Hello and welcome to coverage of the 2006 Spanish GP live from the Circuit de Catalunya. Yesterday we saw McLaren lock out the front row for the second race in succession. The question today however is whether anyone can stop either of the McLaren’s from winning today’s grand prix. However, before we begin we must note that we are currently dealing with some technical issues as despite what the lap counter may say we will only be running 66 laps today, so once the counter reads
5/71, all will have been said and done.
Anyway onto the action, we are all set and ready to go…
And we’re underway, and Raikkonen is slow off the line and Glock passes him for 2nd
But Kubica leads the field going through turn 3
As the field approaches turn 10 Coulthard has also managed to make his way past Raikkonen as well!
And Massa wants to try his luck as well…
But the pair touch! But luckily both can continue
At the front Glock is quite close to Kubica round 13…
And is even closer down the main straight…
But Kubica maintains his lead for now as we take a look at the standings
Back with his team mate, Kimi has also lost out to Massa in the Ferrari, who is trying to get past Coulthard’s BMW
But the Scot keeps Massa behind
Whilst Kimi is dropping back into the clutches of Heidfeld’s Toro Rosso
Glock seems closer this time around
And the pair are side by side
And Glock takes the lead!
Meanwhile at the back Villeneuve has spun his Williams at turn 13!
It appears Jacques has tangled with Leinder’s BAR, with the pair now rounding off the field
And whilst we were watching that Heidfeld has passed Raikkonen as well
And now the German is seizing up Coulthard’s 4th place
And he makes the move stick
Now Kimi is next in line to overtake the BMW
And he pulls off a fairly simple move under braking for turn 1
But he’s run wide through turn 1!
Allowing both Coulthard and Alonso back through!
Massa is quickly catching the McLaren ahead of him
Meanwhile Raikkonen is quickly amending his own error
And he’s back in 6th
Further down the field, Verstappen is under pressure from Schumacher in the Williams
But not for much longer
However, his brother is off at turn 3!
He rejoins just ahead of Villeneuve’s Williams
And the pair almost touch! That could have been nasty…
Up at the front, Massa is tucked right up behind Kubica
He pulls out down the main straight
And makes the move stick down at turn 1
Right at the back, Da Matta is lining up Vettel
And he gets the job done
Heidfeld has his sights set on Kubica
And he gets him round the outside of turn 12. A very nifty piece of driving there
Meanwhile Glock and Massa are locked in a drag race for the lead
And the Ferrari takes the lead to the grand prix!
But as they enter turn 5 Glock is back in the lead!
It appears that Massa made the same mistake as Raikkonen in turn 3
Allowing Glock to retake the lead under braking for turn 4
And the pair are still fighting at turn 10
But as they scuffle at the front, Heidfeld is quickly catching up
But Massa gets the job done, again, in turn 1 and retakes his lead
Davidson is the next driver to have a go Coulthard
And the Honda driver moves up into 9th
And Montagny is looking to move Coulthard into 11th
But he’ll have to wait for now
His team mate however is making very good progress up at the front
And he challenges Glock under braking for turn 10
And he moves up into 2nd
Frentzen meanwhile is making very good progress from his 22nd place grid slot and finds himself up in 14th
Verstappen however is struggling in the opening laps and finds himself in 17th
Frentzen is side by side with Montoya
And he moves himself up to 13th
Whilst Da Matta demotes Verstappen into 18th
Vettel however is still stuck behind the Dutchman
Frentzen meanwhile has found a way past Schumacher and is having a look at Coulthard
And he goes through, it’s been a superb drive by the veteran so far
Disaster over at McLaren, as Kubica is forced to pit early with an electrical issue!
