2006 Australian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Fernando Alonso prevailed in an Australian Grand Prix interrupted by four safety-car periods, beating Kimi Räikkönen and Ralf Schumacher. Pole-sitter Jenson Button lost a points finish within sight of the flag as Melbourne produced a race full of incidents.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jenson Button	Honda
Pole time	1:25.229
Fastest lap	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren
Fastest-lap time	1:26.045 on lap 57
First	Fernando Alonso	Renault
Second	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren
Third	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
31 March 2006	Practice 1	11:00
31 March 2006	Practice 2	14:00
1 April 2006	Practice 3	11:00
1 April 2006	Qualifying	14:00
2 April 2006	Race	14:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Fernando Alonso arrived at round 3 leading the 2006 F1 World Championship on 18 points, with Michael Schumacher on 11. Renault headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 28 points.

Race entries

The 11 teams kept the same race line-ups for the Australian Grand Prix. Alexander Wurz, Anthony Davidson, Markus Winkelhock, Neel Jani, Robert Doornbos, Robert Kubica also took part in practice.

Free Practice

Friday morning began cautiously, with many regular drivers conserving engine mileage. Robert Kubica’s BMW Sauber stopped with a suspected engine problem, forcing Jacques Villeneuve to take on more of the planned work. Davidson led for Honda, while Jenson Button and both Williams race drivers stayed in the garage. The third cars again provided most of the meaningful early running.

Low temperatures and a dusty surface made Friday afternoon slippery. Davidson narrowly beat Wurz, with Robert Kubica third, while Jenson Button led the race drivers. Christijan Albers and Vitantonio Liuzzi both reached the barriers after spins but avoided major damage. BMW Sauber then confirmed an engine change for Jacques Villeneuve, bringing a ten-place grid penalty for Sunday.

A wet start and a gradually drying track produced an unusual BMW Sauber one-two on Saturday, Nick Heidfeld ahead of Jacques Villeneuve. Low temperatures and the risk of damaging cars discouraged some leading teams from pushing hard. Several drivers ventured off the road without serious consequences, leaving the weather and tyre warm-up as major questions before qualifying.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2006 Australian Grand Prix FP1, 31 March 2006

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	36	Anthony Davidson	Honda	1:28.259	26
2	37	Robert Doornbos	Red Bull Racing	+0.300s	19
3	17	Jacques Villeneuve	BMW Sauber	+0.336s	16
4	3	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren	+0.454s	5
5	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.766s	7
6	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	+0.782s	5
7	7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	+1.152s	5
8	35	Alexander Wurz	Williams	+1.202s	19
9	38	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+1.317s	13
10	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull Racing	+1.342s	7
11	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+1.417s	9
12	21	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	+2.758s	8
13	19	Christijan Albers	Midland	+2.780s	9
14	18	Tiago Monteiro	Midland	+3.553s	10
15	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	+5.777s	9
16	23	Yuji Ide	Super Aguri	+8.425s	19
17	39	Markus Winkelhock	Midland	+8.600s	17
18	40	Neel Jani	Toro Rosso	+12.559s	4
19	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	No time	2
20	2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	No time	2
21	8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	No time	2
22	4	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren	No time	1
23	16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	No time	1
24	11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	No time	1
25	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	No time	2

Free Practice 2 Classification

2006 Australian Grand Prix FP2, 31 March 2006

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	36	Anthony Davidson	Honda	1:26.822	28
2	35	Alexander Wurz	Williams	+0.010s	27
3	38	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+0.378s	25
4	12	Jenson Button	Honda	+0.391s	12
5	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+0.621s	14
6	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	+0.836s	16
7	3	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren	+0.951s	16
8	11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+1.253s	20
9	4	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren	+1.378s	15
10	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+1.405s	17
11	2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	+1.458s	11
12	17	Jacques Villeneuve	BMW Sauber	+1.618s	22
13	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+1.709s	18
14	9	Mark Webber	Williams	+2.038s	10
15	16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+2.231s	5
16	8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+2.316s	20
17	21	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	+2.374s	18
18	7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	+2.557s	16
19	18	Tiago Monteiro	Midland	+2.891s	21
20	37	Robert Doornbos	Red Bull Racing	+3.054s	32
21	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull Racing	+3.057s	9
22	10	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+3.111s	11
23	40	Neel Jani	Toro Rosso	+3.864s	26
24	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	+3.912s	14
25	19	Christijan Albers	Midland	+4.008s	18
26	39	Markus Winkelhock	Midland	+4.438s	25
27	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	+5.734s	27
28	23	Yuji Ide	Super Aguri	+7.402s	22

