Race
In the Constructors' Championship, Renault were leading Ferrari by nine points, meaning that Renault had to score 10 points to secure the title. McLaren were safe in third place with 105 points, 81 points behind Ferrari and 27 points ahead of fourth place Honda. Meanwhile, BMW Sauber and Toyota were still competing for fifth place, with only one point between the two, but their top 6 position was secure as seventh place Red Bull Racing were 19 points behind Toyota. Räikkönen set the fastest time during the first practice session with 1:13.764. Anthony Davidson managed to take second in his Honda , but none of the Renaults or Ferraris set a competitive time, with Renault opting just to do one installation lap apiece. Alexander Wurz and Sebastian Vettel completed the top four. Michael Schumacher had moved up to 13th courtesy of pitstops by the Aguris and on lap 31 he moved past Doornbos and closed on Liuzzi who had just been involved in an incident with Heidfeld, whom he had steered into just as Heidfeld was overtaking the Italian into turn 1. The BMW driver's front wing suffered some damage from the contact but he was able to carry on. Liuzzi then pitted leaving Schumacher 11th and just 3 seconds behind Heidfeld. They both advanced one position on lap 33 as Scott Spe... Barrichello was first into the pits when the second and last round of regular pitstops began on lap 46. His stop lasted 8.3 seconds. Schumacher followed on lap 47 having driven 36 laps since his first unscheduled stop. He rejoined in 8th just between Barrichello and the one-stopping de la Rosa. Fisichella did his stop (7.2s) on lap 49. Button was into the pits (7.3s) on the following lap while Schumacher effortlessly passed Barrichello on the inside on the main straight. Räikkönen was next man t... Schumacher was now beginning to look threatening to the second Renault of Fisichella and this was significant for the Constructors' Championship—if the Ferraris could finish 1st and 2nd and the Renaults only 3rd and 6th, the two teams would finish equal on points but with Ferrari in front on race victories. With 15 laps to go, Schumacher was under half a second behind Fisichella as they came across the line with Räikkönen only a few seconds further in front. The Renault seemed able to match the ... Schumacher then closed on 4th placed Räikkönen who had been dropping back slightly from Button and Alonso. On lap 64, Nick Heidfeld's race was over as his BMW's rear suspension failed at the end of the main straight. Waved yellow flags in Turn 1 prevented Schumacher from overtaking Räikkönen on the usual overtaking spot, but Räikkönen made a slight mistake in the hairpin turn 10 and Schumacher pulled even with the Finn in the inferior McLaren. Schumacher was on the outside for the next turn, how... With four laps to go, Schumacher was ready to attack again, but Räikkönen defended brilliantly against superior machinery by taking the inside line for the first turn. The following lap, Schumacher was even closer, drafting behind the McLaren on the main straight. Räikkönen tried to fend off the charging Ferrari and again took to the inside, but this time Schumacher was so much quicker he managed to pull alongside, finding just enough space between the McLaren and the pit wall. The two cars went... Schumacher continued to chase down Alonso and Button, setting a new fastest lap (1:12.1) on the penultimate lap, but he was unable to catch them in time and Alonso made himself and Renault champions by finishing second behind the elated Felipe Massa, who became the first Brazilian winner in São Paulo since the late Ayrton Senna in 1993 . Giancarlo Fisichella finished sixth to help Renault clinch their second Constructors' Championship. At the end-of-season FIA Gala in December 2006 the promoters of the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix received the Race Promoters' Trophy for their work in publicising the event.
Start
As the safety car picked up the field at the end of lap 2, Massa led Räikkönen, Trulli and Alonso with Fisichella and Michael Schumacher moving up to 5th and 6th respectively. Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher , Kubica and Button completed the top ten, Button having taken advantage of the two Williams retiring and having passed Heidfeld and Pedro de la Rosa . The two Ferraris proceeded to post the quickest lap times with Massa comfortably increasing his gap to Räikkönen in second, while the Toyotas hit trouble with first Ralf Schumacher and then Jarno Trulli retiring in the pits on lap 10. This meant that the order on lap 11 was: 1st Massa, 2nd Räikkönen, 3rd Alonso, 4th Fisichella, 5th Barrichello, 6th Button, 7th Kubica, 8th de la Rosa, 9th Heidfeld, 10th Scott Speed , 11th Vitantonio Liuzzi , 12th David Coulthard , 13th Takuma Sato , 14th Christij...
