The Complete 2006 Australian GP Review

Weird things happen in Melbourne. In previous years, the amount of incidents, action and upset seen in Grands Prix at the Albert Park track could have perhaps been explained by the event's season opening position. Surely it was just post-winter race rustiness that caused top drivers to do uncharacteristically daft things, and led to such unpredictable results?

Obviously not. This year the drivers arrived in Melbourne having already had two races to conquer their first night nerves and stabilise their performances. Yet the 2006 Australian Grand Prix saw four safety car periods, countless destructive accidents, and drivers lapping four seconds off the pace at one moment, then suddenly matching the leaders.

The chaos was mainly caused by the combination of a dirty and constantly changing surface, and wildly fluctuating weather conditions that made finding grip and generating tyre temperature such a challenge.

But it was far from a simple case of one tyre company hitting on the perfect formula for this constantly mutating test of science, bravery and ingenuity, and the other falling short. Instead tiny nuances of set-up and driving style made the difference, as the way that the cars worked their tyres became all important.

So did Fernando Alonso win and Jenson Button go into freefall purely because the nature of the Renault chassis generates more tyre temperature more quickly than the Honda's design? Button was unequivocal.

"As soon as the safety car came out we were screwed as the tyres lost their temperature," he said. "It's a weakness we've had with the car. There was nothing I could do."

Alonso wasn't so sure...

"I warmed the tyres very, very aggressively," he explained. "I saw Jenson not warming the tyres too much, and I was much more ready for the restart."

The wild variety in lap times and the number of safety car interruptions gave the race the sort of episodic and capricious character more commonly associated with series like Champ Car, where full course yellows completely reset the nature of a race, and the narrative's ending is rarely obvious until the final moments.

Of course some will class such races as the ultimate in motorsport entertainment, while others see them as an amateurish shambles not befitting the sport's pinnacle. But even people who found the safety car interruptions tedious and unjust, or thought that the sight of Michael Schumacher being pressured by Scott Speed was rather distasteful, will have surely appreciated the amount of overtaking that the race produced.

Perhaps the carnage and randomness would become tiresome if every GP was like this. Anyway, few modern tracks are comparable to Albert Park, so the majority of races will surely remain more pleasing for the purist. But sometimes, just once or twice a season, weird can be good.

Practice

Honda's Anthony Davidson maintained his customary position atop the Friday practice timesheets.

His main challenge in the morning came from an unusual source, as Red Bull Racing's Robert Doornbos took second place, 0.3 seconds in arrears, ahead of Jacques Villeneuve, who took advantage of a looming engine change to complete plenty of Friday laps with the old power unit. This was just as well seeing as BMW number three Robert Kubica suffered an engine failure of his own halfway after 34 minutes.

There was more competition for the top spot in the afternoon, as Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Alex Wurz all took a turn in front before Davidson produced a 1:26.822 lap to pip his Williams counterpart by 0.01 seconds. Kubica used a fresh engine to go third.

The circuit was causing headaches for quite a few drivers. Nico Rosberg admitted that it was "a little bit more difficult than I expected" and rued his limited Friday mileage after finishing the day in 22nd place. Both Vitantonio Liuzzi and Christijan Albers crashed in the afternoon, and almost every driver had at least one grassy detour.

Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya all enjoyed serene starts to their Australian weekends, while Giancarlo Fisichella lost time with a fuel feed problem. Honda appeared to be quick (despite Button not being entirely enamoured with the car's handling) as did Ferrari, although they were already stressing how critical tyre temperature could be in the relatively cool conditions - a concern that BMW shared.

Saturday morning's rain added another complication, especially for those who had taken it easy on Friday and planned to use the final practice hour to finalise set-up and tyre choices.

The Renaults were fastest when the track was at its wettest, but Alonso sat out the later, drier, running. Fisichella continued and traded times with Villeneuve as the sun started peeping through. Both were eventually usurped by Heidfeld in the closing moments, with Villeneuve completing a BMW-Sauber one-two and Liuzzi grabbing third despite a number of excursions.

Practice round up

Sorted by total laps from all three sessions

Qualifying

Part one

After a more encouraging Friday performance than of late, Rubens Barrichello thought the cloud hanging over his 2006 season might be starting to lift. Instead, it became considerably darker in qualifying, as Honda's beleaguered Brazilian became the latest big name victim of the first qualifying cut-off.

Just to add to Honda's pain, their 'B team' could be held responsible for Barrichello's disappointment. Yuji Ide seemed unusually wayward in Melbourne, and after eight minutes of qualifying he caused a red flag when the latest of several excursions left him stalled on the track.