And whilst Kubica is in the pits, Schumacher is looking to follow Frentzen’s lead
As he too moves past Coulthard who’s dropping like a stone
Kubica meanwhile rejoins in 21st, he’ll have to work hard to get anything out of this race now
And with 10 down, let’s take a look at the standings
Now clear of Coulthard, Frentzen is quickly on the back of Montagny
And he’s up into 9th, that’s 13 places he’s gained so far
Kubica gets his comeback underway as he passes Ralf Schumacher for 20th place
Whilst Frentzen is looking to move himself up into the points
And he does so with ease
Looks like Coulthard has made a little detour into the turn 3 gravel trap
And he loses out to his team mate and Webber in the process
Whilst Frentzen seems to be thriving today, his team mate is not faring as well as he’s passed by Da Matta’s Toyota
Vettel is back for more against Verstappen’s Ferrari
And this time he makes the move stick
Da Matta meanwhile has already chosen his next victim
And the Brazilian moves himself into 14th
A Kubica update. The McLaren man has just passed Villeneuve for 19th
And Ralf Schumacher is off the track!
Unfortunately for Toyota it looks to be terminal
Frentzen meanwhile is all over Button’s Renault
And he moves himself into 6th place, is there anyone who can stop the Frentzen charge?
Da Matta is on the move again as he moves into 13th at the expense of Coulthard
Verstappen has been off the road at the turn 8 chicane, dropping himself to 20th
Alonso meanwhile is under huge pressure from both Raikkonen and the charging Frentzen
But the status quo is maintained through turns 1 and 2
Coulthard however has had a dreadful couple of laps and now finds himself down in 19th
And with 20 down and the pit crews getting ready now would be a good time for some standings
Massa is first to put from the lead as Heidfeld follows him in
Meanwhile Raikkonen is very close to Alonso under braking for turn 10
And they touch! Alonso spins!
It looks as though Kimi forced Alonso onto the grass and Fernando was too greedy on the throttle
Back in pitlane Massa and Heidfeld have made their stops
And they come out in 3rd and 5th
Frentzen is also in, explaining his early speed
Whilst Alonso is back underway in 20th place
Frentzen is back out in 19th
Heidfeld is soon on the move as he retakes 4th from Kovalainen
The two German heavyweights are going head to head
And it’s Vettel who comes out on top
Davidson, who’s had a quite race so far, is up in 7th and is very close to the Renault of Button ahead
The two Williams’ are scrapping with each other
And Villeneuve moves to the inside
And takes the place
Back up front however, Massa and Raikkonen are scrabbling over 2nd place
Raikkonen keeps his 2nd place for now
Davidson meanwhile has moved past Button and is up to 6th
Coulthard for once appears to be making positive progress
And he moves up into 16th
Raikkonen and Massa almost touch at turn 10
Allowing Heidfeld to join the party down the main straight
But neither can pass the Finn in turn 1
And they’re at it again on the run down to turn 10
But Massa has a huge lock up
That error has given Raikkonen at bit a breathing space and put Heidfeld right on the back of the Ferrari
Leinders is also in a bit of trouble as well as he pulls off the track
And he’s out with a transmission failure
Back at the front the Kimi train is on the front stage
And Massa moves to the inside
But he still can’t get passed
Glock meanwhile is still out in front as he passes Leinder’s stricken BAR
And speaking of stricken cars, we have a slow moving Williams on track
But what’s this! Massa’s pulled off and is out of the race!
That’s put Raikkonen at the mercy of Heidfeld
But he too can’t get passed
And he tries again at turn 10
But Raikkonen outbreaks himself!
And he’s spun it!
