Renault won the 3rd Grand Prix of the 2006 F1 World Championship that took place on the Australian Albert Park Circuit after its Spanish driver, Fernando Alonso, reigned over the race, achieving thus his 2nd victory of the season after Bahrain and the 10th of his career. Teammate Giancarlo Fisichella had won the 2nd GP of the championship held in Malaysia.
The current F1 World Champion’s remarkable performance showed his true capacities behind the wheel, which enabled him to become the youngest driver to win the world championship last year.
Alonso was not much affected by the safety car that had to enter the circuit 4 times due to several accidents. He crossed the finish line in the first position after covering 302,271 km (57 laps) in 1:34:27:270 hours at an average speed of 191,990 km/h. The Spanish driver scored 28 points of 30 after he ranked 1st
in Bahrain and 2nd in Malaysia behind teammate Fisichella. This is the best beginning for the “Spanish Matador” who seems to be one of the most suitable candidates for the title of World Champion.
MacLaren-Mercedes Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen ranked 2nd with 1:829 seconds behind Alonso, while the 3rd step of the podium received Toyota German driver Ralph Schumacher with a difference of 24:824 seconds. Raikkonen marked the fastest lap in lap 57 by covering 5,303 km in 1:26:045 min, at an average speed of 221,869 km/h.
British driver Jenson Button (Honda) was the first to take the lead of the race from the 1st to the 3rd lap. He was then followed by Alonso who remained the leader from the 4th to the 19th lap, then by Raikkonen in lap 20, then by Williams-Cosworth Australian driver, Mark Webber from lap 21 to 22, and finally by Alonso again from lap 23 until the finish line. With 28 points to his credit, the Spanish driver is a length ahead in the drivers’ general classification with a difference of 14 points with Fisichella who ranks 5th. The French constructor Renault is also a length ahead in the constructors’ general classification with a difference of 19 points with MacLaren-Mercedes (23 points).
As soon as the starting lights went off, there was an accident involving the Ferrari of Brazilian driver Felipe Massa, the Toyota of Italian driver Jarno Trulli, and the Williams-Cosworth of German driver Nico Rosberg, which compelled the drivers to withdraw.
After the first 3 laps, Red Bull-Ferrari Austrian driver Christian Klien lost control over his car and broke it after hitting the safety wall. At the end of lap 33, Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) experienced the same bad luck after his car span at a turn and hit the safety wall at a high speed, which made him
withdraw after he was in the 6th position. The Toro Rosso team share of accidents came after the car of Italian driver Vitantonio Liuzzi deviated from the track and hit the left safety wall before bouncing back to the opposite right. This was the first withdrawal of Liuzzi who had succeeded in finishing the first two races in the 11th position. In the next to last lap, the engine of Jenson Button’s Honda went on fire while he was in the 5th position.
Despite Liuzzi’s bad luck, his teammate Scott Speed crossed the finish line in the 8th position and scored his and the team’s first point. However, he was subject to a 25-second penalty after it appeared that he overtook Red Bull Racing driver, David Coulthard, during Liuzzi’s accident while the yellow flag was raised.
Coulthard offered his team the first point of the season and showed everyone that he was starting to get used his car.
“I am extremely happy to have been able to score my first point despite the large number of accidents and the difficulty of the track”, he said. “Speed overtook me while the yellow flag was raised, which led the organizing committee to impose a time penalty and to drive him back, which was in my best interest. I hope that we will achieve better results in the future after we started getting used to the new car”, he added.
From his side, American Driver Scott Speed said: “My performance was good during the race and I was able to reach the 8th position in the 3rd Grand Prix of my career in Formula One, and I am very proud of that”.
“But the organizing committee’s decision to impose a 25-second time penalty deprived me from enjoying this achievement, especially that I would have scored the first point of the season for my team. I will try to make up for this deception in the next races”, he concluded.
Race Final Classification:
1- Fernando Alonso (Spain/ Renault): 1:34:27:870 hours
2- Kimi Raikkonen (Finland/ MacLaren-Mercedes): 1:34:29:699 hours
3- Ralph Schumacher (Germany/ Toyota): 1:34:52:694 hours
4- Nick Heidfeld (Germany/ BMW-Sauber): 1:34:58:902 hours
5- Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy/ Renault): 1:35:06:291 hours
6- Jacques Villeneuve (Canada/ BMW-Sauber): 1:35:17:424 hours
7- Rubens Barrichello (Brazil/ Honda): 1:35:16:774 hours
8- David Coulthard (Scotland/ Red Bull-Ferrari): 1:35:21:853 hours
9- Scott Speed (USA/ Toro Rosso): 1:35:46:867 hours
10- Jenson Button: 1 lap
Drivers’ Temporary General Classification:
1- Fernando Alonso (Spain) 28 pts
2- Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) 14 pts
3- Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) 14 pts
4- Michael Schumacher (Germany) 11 pts
5- Jenson Button (UK) 11 pts
6- Juan Pablo Montoya (Columbia) 9 pts
7- Ralph Schumacher (Germany) 7 pts
8- Nick Heidfeld (Germany) 5 pts
9- Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) 5 pts
10- Felipe Massa (Brazil) 4 pts
11- Mark Webber (Australia) 3 pts
12- Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) 2 pts
13- Nico Rosberg (Germany) 2 pts
14- David Coulthard (Scotland) 1 pt
15- Christian Klien (Austria) 1 pt
Constructors’ Temporary General Classification:
1- Renault 42 pts
2- MacLaren-Mercedes 23 pts
3- Ferrari 15 pts
4- Honda 13 pts
5- BMW-Sauber 10 pts
6- Toyota 7 pts
7- Williams-Cosworth 5 pts
8- Red Bull-Ferrari 2 pts
