2006 Japanese Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 17 of 18 in the 2006 Formula One season | |||
The Suzuka circuit
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| Date | 8 October 2006 | ||
| Official name | XXXII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.807 km (3.608 mi) | ||
| Distance | 53 laps, 307.573 km (191.224 mi) | ||
| Weather | Fine | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1:29.599 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Fernando Alonso
|
Renault | |
| Time | 1:32.676 on lap 14 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Renault | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | Renault | ||
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The 2006 Japanese Grand Prix was the seventeenth race of the 2006 Formula One season. It was held on 8 October at Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka. It was won by Fernando Alonso, his last win for the Renault team before he moved to McLaren the following season. It was the first Formula One race to be broadcast in HDTV by Fuji Television, and was the 20th Grand Prix to be held at Suzuka.
Felipe Massa started the race from pole, but Michael Schumacher soon passed him on lap 3 to take the lead. Meanwhile, Alonso was struggling to get past the Toyotas of Trulli and Ralf Schumacher. By lap 10 Alonso was 5.4 seconds off the leader. On lap 15 Alonso managed to pass Massa in the pitstops and set about gradually closing the gap to Schumacher. Alonso succeeded in closing the gap from 5.4 seconds on lap 10 to 4.2 seconds by lap 27 only for it to open up to 5.9 seconds by lap 34 after the two drivers encountered backmarkers. This race was crucial, whoever finished ahead of the two would take the championship lead into the final race. On lap 37, after the two rivals had made their final pitstops, Schumacher's engine failed, his first engine failure since the 2000 French Grand Prix, giving the lead to Fernando Alonso, who went on to win the race. This virtually gave the championship to Alonso. As of 2016, this is the most recent victory for a car running on Michelin tyres, as the manufacturer pulled out of Formula One at the end of the season. Giancarlo Fisichella dedicated his third-place finish to his best friend, Tonino Visciani, who died on 5 October 2006 after a heart attack.
The bottom 6 teams in the 2005 Constructors' Championship and Super Aguri were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.
Note, only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
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