2006 Grand Prix de France - RaceWelcome everyone at the sunny Magny-Cours, where the race for the 11th round of the 2006 F1 Season is about to start. The drivers are already returning from the formation lap, lining up on the grid. Raikkonen will start from pole position alongside Ralf Schumacher.
The red lights are on
And it's go go go! Raikkonen keeps the lead in turn 1
After going side by side in turn 1, Verstappen now has the inner line and can pass Schumacher for second
Leinders had a bad start and dropped back to 19th
Back at the front, and after passing Kubica Montagny now tries to get 3rd from Schumacher, while Kubica has to defend against Montoya
Using Montagny's slipstream Montoya seems to have passed Kubica
Heidfeld and Webber both very late on the brakes
Luckily no crash, but Webber loses some positions
Raikkonen in the lead, Verstappen in 2nd
Kubica retook 5th from Montoya
Massa dropped back to 8th due to choosing a slow line through the hairpin
Schumacher and da Matta battling for 10th place
Raikkonen and Verstappen already with a small gap to third place
The standings after lap 1
Villeneuve trying to make use of Montoya's slipstream
But the Colombian simply shuts the door
Raikkonen takes the fastest lap
Rosberg wants to make up for his qualifying performance, but he can't find a way past his teammate yet
Coulthard had some dreadful opening laps, he dropped back from 13th to 16th and sits behind Frentzen now
They go through Nürburgring side by side
And somehow Coulthard finds a way past. Nice overtaking manoeuvre by the Scot.
Frentzen brakes a bit too early, what causes a chain reaction: Leinders bumps into Frentzen, Button bumps into Leinders
And Glock bumps into Button!
Behind them Alonso gets pushed by Lotterer, who brakes too late! What a mess, luckily noone takes damage
However Leinders has now passed Frentzen, and Alonso dropped back to last place
Rosberg and Webber still fighting for 13th
Apparently Kubica has made a slight mistake, the gaps shown are definitely not correct
This looks more like five seconds than one
The RedBull fight goes on
Missed by the cameras, da Matta has found a way past Schumacher
The standings after ten laps
Once again a strong performance by Montagny
Raikkonen very slowly pulling away from Verstappen
Lotterer moving up another position after his disastrous qualifying
Riding onboard with Kovalainen, as da Matta takes the fastest lap
But that didn't last for long, Raikkonen takes it back
Webber is off the track! Rosberg's immense pressure forced him in an error
And how on earth did this happen? He lost his right front wheel and the entire nosecone!
Here's a replay: it seems that he got lifted by a hump in the gravel. That's the end of his race
Looks like Raikkonen has made a mistake, Verstappen has closed up again
He's right behind him now, looks more like a problem at the McLaren than a mistake
Indeed, Raikkonen is forced to pit due to problems with his brakes!
He returns to the track in 16th, ahead of his former teammate Lotterer
Lotterer now too in the pits, he seems to be on a three stop strategy
There's smoke coming out of Ralf Schumacher's Toyota!
His engine has blown up and divests him of a possible podium finish
Villeneuve, da Matta, Rosberg and Button all come in for fresh tyres and fuel. Looks like they too are on 3 stops
Villeneuve dropped back behind da Matta, who's crew was much faster at the stop
Massa, Schumacher, Davidson and Coulthard are the next ones to come in
Montagny in the gravel! He has spun off in Estoril
Massa meanwhile back out in 13th, just ahead of Villeneuve
Montagny has kept his engine running, but 2nd place is gone now.
Kubica pits from 2nd, Leinders, Frentzen and Glock join him
Kubica gets back out just ahead of his teammate
Verstappen sets a new fastest lap
Montoya and Heidfeld in the pits
Montoya gets back out in 5th, but he immediately loses it to Alonso who is yet to stop
Missed by the cameras Raikkonen has passed his teammate
Verstappen with a gap of almost 40 seconds to second place now, but he hasn't stopped yet
Kovalainen in the pits, and the Ferrari crew is preparing for a stop
Only a few seconds later Verstappen comes in
Frentzen misses the braking point and hits Kovalainen
The Finn runs wide
and loses the position to the German
Verstappen out of the pits, still in the lead
Montoya and da Matta fighting for 5th place
Montagny and Alonso the last ones to do their first stop
Schumacher goes out of the slipstream and tries to pass Heidfeld
But the latter has more grip on the outer line and manages to keep his position
The gap now down to 10 seconds after Verstappen's stop, but that's still quite comfortable
Schumacher trying hard to get that 6th place, stressing his tyres quite a lot
With everyone having stopped once, here are the current standings
After failing to pass Massa, Villeneuve now has to defend against Davidson and Rosberg
Both are too late on the brakes for the Lycée pin, and thus allow Villeneuve to pull away a bit
da Matta and Montoya side by side
and the Brazilian is past the BMW
Schumacher finally managed to pass Heidfeld
da Matta and Schumacher now both in the pits for their second stop
That's Kovalainen in the wall and out of the race. According to the team radio his gearbox failed
The other 3 stoppers now all in the pits
One stop remaining for everyone, so let's take another look at the standings
That's Coulthard out of the race! He too suffers a gearbox failure
Alonso and Kubica start the round of the last stops
Riding onboard with Leinders, as Kubica gets out of the pits in front of him
Raikkonen and Montagny in the pits
Villeneuve shows Frentzen how it is to be pushed off the track, he overtakes him the same way as the German overtook Kovalainen ealier in the race
Rosberg takes advantage and slips through, too
Verstappen, Montoya and Heidfeld in for their final stops
The Dutchman retains the lead, it's his race to lose now
Massa makes it a Ferrari 1-2 for the moment
Raikkonen in 3rd, despite his problems earlier in this race
Leinders tries to take fourth from Kubica
But Kubica shuts the door, and Leinders has to slam the brakes to avoid a collision. As a result da Matta sits right behind the Honda now
He immediately pulls out of the slipstream, and they go through Nürburgring side by side
Good job by Leinders who manages to defend his position
But a few seconds later he loses it as he comes in the pits
Frentzen comes in in the same lap
One lap later Rosberg pits for fresh tyres and fuel
Glock and Massa now also in the pits
Two laps later Schumacher, Davidson and Lotterer make their final stop
Villeneuve follows them one lap later
da Matta misses the braking point for the Adelaide hairpin and bumps in Kubica
The McLaren driver keeps his car under control, but da Matta hits him again!
The Toyota driver gets through, but as some other drivers before he failed to show a clean overtaking manoeuvre
Third and last stop for Button and da Matta
With 11 laps remaining and all stops done, these are the current standings
Button about to be lapped by the group fighting for 3rd place
da Matta now behind Leinders again
Kubica has lapped Button, and it looks like Montoya and Massa have lost some seconds behind the Renault
Montoya and Massa now fighting for 4th, with Heidfeld only some seconds behind them
Two laps to go, and the gap is down to 0.25 seconds
Verstappen starts the final lap
And he wins the French GP, and also gets the fastest lap
Raikkonen finishes in 2nd
His teammate Kubica completes the podium
Thanks everyone for watching, full results will follow soon!