the race win.

 

The battle for third position was an intense one as once Webber and Raikkonen had retired Jarno Trulli found himself all set for a podium position. Sadly for the Toyota driver who was the on a one stop strategy, his TF106B ground to a halt exiting Ste Devote with six laps remaining.

Wearing a Superman cap, David Coulthard took the final podium position, the first for Red Bull. It was an impressive race from Coulthard who was under pressure for almost the entire race distance and while the podium may be a little fortunate, the team deserve it after a most difficult start to the season.

Rubens Barrichello looked all set to take his first podium with Honda but his sole pit stop saw the Brazilian speed in the pit lane and a drive through penalty followed. A fourth position is a solid result for Barrichello who completely showed the way to Jenson Button who had what is undoubtedly his least competitive since joining the team from Renault. Button would finish 11th.

Starting from the pit lane, things looked pretty bleak for Michael Schumacher. However you don't win seven World Championships without super talent. The Ferrari driver took the chequered flag 0.4s behind Barrichello and was without a doubt, the most impressive racer of the day.

Giancarlo Fisichella finished in sixth position in the second Renault, losing time early in the race stuck in a train led by the one-stopping Barrichello. Nick Heidfeld picked up two points with a seventh place finish while the final point went to Ralf Schumacher in his Toyota.

 

Fernando Alonso starts second in his Renault and he was perhaps the one man who has a shot at the Pole until he came across the stranded Ferrari. The Championship leader missed out to Schumacher by less than a tenth of a second.

Mark Webber did a fantastic job for Williams Cosworth as he starts third ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who perhaps could have expected to start from the front row of the grid had he not got caught out slightly on his hot lap as he came up on Nico Rosberg. Still, Raikkonen will be relatively happy with a second row start.

Giancarlo Fisichella starts fifth in the second Renault and his session seemed to be compromised by some errors in those final critical minutes in the Renault pit. On one occasion the Italian arrived in the pits only to be waved back out and then pulled in again the next time around but at least he starts ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya who was sixth and perhaps the final runner in the top ten on a two-stop strategy.

Rubens Barrichello did a good job for Honda as he starts seventh and it is notable that his best lap was a full 1.2s slower than Montoya, so it is pretty safe to assume a heavy fuel load and probably a one stop strategy. While Barrichello did a good job the same cannot be said for Jenson Button who qualified just 14th and is seemingly lost with his RA106.

After a troubled practice session this morning, Toyota bounced back this afternoon with Jarno Trulli qualifying a fine eighth and Ralf Schumacher just missing out on the final shoot-out as he starts 11th in his new TF106B.

David Coulthard made it into the top ten for the first time this year and went on to qualify his Red Bull Ferrari in a solid ninth position ahead of Nico Rosberg who opted on a very different strategy to team-mate Webber.

Christian Klien starts 12th in the second RB2 ahead of Tonio Liuzzi who did a good solid job again for Toro Rosso. In contrast team-mate Scott Speed was not really on the pace and pitted and abandoned his qualifying run 90 seconds before he needed to and therefore starts a distant 19th.

BMW Sauber had a day to forget as Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld start 14th and 15th while Christijan Albers got the better of team-mate Tiago Monteiro in this session to start an encouraging 17th ahead of Speed and the Super Aguri Honda duo of Takuma Sato and Franck Montagny.

Felipe Massa starts flat last after losing the back end of his Ferrari through the fast left handed Casino. As he corrected the back end the Brazilian had not time to do anything other than nose the Ferrari into the Armco and bring out the red flags.

It is Schumacher Vs Alonso at the front of the field for tomorrow’s Grand Prix, but it also remains to be seen which teams will put in an official protest against Michael Schumacher and if they do, what the Stewards will do about it.

 

Michael Schumacher did what he could, but second position was as good as it was ever going to get unless Alonso had a problem - and he did not. Schumacher made up one position on Fisichella in the first round of pit stops, but could do nothing about the pace of the leading R26.

Giancarlo Fisichella took the lower podium position 24 seconds behind his team-leader. A mistake mid-race saw him run though the gravel trap and lose six seconds, but in reality it made little difference to his race result.

Felipe Massa started fourth and finished in the same position in the second Ferrari, recording the fastest lap of the race prior to his second stop. For whatever reason the Brazilian was not able to show that pace over the entire race distance, as he finished six seconds behind Fisichella.

Kimi Raikkonen started ninth and vaulted up to fifth right at the start of the race.A brave bit of driving saw him drive right between the two Toyotas off the line and then dispatch the Hondas at the first turn. The McLaren driver could not match the pace of the front runners however, dropping just under half a minute to Massa by the chequered flag.

Jenson Button finished in sixth position in his Honda, hounding Raikkonen through the final stint of the race but never able to make the move. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello finished in seventh position al lap down on the race winner. The Brazilian held off his team-mate through the first stint, but lost the position in the first round of pit stops.

