2006 Brazilian F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Brazilian Grand Prix
Track: Autodromo Interlagos

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

Felipe MASSA won his 2nd F1 World Championship race at the 2006 Brazilian F1 GP, a home victory for the Sao Paulo-born driver. The Ferrari driver started from pole and won at Interlagos by 18.658 seconds from Fernando Alonso, whose second place sealed his 2nd F1 World Drivers Championship. It was the 195th win for the Ferrari F1 team, Massas 2nd win of the season, and Michael Schumachers final race of his Ferrari era in fourth.

Massa pole in his home Grand Prix

Interlagos on 22 October 2006 opened with Felipe Massa taking pole at his home Grand Prix with a 1:10.680 lap, a huge moment for the Sao Paulo-born driver. Raikkonen second for McLaren, Trulli third for Toyota, Alonso fourth. Michael Schumacher qualified only 10th after fuel-pump problems in Q2 ended his final Ferrari qualifying campaign in the second session.

Race day: Massa dominates, Alonso seals title with second, Schumacher rages through field

Massa led 69 of the 71 laps at Interlagos, controlling the race from pole. Alonso ran a controlled second-place drive that was all he needed for the drivers title. But the real story was Michael Schumacher, who started 10th, suffered a puncture on lap 9 that dropped him to 19th and last, and then delivered one of the great final-race drives of any modern F1 season, carving through the field to finish fourth. His fastest lap on lap 70 (1:12.162) was faster than Massas race-lap best by 0.715 seconds. Button third for Honda, Raikkonen fifth for McLaren, Fisichella sixth for Renault.

Alonso back-to-back World Champion, Schumacher Ferrari farewell

Fernando Alonsos second-place finish gave him back-to-back World Championships at 25, becoming the youngest double champion in F1 history. Michael Schumachers fourth-place finish, from 19th on lap 9, was widely called one of the finest race-day performances of his career. It was the last time Michael Schumacher raced in Ferrari red, and the tifosi at Interlagos gave him a farewell salute. Renault also secured a second consecutive constructors title, 206 to Ferraris 201.

Final championship: Alonso 134, Michael 121, Massa 80

Fernando Alonso 134 points, 7 wins. Michael Schumacher 121, 7 wins. Massa 80, 2 wins. Michael Schumachers Ferrari era ended with the sport in transition, Kimi Raikkonen moving to Maranello for 2007, McLaren and Hamilton coming into view. The Ferrari-Schumacher combination that had defined 2000-2005 had won 5 drivers titles and 6 constructors together, and Michael left F1 as the winningest driver in history with 91 F1 wins.

Classification 2006 Brazilian F1 GP

Fastest lap: 1:12.162 min. by Michael Schumacher

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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