The Complete 2006 Monaco GP Review

There was a surfeit of talking points at the end of a typically eventful Monaco Grand Prix: Fernando Alonso's first win on the streets, McLaren's resurgence, Red Bull's maiden podium, the poignancy of a Michelin top four sweep two days after Edouard Michelin's tragic death, Williams' speed and ill fortune, Jenson Button's drastic slump in form... The list goes on.

Yet everything that happened on Sunday was unfortunately overshadowed by the remarkable events of the final seconds of qualifying, and the bitter fallout from it.

Michael Schumacher's incident on his final flying lap was simply too convenient to avoid suspicion.

If it was an error, it was a humiliatingly gauche one. Plus the incident did not damage the Ferrari, but did put it in just the right place to end any rivals' hopes of denying Schumacher pole position.

Schumacher, Jean Todt and Willi Weber all suggested that this was a pure mistake that only became controversial because Ferrari's paddock 'enemies' were casting cynical aspersions.

Unfortunately for Ferrari, the condemnation was virtually universal. Renault and McLaren were inevitably at the vanguard of the backlash, but they were supported by voices up and down the pitlane. Jacques Villeneuve was predictably (and entertainingly) forthright, while the likes of Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg seemed more disappointed than angry, feeling let down by their sport's most successful driver.

The post-qualifying press conference was also a bruising affair for Schumacher, who responded awkwardly to the increasingly blunt interrogation from the displeased global media.

No one outside Ferrari protested Schumacher's innocence, with FIA president Max Mosley defending Schumacher's ultimate integrity while fully supporting his stewards' decision. He suggested that while blocking the track was a deliberate act, it was only an instinctive, panicked, response to what began as a genuine error, rather than a totally premeditated sabotage tactic.

Would Sunday have proved any different if the stewards had found in Schumacher's favour (or if he had simply made it around Rascasse)? Schumacher would certainly have taken a podium, but the evidence of the rest of the weekend suggested that Alonso still had the edge.

Schumacher did set the fastest lap, but this was on a fully rubbered-in track, with low fuel, and while on a desperate charge late in the race. Alonso spent most of the race driving to manage rather than extend his advantage, and could probably have controlled Schumacher as well as Kimi Raikkonen.

The world champion habitually avoids controversy but couldn't resist a slightly mischievous response when asked if Schumacher's charge from 22nd to fifth proved that he could have fought for victory.

"I don't know," said Alonso. "I only saw a lot of retirements. This normally helps..."

Schumacher may have been widely censured (not for the first time) for his antics - whether accidental or calculated - in qualifying, but it also demonstrated just how much his involvement in a title battle raises the stakes, the tension, and frankly the entertainment, both on and off track. And there is still a very long way to go...

Practice

With the grip level traditionally mutated so much over the weekend, there was relatively little value in practice mileage from an engineering point of view, but for the drivers, Thursday provided a vital chance to re-acclimatise to this gloriously unique challenge.

Hence Fernando Alonso, usually among the most casual on Fridays, topped the first practice timesheets with a 1:16.712 lap and was second quickest of the race drivers in practice 2, fourth overall and a tenth behind Juan Pablo Montoya.

Kimi Raikkonen was sixth, having escaped an earlier scare when a heat shield problem on his first lap of practice led to a small fire on the McLaren.

Ferrari looked to be in trouble, with Michael Schumacher only 14th in second practice - behind this week's Midland number three Giorgio Mondini.

Although Schumacher appeared gloomy ("the situation does not look good. At the moment we are too slow"), he had been following a conservative strategy and used fewer tyres than most. The German was the only driver not to improve his time in Thursday afternoon's technically faster conditions.

There didn't appear to be much wrong with the Bridgestones, though, for Alex Wurz's late 1:15.907 lap made the Williams reserve the fastest overall on Thursday.

Anthony Davidson's sublime Thursday testing performance at Monaco in 2004 marked his F1 coming of age, and he was just as fast in 2006, leading the way for much of practice, but not as flawlessly on this occasion - causing two red flags in the afternoon.

The first was relatively innocuous, as he knocked a bollard onto the track, but the second incident saw the Honda shed a wheel against the Ste Devote barriers.