After starting tenth, Nick Heidfeld took the final point for BMW Sauber courtesy of the Toyota team that fell back in race conditions. Mark Webber chased hard but finished ninth in his Williams Cosworth ahead of Jarno Trulli.

It was another bad weekend for Toyota as Trulli really had little race pace while Ralf Schumacher looked pretty fired up as he clobbered the back of Trulli early in the race breaking his front wing in the process. An electrical problem later forced his retirement.

Nico Rosberg did what he could to try and pass Trulli in the final laps but could not find a way past and finished 11th ahead of Jacques Villeneuve who ran a one stop strategy from the back of the grid to finish 12th.

Over at Red Bull Ferrari, Christian Klien finished 13th ahead of David Coulthard who while celebrating 200 Grand Prix starts, will probably soon forget the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix. Tonio Liuzzi was classified 15th as he finished his race in the Toro Rosso pit. Tiago Monteiro survived a trip into the gravel trap early in the race to finish 16th albeit three laps down while Takuma Sato was 17th and fortunate to survive a spin in turn three.

Christijan Albers struggled with the handling of his M16 before he retired the car while Scott Speed had a solid race until engine problems intervened. Franck Montagny suffered a drive-shaft issue while Juan Pablo Montoya’s miserable weekend came to an early end when he spun off whilst running 11th.

It was a dominant showing from Alonso who extends his championship advantage over Schumacher back to 15 points.

Rubens Barrichello continued his recent impressive qualifying form as he qualified his Honda in fifth position with team-mate Jenson Button three positions back and bumped down the order in the final seconds by the Toyota duo of Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli.

It was another disappointing day at McLaren Mercedes with Kimi Raikkonen qualifying his MP4-21 in ninth position while Juan Pablo Montoya did not even make it into the final phase of qualifying and starts just 12th. It’s pretty clear McLaren have a lot of work to do if they are to make the podium this weekend.

Nick Heidfeld did a good job to mike the final phase of qualifying in his BMW Sauber and the German starts the race from tenth position. Jacques Villeneuve, not too concerned about qualifying trim today due to his engine change penalty, set the 14th best time but starts at the back of the field.

Mark Webber did not make it into the top ten for the first time this year and starts 11th ahead of Montoya and Nico Rosberg in the second FW28.

It was another tough session for Red Bull Ferrari who had shown such good pace in practice. A suspected left rear suspension failure sent David Coulthard crashing out of the first phase of qualifying. Coulthard’s RB2 snapped around on the fast right handed third turn and he swiftly negotiated the gravel trap before backing hard into the tyres.

With Coulthard not even setting a time, Christian Klien had a relatively trouble-free run to 14th on the grid ahead of the Toro Rosso duo of Tonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed. Tiago Monteiro starts the race from 17th in his MF1 Toyota ahead of team-mate Christijan Albers and the two Super Aguri Hondas of Takuma Sato and Franck Montagny. Schumacher now has a real fight on his hands, but his 248 F1 does seem to enjoy a straight line speed advantage this weekend. The race is on in Barcelona.

 

Felipe Massa did a fine job in the second Ferrari and starts the Grand Prix from third position just ahead of Rubens Barrichello, who has out-qualified Jenson Button for the first time in his Honda.

It was a fairly typical session for McLaren Mercedes with Kimi Raikkonen qualifying in fifth position – perhaps with more fuel on board as is so common for the team – while Juan Pablo Montoya was ninth in the second MP4-21.

Jenson Button finds himself off the front two rows for the first time this year as he qualified in sixth position in his Honda as Jarno Trulli turned his weekend around in dramatic style as he qualified his Toyota in an impressive seventh position.

Jacques Villeneuve is driving very well at the moment for BMW Sauber and starts eighth, but it was a very eventful session for the former Champion. The first phase of qualifying saw a big problem as the red flags came out for no reason at all with just over three minutes of the phase remaining. It was an error from race control and/or the timing department and for some time it seemed that Villeneuve would not make it past the first phase of qualifying.

As the organisers reset the computer systems, Villeneuve’s time was restored and he had in fact made it into the second phase of qualifying. The Canadian then faced the irate and clearly upset Giancarlo Fisichella after the second phase of qualifying before a solid final run in the F1.06.

Mark Webber set the tenth best time but drops down ten positions thanks to an engine change penalty promoting Ralf Schumacher to tenth in the second Toyota. Nico Rosberg set the 12th best time but like his Williams team-mate, drops to the back with an engine change penalty.

And then there is Giancarlo Fisichella. Renault has a big problem on its hands for next season with Alonso leaving for McLaren Mercedes. Fisichella did not get close to Alonso last year and this year it is the same situation. They have no clear number one driver for next season and today underlined Fisichella’s problems, as he was again unable to make it into the top ten in the Championship leading R26.