Free Practice 3 Classification

2006 Australian Grand Prix FP3, 1 April 2006

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:35.335	10
2	17	Jacques Villeneuve	BMW Sauber	+0.946s	16
3	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	+1.038s	10
4	2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	+1.079s	13
5	7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	+1.110s	10
6	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+1.171s	11
7	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	+1.997s	10
8	11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+2.146s	15
9	8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+2.157s	10
10	21	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	+2.517s	11
11	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull Racing	+2.612s	12
12	9	Mark Webber	Williams	+2.701s	7
13	12	Jenson Button	Honda	+3.170s	11
14	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+3.348s	15
15	10	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+4.066s	11
16	18	Tiago Monteiro	Midland	+4.180s	7
17	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+4.319s	11
18	23	Yuji Ide	Super Aguri	+4.926s	18
19	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	+6.113s	5
20	4	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren	+9.015s	3
21	3	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren	+12.949s	3
22	19	Christijan Albers	Midland	No time	3

Qualifying

Jenson Button claimed pole for Honda, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso. Kimi Räikkönen and Juan Pablo Montoya followed, giving McLaren a strong position behind the Renaults. The result raised hopes that Honda could turn its early-season pace into a victory rather than another near miss.

Ferrari had a difficult afternoon: Michael Schumacher missed Q3 and Felipe Massa went out in Q1. Rubens Barrichello also failed to advance from the opening session, a sharp contrast to his team-mate’s pole. Jacques Villeneuve’s engine penalty further changed the starting order after his strong morning practice.

Qualifying Classification

2006 Australian Grand Prix Qualifying, 1 April 2006

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	12	Jenson Button	Honda	1:28.081	1:26.337	1:25.229	25
2	2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	1:27.765	1:26.196	1:25.635	23
3	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:28.569	1:25.729	1:25.778	24
4	3	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren	1:27.193	1:26.161	1:25.822	22
5	4	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren	1:27.079	1:25.902	1:25.976	22
6	7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	1:28.007	1:26.596	1:26.612	28
7	9	Mark Webber	Williams	1:27.669	1:26.075	1:26.937	22
8	16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:27.796	1:26.014	1:27.579	30
9	17	Jacques Villeneuve	BMW Sauber	1:28.460	1:26.714	1:29.239	19
10	8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:27.748	1:26.327	No time	14
11	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:28.228	1:26.718	—	11
12	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	1:28.408	1:27.023	—	11
13	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	1:28.999	1:27.219	—	18
14	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull Racing	1:28.757	1:27.591	—	14
15	10	Nico Rosberg	Williams	1:28.351	1:29.422	—	11
16	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:28.868	No time	—	8
17	11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:29.943	—	—	6
18	19	Christijan Albers	Midland	1:30.226	—	—	8
19	21	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	1:30.426	—	—	9
20	18	Tiago Monteiro	Midland	1:30.709	—	—	7
21	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	1:32.279	—	—	7
22	23	Yuji Ide	Super Aguri	1:36.164	—	—	7

Jacques Villeneuve was handed a 10 place grid penalty following an engine change before qualifying.

Jarno Trulli qualified for the final session however did not completed a timed lap due to gearbox problems.

Felipe Massa lost control of his Ferrari during the second qualifying session (Q2) after running over a curb through turn 11 and crashing his car into the wall. It also prompted the session to be red flagged for some time.

What happened in the 2006 Australian Grand Prix?

Juan Pablo Montoya spun on the formation lap, but an aborted start after Giancarlo Fisichella stalled allowed him to regain his grid position. Felipe Massa’s opening-lap collision brought out the safety car, and Fernando Alonso passed Jenson Button at the restart. Christian Klien then crashed after a suspension failure, triggering another interruption and further difficulties with tyre temperature.