Robert Kubica would prompt a third red flag shortly afterwards, when he clouted the Rascasse barriers in an incident related to the electrical problems that would also stymie his teammates' practice progress.

On Saturday morning, it appeared that Schumacher was right back on the pace, although Alonso did snatch the fastest time with a 1:13.823, 0.2 seconds ahead of his arch rival.

Third Practice was also notable for David Coulthard's star performance. The 'Superman Returns' liveried Red Bull was fourth fastest, and all three RBR cars had looked similarly promising on Thursday.

While Red Bull could look to the skies, avoiding complete humiliation appeared to be Toyota's priority, as Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher struggled to outpace the Super Aguris in final practice.

Practice round up

Sorted by total laps from all three sessions

Qualifying

Part one

With the paddock well and truly paranoid about the potential for a traffic-related upset, 20 cars rushed out on to the track as soon as qualifying began. Only the Ferraris resisted this urge, and their strategy looked extremely wise when Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa duly cruised out while everything quietened down after five minutes.

Unfortunately, the plan was rather spoilt when Massa lost the rear end on the exit of Massenet and speared into the Casino Square barriers, guaranteeing himself 22nd spot on the grid and causing a red flag.

Schumacher quickly got a lap in once the session resumed, but it was only sufficient for 13th place as Kimi Raikkonen led the way with a 1:13.887.

The Super Aguris were summarily eliminated, Takuma Sato beating Franck Montagny by 0.3 seconds this time.

Normally it would be little surprise to see the Midlands joining the Japanese cars on the sidelines after 15 minutes, but the team's practice form suggested that an upset might be on the cards.

Indeed, Tiago Monteiro was ninth after his second run, but tumbled to 18th as others improved. Christijan Albers was 0.4 seconds faster in 17th. They beat Scott Speed down to 19th, with the American feeling that he would have been ahead of his 14th placed teammate Tonio Liuzzi had he not been blocked by Montagny.

Part two

The identity of the eliminated drivers was established unusually early, as the six slowest drivers after the first flying laps all failed to improve.

The BMW-Saubers had looked vulnerable in Q1, where they ended up 15th and 16th. An identical result in Q2, with Nick Heidfeld slowest of all after stopping at Portier, sealed their fate.

Jenson Button expected Monaco to be one of the highlights of his season. Instead, he found himself in a disastrous 14th place, having encountered unexpected understeer when he put on new tyres. He was 0.6 seconds slower than teammate Rubens Barrichello - the last man to make it into the top ten.

Vitantonio Liuzzi was delighted with 13th but brake problems frustrated Christian Klien's hopes, as he pitted for attention to a soft pedal and ran out of time to better 12th. By contrast, his Red Bull teammate David Coulthard made it into the top ten shoot-out for the first time, and in emphatic style with the fourth fastest time, just 0.1 seconds behind Q2 pacesetter Raikkonen.

Toyota insisted that their abject final practice pace was merely a consequence of focusing on race set-up. They were certainly more respective in qualifying, but Ralf Schumacher still found himself missing the final cut in 11th, 0.187 seconds slower than his eighth placed teammate Jarno Trulli.

Part three

Ironically it was only when there were just ten cars left on track that the anticipated traffic problems started to take effect. Both Coulthard and Nico Rosberg carried relatively light fuel loads, but struggled to get clear space and ended up ninth and tenth respectively, behind the conspicuously heavy Barrichello and Trulli.

At the front, earlier benchmark Raikkonen's first flying lap was quickly beaten by Michael Schumacher, and Fernando Alonso, the latter 0.1 seconds behind the Ferrari. Then Mark Webber underlined Williams's potential by splitting Alonso and Raikkonen.

Comparatively underwhelming first runs had put Giancarlo Fisichella and Juan Pablo Montoya fifth and sixth, but with the main contenders all diving in for a second set of fresh tyres, a thrilling last gasp showdown was clearly brewing.

