2006 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix - RaceWelcome everyone to the third last round of the 2006 F1 season. The fight for the championship is still open, with Kubica leading 2 points ahead of his teammate Raikkonen. Massa and da Matta also still have the chance to win it, but they're over 20 points behind the McLaren duo, so they'd need a good result today combined with few to no points for the McLaren drivers. With the four of them all starting in the top 5, joined by Jarno Trulli, everything is set up for an exciting race. The weather will also be an important factor today, as currently it's raining. But as the reports say it'll stop in a few minutes and stay dry for about an hour, all drivers have decided to start on slicks.
The red lights are on.
Very good start for the McLarens, Kubica has passed da Matta
But the Brazilian stays alongside and now has the better line in turn 3
And the director decides to switch to Verstappen, who dropped back 2 places to 14th
Back with Kubica, and he's in 5th now! How did this happen?
The replay shows that he was alongside da Matta in turn 4
Apparently the traction on the outside was pretty bad, he just couldn't get up to speed and lost out to Trulli and Massa, too
At the back end Villeneuve and Coulthard switched places
Lotterer dropped back to 12th, behind him Verstappen passes Sutil for 13th
The standings after lap 1
Very optimistic attempt by Verstappen here, luckily no contact
However Sutil got right behind the Dutchman, and manages to pass him in turn 1
Quite a queue behind Lotterer, maybe he's on a different strategy today
Coulthard passes Alonso for 20th
Shortly after Button tries the same
They're side by side in turn 1
Which gives Button the inner line for turn 3, and allows him to pass his teammate
Sutil a bit late on the brakes for turn 1
Verstappen takes this chance and gets past
One lap later he passes Lotterer at the same place
Lotterer in 14th now, he has lost another position
The replay shows us how Sutil overtook him in turn 1
Lotterer really struggling with the heavy car, Heidfeld now also gets past him
Vettel now alongside his fellow countryman, as the latter run wide in the final corner
Vettel to his left, Webber to his right side, this situation reminds me of Spa 2000
And Webber got ahead of his teammate, great overtaking by the Australian
Meanwhile at the front Raikkonen tries to pull away from the Toyotas
Schumacher in trouble, his car is on fire! A blown up engine means an ealry end for his race
Lotterer in last, what has happened here?
The replay shows us that he has spun in the final corner
Ealry first stop for Kubica, did his team change the strategy as he was stuck behind Massa?
No good call from the McLaren crew, he gets out right behind Villeneuve
But he doesn't stay there long, he passes the Canadian on the outside in turn 6
Montagny passes Montoya in turn 14
Massa now in the pits, followed by Montoya and Glock
According to the standings, Massa dropped back behind Kubica
Frentzen too has been in the pits, pretty long stop for him
Verstappen now coming in
Kubica has dropped back behind Villeneuve again
Now Button is past, too, and Massa already is alongside him. The championship leader seems to have a problem
He has! His car is on fire, an oil leak ends his race
da Matta coming to the pits, he has to pass Raikkonen if he wants to keep his championship hopes alive
Montagny in the pits as well
There comes Raikkonen, followed by Trulli
This puts Paffett in the lead
Sutil, Heidfeld and Webber all in for their first stop
There comes Paffett, followed by Davidson, Villeneuve and Button
Paffett gets back out ahead of Massa, but we still don't know about the situation at the front
Coulthard comes in for new tyres and some fuel
Lotterer has spun again, this way he won't get the one-stop strategy to work any more
Here come the standings, and Raikkonen has kept the lead. It even looks like he was able to extend it
Massa back in 4th after passing Paffett in turn 1
Alonso up in 6th, seems that he too is on a one stop strategy
Davidson now on the inside, as Alonso missed the braking point for turn 1
Going side by side through turn 3
Alonso still not giving up, but Davidson has the advantage of fresher tyres
And gets past the Spaniard in turn 6
Only three laps after his first stop Coulthard has to pit again due to throttle problems
Heidfeld takes 12th from Verstappen
Raikkonen has pulled away from da Matta, while Trulli has managed to close up to his teammate
Massa comes in for an early second stop, he might be on a three stop strategy today
Alonso now heading towards his crew for his first and only stop
Sutil with a good race so far, currently holding the last point
Lotterer in the pits for his stop, he'll be happy to finally get some new tyres
Glock, Heidfeld and Button also in the pits now for their final stops
Davidson follows them one lap later
There comes Raikkonen, with a series of fast laps he built a gap of 15s to da Matta
Trulli too in the pits, as well as Villeneuve and Sutil in the following laps
That's Webber being way too fast in the pit entry
He hits the wall and throws away what has been a good race so far
Verstappen, da Matta and Paffett coming in
This puts Raikkonen back in the lead
da Matta gets out in 3rd, ahead of his teammate
Frentzen, Vettel and Montagny are the next ones to do their last stop
Montagny gets back on the track right behind Glock, who did some good laps and thus managed to stay ahead of the Toro Rosso
Coulthard in the pits for his last stop
And there comes Massa for a third planned stop, this will throw him out of the points
With all the stops being done, let's take a look at the standings
That's Sutil off the track, a gearbox problem makes him the 4th retirement of the day
With the one stop strategy Alonso managed to get in the points, but the drivers behind him will have fresher tyres for the final laps
Riding onboard with Massa, and it has started to rain again!
Paffett in the pits again due to brake problems with 10 laps to go
Heidfeld trying to get the last point from Alonso
Side by side in turn 14
But Heidfeld has no traction on the very inside, which allows Montoya to pass him
Paffett back out with intermediates, this may be his only chance to get back in the points
Spray now coming up behind the cars on the straight before turn 11
The start finish straight still is dry, difficult situation now for the drivers and teams
Missed by the cameras Montagny has found a way past Glock
But going in turn 11 Glock retakes his position
Montagny thus can use the slipstream on the long straight and they swap positions again
That's Montoya going off!
According to the team radio he got a puncture under braking for turn 14. That's the end of his race
Massa now fighting with Heidfeld for the last point
Paffett at the inside of Vettel in turn 14
But Vettel manages to stay in front
Heidfeld now side by side with Alonso
And he passes him on the outside in turn 7. Great move
Paffett now past Vettel
The standings with 6 laps to go, and the conditions keep getting worse. The laptimes have dropped by 15 seconds!
Paffett now also past Verstappen, he has a big advantage being on inters
Heidfeld almost loses his car in turn 6, and thus allows Alonso to repass him
Paffett at the inside of Massa in turn 14
He has a way better traction and also gets past Heidfeld
and even Alonso! Great move, passing 3 cars in one turn
But now he risks too much and runs wide in the last corner
What makes him lose 4 positions
Verstappen hits his teammate under braking
Both Ferraris run wide, luckily no damage to the cars
Heidfeld now past Alonso again
Paffett slips through as well
Now Heidfeld runs wide in turn 1, what allows Paffett, Alonso and Vettel to pass him
Vettel and Alonso side by side in turn 6
And Vettel passes him on the outside. The young German is doing pretty well in these tricky conditions
Trulli in the pits with 2 laps to go, he has electrical problems
His crew sends him back out on slicks, why on earth didn't they change his tyres? Paffett on inters is lapping 5s faster than everyone else
He easily could have get Davidson, who only is about 4 seconds in front of him
Raikkonen starts the final lap
And he brings home his 4th win this season, and is now leading the championship by 8 points
Second place goes to da Matta
Davidson in third completes the podium
Massa and Alonso still fighting for 9th
With Massa having the better end, and Alonso even dropping back to 11th behind Villeneuve
Thanks everyone for watching, full results will be up very soon!