Fisichella stomped off to the BMW Sauber pit to scream at Villeneuve, presumable as he felt the Canadian held him up, but the fact is that the Italian had 15 minutes to set a lap time and the best he managed was a poor 14th fastest. Fisichella starts 11th thanks to the misfortune over at Williams Cosworth.

David Coulthard starts 12th in the lead Red Bull Ferrari while team-mate Christian Klien was perhaps a victim of the phantom red flags early in qualifying and starts 15th. In between, last year’s Pole sitter Nick Heidfeld had a fairly average run to start 13th ahead of Tonio Liuzzi in the leading Toro Rosso Cosworth.

Christijan Albers starts 16th in his MF1 Toyota with team-mate Tiago Monteiro 18th and Scott Speed in between. Takuma Sato starts 19th in his Super Aguri Honda ahead of the unfortunate Mark Webber while Franck Montagny starts 21st after a spin in his SA05, leaving Nico Rosberg last on the grid.

The story of qualifying once again was all about the Alonso-Schumacher battle and the failure of Fisichella to make it into the top ten in the second Renault. The 60-lap European Grand Prix promises a great fight between the front row protagonists.

 

Trapped behind Schumacher, Alonso the Renault team then took the decision to bring him in, despite not needing the fuel, rather than sit behind the Ferrari. It was decision that cost the team the race win as Ferrari immediately pulled Schumacher in for his second stop and the status quo was restored. Alonso trailed around behind Schumacher but never made a serious attempt to make the pass. The closing stages saw Alonso run wide at Villeneuve and Alonso then cruised to the flag. All credit to Schumacher, who did what he needed to take the win

With Schumacher and Alonso taking the top two steps of the podium, third position went to Juan Pablo Montoya who made the best of his longer stints to move up from his seventh place on the grid to claim his first podium of the season. It was however a low-key race from McLaren Mercedes as Kimi Raikkonen lost yet more ground to his title rivals as he finished in fifth position, unable to make the pass on track on relieve Felipe Massa of his fourth position.

Fourth was a reasonable result for Massa who compromised his own race early on to try and help team-mate Schumacher and he did a good job to hold off Raikkonen in the closing stages of the race. Mark Webber had a solid race in his Williams Cosworth to claim sixth position in a race where it was clear the FW28 was no match for the front-runners.

Over at Honda, it was another case of flattering only to deceive. Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello started second and third and 62-laps later took the chequered flag in seventh and tenth. Perhaps giving up points - by choice - in Australia was not such a wise decision. The team’s race came undone in the pits this week and not on the track. Button was able to run on Schumacher’s pace early in the race but a mistake in the second round of stops from the crew, saw Button try to leave the pits with the fuel hose still attached.

A crew member gave Button the signal to leave the pits, immediately realising he was wrong and lowering the stop board once again. It was too late as Button was already on his way and seventh position after three stops was the end result. For Barrichello, dropped from third to fifth by the first turn and then quickly fell back. A long stop saw him drop out of contention and tenth position was the result.

Starting in 11th position Giancarlo Fisichella had a Sunday cruise to pick up the final point in the second R26 and that’s about all you can say about Fisichella’s Imola showing.

It was a disappointing race for Toyota who showed well in qualifying. Running a three stop strategy, Ralf Schumacher finished ninth while Trulli retired early in the race with a gearbox problem.

With Barrichello finishing tenth, Nico Rosberg had a low-key outing in the second Williams finishing 11th ahead of the BMW Sauber duo of Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld. Tonio Liuzzi recovered from an early race spin to finish 14th in his Toro Rosso Cosworth, just ahead of team-mate Scott Speed. Tiago Monteiro finished a lap adrift of the field in 16th position in his MF1 Toyota.

It was a nightmare race for Red Bull Ferrari with both David Coulthard and Christian Klien retiring from the action. Coulthard was running reasonably well just outside of the top ten before he suffered a drive shaft problem, while Klien was running near to the tail of the field until gearbox problems intervened.

Christijan Albers was fortunate to escape without injury in his MF1 Toyota after being sent into a barrel-roll on the first lap by the hapless Yuji Ide. The Safety Car was deployed to remove the badly damaged M16 and Ide made his way back to the pits for front left suspension attention. Sadly the team sent him out some laps later so he could have another off. Takuma Sato ran at the back in the second SA Honda until mechanical problems ended his race.

The Formula One circus heads of to Nürburgring in two weeks time for the European Grand Prix.

 

Over at McLaren Mercedes, Juan Pablo Montoya took over the spare MP4-21 with his original V8 fitted and qualified in seventh position. Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen starts a low-key eighth and one suspects the car is relatively heavy on fuel but also that they have not quite found the right balance at Imola.

Mark Webber qualified his Williams Cosworth in tenths position while team-mate Nico Rosberg was eliminated from the final shoot out and starts 13th. It has been a tough weekend so far for Rosberg who had very little running on Friday and then crashed in the morning practice session. He will be relatively relieved to be starting 13th in the spare FW28.