All ten drivers were on flying laps with a minute to go, with Schumacher at the front of the queue but not matching his provisional pole time. Then, the Ferrari locked up slightly at Rascasse and went straight rather than right at the exit of the corner, edging towards the barrier before coming to a halt undamaged. The car stalled just off the racing line, and as the marshals dashed out to shift the Ferrari, the yellow flags flew.

Even in the unlikely event of anyone being able to improve while dodging (or at the very least being distracted by) the stranded Schumacher and a gaggle of marshals, they would inevitably have been penalised for disregarding the yellows. Hence, the session was effectively over, to the chagrin of most - especially Alonso, whose time in sectors one and two had been sufficient for pole.

"Until the last corner I was three-tenths quicker than my previous lap, so for sure it wasn't too difficult (to get pole) today," said Alonso. "After dominating all weekend, to lose the lap because of an accident is not really a good moment."

While more than happy with third, Webber thought that he would have made the front row had he not aborted his final lap after encountering the already infamous Schumacher incident. By contrast, Raikkonen blamed non-Ferrari shaped traffic and a small brush with the wall for his inability to improve on fourth.

The fallout

There was immediately suspicion that Schumacher had deliberately engineered his last lap incident to prevent Alonso from challenging his provisional pole time.

Schumacher insisted that it was a pure error: "I locked up the front and went wide. Initially I tried to get reverse but it was hesitating to move and then finally I stalled."

But the overwhelming paddock opinion was that this was a calculated act of obstruction, and after seven hours of deliberating, interrogation and data studying, the stewards agreed and took the dramatic step of moving the Ferrari from first to 22nd on the grid.

"Having compared all relevant data, the stewards can find no justifiable reason for the driver to have braked with such undue, excessive and unusual pressure at this part of the circuit, and are therefore left with no alternatives but to conclude that the driver deliberately stopped his car on the circuit," they said.

Almost unnoticed amid the furore, Fisichella was found guilty of having impeded Coulthard and had his three best times deleted, dropping the Renault from fifth to ninth.

Qualifying results

The final grid, after penalties:

Pos  Driver        Team
 1.  Alonso        Renault             (M)
 2.  Webber        Williams-Cosworth   (B)
 3.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes    (M)
 4.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes    (M)
 5.  Barrichello   Honda               (M)
 6.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)
 7.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)
 8.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth   (B)
 9.  Fisichella    Renault             (M) *
10.  R.Schumacher  Toyota              (B)
11.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)
12.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)
13.  Button        Honda               (M)
14.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber          (M)
15.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber          (M)
16.  Albers        MF1-Toyota          (B)
17.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota          (B)
18.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)
19.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda   (B)
20.  Montagny      Super Aguri-Honda   (B)
21.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)
22.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari             (B) *

* Michael Schumacher originally qualified on pole position, while Giancarlo Fisichella originally qualified in fifth position.

The Renault driver was penalised for impeding others during qualifying, losing his three fastest laps, which dropped him to 10th.

However, as the stewards decided to delete all of Schumacher's qualifying times, throwing him to the back of the grid, the Italian moves up to ninth.

The Race

Having been elevated to the pole position, Fernando Alonso made it into Ste Devote comfortably ahead of the rest of the action.

His front-row partner Mark Webber had his hands full with the fast-starting and clearly determined Kimi Raikkonen. Although the Williams successfully fended the McLaren off into Ste Devote on the first lap, Webber slid a little wide at the same spot next time around, allowing Raikkonen to sweep past on the Beau Rivage.

McLaren's optimism about this race seemed entirely justified as Raikkonen immediately closed in on Alonso and even began sniffing around for a passing opportunity. Webber continued to tag along, with fourth placed Juan Pablo Montoya also in close attendance.

If anyone else had the pace to challenge the top four, they were going to have a hard time proving it, for the field soon started to split up into long trains of cars trapped behind fuel-heavy bottlenecks.

Fifth placed Rubens Barrichello was one such impediment, to the frustration of the much lighter Nico Rosberg, David Coulthard and Giancarlo Fisichella, who were all losing between 1.5 and 3.0 seconds per lap to the leaders. "I didn't feel competitive at all," Barrichello later admitted.

