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The 2006 Formula One season is the 57th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It began on March 12, 2006 and it will end on October 22 after 18 races.
Background
The calendar initially was the same as that of 2005, with the Belgian Grand Prix scheduled on September 17. However, on February 8, the FIA announced that the Belgian National Sporting Authority (RACB) would withdraw Spa-Francorchamps from the 2006 season due to lack of time to complete improvements to the track. The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, offered his city's track as a possible replacement for the Belgian Grand Prix, but the FIA said the Belgian race would not be replaced. The race continues to receive strong support from drivers and FIA President Max Mosley, but its return to the calendar in 2007 is in doubt.
2006 is also the last season with two tyre manufacturers. The two current tyre manufacturers are Bridgestone and Michelin. On December 9, 2005, the FIA announced that in 2008 there will be only one tyre supplier. Five days later, Michelin announced it will quit Formula One at the end of the 2006 season as it does not want to be in Formula One as the sole tyre supplier.
Before the start of the season, the Italian team Minardi left Formula One after twenty years. In that time Minardi helped launch the careers of Italians Alessandro Nannini, Giancarlo Fisichella, and Jarno Trulli; current World Champion Fernando Alonso; and Indycar winners Christian Fittipaldi and Alex Zanardi. On February 9, 2006, former F1 driver Gerhard Berger acquired half ownership of Scuderia Toro Rosso.
2006 saw Japanese team Super Aguri F1, founded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki, entered at the last moment. Super Aguri notified the FIA on November 1, 2005 (ahead of the governing body's November 15 deadline) of their intention to enter, but the FIA's entry list stated they had not approved Aguri's entry. [1] However, the team received the consent of the ten existing teams to compete and paid the $48 million bond. The team was confirmed by the FIA on January 26, 2006. [2]
Between the 2005 and 2006 season the ownership of Formula One changed significantly. Until November 2005 the Formula One group was owned by an Ecclestone family trust and Speed Investments (a grouping of Bayerische Landesbank, JP Morgan Chase and Lehman Brothers). On November 25 CVC Capital Partners announced it was to purchase both the Ecclestone shares (25% of SLEC) and Bayerische Landesbank's 48% share (held through Speed Investments). By 30 March 2006 CVC had acquired all remaining shares. On 21 March 2006 the European Commission annonced approval of this deal, conditonal upon CVC relinquishing control of Dorna, promoter of MotoGP. On March 28 CVC announced the completion of the Formula One transaction. [3] Ecclestone reinvested proceeds of his stake into the new Formula One parent company Alpha Prema.
Another Ecclestone victory involved the Grand Prix Manufacturers’ Association proposal for an alternative World Championship. On March 27, the five car manufacturers involved lodged applications for the 2008 season, reducing the likelihood of a breakaway series. On May 14, GPMA members confirmed they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding, a move toward signing a new Concorde Agreement. Five days later, Bernie Ecclestone and CVC Capital Partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Grand Prix Manufacturers’ Association which should see the five "rebels" continue racing in Formula One at least until the 2012 season.
Season review
Renault and Fernando Alonso established early leads in both the Constructors' and Drivers' Championships. The Spanish World Champion achieved six wins (including four consecutive victories) in Bahrain, Australia, Spain, Monaco, Britain, and Canada. Teammate Giancarlo Fisichella won his third career race in Malaysia.
After a disastrous 2005 season and slow start to the season Michael Schumacher won two consecutive races at Imola and the Nürburgring. During the final lap of his qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix, Schumacher came to a stop at the La Rascasse hairpin, resulting in yellow flags, meaning that other drivers could not go at maximum speed. After the session there were immediate complaints from the other teams claiming that this was a deliberate move by Schumacher to ensure he started in pole position - Alonso' lap was likely to beat Schumacher's fastest time. Although Schumacher insisted he had simply made an error, a stewards' inquiry stated, "We are left with no alternative but to conclude that the driver deliberately stopped his car on the circuit." The penalty was that Schumacher's qualifying times were all deleted, demoting him to 22nd position on the grid. He opted to start from the pitlane, and finished 5th.
In the British Grand Prix, Alonso became the first Spanish driver and the youngest driver (25 years, 10 months, 13 days) to get the Hat Trick, missing the Grand Chelem by a single lap. Schumacher won the United States Grand Prix (his fourth consecutive victory at Indianapolis and fifth career victory there) and the French Grand Prix. He won the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
Drivers and constructors
The following teams and drivers are competing for the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Team changes
This year, three prominent names in the sport have disappeared, with Minardi, Sauber and Jordan withdrawing, and one team entered at last moment, the Super Aguri.