Giancarlo Fisichella dropped the ball in qualifying. The Italian did not set a time fast enough to ensure he went through to the final qualifying shoot-out. At his home event, Fisichella starts a disappointing 11th position – especially poor given he has the latest RS26 engine development.

BMW Sauber didn’t have the pace to make the top ten in qualifying trim, but Jacques Villeneuve did a good job to qualify in 12th position while team-mate Nick Heidfeld starts 15th – an achievement in itself as he has felt unwell all weekend and suffered an off in the second phase of qualifying.

David Coulthard led the way at Red Bull Ferrari as he starts 14th but team-mate Christian Klien was a surprise exit following the first phase of qualifying and he starts just 17th with it all to do. Toro Rosso racer Tonio Liuzzi starts 16th ahead of Klien with Scott Speed slotting into 18th.

MF1 Toyota and Super Aguri Honda brought up the tail of the timesheets. Tiago Monteiro starts 19th while team-mate Christijan Albers spun on his hot lap and is 20th ahead of Takuma Sato and Yuji Ide.

With Schumacher on Pole Position from Button, the next big question is how much fuel is on board and has anyone run light enough to make it a three-stop San Marino Grand Prix?

Moving up to eighth and gaining a point as a result was Red Bull’s David Coulthard, who claimed after the race that Speed had passed him under yellow flags. The stewards also fined Speed US$5000 for use of abusive language to another competitor, thought to be Coulthard, during the post-race hearing.

In a separate incident, Takuma Sato, who finished 12th for Super Aguri, was reprimanded by the stewards for ignoring blue flags.

The restart on lap four saw Button passed with relative ease – a trend that would continue on cold tyres for much of the race. The Honda driver fought hard but was soon passed by Kimi Raikkonen and the race was on at the front. Alonso then put in a sequence of stunning laps and pulled clear of Raikkonen. The secret of his Australian victory was not his absolute speed over a single lap, but his ability to lap quicker on cold tyres than any of his rivals.

Alonso dominated the event, pulling out over 25 seconds before the final safety car period and then taking the victory by two seconds from the hard charging Raikkonen who closed the gap dramatically in the final stages with a string of hot laps, the final of which was the fastest lap of the race.

Raikkonen will be relatively happy with his runner up position after the failure to finish in Malaysia, but Alonso has pulled another two points out on the McLaren driver and enjoys a 14 point advantage after just three rounds. It was not such a good day for Giancarlo Fisichella and Juan Pablo Montoya in the second Renault and McLaren. Both had their own drama even before the race had got underway.

Montoya, who qualified in fifth position, was busy warming up his brakes and tyres as he exited the final turn to approach the starting grid. The Colombian lost control of his MP4-21 and it seemed initially that he was in for a long day from the back of the pack. Fortunately for him Giancarlo Fisichella’s R26 stalled on the front row of the grid forcing another formation lap. Montoya was able to regain his position and Fisichella started the race from the pit lane.

Montoya would eventually retire from the race when looking all set to take the lower step of the podium. Exiting the final turn – again – he ran wide and on to the grass. As the McLaren bounced over the concrete rumble strip the car simply shut down – a safety feature - and Montoya was forced to pull to a halt. Fisichella’s race brought him a fifth position after he worked his way up through the field but he was unable to get close to the lap times set by team-mate and race winner Alonso.

Ralf Schumacher drove a great race in his Toyota record the team’s first podium position of the season. The German fought back from a drive through penalty after speeding in the pits and while he undoubtedly gained position through attrition, the podium result was very much deserved. Team-mate Jarno Trulli was eliminated on lap one following contact with David Coulthard.

Nick Heidfeld was another to put in a tremendous performance. The BMW Sauber driver ran as high as second on merit in the race and was unfortunate to lose position late in the race in the traffic. With Jacques Villeneuve also driving a strong race from the back of the field to finish in sixth, the team will leave Australia very happy with by far their strongest showing yet.

Jenson Button’s day started brightly but ended in a huge cloud of smoke. The Honda racer simply could not lap as fast as his rivals on cold tyres and was unable to challenge either Alonso or Raikkonen for race pace. Button would look all set to finish in fifth position but as he exited the final turn his Honda V8 failed in dramatic style. They say life is cruel, but Button pulled the billowing RA106 to a halt just shy of the chequered flag and his fifth position turned into a tenth place classification.

Rubens Barrichello showed little pace spending a good third of the race behind Takuma Sato in the Super Aguri Honda. Seventh place for Barrichello was fortunate as were the two points that go with it although he did manage to pick up his pace as the race progressed.

Kimi Raikkonen starts fourth in his McLaren Mercedes while team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya spun away his chance of going for Pole Position and starts fifth in the sister MP4-21. Montoya looked to have the pace to challenge Button’s pole time in the final minutes of the session, but a poor final sector on his very final lap put paid to his chances.