Jarno Trulli and Christian Klien ran alone in ninth and tenth before the next big train, headed by Nick Heidfeld. The BMW had made a good start but its pace was limited by both a heavy fuel load and unexpected rear tyre wear - an unhappy combination for those trapped behind it, primarily Ralf Schumacher, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Jacques Villeneuve.

Ferrari had opted to start Michael Schumacher from the pitlane, which kept him out of the way of the potentially dreadful startline accident involving the Midlands. As Christijan Albers moved right to defend from Tiago Monteiro, he ushered his teammate into the pit-wall. Despite making firm contact with both Albers and concrete, Monteiro somehow escaped with nothing worse than a broken front wing.

Albers was subsequently given a drive through penalty, which left him oddly nonplussed: "I have no idea why. My front wing was ahead and I had position."

This incident helped Schumacher's cause a little, as did his successful move around the outside of teammate Felipe Massa at Mirabeau on the opening lap. He also despatched the Super Aguris, Albers and Scott Speed with relative ease in the early stages, before finding 15th placed Jenson Button a more substantial obstacle.

But the Honda driver's woes were even worse in the race than they had been in qualifying. Button had only just fended off Speed on the first lap, and now found himself in similar tyre troubles to Heidfeld, preventing him from really pushing the queue of cars ahead.

Button managed to hold off Schumacher for 20 laps before relinquishing his position at the chicane. Ominously for Schumacher, he was already a minute behind Alonso at this stage, while his Ferrari teammate's progress was slower still. Massa could not pass Albers until the MF1 driver took his penalty and then remained trapped in Speed's slipstream until almost half distance.

At the front, Alonso and Raikkonen were setting a merciless pace, lapping regularly in the 1:15s. Webber and Montoya had fallen four and eight seconds adrift respectively, and the latter was first to pit on lap 21. This was not much of a disadvantage, as Barrichello's slow pace meant there was now half a minute of clear air between the top four and everyone else, so Montoya retained his position.

Raikkonen came in next time around and was stationary for 10 seconds, suggesting a long middle stint. When Alonso pitted two laps later, he took on notably less fuel, and yet Raikkonen's out-laps had been quick enough to ensure that he almost got ahead of the Renault as it merged back onto the Beau Rivage.

Webber went longest of the front-runners, and his extremely rapid in-laps suggested that Williams were still very much in the hunt.

In fact, both Webber and Montoya were about to be hauled into contention for victory as Alonso went into tactical mode. Aware that his rear tyres had suffered towards the end of his first stint, he eased his pace, lapping in the 1:18s and not only holding Raikkonen back but allowing Webber and Montoya to charge on to the leaders' tails and create a four-car train.

"I knew that there were important parts of the race, laps close to the pitstops and the laps after the pitstops, and I wanted to have the tyres in good condition for those laps," Alonso explained.

"For me, it wasn't important to push on lap 30. When I saw that it was impossible to open up a gap, I said OK, I will manage the tyres and when it's time to push, my tyres will be ready."

Even if Alonso was confident that he was in control of the situation, he certainly looked a little vulnerable from the outside, as just two seconds covered the entire top four and they came up to lap one of the most monumental traffic jams ever to confront a race leader.

The train behind the troubled Heidfeld had grown as the two stoppers trapped behind Barrichello made their stops, only to emerge straight into another huge, slow queue.

Both Rosberg and Fisichella found themselves at the back of the line, but Coulthard ran a little longer and did slightly better, somewhere squeezing into what appeared to be a non-existent gap between Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher.

These five drivers were only the tail of the snake, with Heidfeld, Ralf Schumacher and Liuzzi at its head.

Although the suspicion had been that Ferrari would leave Schumacher out as long as possible, it was obvious that he was going nowhere in this level of traffic, so he pitted on lap 36. This would prove to be a minor masterstroke.

The top four had already put the dicing Button, Massa and Speed a lap down when they reached the Heidfeld tailback.

Perhaps spurred on by the sight of his race leading teammate looming in his mirrors, Fisichella went on the rampage for a few laps, passing first Rosberg, and then launching himself down the inside of Coulthard at the chicane with smoke pouring from locked wheels. The Red Bull only just escaped with its front wing intact after contact as both drivers turned in.