Only 10 drivers had completed flying laps before the stoppage, so a mild scramble ensued when the session resumed for a final seven minute shoot-out. Barrichello struggled for tyre temperature on his first flying lap, and then encountered Ide on his final effort. Trapped behind the Super Aguri through several corners, Barrichello could not improve on 17th place. His qualifying session was over.

Unsurprisingly the Super Aguris also failed to progress, with a 3.9 second gulf splitting Ide from team-mate Takuma Sato..

Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro both blamed traffic for Midland's continued failure to progress beyond qualifying one. They were 18th and 20th, sandwiching Scott Speed, who reckoned that he would have breezed through had he not made a mess of turn 14 on one lap and then run out of time to complete another.

At the front, Juan Pablo Montoya led a McLaren one-two, with Mark Webber tantalising the home crowd in third place ahead of Jarno Trulli. Fernando Alonso was content to settle for 13th for now.

Part two

Felipe Massa had ended the first segment in a vulnerable looking 15th place. His day then got worse, as he unsettled his Ferrari over the turn 11 kerb on his first flying lap and arrived at turn 12 backwards and bound for the tyre wall.

The consequent red flag caused a scare for Mark Webber and Jenson Button, the only other drivers who had yet to set a time. But when the action resumed with a little over five minutes remaining, they quickly leapt out of danger.

Their improvements pushed no lesser figure than Michael Schumacher down to 11th place, where the seven times world champion would remain. A light rain shower in the final minute of the session didn't help, but Schumacher declined to use the weather as an excuse. "We were just too slow," he admitted.

Dietrich Mateschitz's remaining three cars were also knocked out. David Coulthard was "annoyed" to be 12th, Vitantonio Liuzzi was actually quite satisfied with 13th, and 14th placed Christian Klien blamed a lack of tyre temperature for his first failure to quality for the top 10 showdown.

Nico Rosberg continued to grapple with Albert Park's idiosyncrasies, spending much of his first flying lap on the grass. His final lap looked like it might just be quick enough, but then the rain took effect in the final sector, leaving Rosberg 15th.

Amongst the leaders, Alonso was fastest on a 1:25.729, 0.2 seconds quicker than Juan Pablo Montoya, with Heidfeld an impressive third.

Part three

Although the drizzle remained at the start of the final segment, by the time the drivers began their fast laps in earnest the track was fully dry.

Alonso put in an early banker lap before settling down to 15 minutes of fuel-guzzling, but his 1:27.290 benchmark was easily shaded once the frontrunners bolted on fresh tyres for the decisive five minutes.

Montoya was the first to show his hand, throwing in a 1:26.391 before pitting again. Then with just one minute left, Alonso replied with a 1:25.778 and Fisichella made it a provisionally all-Renault front row a few seconds later.

It did not stay that way. Had you asked Jenson Button to put a bet on the outcome of qualifying before the final session, he probably wouldn't have placed the money on himself, especially as he had only been an undistinguished eighth fastest in the first two eliminators.

But a series of set-up alterations got the Honda onto the pace, and Button's flowing, economic style did the rest. His final lap was a 1:25.229 - a clear half second faster than Alonso's best effort.

"I'm still shaking with the excitement," said Button. "To get the lap in at the end was a great feeling. It was a little bit unexpected after the first two runs in qualifying one and qualifying two, but it's good, and I am very happy with it."

Fisichella improved to take second away from his team-mate, and was confident that Renault's startline prowess would allow him to convert that position into the race lead before the first corner. While Alonso was a little frustrated to be third - blaming traffic - he did point out that it was his best qualifying position of the season so far.

Perennial dark horses McLaren took fourth and fifth places, with Kimi Raikkonen ahead of the disappointed Montoya, who felt that he had chucked away a potential pole position. A spin at turn four compromised his final set of tyres, and although Montoya beat Button's time in sectors one and two on his next lap, a scruffy end to the lap proved costly.

Toyota's recovery continued as both Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli qualified for the top ten in Australia, although a gearbox electronics problem kept the latter in the garage throughout the final session. Schumacher was delighted with sixth.

Mark Webber resisted the temptation to go for a light-fuel glory run on home ground, but he admitted that he expected to do better than seventh in his heavy Williams.

Eighth placed Heidfeld was also planning a late first stop, but he wasn't as laden as team-mate Villeneuve, whose BMW was filled to the brim in an effort to make up for his ten place engine penalty. He only completed a few perfunctory laps in final qualifying, and his ninth position on the timesheets would become 19th on the official grid.