Toyota has a great deal to smile about today as not only did Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli qualify sixth and ninth respectively, but the team also took the honour of being the fastest Bridgestone entry on a day when Ferrari firmly shot itself in the proverbial foot.

Mark Webber had a solid qualifying session in his Williams Cosworth and starts the race from seventh position. The FW28 package does not look as driveable in Melbourne as it did in Malaysia two weeks ago. Webber survived one lurid off track moment while team-mate Nico Rosberg has not looked comfortable with his setup and starts the race from 14th position.

Nick Heidfeld qualified his BMW Sauber in a fine eighth position while team-mate Jacques Villeneuve set the ninth best time but drops to 19th position due to his engine change penalty.

It was a nightmare of a day for Ferrari. Both Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa made it through the first phase of qualifying but in the second 15 minute session, Massa hooked his left wheels over the kerbing and seconds later found his tail-happy 248 F1 travelling rapidly backwards into the tyre wall. Massa was unhurt but his Ferrari was badly damaged. Massa starts 15th.

Michael Schumacher meanwhile rushed out of the Ferrari pit following the red flags to sweep away Massa’s Ferrari. Unbeknown to the former Champion, a brake cooling device was still attached to the car snd whilst exiting the pits the device flew off and shattered into small pieces. It mattered little as the car was not on the pace of the front-runners and as the briefest of rain showers right at the close of the second phase of qualifying, Schumacher had set just the 11th best time.

Tonio Liuzzi did a good job for Toro Rosso as he split the Red Bull Ferrari pair of David Coulthard and Christian Klien. Felipe Massa starts the race back in 15th position behind Rosberg.

While Button enjoys his Pole, Rubens Barrichello must be wondering quite why it is all going wrong, so fast, for him at Honda. The Brazilian was eliminated from the first phase of qualifying and starts 16th. Barrichello was however badly held up by the erratic and not so rapid Yuji Ide, but that is perhaps the risk you take if you bank on one lap to see you through the first phase of qualifying. Barrichello’s body language as he stepped out of the car summed it up... He is certainly not having fun.

Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro start 17th and 20th for MF1 Toyota with Scott Speed and the unfortunate Villeneuve separating the two while Takuma Sato starts 21st in his Super Aguri Honda. Yuji Ide spun once, went off track twice, baulked Barrichello and was nearly four seconds a lap off the pace of his team-mate. Unsurprisingly he starts last.

The top Michelin teams have dominated qualifying in Melbourne and now it seems the battle for the win will be between those in the top five.

That left McLaren’s hopes with Juan Pablo Montoya who has started fifth. The end result was far from what was desired as the package showed no real race pace and Montoya finished a distant fourth half a minute behind Button.

Nick Heidfeld was all set for a fine fifth position in his BMW Sauber until his engine failed eight laps from home handing the position over to Felipe Massa who has a fine race in his Ferrari from the back of the field. Using a one stop strategy well, Massa took the chequered flag less than a second ahead of Michael Schumacher who started in 14th position and ran the usual two stop strategy. It was however a very low-key run from the seven-time champion.

Jacques Villeneuve had a good race in his BMW Sauber to take seventh position while the final point went to Ralf Schumacher who was another one to start his race at the back of the field. In contrast to team-mate Jarno Trulli who finished in ninth with a broken diffuser, Schumacher was able to push hard throughout the race and has brought the beleaguered Toyota team its first point of the season.

Rubens Barrichello’s rotten start to his career at Honda continued as he finished tenth following a drive through penalty after speeding in the pits in his one scheduled stop while Tonio Liuzzi brought his Toro Rosso home 11th after a slow start to his race.

Over at MF1 Racing, Christijan Albers finished two laps behind the race winner and the team also had to work hard in the early stages of the race as they trailed the Super Aguri Honda of Takuma Sato. Albers eventually found a way past the former BAR Honda racer and quickly pulled away followed by team-mate Tiago Monteiro. Sato would be the final finisher in 14th.

For Williams Cosworth, the race promised a great deal, but a Cosworth engine failure ended the race for Nico Rosberg on lap seven, while Mark Webber retired with a hydraulics problem later in the race.

It was a similar story at Red Bull Ferrari with a double retirement. David Coulthard pulled his RB2 into the pits with a hydraulics problem while Klien’s race was effectively over with front left suspension damage from his contact with Raikkonen on lap one.

Scott Speed was running well in his Toro Rosso until a mechanical problem sidelined him in the closing stages while Yuji Ide was running before he retired his Super Aguri Honda.

Michael Schumacher set the fourth best time, but drops down to 11th on the grid for Sunday’s race promoting Webber onto the second row alongside his Williams team-mate. With two engine changes under his belt Felipe Massa starts at the tail of the field undoubtedly very heavy on fuel.