Fernando Alonso controlled the repeated restarts. Michael Schumacher crashed after running wide, and Vitantonio Liuzzi’s later accident brought another safety-car period. Mark Webber briefly led his home race during the pit stops before retiring, while Juan Pablo Montoya’s race ended after a kerb strike caused an electrical problem. Kimi Räikkönen remained Fernando Alonso’s principal challenger.

Fernando Alonso won from Kimi Räikkönen and Ralf Schumacher, the Toyota driver recovering from a pit-lane speeding penalty. Nick Heidfeld, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jacques Villeneuve followed. Jenson Button’s engine failed just before the finish, and he stopped short of the line to avoid the next-race engine penalty; Scott Speed’s subsequent yellow-flag penalty promoted Rubens Barrichello to seventh and David Coulthard to eighth.

After the race, Fernando Alonso headed the drivers’ standings with 28 points, followed by Giancarlo Fisichella on 14. Renault led the constructors’ table on 42, with McLaren on 23.

2006 Australian Grand Prix race results

The 2006 Australian Grand Prix was held on 2 April 2006, with a scheduled start of 14:00 local time.

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

Giancarlo Fisichella stalled causing the first start to be aborted and started the race proper from the pitlane.

Scott Speed finished eighth but had 25 seconds added to his race time when he overtook David Coulthard under yellow flags.

2006 Australian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time	Avg. Speed
1	3	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren	57	1:26.045	221.869
2	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	49	1:26.189	221.499
3	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	27	1:27.180	218.981
4	4	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren	45	1:27.464	218.270
5	2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	53	1:27.561	218.028
6	11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	32	1:27.690	217.707
7	16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	49	1:27.700	217.683
8	12	Jenson Button	Honda	17	1:27.799	217.437
9	9	Mark Webber	Williams	19	1:27.800	217.435
10	7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	45	1:27.810	217.410
11	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	25	1:27.988	216.970
12	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	32	1:28.250	216.326
13	17	Jacques Villeneuve	BMW Sauber	56	1:28.321	216.152
14	21	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	26	1:28.367	216.039
15	19	Christijan Albers	Midland	53	1:29.238	213.931
16	18	Tiago Monteiro	Midland	31	1:29.687	212.860
17	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	54	1:30.574	210.775
18	23	Yuji Ide	Super Aguri	49	1:33.737	203.663
19	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull Racing	4	1:41.351	188.363

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

2006 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2006 Australian Grand Prix.

2006 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Renault	28
2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Italian	Renault	14
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	McLaren	14
4	Michael Schumacher	German	Ferrari	11
5	Jenson Button	British	Honda	11
6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Colombian	McLaren	9
7	Ralf Schumacher	German	Toyota	7
8	Nick Heidfeld	German	BMW Sauber	5
9	Jacques Villeneuve	Canadian	BMW Sauber	5
10	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	4
11	Mark Webber	Australian	Williams	3
12	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Honda	2
13	Nico Rosberg	German	Williams	2
14	David Coulthard	British	Red Bull Racing	1
15	Christian Klien	Austrian	Red Bull Racing	1
16	Scott Speed	American	Toro Rosso	0
17	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Toyota	0
18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italian	Toro Rosso	0
19	Christijan Albers	Dutch	Midland	0
20	Takuma Sato	Japanese	Super Aguri	0
21	Tiago Monteiro	Portuguese	Midland	0
22	Yuji Ide	Japanese	Super Aguri	0

2006 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Renault	42
2	McLaren	23
3	Ferrari	15
4	Honda	13
5	BMW Sauber	10
6	Toyota	7
7	Williams	5
8	Red Bull Racing	2
9	Toro Rosso	0
10	Midland	0
11	Super Aguri	0

2006 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2006 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	12 March
2	2006 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	19 March
3	2006 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	2 April
4	2006 San Marino Grand Prix	Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola	23 April
5	2006 European Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	7 May
6	2006 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló	14 May
7	2006 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	28 May
8	2006 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	11 June
9	2006 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	25 June
10	2006 United States Grand Prix	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis	2 July
11	2006 French Grand Prix	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours	16 July
12	2006 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	30 July
13	2006 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	6 August
14	2006 Turkish Grand Prix	Istanbul Park, Istanbul	27 August
15	2006 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	10 September
16	2006 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	1 October
17	2006 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	8 October
18	2006 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	22 October