Qualifying results

The grid

 1.  Jenson Button         Honda
 2.  Giancarlo Fisichella  Renault

 3.  Fernando Alonso       Renault
 4.  Kimi Raikkonen        McLaren-Mercedes

 5.  Juan Pablo Montoya    McLaren-Mercedes
 6.  Ralf Schumacher       Toyota

 7.  Mark Webber           Williams-Cosworth
 8.  Nick Heidfeld         BMW-Sauber

 9.  Jarno Trulli          Toyota
10.  Michael Schumacher    Ferrari

11.  David Coulthard       Red Bull-Ferrari
12.  Vitantonio Liuzzi     Toro Rosso-Cosworth

13.  Christian Klien       Red Bull-Ferrari
14.  Nico Rosberg          Williams-Cosworth

15.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari
16.  Rubens Barrichello    Honda

17.  Christijan Albers     MF1-Toyota
18.  Scott Speed           Toro Rosso-Cosworth

19.  Jacques Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber           (Engine change penalty)
20.  Tiago Monteiro        MF1-Toyota

21.  Takuma Sato           Super Aguri-Honda
22.  Yuji Ide              Super Aguri-Honda

The Race

The parade lap set the tone. First Juan Pablo Montoya's enthusiastic tyre warming efforts led to the McLaren spinning out of Turn 16. Then the Colombian was granted a second chance when Giancarlo Fisichella's anti-stall system did the exact opposite to the purpose it was designed for.

The field was sent back around while Fisichella's stranded Renault was pushed to the pitlane, and as this was effectively a whole new start procedure, Montoya was able to tip-toe precariously between the weaving cars and retake his original position.

Now Jenson Button only had one Renault driver on his heels, but that proved to be more than enough as Fernando Alonso swarmed all over the back of the Honda on the run down to Turn 1, and then drew alongside on the outside line approaching Turn 3, where Button held the racing line and left Alonso to make his own arrangements over the kerbs.

Immediately behind, the McLaren drivers went wheel to wheel all the way from Turn 1 to Turn 3 - Montoya having made a better start than Kimi Raikkonen and taking to the outside, only for the Finn to hold on and stay level with him until the next complex.

Montoya braked very late for Turn 3 and skittered wide over the kerbs, but was able to accelerate back onto the track right behind Raikkonen, ready to try again (somewhat optimistically) on the outside into the fifth gear Turn 11.

The midfielders' efforts to replicate this kind of dicing went spectacularly awry. First Christian Klien and Felipe Massa became entangled under acceleration out of Turn 1, sending both veering towards the innocent Nico Rosberg. Massa's Ferrari fleetingly rode up over the Williams' rear wheel, mangling the car's back end in the process, before spearing into the wall.

The mayhem continued at Turn 6, where Jarno Trulli dived inside David Coulthard. As Coulthard turned in still fractionally ahead, the clash of wheels proved hard enough to break Trulli's left rear suspension. The crippled Toyota spun to a halt on the exit of the corner.

Cue Bernd Maylander and the safety car's first appearance of the afternoon, although the craziness continued under yellow as both Montoya (again) and Fisichella spun on cold tyres, the Colombian dropping to sixth behind Ralf Schumacher and Mark Webber.

Tyre temperature - or rather the lack of it - was already becoming the story of Button's afternoon. He kept the Honda pointing in the right direction behind the safety car but was left helpless when Maylander pulled off. Alonso calmly drew alongside as soon as they crossed the start-finish line and claimed the lead. He proceeded to pull out a 2.7 second advantage on the first 'green' lap alone as Button battled to both stay on the track and stay ahead of the marauding Raikkonen.

The problem seemed to be related to the characteristics of individual cars rather than the tyres themselves, for Bridgestone-shod Ralf Schumacher was in just as much bother as Button after the restart. Webber drove around the outside of the Toyota at Turn 9, then the ever-inventive Montoya surged down the inside of his erstwhile teammate into the almost-flat-out Turn 11. By that time Schumacher was thoroughly tired of being overtaken, and sternly defended against Nick Heidfeld into Turn 13.

Both Button and Schumacher managed to get back onto the pace within a couple of laps, but no sooner had they done so than the safety car was on track once again. Klien's Red Bull Racing had snapped to the left under braking for Turn 9 and smeared itself down the outside wall. While Klien blamed cold tyres, team boss Christian Horner reckoned that it was too much of a coincidence that the accident happened so soon after Klien's involvement in the first corner collision.

Whatever, the marshals had a lot of Red Bull to mop up, and a caution period was the only option. This wiped out the 3.7 second lead that Alonso had earned during the two laps of actual racing held so far, but also left Button vulnerable to the two McLarens and Webber.

As usual in these situations, several lowly qualifiers had vaulted up the order by steering around the early carnage. Scott Speed had progressed from 18th to 10th, right behind Michael Schumacher and Vitantonio Liuzzi, and ahead of Jacques Villeneuve, who also lost a bundle of time on cold tyres.