The Sauber name will remain, although only as a sentiment, as BMW now have total ownership of the team, with Nick Heidfeld and Jacques Villeneuve at first and second guide, with Robert Kubica, the first Polish driver entered in a F1 team, as third driver. After the Monaco Grand Prix, and boring results at first part of the season, Jacques Villeneuve again considered retiring from F1 racing. [4]
Jordan became MF1 Racing, as Midland start afresh with Portuguese Tiago Monteiro from the old team, and Dutch Christijan Albers from defunct Minardi. Midland F1 have announced that they will be swapping the Friday test driver roles throughout the season. Giorgio Mondini is planned to be the Friday driver for nine races, while Markus Winkelhock will be the Friday driver for the bulk of the remaining races. MF1's new junior driver, Adrian Sutil, could also possibly show up in the Friday test role. Russian Roman Rusinov will remain strictly as a test driver, while Nicky Pastorelli's testing role with the team is still uncertain because of problems with one of his backers. This was put to rest with an announcement that he would run the remainder of the season in Champ Car for Paul Gentilozzi. A similar situation in the team occurred with Italian Fabrizio del Monte, who stated he had secured the third driver role for the San Marino Grand Prix. This fell through and there are currently no plans for him to be anywhere in the team's carousel of test drivers.
Williams introduced numerous changes for 2006, particularly changing to Cosworth V8 engines after they and BMW split. Red Bull Racing have Ferrari engines, replacing the Cosworth power which gained them seventh in the standings in 2005. Williams and Toyota changed type suppliers to Bridgestone tyres, after Michelin decided to supply fewer teams in the championship.
Driver changes
Renault and McLaren retain their 2005 race drivers for this season, Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault), and Kimi Räikkönen and Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren). Renault's test driver Franck Montagny has been replaced by Heikki Kovalainen, despite Montagny testing for the team during November and December; Montagny moved to Super Aguri. McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa remains and is joined by Gary Paffett who was signed late in 2005. Alexander Wurz moves from McLaren to Williams to become official test and reserve driver.
At Ferrari, Rubens Barrichello has been replaced by fellow Brazilian Felipe Massa. Massa tested with the team in 2003, and after outperforming team-mate Jacques Villeneuve at Sauber for the first part of last season, was given a one-year race contract with Ferrari.
At Williams, Australian Mark Webber has been retained, and joined by the German rookie Nico Rosberg (replacing Nick Heidfeld, who joined BMW Sauber) after winning the inaugural 2005 GP2 Championship, the Formula One feeder. Rosberg is the son of Finn Keke Rosberg, who won the championship for Williams in 1982. Also, after the appointment of Alexander Wurz to replace Antonio Pizzonia as test and reserve driver, India's Narain Karthikeyan has been signed as the 4th driver of the team.
Toyota had no driver changes, Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli having been retained, while Olivier Panis and Ricardo Zonta are the team's test drivers.
Honda, formerly BAR, replaced Takuma Sato with Rubens Barrichello. The Brazilian displays the lead number (11) at Honda after it was 'gifted' to him by Jenson Button who had the right to do so. Honda confirmed that the two drivers have equal status.
Results and standings
In the 2006 Formula One calendar the Australian Grand Prix was put back to a few weeks to avoid a clash with the 2006 Commonwealth Games. For the first time, Bahrain hosted the first Grand Prix, Brazil hosted the last, Japanese and Chinese swapped roles.
Grands Prix
Drivers
|
|
Constructors
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| Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | Tyre | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | F.Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Renault
|
R26 | Renault
|
M | 12 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 149 |
| 2 |  Ferrari
|
248 F1 | Ferrari
|
B | 12 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 139 |
| 3 |  McLaren
|
MP4-21 |  Mercedes
|
M | 12 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 79 |
| 4 |  Honda
|
RA106 | Honda
|
M | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 37 |
| 5 | Toyota
|
TF106 TF106B |
Toyota
|
B | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| 6 | BMW Sauber
|
F1.06 | BMW
|
M | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 7 |  Red Bull
|
RB2 | Ferrari
|
M | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 8 | Williams
|
FW28 | Cosworth
|
B | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 9 | Toro Rosso
|
STR01 | Cosworth
|
M | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 |  Midland F1
|
M16 | Toyota
|
B | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Super Aguri
|
SA05 SA06 |
Honda
|
B | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rule changes
Engine
Significant changes to the Formula One regulations were introduced for 2006. In an attempt to curb the increasing engine power levels of recent years, the maximum engine displacement was reduced from 3.0 to 2.4 litres and the number of cylinders from 10 to 8. At similar engine speeds, the change was expected to cut peak power by around 200 bhp, which would equate to around three to five seconds on lap times at most circuits. (Scuderia Toro Rosso continued to use 3.0 litre 10-cylinder engines with a rev limiter, to avoid the costs of re-engineering their cars in a short period). Initial testing indicated the new engines were six seconds slower than their V10 counterparts, but early in the season it became obvious that despite the decrease in power, lap times were not far from 2005 figures.