That move worked so well that Fisichella repeated it on the next lap, this time surging past a surprised Villeneuve. He would also add Liuzzi to his chicane conquests shortly afterwards.

Perhaps inevitably, the blue flag system worked better for Alonso and Raikkonen than it did for their pursuers.

The top two stayed as one - despite Fisichella slightly cheekily letting Alonso past approaching Tabac and then holding off Raikkonen until Rascasse - but Webber and Montoya fell seven and ten seconds behind in the time it took to negotiate the traffic, and even then Webber still had Fisichella in front of him.

The Australian was just beginning to get really annoyed by the situation when a more terminal problem struck. An exhaust problem had led to a wiring loom burning out, and on lap 47 Webber came to a halt on the Beau Rivage with smoke pouring from his Williams, losing a near-certain podium and a genuine shot at victory.

The stranded Williams' position necessitated a safety car, and brought the two stoppers straight into the pits. Renault just managed to get Alonso out ahead of Raikkonen, but as it happened, they need not have tried too hard, for the McLaren would suffer another heat shield failure while running under yellow.

Raikkonen parked the smoking car at Portier and headed straight for his nearby boat rather than the pits. It was probably a better place for reflecting on a potential victory squandered in the most mundane circumstances.

So Alonso went from being under pressure from three very fast rivals to being under no pressure whatsoever, for the way the safety car queue worked out, half a dozen lapped cars now separated him from Montoya, who had in any case looked the least rapid of the lead contenders.

Barrichello and Trulli rose to third and fourth. The Toyota had cruised up behind the Honda as the first stint wore on, and they pitted together on lap 45, with Barrichello emerging marginally ahead.

Klien's quiet race had brought him up to fifth, with Coulthard sixth after Red Bull played an ace strategic card and changed from a two to a one stop strategy when the Scot pitted on lap 29. Although he had been lapped before the safety car, he rejoined the lead lap as Alonso pitted.

That left Schumacher as the first of the lapped cars in seventh place, although on the plus side his mildly early pitstop had worked out beautifully, putting the Ferrari in clear air while its previous sparring partners were busy following each other around and losing time being lapped (Schumacher having neatly - and less embarrassingly - gone a lap down while in the pits). He therefore leapfrogged the entire midfield train, bar the canny Coulthard.

Fisichella made his second stop under yellow and rejoined eighth, ahead of Heidfeld, who had stopped a few laps earlier and stayed ahead of Ralf Schumacher despite the Toyota driver pitting a lap earlier in a bid to pass his race-long nemesis.

Ferrari had put Massa on to the same strategy as Schumacher, allowing him to advance to 11th. The safety car had rather spoilt Toro Rosso's extremely long first stint plan, with both drivers having to pit during the caution, although at least Liuzzi came out ahead of Rosberg, who made his second stop at the same time.

Speed was less fortunate, emerging at the end of the list of cars one lap down, behind Villeneuve, Button and Albers - who had all pitted before the yellow. Albers' drive-through penalty had little adverse effect, as he rejoined in clear air and was actually able to close in on the midfield pack again.

The more severely delayed Monteiro had no such luck. Now two laps down, he remained trapped behind the Super Aguris in last place, although Takuma Sato's retirement before the restart (due to electrical problems) made Monteiro's life a little easier.

The effect of the traffic at the restart was such that Alonso already had a 6.3-second lead over Montoya as he crossed the line, while Barrichello was 13 seconds down. He added another seven seconds to those margins over the next three laps, enjoying the benefit of a peaceful track while his hapless pursuers hacked through the lapped cars.

While the race for the top two positions was clearly over, there was still a question mark over who would join Alonso and Montoya on the podium, as Barrichello had Trulli, Klien and Coulthard within 2.5 seconds of his rear wing.

Attrition would decide this dice, and Klien was first to fall, losing drive and pulling out of fifth place on lap 57.

Meanwhile, Trulli suspected that Barrichello might not have hit his pitlane speed limiter in time when they stopped together some laps earlier, and sure enough the Brazilian was lumbered with a drive-through penalty on lap 63, dropping him from third to fifth.