Juan Pablo Montoya starts fifth in his McLaren Mercedes and was pretty happy with his lap, suggesting perhaps a slightly heavier fuel load on the MP4-21 as was the case in Bahrain last week. Kimi Raikkonen starts sixth in the second silver machine ahead of arch-rival Fernando Alonso in the second Renault. The Bahrain race winner suffered from a fuel rig problem ahead of the final phase of qualifying and did not run with the ‘optimum fuel load’.

Christian Klien made it through to the final phase of qualifying in his Red Bull Ferrari and after recording an early lap time in the 20 minute session, was content to pit and conserve his engine. The Austrian starts eighth while David Coulthard is back in 19th following his engine change penalty and a mistake on his hot lap.

Jarno Trulli starts ninth in his Toyota, despite setting just the 13th best time and not making it through to the final shoot out for the Pole. Team-mate Ralf Schumacher was less fortunate having just set the pace in the second phase of qualifying when his engine failed. Ralf Schumacher starts 21st with his engine penalty.

BMW Sauber duo Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld start tenth and 12th after proving closely matched throughout the weekend. Scott Speed starts 13th in his Toro Rosso Cosworth just ahead of team-mate Tonio Liuzzi.

The MF1 Toyota duo of Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro start 15th and 16th ahead of Takuma Sato and Yuji Ide in the Super Aguri SA05s. With engine penalties, Coulthard is 19th ahead of Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher and Massa.

Looking ahead to the race, Giancarlo Fisichella is in the perfect position to shoot for his first win since Melbourne last year while Button will be desperate to try and secure his first career victory. What about Rosberg and Webber on the second row ahead of Montoya, Raikkonen and Alonso? The 56-lap Malaysian Grand Prix is far from predictable…

Pos

No

Driver

Team

Time

1

36

Anthony Davidson

Honda

1:35.041

2

35

Alexander Wurz

Williams-Cosworth

1:35.388

3

1

Fernando Alonso

Renault

1:35.806

4

6

Felipe Massa

Ferrari

1:35.924

5

3

Kimi Räikkönen

McLaren-Mercedes

1:36.132

6

2

Giancarlo Fisichella

Renault

1:36.182

7

5

Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

1:36.617

8

12

Jenson Button

Honda

1:36.661

9

17

Jacques Villeneuve

Sauber-BMW

1:37.045

10

11

Rubens Barrichello

Honda

1:37.270

11

8

Jarno Trulli

Toyota

1:37.317

12

16

Nick Heidfeld

Sauber-BMW

1:37.418

13

38

Robert Kubica

Sauber-BMW

1:37.457

14

4

Juan Pablo Montoya

McLaren-Mercedes

1:37.463

15

20

Vitantonio Liuzzi

STR-Cosworth

1:37.590

16

14

David Coulthard

RBR-Ferrari

1:37.603

17

7

Ralf Schumacher

Toyota

1:37.695

18

40

Neel Jani

STR-Cosworth

1:37.831

19

21

Scott Speed

STR-Cosworth

1:37.926

20

9

Mark Webber

Williams-Cosworth

1:38.081

21

10

Nico Rosberg

Williams-Cosworth

1:38.205

22

39

Giorgio Mondini

MF1-Toyota

1:38.256

23

15

Christian Klien

RBR-Ferrari

1:38.644

24

19

Christijan Albers

MF1-Toyota

1:38.918

25

37

Robert Doornbos

RBR-Ferrari

1:39.105

26

18

Tiago Monteiro

MF1-Toyota

1:39.416

27

22

Takuma Sato

Super Aguri-Honda

1:41.549

28

23

Yuji Ide

Super Aguri-Honda

1:43.164

Jenson Button qualified third and will be disappointed not to finish the race on the podium for Honda. The opening laps of the race cost button dearly as his tardy getaway from the lights was compounded by some shaky early laps in which he found himself fighting hard with non-other than his team-mate Rubens Barrichello. Button would hold it together and chased Raikkonen across the line. For Barrichello, the race soon turned sour as a gearbox problem saw the Brazilian drop down the order to an eventual 15th.

 

Juan Pablo Montoya had a fairly quiet race to fifth in his McLaren Mercedes. Starting in the same position the Colombian soon fell away from the front runners and then had a lonely race to the flag. With Raikkonen move from the back to third, Montoya’s race was hardly inspired.

Bahrain brought double joy for Williams Cosworth as Mark Webber kept his nose clean to finish sixth while Rookie Rosberg recovered from a bump on lap one and the subsequent pit stop for a new front wing. The German charged back through the field, lapping a second faster than team-mate Webber for much of the race to finish seventh, passing the Red Bull Ferrari duo of Christian Klien and David Coulthard in the closing stages. It was a very impressive debut from Rosberg.

