The Bahrain Grand Prix 2006 was the 1st round of the 2006 F1 season, and took place at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, on March 12th.

Fernando Alonso won the race after starting in the 4th position, followed by Michael Schumacher, who originally had the pole position, and Kimi Räikkönen completing the podium with an expectacular comeback, all the way from the 22nd position of the grid.

Final results

1
3
ALO
Fernando Alonso
Renault
1:29:46.205
Finished
2
1
MSC
Michael Schumacher
Ferrari
+1.246
Finished
3
19
RAI
Kimi Räikkönen
McLaren
+19.360
Finished
4
1
BUT
Jenson Button
Honda
+19.992
Finished
5
-
MON
Juan Pablo Montoya
McLaren
+37.048
Finished
6
1
WEB
Mark Webber
Williams
+41.932
Finished
7
5
ROS
Nico Rosberg
Williams
+1:03.043
Finished
8
-
KLI
Christian Klien
Red Bull
+1:06.771
Finished
9
7
MAS
Felipe Massa
Ferrari
+1:09.907
Finished
10
3
COU
David Coulthard
Red Bull
+1:15.541
Finished
11
4
LIU
Vitantonio Liuzzi
Toro Rosso
+1:25.997
Finished
12
2
HEI
Nick Heidfeld
BMW Sauber
+1 Lap
13
3
SPE
Scott Speed
Toro Rosso
+1 Lap
14
3
SCH
Ralf Schumacher
Toyota
+1 Lap
15
9
BAR
Rubens Barrichello
Honda
+1 Lap
16
2
TRU
Jarno Trulli
Toyota
+1 Lap
17
2
TMO
Tiago Monteiro
MF1
+2 Laps
18
2
SAT
Takuma Sato
Super Aguri
+4 Laps
19
2
IDE
Yuji Ide
Super Aguri
Mechanical
20
9
VIL
Jacques Villeneuve
BMW Sauber
Engine
21
12
FIS
Giancarlo Fisichella
Renault
Hydraulics
22
4
ALB
Christijan Albers
MF1
Driveshaft
Show all

Race evolution

Pit Stops

Unfortunately we do not have pit stops information for this race.

Strategy

Unfortunately we do not have strategy information for this race..

Incidents

There were some incidents during the race, with 5 drivers who didn't manage to cross the finish line.

These included, Yuji Ide, who suffered from an unidentified mechanical problem on lap 35, Jacques Villeneuve, who suffered an engine malfunction on lap 29, Giancarlo Fisichella, who experienced an hydraulic malfunction on lap 21, and Christijan Albers, who suffered a driveshaft problem on lap 0.

Mechanical

  • Yuji Ide
    Lap 35

Engine

  • Jacques Villeneuve
    Lap 29

Hydraulics

  • Giancarlo Fisichella
    Lap 21

Driveshaft

  • Christijan Albers
    Lap 0

Qualifying

#1
MSC
#2
MAS
#3
BUT
#4
ALO
#5
MON
#6
BAR
#7
WEB
#8
KLI
#9
FIS
#10
HEI
#11
VIL
#12
ROS
#13
COU
#14
TRU
#15
LIU
#16
SPE
#17
SCH
#18
ALB
#19
TMO
#20
SAT
#21
IDE
#22
RAI

Michael Schumacher managed to get the pole position by 0.047 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:31.431. Felipe Massa was right behind him, helping Ferrari score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.

Q1

  • Fernando Alonso
    1:32.433
  • Jenson Button
    1:32.603
  • Giancarlo Fisichella
    1:32.934
  • Nico Rosberg
    1:32.945
  • Juan Pablo Montoya
    1:33.233
  • Michael Schumacher
    1:33.310
  • Nick Heidfeld
    1:33.374
  • Mark Webber
    1:33.454
  • Felipe Massa
    1:33.579
  • David Coulthard
    1:33.678
  • Jacques Villeneuve
    1:33.882
  • Rubens Barrichello
    1:33.922
  • Jarno Trulli
    1:33.987
  • Scott Speed
    1:33.995
  • Christian Klien
    1:34.308
  • Vitantonio Liuzzi
    1:34.439
  • Ralf Schumacher
    1:34.702
  • Christijan Albers
    1:35.724
  • Tiago Monteiro
    1:35.900
  • Takuma Sato
    1:37.411
  • Yuji Ide
    1:40.270

Q2

  • Fernando Alonso
    1:31.215
  • Juan Pablo Montoya
    1:31.487
  • Giancarlo Fisichella
    1:31.831
  • Nick Heidfeld
    1:31.958
  • Felipe Massa
    1:32.014
  • Michael Schumacher
    1:32.025
  • Jenson Button
    1:32.025
  • Christian Klien
    1:32.106
  • Mark Webber
    1:32.309
  • Rubens Barrichello
    1:32.322
  • Jacques Villeneuve
    1:32.456
  • Nico Rosberg
    1:32.620
  • David Coulthard
    1:32.850
  • Jarno Trulli
    1:33.066
  • Vitantonio Liuzzi
    1:33.416
  • Scott Speed
    1:34.606

Q3

  • Michael Schumacher
    1:31.431
  • Felipe Massa
    1:31.478
  • Jenson Button
    1:31.549
  • Fernando Alonso
    1:31.702
  • Juan Pablo Montoya
    1:32.164
  • Rubens Barrichello
    1:32.579
  • Mark Webber
    1:33.006
  • Christian Klien
    1:33.112
  • Giancarlo Fisichella
    1:33.496
  • Nick Heidfeld
    1:33.926

Track evolution

Q1
-1.111
seconds faster
Q2
0.515
seconds slower
Q3

As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 15 out of the 16 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.

The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. That being said, the changing conditions of the track made it difficult to find these limits, and only 3 drivers were able to improve their Q2 times.