2006 United States Grand Prix

2006 United States Grand Prix
Date	July 2, 2006
Round	10
Track	Indianapolis
Laps	73
Weather	Hot & Sunny
Pole Position
Driver	Michael Schumacher
Time	1:10.832
Fastest Lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher
Time	1:12.719

After the debacle that was the 2005 race, Formula One returned to Indianapolis in 2006. It was greeted with the highest crowd in the six year history of the race, which surprised many insiders.

This may have had something to do with the fact that they had someone to support, as American Scott Speed took the grid for his home race.

The Michelin tyre was poor in the race, as they played it safe after their delaminating tyre in 2005. This hindered Fernando Alonso, but helped Michael Schumacher. Having said that, Alonso's team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella found some strong pace at last.

Qualifying saw Ferrari dominate, with pole-sitter Michael Schumacher a second ahead of the third placed car, and had team-mate Felipe Massa alongside him. The McLaren's were heavily fuelled so were back in th field in qualifying.

There were two huge accidents at the first two corners. At the first corner, Mark Webber collided with Christian Klien, who then hit Franck Montagny. A few yards ahead, Juan Pablo Montoya hit his own team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, and then went into Jenson Button. His front-right tyre was caught by Nick Heidfeld, who was thrown into a triple-somersault into the barriers. It is a testimant to modern safety that no driver in the accidents was unhurt. Predictably, a safety-car period resulted from this.

Upon the resumption, Takuma Sato attempted a pass on the inside of Tiago Monteiro that was never likely to happen. The two collided, and were forced to retire.

That left nine cars to battle it out. There was a battle at the back of the field between David Coulthard, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Nico Rosberg, with Rosberg losing out and not scoring a point.

The Ferrari's were in a different League, and were comforable winners. Alonso could only get fifth. This reduced Fernando Alonso's lead by six points, but it was felt that Alonso would be fine on Renault's home soil in France, where Michelin would prepare a better tyre. It was thought it to be a turning point in the season, and the battle between Schumacher and Alonso.

[edit] Results

Rank	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	73	1:34:35.199	1	10
2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	73	+7.9 sec	2	8
3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	73	+16.5 sec	3	6
4	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	73	+23.6 sec	22	5
5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	73	+28.4 sec	5	4
6	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	73	+36.5 sec	4	3
7	David Coulthard	Red Bull	72	+1 lap	17	2
8	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	72	+1 lap	20	1
9	Nico Rosberg	Williams	72	+1 lap	21
NC	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	62	11 laps	8
Ret	Christijan Albers	Midland	37	Transmission	14
Ret	Jacques Villeneuve	BMW Sauber	23	Engine	6
Ret	Tiago Monteiro	Midland	9	Damage	15
Ret	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	6	Accident	18
Ret	Jenson Button	Honda	3	Damage	7
Ret	Kimi Raikkonen	McLaren	0	Accident	9
Ret	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	0	Accident	10
Ret	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren	0	Accident	11
Ret	Mark Webber	Williams	0	Accident	12
Ret	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	0	Accident	13
Ret	Christian Klien	Red Bull	0	Accident	16
Ret	Franck Montagny	Super Aguri	0	Accident	19

2006 Formula One Season
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