The final point did indeed go to Klien and the Red Bull Ferrari team who managed to get both RB2’s home despite having never completed a race distance in pre-season testing. Coulthard would finish in tenth position.

It wasn’t to be for Felipe Massa who started on the front row of the grid alongside Ferrari team-mate Schumacher. Alonso got the better of the Brazilian early on and eager to find a way back past the Renault driver, Massa locked his right rear brake and had a high speed off at the tight first turn. With his tyres badly flat-spotted, Massa pitted his 248 F1 only for the right rear wheel to stick costing his nearly 50 seconds in the pits. Massa fought back but ninth is not what he wanted on his Ferrari debut.

Toro Rosso duo Tonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed finished 11th and 13th with Nick Heidfeld in between in the BMW Sauber F1.06. Heidfeld found himself in trouble right at the start of the race as Rosberg clipped the back of his white and blue machine forcing him into a spin. Heidfeld fought back and was chasing team-mate Villeneuve until the Canadian’s engine failed in a dramatic flash or fire and a cloud of billowing smoke.

Over at Toyota there is nothing positive to take away from the first race of the season. The team were slow in pre-season testing, slow in practice and slow on race day. Ralf Schumacher finish 14th over 20 seconds behind the Toro Rosso of Speed while Jarno Trulli was completely off the pace unable even to find the pace – or perhaps the motivation - to challenge Barrichello who was liming around with gearbox troubles. Toyota were the first team to bring out a 2006 race car and it seems it is a bit of a turkey.

At the back Tiago Monteiro started from the pit lane in his MF1 Toyota following a driveshaft failure on the way to the grid and was classified 17th while Super Aguri Honda racer Takuma Sato was a mere four laps off the pace and 18th. It is impressive that the Super Aguri team even made it to Bahrain, but they have a long way to go to go to look the part in F1.

And that just leaves Giancarlo Fisichella who started just ninth after electrical mapping problems with his Renault yesterday in qualifying. After telling his team that his car wasn’t very good at all – and I am paraphrasing there – his R26 developed a terminal hydraulics problem and his race was over. Reliability was very impressive throughout the field but as ever one Renault ran flawlessly and one had an issue or two.

The Formula One circus packs up and heads to Malaysia for next weekend’s second round of the championship. The battle is set as Alonso, Schumacher, Raikkonen and Button all look capable of going for the race win. 
 

Over at Honda, who had set the practice pace for much of the weekend, Jenson Button starts third a tenth down on Schumacher while Rubens Barrichello was unable to get close to the pace of his younger team-mate and is somewhat fortunate to start just three positions further back.

Renault played the waiting game to perfection throughout the three phases of qualifying, but when it really counted in the final five minutes of the third and final phase, Fernando Alonso was only able to qualify fourth fastest while Giancarlo Fisichella starts just ninth in the second R26.

Juan Pablo Montoya steered clear of trouble and put in solid performance in his MP4-21 and starts fifth, but as is so commonly the problem for McLaren, the other car driven by Kimi Raikkonen was in big trouble. Raikkonen, the runner up to Alonso in the championship last year brought out the red flags in the very first phase of qualifying following a high speed right rear suspension failure. The Finn dragged his McLaren back to the pits minus its rear wing but his session was over even before he had recorded a lap time. Raikkonen starts 22nd and last.

Mark Webber did a solid job in his Williams Cosworth and starts seventh with team-mate Nico Rosberg finding the limits of his FW28 and then going beyond them in 12th position for his Grand Prix debut.

Christian Klien did a very good job in his Red Bull Ferrari to qualify eighth ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella in the Renault. Team-mate David Coulthard starts back in 13th position after being eliminated in the second phase of qualifying.

Nick Heidfeld gave BMW Sauber their first top ten qualifying position while Jacques Villeneuve was 11th in the sister F1.06. Over at Toyota, it was not a happy session with Jarno Trulli, second here last year, just 14th on the grid and Ralf Schumacher a lacklustre 17th.

The V10 power of Toro Rosso did not propel the team to the top of the timesheets as some had feared as Tonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed start 15th and 16th while Christijan Albers piped MF1 team-mate Tiago Monteiro to 18th position. Super Aguri Honda racers Takuma Sato and Yuji Ide start 20th and 21st ahead of the unfortunate Kimi Raikkonen.

The new qualifying system provided plenty of thrills and for Ferrari; they are making the perfect start to the 2006 season.

 

The British test driver recorded a 1:31.353s best a full four-tenths of a second clear of his nearest rival. Honda did test at this circuit along with Ferrari and Toro Rosso recently, so perhaps it was of little surprise to see Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa both right up at the sharp end of the timesheets as well for Ferrari with the second and fourth fastest times.

Alex Wurz continued to show good pace in the Williams Cosworth FW28 package as he set the third best time, moving ahead of Massa on his very final lap of the 60-minute session. Williams race drivers Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg were 17th and 21st respectively after just a handful of laps all day long.

