Monaco GP 2006: Alonso wins, Schumacher climbs from 22nd to 5th

Fernando Alonso won the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix, round 7 of the championship, from pole position in his Renault. Juan Pablo Montoya finished second for McLaren, with David Coulthard third, handing Red Bull the first podium in the team's history. The race was decided during the Safety Car period after lap 48: first Alonso's closest pursuer Mark Webber parked his burning Williams, and shortly afterwards Kimi Räikkönen also retired with a fire at the heat shield. Then there was Michael Schumacher, who, after the qualifying scandal, drove from the pit lane (22nd on the grid) all the way up to 5th.

Even before the start, there was only one talking point. In qualifying, Schumacher was provisionally on pole, with Alonso just 0.064 seconds adrift after his first run. On his final flying lap, the Ferrari driver locked up at Rascasse and left his car stopped across the exit. Yellow flags came out, and Alonso was unable to complete his last lap. Schumacher said his attempt had been “unfortunately just a touch too much” (formula1.com). The stewards judged it deliberate, stripped him of pole and sent him to the back of the grid. That promoted Alonso to pole position.

Things went badly for the second Ferrari too: Felipe Massa had crashed at Casino in the first qualifying session and failed to set a time. As a result, Massa started 21st and Schumacher 22nd, right at the back – Schumacher, according to Wikipedia, even from the pit lane.

Alonso led into the first corner ahead of Webber in the Williams, Räikkönen and Montoya. Behind them, Nico Rosberg made a strong start, passing Jarno Trulli and Coulthard before Sainte Dévote. On lap 2, Webber braked too late at Sainte Dévote (grandprix.com: “got on the brakes a sniff late”), and Räikkönen slipped past him into 2nd place. At MF1, Tiago Monteiro and Christijan Albers made light contact, with Monteiro losing his front wing.

In the first stint, Räikkönen put Alonso under pressure, while Webber in turn pressed Räikkönen. According to grandprix.com, though, Alonso was taking it easy. Räikkönen was the first of the leading trio to pit for fuel, on lap 22, with Alonso following two laps later. That left Webber leading for one lap on lap 24 before Alonso was back in front from lap 25. After his stop, Webber rejoined behind Räikkönen and, thanks to his well-working Bridgestone tyres, showed strong pace.

After 48 laps, smoke began pouring from the rear of Webber's Williams. The exhaust gases had burnt through wiring looms, and the car caught fire at the end of the pit exit. Webber was “very disappointed”, saying reliability had let them down (crash.net). The Safety Car was deployed so the Williams could be recovered. Almost the entire field used the opportunity to make their second pit stop.

Then it was Räikkönen's turn. A heat shield that had already caught fire in first practice went up in flames again and damaged the wiring. After 50 laps, the Finn parked his McLaren behind the Safety Car. “Things just didn't go my way today,” he said afterwards (crash.net). Shortly afterwards Rosberg retired too: according to grandprix.com, his throttle stuck because of exhaust problems, and the Williams ended up nose-first in the tyre barrier at the final corner. Officially, his retirement after 51 laps is listed as an accident.

From then on, Alonso was alone at the front. Montoya suddenly found himself second but could no longer get close to the Renault. At the flag he was 14.567 seconds behind, according to Wikipedia.

Behind the top two, the closing stages were still eventful. Christian Klien retired after 56 laps with a gearbox failure. Jacques Villeneuve in the BMW Sauber was given a drive-through penalty for overtaking under the Safety Car, according to Wikipedia. Rubens Barrichello in the Honda was hit harder: he had been speeding in the pit lane and also had to take a drive-through. That put Trulli's Toyota on course for the podium.

But after 72 laps Trulli stopped near Casino with a hydraulic failure, promoting Coulthard to 3rd place. He even wore a Superman cape on the podium, as Red Bull was promoting the film “Superman Returns” that weekend (Wikipedia). Barrichello held on to fourth place. Takuma Sato in the Super Aguri had already retired after 46 laps with an electrical problem.

Schumacher gained the most places: 17, from 22nd on the grid to 5th. According to Wikipedia, he didn't make his only stop until lap 36. His long first stint and the Safety Car period carried him up the order. In the end he set the fastest lap and was right on Barrichello's tail, but couldn't find a way past. Massa gained 12 places but finished ninth, out of the points. Nick Heidfeld made up eight positions and took two points in seventh. Ralf Schumacher claimed the final point in eighth. Giancarlo Fisichella finished sixth in the second Renault.

The big losers were Webber, who retired from 2nd on the grid, and Räikkönen, who according to Eurosport already saw himself heading for victory. The remaining drivers (Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed in the Toro Rosso, Jenson Button, Albers, Villeneuve, Monteiro and Franck Montagny) finished 10th to 16th.

It was Alonso's first win in Monaco and an important step towards defending his title. In the 2006 standings he had 64 points, with Schumacher next on 43, 21 points behind. Fisichella and Räikkönen were level on 27 points each, while Montoya moved up to 5th with 23 points. In the constructors' championship, Renault had a clear lead with 91 points ahead of Ferrari (63) and McLaren (50). Coulthard's podium took Red Bull to 8 points.

Even after Monaco 2006, the man of the season was Alonso. Schumacher had lost a lot of respect that weekend but limited the damage with his drive in the race. You can find all the data on the race on our Circuit de Monaco page and in the results overview.