# 2006 Japanese Grand Prix

The 2006 Japanese Grand Prix (formally known as the 2006 Formula 1 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One race held on 8 October 2006 at the Suzuka Circuit, in Suzuka, Japan. It was the seventeenth and penultimate round of the 2006 Formula One World Championship, and marked the 32nd running of the Japanese Grand Prix. It was won by Fernando Alonso, his last win for the Renault team before he moved to McLaren the following season.
It was the 20th Grand Prix to be held at Suzuka. It was the first Formula One race to be filmed and broadcast in high-definition television. However the Fuji Television broadcast was only available in Japan.

## Report
### Practice and qualifying
#### Friday drivers

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.
| Team | Driver |
| Williams-Cosworth | Alexander Wurz |
| Honda | Anthony Davidson |
| Red Bull-Ferrari | Michael Ammermüller |
| BMW Sauber | Sebastian Vettel |
| Spyker MF1-Toyota | Adrian Sutil |
| Toro Rosso-Cosworth | Neel Jani |
| Super Aguri-Honda | Franck Montagny |

### Race

Felipe Massa started the race from pole, but Michael Schumacher 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 chased Schumacher. He 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. The race was crucial in the fight for the World Championship, as 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 Alonso, who went on to win the race. As a result, he needed only one point from the final race to secure the title.
As of 2023, Alonso's win remains the last victory for a car running on Michelin tyres, as the manufacturer pulled out of Formula One at the end of the season. Third place finisher Giancarlo Fisichella dedicated to his best friend, Tonino Visciani, who had died on 5 October 2006 after a heart attack.

## Classification
### Qualifying

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Grid |
| 1 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:30.112 | 1:29.830 | 1:29.599 | 1 |
| 2 | 5 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:31.279 | 1:28.954 | 1:29.711 | 2 |
| 3 | 7 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 1:30.595 | 1:30.299 | 1:29.989 | 3 |
| 4 | 8 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:30.420 | 1:30.204 | 1:30.039 | 4 |
| 5 | 1 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:30.976 | 1:30.357 | 1:30.371 | 5 |
| 6 | 2 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 1:31.696 | 1:30.306 | 1:30.599 | 6 |
| 7 | 12 | Jenson Button | Honda | 1:30.847 | 1:30.268 | 1:30.992 | 7 |
| 8 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1:31.972 | 1:30.598 | 1:31.478 | 8 |
| 9 | 16 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:31.811 | 1:30.470 | 1:31.513 | 9 |
| 10 | 10 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1:30.585 | 1:30.321 | 1:31.856 | 10 |
| 11 | 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:32.080 | 1:30.827 | | 11 |
| 12 | 17 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:31.204 | 1:31.094 | | 12 |
| 13 | 4 | Pedro de la Rosa | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:31.581 | 1:31.254 | | 13 |
| 14 | 9 | Mark Webber | Williams-Cosworth | 1:31.647 | 1:31.276 | | 14 |
| 15 | 20 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Toro Rosso-Cosworth | 1:31.741 | 1:31.943 | | 15 |
| 16 | 19 | Christijan Albers | Spyker MF1-Toyota | 1:32.221 | 1:33.750 | | 16 |
| 17 | 14 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Ferrari | 1:32.252 | | | 17 |
| 18 | 15 | Robert Doornbos | Red Bull-Ferrari | 1:32.402 | | | 18 |
| 19 | 21 | Scott Speed | Toro Rosso-Cosworth | 1:32.867 | | | 19 |
| 20 | 22 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 1:33.666 | | | 20 |
| 21 | 18 | Tiago Monteiro | Spyker MF1-Toyota | 1:33.709 | | | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | Sakon Yamamoto | Super Aguri-Honda | No time | | | 22 |
| Source: ||||||||

### Race

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Lap | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 53 | 1:23:53.413 | 5 | 10 |
| 2 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 53 | +16.151 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | 2 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 53 | +23.953 | 6 | 6 |
| 4 | 12 | Jenson Button | Honda | 53 | +34.101 | 7 | 5 |
| 5 | 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | 53 | +43.596 | 11 | 4 |
| 6 | 8 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 53 | +46.717 | 4 | 3 |
| 7 | 7 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 53 | +48.869 | 3 | 2 |
| 8 | 16 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 53 | +1:16.095 | 9 | 1 |
| 9 | 17 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 53 | +1:16.932 | 12 | |
| 10 | 10 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Cosworth | 52 | +1 lap | 10 | |
| 11 | 4 | Pedro de la Rosa | McLaren-Mercedes | 52 | +1 lap | 13 | |
| 12 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 52 | +1 lap | 8 | |
| 13 | 15 | Robert Doornbos | Red Bull-Ferrari | 52 | +1 lap | 18 | |
| 14 | 20 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Toro Rosso-Cosworth | 52 | +1 lap | 15 | |
| 15 | 22 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 52 | +1 lap | 20 | |
| 16 | 18 | Tiago Monteiro | Spyker MF1-Toyota | 51 | +2 laps | 21 | |
| 17 | 23 | Sakon Yamamoto | Super Aguri-Honda | 50 | +3 laps | 22 | |
| 18 | 21 | Scott Speed | Toro Rosso-Cosworth | 48 | Power steering | 19 | |
| Ret | 9 | Mark Webber | Williams-Cosworth | 39 | Accident | 14 | |
| Ret | 5 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 36 | Engine | 2 | |
| Ret | 14 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Ferrari | 35 | Gearbox | 17 | |
| Ret | 19 | Christijan Albers | Spyker MF1-Toyota | 20 | Driveshaft | 16 | |
| Source: ||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| | Pos. | Driver | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Fernando Alonso* | 126 |
| 1 | 2 | Michael Schumacher* | 116 |
| 1 | 3 | Felipe Massa | 70 |
| 1 | 4 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 69 |
| | 5 | Kimi Räikkönen | 61 |
| Source: ||||
| | Pos. | Constructor | Points |
| | 1 | Renault* | 195 |
| | 2 | Ferrari* | 186 |
| | 3 | McLaren-Mercedes | 105 |
| | 4 | Honda | 78 |
| | 5 | BMW Sauber | 36 |
| Source: ||||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
* Bold text and an asterisk indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.