Takuma Sato's elevation was even more startling. The Super Aguri ran 12th behind the safety car, ahead of Rubens Barrichello, Coulthard and Fisichella.

The restart came on lap nine, and once again Alonso was able to streak away in apparently carefree fashion, while Button's troubles manifested themselves in the form of two charging McLarens.

Raikkonen seemed to be too far behind the Honda to try a move at Turn 1 after the restart, but he went for it anyway, locked up and somehow managed to turn in despite an apparently impossible trajectory. Button retaliated into Turn 3, getting right alongside and rubbing wheels with Raikkonen on the apex of the corner, before the Finn simply accelerated away.

Raikkonen momentarily looked capable of taking the fight to Alonso, setting a new fastest lap on lap 10 and snipping 0.4 seconds from the three second that the Renault established while its pursuer was jousting with Button. But Alonso responded with first a 1:27.9, then a streak of mid-to-low 1:27 laps then saw him dropping Raikkonen by an average of 0.9 seconds per lap.

Having almost handed third to Montoya by running wide at Turn 3, Button was eventually able to match the McLarens' pace.

That was more than could be said for Michael Schumacher, whose afternoon was about to go from mediocre to embarrassing. He lost up to five seconds a lap to the leaders after the second safety car period, and was even passed by Liuzzi. A grassy moment in Turn 1 a few laps later left Schumacher vulnerable to Speed as well, but he was able to keep the young American behind.

Remarkably, as the first pitstops neared, Sato was still holding his own in the upper midfield, clinging onto 13th place and fending off Barrichello, Coulthard and the MF1s with apparently little difficulty, although the fact that it was the troubled and fuel-heavy Barrichello (still uncomfortable with the feel of the Honda's brakes) at the front of the queue probably helped Taku's cause.

The Super Aguri hadn't suddenly got faster - Sato fell 53 seconds behind Alonso in the eight laps after the restart - but his 13th place had been earned legitimately, and it was up to the other teams to get ahead.

Overtaking certainly didn't seem to be much of a trial for Fisichella at this stage. He summarily passed the whole of the queue behind Sato, then caught and overtook Villeneuve and Speed with similarly little drama, reaching 10th by lap 15.

Fourth placed Montoya was the first main contender to pit, making his stop on lap 18. The two leaders followed suit on the next two laps, with Alonso announcing his pit intentions by setting fastest sector times in the first two-thirds of his in lap and adding another 1.1 seconds to his lead over Raikkonen in the process.

The cars running a long first stint now had a moment in the spotlight, not least home favourite Webber, who moved into the lead when Raikkonen pitted on lap 21. Behind the Williams and Alonso, Heidfeld was using a similar strategy to great effect, matching the world champion's lap times at this point.

Raikkonen had rejoined just ahead of Liuzzi, who now had the recovering Schumacher - whose tyres were finally co-operating - right behind him. Montoya and Button were next up, having swapped places during the pitstops as the Honda's out laps proved just as languid as its restart performance.

Webber looked very comfortable at the front of the field, but his sojourn in the lead proved brief, as the Williams slowed and retired with gearbox problems on lap 23. He refused to confirm exactly how much further he could have gone into the race, but the few hints that he dropped suggested that Williams had both a fast car and an excellent strategy.

"I was very, very heavy. I had plenty more laps to go," Webber said. "Although it might have been tough to keep Kimi and Fernando away from my P1, I think we had lots of other people - including Jenson and Ralf - covered."

Actually at this point it looked like most of the field had Button and Schumacher Jr. 'covered'. The latter incurred a pitlane speeding penalty and dropped from sixth to eighth, immediately behind Villeneuve, whose BMW Sauber was sufficiently crammed with fuel to run well beyond half-distance. As for Button, he would lose out to the late stopping Heidfeld by the time the first pit sequence was completed. By the race's midpoint, the polesitter was fifth and over half a minute behind Alonso.

Raikkonen was beginning to feel the repercussions of his daring move on Button early in the race. He had flat-spotted his right front tyre in the process, and although it didn't slow him initially, the vibrations eventually led to a section of his front wing becoming detached.

This handicap, coupled with the searing pace that Alonso continued to set, left Raikkonen 13.2 seconds adrift of the leader by lap 26, and increasingly exposed to the rapidly advancing Montoya, who was soon catching his teammate by 1.5 seconds per lap, and bringing the impressive Heidfeld along with him.

But the fastest man on the track at this stage was none other than Michael Schumacher, whose Ferrari was now lapping on a par with - and often quicker than - Alonso's Renault. This was bad news for Button, who was doing 1:30s compared to the chasing Schumacher's 1:27s.

