2006 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix - RaceWelcome everyone to the penultimate round of the 2006 F1 season. The fight for the championship is still on, however it will be decided between the two McLaren drivers. Kimi Raikkonen leads with 8 points, but he only qualified 12th, which means that Robert Kubica, who will start from 4th, has a big chance to close the gap today. Cristiano da Matta will start from pole, and the Toyota team will sure hope that they can win their home GP, on the track of their rivals of Honda.
At the moment the sun is shining, but the weather reports predict some light rain in about an hour.
The cars are lined up on the grid, the five red lights are on
And they're on the way! Da Matta keeps the lead, and a very bad start for Kubica
He lost 3 places and sits behind Coulthard now
Brilliant start for Lotterer, he gained 4 places and is in 9th
Heidfeld in 11th right behind his teammate, who too had a bad start
Kubica goes out of the slipstream and passes Coulthard
Heidfeld takes 10th from his teammate
Button now past Villeneuve up in 18th
Glock has passed Raikkonen, who seems to struggle a bit on the first meters
Button moves up to 17th after passing the second Williams of Schumacher
Coulthard drops back another place behind Trulli
Raikkonen retakes the position he lost one lap earlier
His teammate too with a successful overtaking manoeuvre
Verstappen has spun off in turn 1! He keeps the engine running, but drops back to last
Trulli now also past Sutil
Another position lost for Coulthard as Lotterer passes him in 130R
Kubica now back in the place where he started
Now Frentzen has spun off in the same place as Verstappen before, this drops him back to last
Meanwhile Raikkonen has passed Montagny
Trulli tries to follow Kubica, has gone past Montoya
Vettel passes Schumacher in turn 1, the young German really flying on the first few laps
Fighting back through the field, Verstappen now gets past Villeneuve, after having passed Webber a bit earlier
The next one is off in turn 1, now it's Heidfeld. But unlike the other two he is stuck in the gravel and thus out of the race
Both Lotterer and Raikkonen out of the slipstream, trying to overtake the car in front
Lotterre makes it past
and Raikkonen does, too
Vettel ahead of Button in 14th now
The other Renault too loses a position
And Raikkonen passes Sutil and moves up into the points, it's Raikkonen 85 to Kubica 81 now
Going in 130R Lotterer flies past Montoya
Kubica moves up to 3rd now
Impressive performance by Vettel so far, started 22nd and has passed Glock for 12th place
Verstappen in 15th after having passed Button
Raikkonen pulls out of Montoya's slipstream
and is past the BMW even before 130R
That's da Matta off in turn 1! He throws away the lead! He keeps the engine running, but drops back to 5th
This means that Massa is leading now
Going in 130R Glock passes Montagny
da Matta in 7th now, behind Lotterer and Raikkonen! How did this happen?
Here's a replay, he has run wide in turn 7
Vettel in 10th now
And this explains his speed, he seems to be on a 3 stop strategy
Kubica in the pits too, as well as Trulli and Verstappen
Alonso has spun off in turn 1, drops him back to last place
fuel and new tyres for da Matta
Kubica has spun under braking for the Casio Triangle while trying to get past Glock
he continues in 19th place
Lotterer up in 3rd, great race so far for him
Verstappen in 19th after having passed Kubica
Going into 130R Glock takes 9th from Montagny
just to come in the pits a few seconds later
Sutil is off the track and out of the race with a broken suspension!
Alonso in the pits
And there come places 1 to 4 for their first stops
The BMWs now in 2nd and 3rd, behind Massa who has kept the lead
Paffett comes in
All three here locking up the brakes. There's contact, but luckily no damage to the cars
Vettel tries again in the next lap, but Frentzen defends his position. Verstappen uses this situation and gets a better line through the chicane
and passes Vettel in turn 1. And Frentzen goes off in turn 1!
Coulthard in the pits now
Missed by the cameras Trulli has gone past Montagny
The standings after 23 laps
Frentzen off the track again, this time it's caused by a loose wheel which ends his race
da Matta goes past Lotterer in 6th
Verstappen and Webber coming out of 130R side by side
Webber defends his position, and Vettel tries to pass Verstappen on the outside
Bad decision, as Kubica manages to pass him
One lap later Verstappen finds a way past Webber
The Australian loses another position as Kubica passes him in turn 1
Verstappen now passing Villeneuve, with Webber already out of sight in only one lap
Now Webber is also passed by his teammate
Verstappen in the pits, Vettel follows him some seconds later
Davidson runs a bit wide in 130R, and immediately loses a place to da Matta
Montagny on the way to his crew
Kubica now too past Villeneuve
Webber, still on his first set of tyres, really struggling, and Paffett gets past
Montoya in for his first stop
while his teammate passes Schumacher
Kubica also comes in
Schumacher loses another place to Trulli
da Matta in the pits
Glock in the second Super Aguri passes Webber, too
Wait, he doesn't. Webber fights back and keeps his position
Smoke coming out of Montagny's Toro Rosso!
Schumacher in the pits
and Montagny out of the race with a blown engine. Double DNF for Toro Rosso
Webber finally in for his first stop
First stop also for Villeneuve
Lotterer loses 5th to Trulli
Another one has spun in turn 1, now it's Schumacher! He continues in last place
da Matta has passed Montoya
The standings with 18 laps to go. Comfortable lead for Massa
Kubica and Verstappen side by side through 130R
Verstappen stays in front
Massa in the pits for his final stop
Alonso also in, his teammate Button one lap later
Coulthard and Glock doing their final stops
On the way to 130R Raikkonen passes Davidson for second
Paffett pits from 8th
Raikkonen, Davidson and Trulli doing their stops in the same lap
Lotterer pulls off the track with electronical problems! Midland loses some important points here
Vettel in the pits for his 3rd stop
Kubica passes Coulthard
and comes in for his last stop a few seconds later
da Matta also in for his third and last stop
All stops done, 9 laps to go, these are the current standings. We've seen many different strategies today
Montoya in second, but Raikkonen is closing the gap very quick
da Matta takes 6th from Coulthard
Vettel has passed his teammate for 14th
Raikkonen now pulls out of Montoya's slipstream
and gets past
Verstappen in 10th after passing Glock
2 laps to go, and Davidson has closed up to Montoya
They're going through 130R side by side
and Montoya manages to stay in front
Kubica in 9th has closed the gap to Paffett, but even if he gets past, this isn't enough to keep his title hopes alive
Vettel now past Button in 13th
Massa wins the Japanese GP with a faultless drive
Davidson tries again to get on the podium
Montoya doesn't give up
But Davidson makes it past
Raikkonen finishes second and is the 2006 World Champion!
Davidson completes the podium with his move on the final meters. 4th is Montoya, behind him Trulli and da Matta
Coulthard finishes 7th
and Paffett gets the last point for 8th
Thanks everyone for watching!