Once up to third, Trulli started stretching his legs a little and edging away from Coulthard, but only for a few laps before hydraulic problems left the Toyota stranded on the Beau Rivage, and Trulli wondering if his fortune had turned permanently bad.

So Coulthard found himself in third place - a pretty substantial improvement on the 12th place he had held after his first pitstop. Incredibly, Coulthard was only 19th on the list of fastest race laps, but he had spent virtually the entire race distance tucked up in traffic, and by the time he had clear air, he was on 45 laps old tyres.

Only six laps remained when Trulli's retirement left Coulthard in line for Red Bull Racing's first ever podium, but the result was far from guaranteed. Fired up after his penalty, Barrichello was taking 0.8 seconds per lap out of Coulthard's advantage.

Schumacher's speed was perhaps more ominous. As Alonso backed off to conserve his car, he found the lapped Schumacher and Fisichella in his mirrors and eager to run at a more urgent pace. That was not the sort of hassle that Alonso wanted while cruising to a comfortable victory, so he waved them past on lap 64.

Once unleashed, Schumacher dropped Fisichella and set his sights on catching the podium battle, lapping up to four seconds per lap quicker than Coulthard and Barrichello. He was right with his erstwhile teammate at the start of the penultimate lap, as both edged closer to Coulthard, but there would be no repeat of 2005's eleventh hour pass, and Schumacher had to follow Barrichello home in fifth.

First time Monaco victor Alonso therefore led home 2003 winner Montoya and 2000/02 winner Coulthard, who found himself back on the podium for the first time since Suzuka 2003 and gave RBR their maiden podium in the process.

The rostrum atmosphere was understandably subdued, as the three Michelin-shod drivers paid tribute to the late Edouard Michelin, who had died in a boating accident on Friday. Coulthard impressively managed to remain composed and respectful while wearing a Superman cape in deference to Red Bull's one-off tie-up with the new film.

Behind Barrichello, Schumacher and Fisichella, Heidfeld benefited from the attrition to move up to seventh, with Ralf Schumacher taking the final point after 78 laps of staring at the rear of a BMW.

Massa and Liuzzi completed this particular queue, and Rosberg would have been amongst it too had he not suffered the same exhaust failure and wiring loom damage as Webber. This had more dramatic consequences for the rookie, as his throttle stuck open and he ploughed into the tyres at the final corner shortly after the restart.

Button dropped away from Liuzzi's tail to finish a very unhappy 11th. Albers took a superb 12th, ahead of Speed and Villeneuve, the BMW having lost several positions when penalised for passing under yellow.

The drama continued right down to the tail of the field, as Monteiro's battle with Montagny was resolved in unconventional style. Montagny had got very sideways on the flick between Massenet and Casino Square, and as he tried to regain control, Monteiro hit the back of the Super Aguri, pitching it into a whole new slide, and then powered past on the run to Mirabeau.

Montagny did well to avoid the barrier and continue to reach the chequered flag, for the first time in his F1 career.

Race results

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Alonso        Renault              (M)  1h43:43.116
 2.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  +    14.567
 3.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  +    52.298
 4.  Barrichello   Honda                (M)  +    53.337
 5.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)  +    53.880
 6.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  +  1:02.072
 7.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (M)  +     1 lap
 8.  R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)  +     1 lap
 9.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  +     1 lap
10.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  +     1 lap
11.  Button        Honda                (M)  +     1 lap
12.  Albers        MF1-Toyota           (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  +     1 lap
14.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber           (M)  +     1 lap
15.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota           (B)  +    2 laps
16.  Montagny      Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +    3 laps
17.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  +    6 laps

Fastest lap: M.Schumacher, 1:15.143

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)    58
Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)    52
Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)    51
Webber        Williams-Cosworth    (B)    49
Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)    47


World Championship standings, round 7:

