German GP 2006

JULY 30, 2006

Race Incidents

Jacques Villeneuve, German GP 2006
© The Cahier Archive

Sakon Yamamoto starts from the pitlane as the team has been busy repairing the chassis damaged on Saturday morning.

* Lap 1: At the start of the race Kimi Raikkonen takes the lead from Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa. Giancarlo Fisichella overtakes Jenson Button and the Honda driver has to hold off Fernando Alonso as well. Ralf Schumacher tangles with David Coulthard at the hairpin and the Red Bull flies through the air. At the end of the lap Schumacher pits for repairs. Elsewhere the two BMWs collide and both have to pit. In the course of the first lap Nico Rosberg also crashes out.

* Lap 2: Button overtakes Fisichella to retake fourth place. Further back Coulthard overtakes Takuma Sato for 13th place

* Lap 3: As Raikkonen pulls away the order is beginning to stabilise but seventh-placed Pedro de la Rosa retires with a mechanical problem.

* Lap 4: Raikkonen's lead is up to two seconds and it is clear that he is carrying a lot less fuel than the Ferraris. Schumacher is second with Massa on his tail and there is then a big gap back to Button, although he is easily staying ahead of the Renaults of Fisichella and Alonso, while Mark Webber is up to seventh place with Rubens Barrichello behind him.

* Lap 6: Raikkonen's lead is up to 2.8secs while there is action further down the field as Coulthard passes Jarno Trulli for 11th, Scott Speed passes Takuma Sato for 13th and Christijan Albers passes Tiago Monteiro for 15th.

* Lap 8: Trulli passes Coulthard for 11th. At the back of the field Heidfeld returns to the pits to retire.

* Lap 10: Raikkonen pits - showing that McLaren's qualifying performance was achieved with a very light fuel load. The pit stop puts Ferrari into the lead with Schumacher leading Massa by 1.6secs. Raikkonen drops back to eighth place. Further back Albers overtakes Sato for 14th place.

* Lap 16: Third-placed Button goes into the pits and drops back to eighth place. At the same time Barrichello manages to pass Webber for sixth place at the hairpin.

* Lap 17: Trulli overtakes Liuzzi for 10th position.

* Lap 18: Barrichello slows with a problem. He pits and retires. Button overtakes Raikkonen to take seventh place. Down at the back Ralf Schumacher overtakes Monteiro for 16th place.

* Lap 19: Massa and Fisichella both stop.

* Lap 20: Michael Schumacher and Alonso both stop. Schumacher rejoins in the lead with Massa second and Webber up to third place, albeit 17secs behind. The Williams is clearly running a long first stop. Button is fourth ahead of Raikkonen and Christian Klien, who is also yet to stop. Fisichella is seventh ahead of Trulli and Alonso.

* Lap 21: Coulthard is 11th when he stops and drops back to 14th place.

* Lap 24: Ralf Schumacher passes Albers to take 12th place. At the back Monteiro has his first stop.

* Lap 25: Klien comes into stop and falls from sixth to 10th.

* Lap 26: Ninth-placed Tonio Liuzzi is the next to stop in his Toro Rosso. He falls back to 14th.

* Lap 27: Scott Speed is the next to stop and falls from 11th to 14th.

* Lap 28: Webber, Raikkonen and Trulli all stop. Webber drops from third to fifth, while Raikkonen falls back to seventh position with Trulli dropping back to ninth.

* Lap 29: It is now clear that everyone apart from Raikkonen is on a two-stop strategy while the Finn is going for three stops. Also stopping are Ralf Schumacher and Albers.

* Lap 31: Villeneuve crashes out of the race.

* Lap 35 : Ralf Schumacher is given a penalty for speeding in the pitlane and so has to stop again. He stays 12th.

* Lap 39: Mark Webber overtakes Giancarlo Fisichella to grab fourth place. Takuma Sato pits and retires.

* Lap 40: Fisichella is the first of the frontrunners to stop for the second time. He falls back from fifth to ninth. Coulthard is also back in the pits falling from 10th to 13th.

* Lap 41: Button stops again and falls from third to sixth.

* Lap 43: Alonso stops and his fourth place becomes eighth. Trulli overtakes Klien to take seventh position. At the back Monteiro gets a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags.

* Lap 44: Massa stops again but he stays second as Ferrari so far ahead of the chasers.

* Lap 45: Michael stops and stays in the lead, although he and Massa were side by side at the exit of the pits. Further back Speed goes for a ride across the grass.

* Lap 47: The two Ferraris are well clear of the rest with Webber second but he will to stop again. Raikkonen is fourth with Button fifth and Trulli sixth. Seventh-placed Klien stops and falls behind the two Renaults. Ralf Schumacher also has another stop and drops from 11th to 13th.

* Lap 48: Webber stops and drops from third to sixth.

* Lap 51: Trulli stops again and that drops him from fifth to eighth.

* Lap 52: Ralf Schumacher overtakes Coulthard for 10th.

* Lap 54: Coulthard is passed for 11th place by Tonio Liuzzi.

* Lap 55: Raikkonen stops again. He drops behind Button and comes out side by side with Webber but manages to hold off the Williams.

* Lap 58: Raikkonen is able to pas Button for third place.

* Lap 59: The ever-unlucky Webber slows with a mechanical problem. He pits and retires.

* Lap 61: The order is now set but Alonso goes wide coming into the stadium and bounces over the grass. As a result he finds himself under pressure from Fisichella and Trulli for fifth place.

* Lap 67: Michael Schumacher leads Massa to a dominant 1-2 victory. Raikkonen is a distant third with Button a promising fourth and the Renaults a disappointing fifth and sixth. Trulli takes seventh for Toyota and Klien ends the day with a point for Red Bull Racing. Ralf Schumacher is ninth with Liuzzi 10th, Coulthard 11th and Speed 12th. The field is completed by the two MF1s with Albers ahead of Monteiro.