Some engine suppliers indicated early that their smaller V8s can rev higher than the 19,000rpms normal for 2005-spec V10s. Northampton-based engine builder Cosworth has an enviable record of success with V8 engines. It claimed to have made further history by becoming the first manufacturer to have broken the 20,000rpm limit on track in December 2005.
Cost reduction
In the long run, the FIA intends to introduce greater restrictions on testing and the introduction of standardized electronics, tyres and brakes to reduce costs and entice more new private teams into the sport. Proposed new rules for the year 2008 led to 22 teams applying to race that season, but since currently only 12 teams can race at one time, 10 of those applicants were turned down.
Tyres
Tyre changes returned to Formula One in 2006. Each driver is limited to 14 sets of tyres per race weekend. This consists of seven sets of dry-weather tyres, four sets of wet-weather tyres and three sets of extreme-weather tyres. The thinking behind this is that the reduced engine size will offset any performance gain.[5]
Qualifying
A new qualifying system consisting of three sessions of varying length proved an instant hit with fans. A 15-minute session is held first, in which the six slowest cars from that session are eliminated and thus set in grid positions 17–22. After a five minute break, another 15-minute session is held with the remaining cars, and again the six slowest cars are eliminated and set in positions 11–16. These 12 eliminated drivers are placed in parc ferme, but may modify fuel loads as they see fit.
During a further five minute break, the remaining 10 cars declare their fuel loads to the FIA. A final 15 minute session (was 20 minutes earlier in the season) [1] then decides the top 10 grid positions. Teams are allowed to run their fuel load low by making as many laps as possible, and thus improve their times as the weight falls. This is an improvement for TV audiences because teams need to run as many laps as possible to lower their fuel loads. Following this session, the top 10 cars are placed in parc ferme and required to refill their fuel load to the level of that at the beginning of the final 20 minutes. Starting with the 2006 French Grand Prix, qualifying for final session was cut short to just 15 minutes, making all of the sessions the same length, and the ability for drivers to complete a flying lap after the chequered flag drop now applies in first two sessions as well. [6].
A loophole was detected by the FIA, in that teams could declare a large fuel load but on the out lap "leak", or use a large quantity of fuel to lighten a car and permit a faster lap. The FIA decided to only count laps that are within 110% of the driver's fastest time, and allow teams to top up with the amount of fuel used for those laps.
Practice
Only one free practice session is held on Saturdays, for one hour, and it ends no less than two hours before qualifying begins, usually between 11.00 and 12.00, replacing the old system of two 45-minute sessions. Friday remains unchanged, with two one-hour sessions, starting three hours apart.
Rumours and speculation
Teams
- McLaren was linked to a sponsorship deal with Intel to replace West, who withdrew their sponsorship at the Hungarian Grand Prix. However McLaren instead signed a deal with Vodafone as the team's primary sponsor for 2007, but has no main sponsor for 2006.
- Due to McLaren and Intel not reaching agreement, Intel instead signed to become a technological partner for BMW Sauber.
- Midland owner Alex Shnaider could be willing to sell his team, which he aquried for around £20 million, for a sum of around £68 million offered by a Dutch consortium.
Drivers
- Nelson Piquet, Jr. has been testing for BAR-Honda for a possible role as the third driver for the new Honda factory team. This is unlikely however, as he will be driving full time in the 2006 GP2 Series season.
- Tarso Marques claimed he would announce a test driving role for an F1 team in 2006 with a possible race seat in 2007. No word on which team he is currently talking to.
- It has been rumored that GP2 series driver Hiroki Yoshimoto are scheduled by Super Aguri for second Japanese team-mate driver with Sato, probably starting at the Japanese Grand Prix.