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Alonso        64        1.  Renault               91
 2.  M.Schumacher  43        2.  Ferrari               63
 3.  Fisichella    27        3.  McLaren-Mercedes      50
 4.  Raikkonen     27        4.  Honda                 29
 5.  Montoya       23        5.  BMW-Sauber            14
 6.  Massa         20        6.  Williams-Cosworth     10
 7.  Button        16        7.  Red Bull-Ferrari       8
 8.  Barrichello   13        8.  Toyota                 8
 9.  R.Schumacher   8
10.  Heidfeld       8
11.  Coulthard      7
12.  Villeneuve     6
13.  Webber         6
14.  Rosberg        4
15.  Klien          1

Team by Team

RENAULT

Alonso elevated to pole position after Schumacher's penalty and controls the race throughout, despite pressure from Raikkonen and Webber until their retirements. Fisichella is fifth in qualifying but penalised for blocking Coulthard and drops to 10th. He is already locked into a two stop strategy and spends the whole afternoon in traffic, although he does produce a series of breathtaking passes in the middle stages. Cannot match Schumacher in the final laps and takes sixth.

Verdict: An important victory on a day when others were probably marginally faster.

Raikkonen thinks traffic and errors cost him pole. He starts third, passes Webber early then harasses Alonso until a heat shield failure forces him to retire during the safety car period. Montoya is not quite on the lead pace but holds fourth until attrition ahead allows him to take second.

Verdict: Retiring under yellow is clearly not good, but performance wise this was McLaren's best showing since Bahrain.

Schumacher loses pole when he is adjudged to have deliberately blocked the track at the end of qualifying. He starts from the pit lane but can only progress to 16th at first. An early stop helps him make up some ground, but he is unlucky to be the first of the lapped cars at the restart. Retirements ahead allow him to take fifth. Massa crashes in Q1 and starts 21st. Cannot match Schumacher's progress but good strategy and a few passing moves take him to ninth by the end.

Verdict: Qualifying controversy overshadows their weekend.

Trulli starts sixth despite both Toyotas being very slow in final practice. Loses three places at the start, but picks up pace as the race goes on and emerges in third after the two stoppers pit and other cars hit trouble. Hydraulic failure ends his race on lap 72. Schumacher is a low key 10th on the grid and follows the slower Heidfeld for the entire distance. Still picks up a point, though.

Verdict: Difficult to judge the revised car's potential in these chaotic circumstances.

Wurz hints at Williams' pace with fastest Friday time, and Webber has a shot at pole and victory. He starts second, is passed by Raikkonen on lap two, but stays with the leaders until a wiring loom burns out due to an exhaust glitch. Rosberg is stuck in traffic in qualifying and starts eighth. Runs sixth initially, but drops into the midfield queues after his first of two pit stops, and never recovers. Crashes out of 13th when a similar exhaust problem leads to a jammed throttle at Anthony Noghes.

Verdict: Deserved a podium at the very least.

Davidson is quick on Friday but ends the session in the Sainte Devote barriers. Race drivers also have a difficult weekend, especially Button who struggles with understeer and tyre issues. He qualifies only 14th, runs towards the rear of the midfield throughout, and finishes 11th. Barrichello starts fifth with a heavy fuel load, and holds position despite queues building up in his wake. As lead contenders drop out, he finds himself third, only to incur a pit lane speeding penalty. Ultimately fends off Schumacher for fourth.

Verdict: Third would have been an amazing result for a car that simply wasn't competitive (as Button's form demonstrated).

Very quick all weekend and rewarded with a maiden podium. Coulthard starts seventh - his first top ten qualifying of 2006 - but is stuck behind Barrichello initially. An inspired switch from two stops to an early one makes the key difference, as does a little luck with the safety car. He runs sixth after the restart, and as others stumble, Coulthard comes through to take third. Brake troubles leave Klien 12th in qualifying. He drives a quiet but competitive race, holding 10th at first then emerging fifth at the restart, but retires with a loss of drive soon afterwards.

Verdict: Superb all weekend (Coulthard especially), and chose the perfect venue for their podium debut.

Electrical problems ruin practice (and put Kubica in the wall) and the car is off the pace when it does run. Villeneuve and Heidfeld fill row eight after qualifying, but a strong start brings Heidfeld into points contention in the race. Despite a heavy fuel load and bad tyre wear, he holds off crowds of challengers and moves up to seventh as attrition takes effect. Villeneuve gets stuck in the train behind his teammate and has a penalty for passing behind the safety car, leaving him 14th,

Verdict: Heidfeld's points are a triumph of persistence.