Schumacher's gung-ho, wheel-locking, grass-skimming charge was hardly befitting his status as an ultra-successful elder statesman with nothing to prove, and it was all the more thrilling as a consequence. The Ferrari was being driven on the absolute limit, and Schumacher's still unquenchable thirst for success could be seen in its every twitch.

But on lap 33 that determination got the better of him. Having just got Button within sight, Schumacher ran wide over the Turn 16 kerb. It looked like an innocuous piece of exuberance until the Ferrari's rear end kicked out over a bump in the verge, firing it into the barriers. Schumacher parked the heavily damaged car next to the pit wall, and kept his helmet on as he rather curiously walked into the Toyota garage rather than his own pit.

The entire field dived in for their final stops as the safety car re-emerged. To no-one's great surprise, it all worked out absolutely perfectly for Alonso. He may have lost a lead of nearly 20 seconds, but his stop was much smoother than his main rivals'.

McLaren decided to change Raikkonen's damaged front wing, but the new nose cone proved unco-operative. Montoya had hung back as much as legally possible, but still ended up queuing behind his teammate for several agonising seconds before Raikkonen was sent out.

So when Alonso looked in his mirrors while cruising around under yellow, he enjoyed the welcome sight of the two lapped Midland-Toyotas immediately behind him. McLaren's dramas had elevated Heidfeld to second ahead of Raikkonen, with Button and the remaining Schumacher brother now in front of the unfortunate Montoya.

Blighted by severe understeer on his second set of tyres, plus the temporary loss of his clutch, Fisichella had slipped out of view in the middle part of the race, but the safety car brought him back into contention in seventh. Villeneuve, Liuzzi, Barrichello, Coulthard and Speed were the other unlapped cars, with Sato having fallen back to a more customary position after his first pitstop.

While Alonso sprinted away as soon as the safety car pulled in, the following MF1s kept up a more sedate pace until crossing the startline, much to the chagrin of Heidfeld, Raikkonen and the rest of Alonso's hapless challengers.

Button knew what to expect at the restart, and sure enough the front end of the gripless Honda washed out wide in Turn 1, allowing Schumacher to overtake immediately and Montoya to further demote Button on the outside going into Turn 3, where the Honda's left front wheel firmly clouted the McLaren's right rear but without damage to either party.

Just ahead, Heidfeld went off the road at Turn 6 while trying to fend off Raikkonen. As the BMW regained momentum, the Schumacher/Montoya/Button battle appeared on the scene, along with the lapped Christijan Albers and Sato. Somehow they all made it through Turn 9 intact, with Heidfeld losing a bundle of positions, before the action was neutralised once again.

Villeneuve and Liuzzi had gone wheel to wheel through the first chicane immediately after the restart, with Liuzzi ending up on the grass exiting Turn 2. The Toro Rosso slewed back across the track and slammed into the opposite wall. Liuzzi had looked set for a handful of points, and hoped that Villeneuve may be penalised, but the stewards did not feel that they had conclusive evidence of wrong-doing.

There were 17 laps to go when the safety car withdrew for the final time. Heidfeld's excursion meant that Raikkonen was now second, but he still had an MF1 car (Tiago Monteiro this time) ahead of him at the restart. Once again, Alonso hit the accelerator at the earliest opportunity and disappeared in the distance, while Raikkonen had to follow Monteiro to the line and lost a full 5.1 seconds to Alonso in the first lap of green flag racing.

Schumacher had now emerged in third, with Montoya fourth and hungry for more. McLaren boss Ron Dennis was convinced that his charge was bound for the podium but on lap 46 Montoya ran wide over the Turn 16 kerb and hit the same vicious bump that ruined Michael Schumacher's afternoon.

The McLaren fish-tailed violently from lock to lock before Montoya got it pointing straight again, but then it ground to a halt. The bump had activated a default system and shut the engine down - an appropriately bizarre end to the sort of incident packed race that only Montoya can have.

With clear air and a new front wing, Raikkonen was at last able to show what the McLaren was capable of. He started chipping away at Alonso's lead, prompting the Spaniard to pick up his pace again and beat his own fastest lap by a full 0.8 seconds.

That 1:26.1 effort brought Alonso's advantage back up to 8.7 seconds and should have broken Raikkonen's challenge. But he never did give up, pushing harder and harder in the final minutes, and closing to within 1.8 seconds as they took the chequered flag. Raikkonen's last lap was the fastest of the race.

A pleasant morale boost, but not enough to ruffle Alonso. Indeed with a few laps remaining and Raikkonen closing in rapidly, Alonso radioed his team just to let them know that he was "very relaxed". He was surely the only driver in the field who could say that after 57 breathless laps of Albert Park.

Following Montoya's departure, Schumacher just had to maintain his pace to secure a surprise but very well deserved third place, comfortable ahead of the equally impressive Heidfeld.