- It has been rumoured that Robert Doornbos will replace Christian Klien in the Red Bull Racing team, apparently as a result of Doornbos being able to bring 15,000,000 Euros in sponsorship to the team. If correct, this is believed to be the most expensive race seat in F1 history. However, Christian Horner commented after the Monaco Grand Prix, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," referring to his driver line-up. This hints that Coulthard and Klien will be staying on.
- Other rumors have linked possible return in Formula One by Alex Zanardi with testing BMW Sauber at the end of the season.
- It was rumoured that Sakon Yamamoto will be the third driver for Super Aguri starting at the British GP. He is believed to have had a seat fitting, but will not be able to race until his testing performances warrant a superlicense.
- Before and during the 2006 season, there was much talk that Ferrari were considering signing up Valentino Rossi for the 2007 season, twenty-two years after the last motorcycle racer, another World Champion, Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto took part in the 1984 British Grand Prix. These rumours were fuelled by Rossi's testing programme for Ferrari at Circuit de Valencia and Fiorano. Other rumours also linked Rossi to Red Bull [7] but on May 24, 2006, four days before the Monaco Grand Prix, Rossi stated that he will be staying in MotoGP for the foreseeable future, saying that he has more goals to achieve. [8]
- Another Italian, 4 time 250cc class World Champion Max Biaggi tested the Midland F1 car at Silverstone Circuit on January 18, 2006. Whether this was a one-off test with MF1 or the first step towards a seat with the team is unknown and Biaggi remained spending the year without racing.[9]
Races
- Following CVC's purchase of the control of the sport, rumors began over a possible second Grand Prix held in Spain, at Circuit de Valencia, perhaps due to the rising interest in F1 from Alonso's Spanish fans (the Alonsomania) after he won the 2005 Drivers Title. These rumors were confirmed on May 30: Michel Ligonnet announced construction work, due to finish in 2007. There was also a new F1 track considered at Sevilla, in the south of Spain, the Monteblanco Circuit, inspired by the old French circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet. [10]
Notes
- Franck Montagny became Super Aguri's reserve driver for the first two races of the season, but because of the team having only two chassis, he was unable to partake in the Friday practice sessions as a third driver. With the availability of a third chassis for the European Grand Prix, Montagny was to return as Aguri's third driver.
- James Rossiter, test driver for Honda, replaced Montagny as reserve driver for the Australian Grand Prix, but again was unable to take part in the Friday practice sessions [11].
- After San Marino Grand Prix and before European Grand Prix, Honda F1 Test Driver Anthony Davidson could be called up to join Super Aguri F1 during the 2006 season when a new chassis has been developed.
- Franck Montagny replaced Yuji Ide starting with the 2006 European Grand Prix, while Ide was moved to team's test driver.
- Super Aguri have set the 2006 German Grand Prix as the date to introduce the SA06 chassis. Even though suggestions had been made that the SA05 would change part by part into the SA06 instead of introducing a brand new chassis.
- Toyota used the Toyota TF106 for the first six rounds of the champoinship (Bahrain to Spain), before switching to the new Toyota TF106B from Monaco onwards.
- The Circuit de Valencia was reported to be bidding to host a world championship race in the future (a second Grand Prix held in Spain) probably Formula One edition of MotoGP Valencian Community Grand Prix.
- After twenty years, this is the last Japanese Grand Prix held at Suzuka International Racing Course. For 2007, this race was scheduled in Toyota's rebuilt Fuji Speedway, which hosted the 1976 and 1977 seasons). After the official announcement, there has been media speculation that Suzuka, supported by Honda, may retain a race under a resurrection of the Pacific Grand Prix title. [12]
- Super Aguri appointed Sakon Yamamoto to take over from Yuji Ide as third driver for the British, Canadian and US Grand Prix, as an evaluation for possibily replacing Franck Montagny from the French GP to give Super Aguri an all Japanese line-up again. [13]
- On 11th July 2006 Juan Pablo Montoya left McLaren to start a career in NASCAR in the US. This was to allow him time to prepare for the 2007 season. Pedro de la Rosa (who was previously the 3rd driver at McLaren) took his race seat and started for the team at the French GP.[14] He also raced in the German Grand Prix and could fill the seat until the end of the season. [15]
- Sakon Yamamoto replaced Franck Montagny at the German Grand Prix. [16]
- Robert Kubica will replace Jacques Villeneuve at the Hungarian Grand Prix. This is possibly due to Villeneuve's injuries after a heavy crash in Germany. It is not yet known if Villeneuve will return after Hungary or anywhere else for the rest of the season [17]