That’s put Raikkonen right down the field
But whilst Kimi is in a world of troubles, his team mate has made his way back up to 7th
Make that 6th
Villeneuve meanwhile has just been passed by Frentzen for 13th
Heidfeld is catching Glock at a vast rate of knots
Whilst his team mate is being caught by the McLaren of Kubica
And the pair are side by side
And Kubica moves up to 5th
Meanwhile we have slow moving McLaren at the opposite end of the circuit
And he’s forced to pit with an electrical problem, that’s definitely wrecked his afternoon
His team mate however is still recovering nicely
As he passes Button to move up to 4th
And as the one stoppers prepare to make their stops, let’s take a look at the standings
And Glock is the first driver to pit as Heidfeld passes him to take the lead
Raikkonen’s day is just going from bad to worse as he runs into the gravel trap at turn 13
And Kovalainen passes his fellow Finn as he too enters the pits along with Button
But Super Aguri have made a massive error as Kovalainen is forced to wait for his team mate’s pit crew to finish working on Glock’s car
Glock is back out in 6th
Whilst Kovalainen is forced to wait for his pit crew to emerge
And it looks as though Renault made the exact same error. Looks as though both teams didn’t expect their two drivers to be so close together in the race
After that calamity in the pits, Alonso is out in 17th with Heikki just ahead in 16th
Frentzen is currently sat in 7th as Glock passes Webber for 5th up ahead
And Frentzen is looking to follow the Super Aguri through
But Webber makes the job much easier for Frentzen by pulling into the pits
Da Matta has also pitted. He returns to the track in 13th
Montagny is the next driver in
Along with Montoya in the BMW
They rejoin in 10th and 11th
Raikkonen meanwhile is still trundling along at the back of the field
But Button and Verstappen come together right in front of him!
And the Brit spins!
Montagny is very close to Davidson going through 13
And he manages to force his way through in turn 1
Kubica meanwhile has taken to the pits from 4th
I believe a car’s just pulled off the track ahead of Button
And the unlucky customer is Villeneuve. He’s out as well
Kubica rejoins the track in 4th
Lotterer has also pitted and returns to the track in 10th
Frentzen is up to 3rd and is challenging Glock for 2nd
And he makes it through, very impressive considering he started the race 22nd
Montoya is off in the turn 1 gravel trap
And it looks like he’s beached the car, that’ll be the end of the race for him
Our leader is in from the lead
And rejoins with a comfortable lead
Frentzen also takes to the pit lane, allowing Glock back into 2nd place
He rejoins in 6th, just behind Davidson
And with the pitstops over and done with, let’s take a look at the standings
And Verstappen is the latest driver to suffer a technical failure
Looks as though his engines blown. It’s not been a good afternoon for the Tifosi
Frentzen has Davidson in his sights
And he’s up to 5th
Kubica is slowing closing the gap to Glock ahead, but will he have enough time to get the job done
And Coulthard is also closing in on Lotterer
Kimi’s back in the pits, this time however it’s for just for fuel this time
Da Matta is closing in on Davidson
And he makes the move stick just as Kimi pulls out of the pits
Kubica is visibly closer to Glock. He just has 8 laps to get the job done
A nice battle is developing for the final points position
Whilst Kubica is very close to Glock now
But he can’t make it passed in turn 1
But he tries again in turn 4
No cigar
But he’s clearly got Glock rattled
Montagny meanwhile has taken a slight detour
Whilst Lotterer is looking to take away Webber’s 8th place
And he does so easily
Meanwhile Glock and Kubica are at it again
But he still get make it past
But Kubica’s slightly ahead down the straight
And he finally makes it!
And Coulthard demotes Webber to 10th
Frentzen is also catching Montagny for 4th
Whilst his team mate is looking to double his reward his afternoons work
And he’s up the inside on the run to turn 1
But he can’t make it work
And the battle for 7th now passes a very slow moving Toyota
And Da Matta is forced to pit with a transmission problem
Whilst Coulthard, Lotterer and Davidson are three wide going into turn 10
And Lotterer makes it through
And Coulthard follows him through
Meanwhile back up front Nick, with 66 laps being run, rather abruptly wins the 2006 Spanish GP!
Full results to follow
EDIT:*BMW Sauber deducted 10pts for inactvityDOTDDriver of the day goes to Nick Heidfeld for proving that the McLaren's are not completely invincible.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2013 01:22AM by F1_Manager.