Button started the last lap fifth, and although Fisichella had been pushing him for some time, his position looked fairly secure. But as he accelerated through the final corners, first wisps of smoke then whole sheets of flame started shooting from the back of the Honda.

Fisichella received a face full of oil, and did well not to lose control on the suddenly treacherous surface. He cruised past to take fifth while Button pulled up short of the line. Had he actually taken the chequered flag with the engine clearly failing, he would have had to take a 10 place penalty for Imola.

Retiring yards from the line spared him this extra blow. Most assumed that this was a tactical decision, and many questioned the wisdom of it as Button had looked set to hold onto sixth at least. But Button's own opinion was that the car was simply incapable of making it to the finish line.

Villeneuve came home sixth ahead of Barrichello, who was pleased to score his first points to Honda, but pretty nonplussed by every other aspect of his weekend.

Speed was initially placed eighth, until a penalty was imposed for passing Coulthard while yellow flags were being waved for Liuzzi's big accident. The fact that Speed was also fined for swearing at Coulthard during the stewards' meeting suggests that he did not take kindly to the decision.

Button was classified 10th, with Albers taking 11th after Monteiro hit late mechanical problems, and Super Aguri achieving a double finish for the first time.

Race results

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Alonso        Renault              (M)  1h34:27.870
 2.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  +     1.829
 3.  R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)  +    24.824
 4.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (M)  +    31.032
 5.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  +    38.421
 6.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber           (M)  +    49.554
 7.  Barrichello   Honda                (M)  +    51.904
 8.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  +    53.983
 9.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  +  1:18.817
10.  Button        Honda                (M)  +    1 lap
11.  Albers        MF1-Toyota           (B)  +    1 lap
12.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +    2 laps
13.  Ide           Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +    3 laps

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:26.045

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes     (M)    47
Monteiro      MF1-Toyota           (B)    43
Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)    39
M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)    34
Webber        Williams-Cosworth    (B)    24
Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)     6
Trulli        Toyota               (B)     1
Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)     1
Massa         Ferrari              (B)     1


World Championship standings, round 3:

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Alonso        28        1.  Renault               42
 2.  Raikkonen     14        2.  McLaren-Mercedes      23
 3.  Fisichella    14        3.  Ferrari               15
 4.  M.Schumacher  11        4.  Honda                 13
 5.  Button        11        5.  BMW-Sauber            10
 6.  Montoya        9        6.  Toyota                 7
 7.  R.Schumacher   7        7.  Williams-Cosworth      5
 8.  Heidfeld       5        8.  Red Bull-Ferrari       2
 9.  Villeneuve     5        
10.  Massa          4
11.  Webber         3
12.  Barrichello    2
13.  Rosberg        2
14.  Coulthard      1
15.  Klien          1

Team by Team

RENAULT

Alonso qualifies third then leads the majority of the race, passing Button early on and building a 20 second advantage before the third safety car period. He calmly holds off Raikkonen's late challenge to win by 1.8 seconds.

Despite fuel feed problems on Friday, Fisichella looks at least a match for Alonso throughout practice and qualifying. He earns second on the grid, but an anti-stall glitch causes his engine to cut before the start. Despite tyre and electrical problems, Fisichella charges through from the pitlane to fifth.

Verdict A mixture of imperious serenity (Alonso) and relative triumph in adversity (Fisichella).

Raikkonen and Montoya qualify fourth and fifth, the latter feeling that driving errors cost him pole position. Montoya then spins on the parade lap and again during a safety car period, while Raikkonen damages a tyre and his front wing during a move on Button early in the race. Both are then delayed in the final pitstops.

A double podium is still in prospect until Montoya's car shuts down after a wild trip over the grass. Raikkonen charges to the end and is rewarded with a close second.

Verdict The car is quick, but turning that speed into results seems oddly difficult.

Neither driver makes it into top ten qualifying, with Massa crashing and Schumacher only 11th fastest. A first corner collision ends Massa's race immediately.

Schumacher struggles with tyre temperature but starts making progress in the second half of the race. He is closing fast on fifth placed Button when he runs wide and hits the wall at the final corner on lap 33.

Verdict Disasters like this make the Bahrain renaissance seem a long time ago.

Schumacher qualifies sixth, Trulli has to sit out the top ten shoot-out due to gearbox problems. While Trulli retires on lap one after banging wheels with Coulthard, Schumacher drives a great race to earn third place despite losing several positions on cold tyres and getting a pitlane speeding penalty.

Verdict Triumphs like this make the Bahrain disaster seem a long time ago.

Webber uses a heavy fuel load to qualify seventh, and advances to the race lead as others stop. Then gearbox problems strike on lap 23. He believes that a podium was on the cards had he continued.