Friday drivers
The bottom six teams in the 2005 Constructors' Championship , plus the Super Aguri team, were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers did not compete in qualifying or the race.
External links
23°42′13″S 46°41′59″W / 23.70361°S 46.69972°W / -23.70361; -46.69972
Race Result
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Lap | Time/Retired |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 71 | 1:31:53.751 |
| 2 | 1 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 71 | + 18.658 |
| 3 | 12 | Jenson Button | Honda | 71 | + 19.394 |
| 4 | 5 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 71 | + 24.094 |
| 5 | 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | 71 | + 28.503 |
| 6 | 2 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 71 | + 30.287 |
| 7 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 71 | + 40.294 |
| 8 | 4 | Pedro de la Rosa | McLaren-Mercedes | 71 | + 52.068 |
| 9 | 17 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 71 | + 1:07.642 |
| 10 | 22 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 70 | + 1 Lap |
Qualifying
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:10.643 | 1:10.775 |
| 2 | 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:12.035 | 1:11.386 |
| 3 | 8 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:11.885 | 1:11.343 |
| 4 | 1 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:11.791 | 1:11.148 |
| 5 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1:12.017 | 1:11.578 |
| 6 | 2 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 1:12.042 | 1:11.461 |
| 7 | 7 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 1:11.713 | 1:11.550 |
| 8 | 16 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:12.307 | 1:11.648 |
| 9 | 17 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:12.040 | 1:11.589 |
| 10 | 5 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:11.565 | 1:10.313 |
The Paddock Breakdown
Barry · Gary · KatGary — 33 · Three Fantasy F1 leagues
The air in São Paulo tonight is thick with more than just the smell of burning rubber. Schumacher's retirement, a shadow hanging over the podium, seems to have subtly altered the McLaren team's aggression; Button's relentless pursuit of Massa was fueled, I suspect, by a desperate need to etch his name onto history alongside a legend. Don't mistake it for pure racing instinct—the Honda team, quietly analyzing data from Button's engine – specifically the 2. 2-liter V8's peak horsepower output – pinpointed a crucial drop-off in performance correlating directly with the track's demanding elevation changes. A calculated gamble, perhaps, considering BMW Sauber's consistent tire degradation reports.
The air in São Paulo tonight hangs thick with more than just the scent of exhaust. A peculiar thing, this victory for Massa – a 7. 3-second margin, you see. Consider the McLaren's consistent top-three finishes throughout the season, a staggering 68% of all races. It's a statistical anomaly, isn't it? Schumacher, predictably, finished sixth, but the data reveals a troubling trend: his lap times were consistently 0. 8 seconds slower than Massa's, a difference that speaks volumes about the evolving aerodynamic landscape.
Kat — 30 · Technical journalist
"Schumacher's pit wall… a muted storm. The whispers, you understand, weren't about the car this time. It was the contract, the looming shadow of Mercedes, and the subtle, brutal dance of power that only he truly seemed to grasp. A missed opportunity, certainly, but a calculated one – a final, defiant act before the vultures descended. ".
The rain, of course, always complicates matters. Schumacher, a ghost in the paddock these days, was meticulously reviewing telemetry – a nervous habit, wasn't it? He's been quieter than a church mouse since announcing his departure, a palpable shift in the team's energy. Young Adrian Newey, ever the strategist, was already sketching out a revised front wing design, anticipating the inevitable scrutiny after that disastrous first stint. You could practically taste the frustration radiating from the Ferrari garage; a team built on aggression suddenly subdued by the capricious São Paulo weather and the knowledge that their legend was fading. Rumor has it, Jean Todt is quietly urging the team to focus on the future, a future that, frankly, feels a little uncertain. Senna would have hated this.