World Champion Fernando Alonso was fifth fastest in his Renault with team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella six-tenths back in eighth position. For Alonso’s 2005 title rival Kimi Raikkonen the start of the season got off to a nightmare start as he pulled his McLaren Mercedes off track with a suspected electrical failure. For team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya it was a low key session as he was just 13th fastest just behind Raikkonen.

Back towards the sharp end of the field and Vitantonio Liuzzi underlined that the V10 formula is not dead yet as he set the sixth best time in his Cosworth powered Toro Rosso with team-mates Neel Jani and Scott Speed back in 15th and 16th positions.

Red Bull Ferrari test driver Robert Doornbos was seventh fastest with regular race drivers Christian Klien and David Coulthard just 11th and 19th.

Jenson Button was ninth in his Honda while Robert Kubica rounded out the top ten in his BMW Sauber, despite an off due to a right-front puncture. Indeed, Kubica’s 1:32.170s best, recorded in the morning practice session, was in fact the fourth fastest lap time of the day. Regular BMW Sauber race driver Nick Heidfeld had limited running as was the case with Jacques Villeneuve. The pair set the 14th and 25th best times respectively.

Rubens Barrichello was just 18th in his Honda ahead of Coulthard while Tiago Monteiro was the fastest of the three MF1 drivers in 20th. Over at Toyota it was all a bit of a disaster with Ralf Schumacher just 22nd while team-mate Jarno Trulli stopped on track with a mechanical problem and was classified in 24th. Unless Toyota are sand-bagging in a big way, they seem to be in trouble with the TF106.

Super Aguri Honda brought up the final places on the timesheets with Takuma Sato 27th ahead of team-mate Yuji Ide who stopped on track late in the session.

Practice resumes Saturday morning at 09.00 CET with qualifying taking place at 12.00 noon CET. So far it is hard to pin point much from today’s running apart from Ferrari may be able to challenge the likes of Honda and Renault when it really counts.

Pos

No

Driver

Team

Time

1

36

Anthony Davidson

Honda

1:31.353

2

5

Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

1:31.751

3

35

Alexander Wurz

Williams-Cosworth

1:31.764

4

6

Felipe Massa

Ferrari

1:32.175

5

1

Fernando Alonso

Renault

1:32.538

6

20

Vitantonio Liuzzi

STR-Cosworth

1:32.703

7

37

Robert Doornbos

RBR-Ferrari

1:32.926

8

2

Giancarlo Fisichella

Renault

1:33.215

9

12

Jenson Button

Honda

1:33.226

10

38

Robert Kubica

Sauber-BMW

1:33.244

11

15

Christian Klien

RBR-Ferrari

1:33.557

12

3

Kimi Räikkönen

McLaren-Mercedes

1:33.577

13

4

Juan Pablo Montoya

McLaren-Mercedes

1:33.726

14

16

Nick Heidfeld

Sauber-BMW

1:33.848

15

40

Neel Jani

STR-Cosworth

1:33.900

16

21

Scott Speed

STR-Cosworth

1:34.284

17

9

Mark Webber

Williams-Cosworth

1:34.333

18

11

Rubens Barrichello

Honda

1:34.384

19

14

David Coulthard

RBR-Ferrari

1:34.432

20

18

Tiago Monteiro

MF1-Toyota

1:34.459

21

10

Nico Rosberg

Williams-Cosworth

1:34.953

22

7

Ralf Schumacher

Toyota

1:35.170

23

39

Markus Winkelhock

MF1-Toyota

1:35.686

24

8

Jarno Trulli

Toyota

1:35.898

25

17

Jacques Villeneuve

Sauber-BMW

1:36.264

26

19

Christijan Albers

MF1-Toyota

1:36.314

27

22

Takuma Sato

Super Aguri-Honda

1:37.588

28

23

Yuji Ide

Super Aguri-Honda

1:39.021

The signing of Alonso is not a big surprise given that there are rumours that Renault will be pulling out of F1 at the end of 2007. These have not been denied.

"It's great that our strong belief in the strength and competitiveness of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes package has been further endorsed by the World Champion," says McLaren boss Ron Dennis. "We always make it clear that we want to be the best and the only way of achieving this objective is by attracting the best people, the best drivers and the best sponsors. Both Juan Pablo and Kimi are extremely talented, professional and competitive Formula 1 drivers and they have and will continue to concentrate on our joint challenge for the Championships."

Alonso says he is very excited by the news.

"I'm very excited about 2007 and the fantastic opportunity to drive for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes," he said. "It will be a new beginning for me and a tremendous challenge and from what I have heard about this exciting new partnership there is something to look forward to. Obviously I will be sad to leave Renault but sometimes possibilities come along which are just too good to miss. I'm pleased that we are able to make this announcement already now as it will allow my current team and I to focus 100% on defending the World Championships next year."