Rosberg struggles to get to grips with the quirky track and starts 14th. He is the innocent victim of Klien and Massa's first corner tangle.

Verdict Fast but fragile is surely a better position than reliable but mediocre, isn't it...?

Button surprises himself by taking pole position, almost 0.5 seconds clear of the field. But he struggles to get temperature into his tyres on Sunday - a problem exacerbated by the number of safety car periods. He spends most of the race being overtaken, and then loses fifth when his engine fails exiting the final corner.

Despite feeling happier with the car on Friday, Barrichello fails to progress beyond first qualifying. Unhappy with the Honda's brakes, he drives steadily on a one stop strategy and advances to seventh.

Verdict Urgent solutions required to stop potential being squandered.

Klien misses out on top ten qualifying for the first time, ending up 14th, two places behind teammate Coulthard. Both lose out in the opening lap mayhem - Klien tangling with Massa and probably sustaining the damage that leads to a violent solo accident a few laps later, and Coulthard dropping towards the tail of the field after a brush with Trulli. He continues and eventually finishes eighth after Speed is penalised for passing him under yellow.

Verdict Out of sorts in qualifying, race dictated by opening lap (mis)fortunes.

Although both Heidfeld and Villeneuve qualify for the top ten, the latter knows that he will lose ten places due to an unscheduled engine change.

Heidfeld starts from eighth and rises as high as second thanks to a long first stint and some rapid laps in the middle stages. He then loses places after going off the road on cold tyres after a restart, but still finishes a fine fourth.

Viilleneuve uses an enormous fuel load to progress from 19th to sixth in the race.

Verdict Quietly superb - showed podium potential.

Albers and Monteiro's 18th and 20th places in qualifying are not unexpected, but both drivers are unhappy and feel that they were baulked. The traffic jam behind Sato gives them a chance to run with a few big names next day, but they drop back after their first pitstops (Monteiro coming in under the second safety car).

They inadvertently cause heartache for the frontrunners by being between the race leader and his pursuers at the last two restarts. Albers ultimately takes 11th, Monteiro retires in the closing stages.

Verdict Lots of talk about progress, but some firm results would help.

Liuzzi qualifies a promising 13th, Speed is back in 19th. Both jump into the top ten on the first lap, and end up dicing with Michael Schumacher - Liuzzi passing the seven times champion and Speed almost doing likewise.

Points are in prospects until Liuzzi has a huge crash after tangling with Villeneuve, while Speed finishes eighth on the road but is penalised for passing Coulthard under yellow.

Verdict An unhappy end to STR's most impressive weekend yet.

Sato and Ide occupy their usual qualifying positions (back row), with the latter looking much more wayward than at previous races. A great start and a sensible first lap elevate Sato to 13th, ahead of Barrichello and Coulthard. He stays there until his first stop, and then gradually slips ever further back before making two unscheduled pit visits due to wheel problems. Rejoins to finish 12th.

Ide achieves his ambition of finishing a Grand Prix for the first time, but is disappointed by his speed.

Verdict Very respectable, and Sato looked very much at home racing with the faster cars.

Lap by Lap

This lap by lap breakdown has been prepared and provided by the FIA

Formation lap: Fifth-fastest qualifier Juan Pablo Montoya spins as he exits the final turn to line up on the grid. Giancarlo Fisichella then stalls on the front row. The start is aborted and the race distance reduced from 58 laps to 57. Fisichella is condemned to start from the pits. Montoya reclaims his original slot.

Giancarlo Fisichella starts from the pitlane after stalling on the grid © Reuters

Lap 1: Starting from pole position for the third time in his grand prix career - the first for an all-Honda F1 car since Monza 1968 - Jenson Button just holds off Fernando Alonso at Turn One - and again two corners later. Kimi Raikkonen and Montoya settle into third and fourth, ahead of Ralf Schumacher and local hero Mark Webber.

At Turn Two, Nico Rosberg is squeezed by Christian Klien - Felipe Massa hits the back of Rosberg's Williams and slams into the tyre wall. The German retires to the pits at the end of the lap.

At Turn Three, Jarno Trulli nudges David Coulthard into the gravel. The Scot loses several positions and the Italian spins into retirement. With his car straddling the track and Massa's wrecked chassis to be cleared, the Safety Car is deployed.

Lap 2: Button leads the parade from Alonso, Raikkonen, Ralf Schumacher, Webber, Montoya, Nick Heidfeld, Michael Schumacher, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Scott Speed, Jacques Villeneuve (who dropped from ninth to 19th on the grid - the penalty for an unscheduled engine change), Klien, Takuma Sato, Rubens Barrichello, Coulthard, Christijan Albers, Tiago Monteiro, Yuji Ide and Giancarlo Fisichella, who spins at Turn One.

