# 2006 French Grand Prix

The 2006 French Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grand Prix de France 2006) was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, near Magny-Cours, France on 16 July 2006. The 70-lap race was the eleventh round of the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship, the 57th French Grand Prix as part of the World Championship, and the 92nd overall. This race also marked the centenary of the first French Grand Prix in 1906.
This race was a scene of yet another record breaking milestone for Michael Schumacher, who became the first driver in F1 history to win the same Grand Prix on eight occasions (having previously won the French Grand Prix in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2004). Schumacher also achieved his 22nd career hat trick (pole position, win & fastest lap at the same race), also a record. Fernando Alonso, driving a Renault at the team's home race, finished second, whilst Schumacher's Ferrari team-mate, Felipe Massa, completed the podium by finishing in third position.
This was the first time that neither Honda was classified. It was also the 68th and final pole position of Michael Schumacher's career. Schumacher held the record for the most pole positions until Lewis Hamilton surpassed it at the 2017 Italian Grand Prix.

## 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.
| Constructor | Driver |
| Williams-Cosworth | Alexander Wurz |
| Honda | Anthony Davidson |
| Red Bull-Ferrari | Robert Doornbos |
| BMW Sauber | Robert Kubica |
| MF1-Toyota | Adrian Sutil |
| Toro Rosso-Cosworth | Neel Jani |
| Super Aguri-Honda | Sakon Yamamoto |

## Classification
### Qualifying

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Grid |
| 1 | 5 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:15.865 | 1:15.111 | 1:15.493 | 1 |
| 2 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:16.277 | 1:15.679 | 1:15.510 | 2 |
| 3 | 1 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:16.328 | 1:15.706 | 1:15.785 | 3 |
| 4 | 8 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:15.550 | 1:15.776 | 1:16.036 | 4 |
| 5 | 7 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 1:15.949 | 1:15.625 | 1:16.091 | 5 |
| 6 | 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:16.154 | 1:15.742 | 1:16.281 | 6 |
| 7 | 2 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 1:16.825 | 1:15.901 | 1:16.345 | 7 |
| 8 | 4 | Pedro de la Rosa | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:16.679 | 1:15.902 | 1:16.632 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1:16.534 | 1:15.926 | 1:18.272 | 19 |
| 10 | 14 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Ferrari | 1:16.350 | 1:15.974 | 1:18.663 | 9 |
| 11 | 9 | Mark Webber | Williams-Cosworth | 1:16.531 | 1:16.129 | | 10 |
| 12 | 16 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:16.686 | 1:16.294 | | 11 |
| 13 | 15 | Christian Klien | Red Bull-Ferrari | 1:16.921 | 1:16.433 | | 12 |
| 14 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1:17.022 | 1:17.027 | | 13 |
| 15 | 21 | Scott Speed | Toro Rosso-Cosworth | 1:17.117 | 1:17.063 | | 14 |
| 16 | 19 | Christijan Albers | MF1-Toyota | 1:16.962 | 1:17.105 | | 15 |
| 17 | 20 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Toro Rosso-Cosworth | 1:17.164 | | | 22 |
| 18 | 17 | Jacques Villeneuve | BMW Sauber | 1:17.304 | | | 16 |
| 19 | 12 | Jenson Button | Honda | 1:17.495 | | | 17 |
| 20 | 18 | Tiago Monteiro | MF1-Toyota | 1:17.589 | | | 18 |
| 21 | 23 | Franck Montagny | Super Aguri-Honda | 1:18.637 | | | 20 |
| 22 | 22 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 1:18.845 | | | 21 |
| Source: ||||||||

### Race

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 5 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 70 | 1:32:07.803 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 1 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 70 | +10.131 | 3 | 8 |
| 3 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 70 | +22.546 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | 7 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 70 | +27.212 | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | 70 | +33.006 | 6 | 4 |
| 6 | 2 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 70 | +45.265 | 7 | 3 |
| 7 | 4 | Pedro de la Rosa | McLaren-Mercedes | 70 | +49.407 | 8 | 2 |
| 8 | 16 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 69 | +1 lap | 11 | 1 |
| 9 | 14 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Ferrari | 69 | +1 lap | 9 | |
| 10 | 21 | Scott Speed | Toro Rosso-Cosworth | 69 | +1 lap | 14 | |
| 11 | 17 | Jacques Villeneuve | BMW Sauber | 69 | +1 lap | 16 | |
| 12 | 15 | Christian Klien | Red Bull-Ferrari | 69 | +1 lap | 12 | |
| 13 | 20 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Toro Rosso-Cosworth | 69 | +1 lap | 22 | |
| 14 | 10 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Cosworth | 68 | +2 laps | 19 | |
| 15 | 19 | Christijan Albers | MF1-Toyota | 68 | +2 laps | 15 | |
| 16 | 23 | Franck Montagny | Super Aguri-Honda | 67 | +3 laps | 20 | |
| Ret | 12 | Jenson Button | Honda | 61 | Engine | 17 | |
| Ret | 9 | Mark Webber | Williams-Cosworth | 55 | Wheel rim | 10 | |
| Ret | 8 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 39 | Brakes | 4 | |
| Ret | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 18 | Engine | 13 | |
| Ret | 18 | Tiago Monteiro | MF1-Toyota | 11 | Accident | 18 | |
| Ret | 22 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 0 | Transmission | 21 | |
| Source: ||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| | Pos. | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Fernando Alonso | 96 |
| | 2 | Michael Schumacher | 79 |
| | 3 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 46 |
| | 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | 43 |
| | 5 | Felipe Massa | 42 |
| Source: ||||
| | Pos. | Constructor | Points |
| | 1 | Renault | 142 |
| | 2 | Ferrari | 121 |
| | 3 | McLaren-Mercedes | 71 |
| | 4 | Honda | 32 |
| 1 | 5 | Toyota | 21 |
| Source: ||||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.