Lap 4: Race restarts - Alonso slices past Button. Webber and Montoya pass Ralf Schumacher. Fisichella recovers three places at the back of the field. Alonso pulls 2.7s clear of the rest.

Lap 5: Klien crashes heavily on the approach to Turn Nine.

Lap 7: Safety Car deployed to allow the final remnants of Klien's debris to be cleared.

Lap 8: Monteiro takes on fuel and tyres.

Lap 10: Race restarts. Raikkonen locks up into the first turn but slices past Button for second. The Englishman fights back at Turn Three but Raikkonen repels him. Alonso pulls 2.7s clear of the field again.

Lap 11: Raikkonen sets fastest lap and cuts Alonso's lead to 2.3s...

Lap 12: ...and 1.9s. Liuzzi passes Michael Schumacher.

Lap 13: Raikkonen drops off the pace: Alonso sets a new fastest lap - 1m 27.485s - and leads by 4.1s.

Lap 15: Alonso sets the first in a string of fastest laps as he begins to stretch his advantage.

Lap 18: Montoya pits.

Lap 19: Button, Ralf Schumacher, Fisichella and Monteiro pit. Button rejoins just in front of Montoya, but the Colombian nails him through the first sequence of corners at the start of the following lap. Ralf Schumacher is handed a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pits.

Lap 20: Alonso comes in. Raikkonen leads...

Kimi Raikkonen passes Jenson Button on the restart © LAT

Lap 21: ...but only for a lap. The Finn pits and Webber takes the lead in his home GP.

Lap 22: Albers pits.

Lap 23: Leader Webber peels off to retire with a technical problem. Alonso regains the helm. Liuzzi and Sato - who has kept Barrichello at bay since the start - pit. Ralf Schumacher serves his drive-through penalty.

Lap 24: Speed and Ide pit.

Lap 25: Heidfeld and Michael Schumacher peel into the pits.

Lap 27: Alonso leads Raikkonen by 14.2s. Montoya, Heidfeld, Button, Michael Schumacher, Villeneuve - yet to stop - Ralf Schumacher, Liuzzi and Fisichella follow.

Lap 30: Coulthard pits.

Lap 31: Barrichello pits.

Lap 33: Villeneuve is the final driver to pit. Montoya runs wide onto the grass at the final turn - but not as wide as Michael Schumacher, who bounces off the retaining wall and spreads debris all across the track. The Safety Car is deployed.

Lap 34: Every driver pits bar Villeneuve, Barrichello and Coulthard. The field resumes in the order Alonso, Heidfeld, Raikkonen, Button, Ralf Schumacher, Montoya, Fisichella, Villeneuve, Liuzzi, Speed, Barrichello, Coulthard, Monteiro, Albers, Sato and Ide.

Lap 38: Race restarts. Liuzzi crashes at the exit of Turn Two and the Safety Car comes back out - not before Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher have vaulted Heidfeld. Montoya passes Button, gets a nudge up the right rear in return and then passes Heidfeld.

Lap 41: With an MF1 between himself and Raikkonen, Alonso makes a huge break at the latest restart and leads by 5.1s at the end of the lap. Monteiro pits to post a rare retirement. Barrichello passes Speed for ninth.

Lap 43: Alonso leads Raikkonen by 6.2s. Ralf Schumacher is just ahead of Montoya in third. Heidfeld, Button and Fisichella are next, but dropping well off the pace. Villeneuve, Barrichello, Speed, Coulthard and the lapped Albers, Sato and Ide complete the order.

Lap 46: Montoya has a big wobble entering the pit straight and pulls across the circuit to retire from fourth place.

Lap 49: Alonso sets a new fastest lap - 1m 26.189s - and leads by 8.7s.

Lap 54: Raikkonen sets a personal best for the second straight lap - 1m 26.493s - and reduces his deficit to 7.1s.

Lap 55: Sixth-placed Fisichella challenges Button, having a brief look up the inside at Turn One. Raikkonen ups his pace again - 1m 26.477s - and cuts Alonso's lead to 5.7s.

Jenson Button's Honda fails in the final corner of the final lap, handing the position to Giancarlo Fisichella © LAT

Lap 56: Raikkonen cuts the gap by another 1.3s.

Lap 57: Alonso wins by 1.8s. Raikkonen nets fastest lap - 1m 26.045s. Ralf Schumacher and Heidfeld are third and fourth. Button's engine blows at the final corner and his car stops just metres from the line.

Fisichella gets sideways on the oil before taking fifth from Villeneuve, Barrichello, Speed and Coulthard. Button is classified 10th. Albers, Sato and Ide complete the finishers.