The car shows potential in practice, yet Albers and Monteiro still end up 17th and 18th on the grid. A nasty startline tangle between them breaks Monteiro's wing and he never recovers, finishing 16th. Albers is penalised for the incident, but catches the midfield again, benefits from pitting before the safety car and finishes 12th - with a Toro Rosso and a BMW behind him!

Verdict: Genuinely quick enough to challenge the bigger teams this weekend.

Speed blames traffic for his 19th spot in qualifying, while Liuzzi takes a strong 13th. Both start with huge fuel loads and are trapped in the midfield trains, before having to pit earlier than planned when the safety car comes out. Liuzzi chases Heidfeld, Schumacher and Massa home and claims 10th, Speed threatens fewer big names on the way to 13th.

Verdict: Perhaps less than the team expected, but actually closer to the works squads than usual.

Sato and Montagny have the Ferraris behind them on the grid, but don't stay in front for long. Montagny gets his first F1 finish in 17th, surviving a bruising battle with Monteiro. Sato retires with electrical problems on lap 46.

Verdict: Still respectable, but still too slow to truly compete.

Lap by Lap

Lap 1: Fernando Alonso makes a clean start from pole position to open up a 0.8 seconds lead. Mark Webber repels Kimi Raikkonen's challenge to hold second.

Juan Pablo Montoya settles into fourth ahead of Rubens Barrichello, Nico Rosberg, David Coulthard, Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli, Christian Klien, Nick Heidfeld (up from 15th), Ralf Schumacher, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Jacques Villeneuve, Jenson Button, Scott Speed, Christijan Albers, Michael Schumacher, Takuma Sato, Franck Montagny and Felipe Massa.

Tiago Monteiro heads for the pits for nose repairs after start-line contact with teammate Albers. He rejoins well behind the rest.

Lap 2: Raikkonen passes Webber on the drag up towards Massenet. Michael Schumacher picks off Albers and Speed and now lies 16th.

Kimi Raikkonen passes Mark Webber on lap 2 and sets off after Fernando Alonso © XPB/LAT

Lap 3: Raikkonen trails by 0.5 seconds. Webber is hanging on to the top two. Fifth-placed Barrichello is dropping away and a queue is beginning to form in his wake.

Lap 4: Massa passes both Super Aguris.

Lap 6: The top two remain about half a second apart: Raikkonen continues to match Alonso's lap speeds.

Lap 10: Alonso posts the race's fastest lap so far - 1:15.924s - and leads by 0.6 seconds.

Lap 11: Alonso goes faster still: 1:15.679.

Lap 17: Albers is served with a drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable collision.

Lap 18: Albers pits but doesn't lose a place.

Lap 19: Raikkonen sets fastest lap: 1:15.325. He trails by 0.6 seconds. Webber is 3.5 seconds further adrift.

Lap 20: Michael Schumacher passes Button for 15th at the chicane.

Lap 21: Montoya makes the first scheduled stop.

Lap 22: Raikkonen pits.

Lap 23: Alonso pits. Webber leads. Rosberg comes in for fuel and tyres and drops from sixth to 15th.

Lap 24: Webber pits. The top four resume their original order, with Raikkonen right on Alonso's tail.

Lap 25: Almost one-third distance and all 22 starters remain on track.

Lap 27: Fisichella pits... and slips from seventh to 15th, behind Michael Schumacher and Rosberg.

Lap 29: Coulthard refuels. He rejoins 12th, between Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher.

Lap 30: Webber pares 0.5 seconds off the front two and closes to within 0.7s of Raikkonen.

Lap 32: Just 1.1 seconds covers the top three. Montoya is 2.2 seconds further back... then there's a half-minute gap to Barrichello.

Lap 33: Fisichella passes Rosberg for 14th.

Lap 34: Massa passes Speed for 17th.

Lap 35: Eighth-placed Heidfeld heads a queue stretching back to Rosberg, who is running 15th. Fisichella looks inside Michael Schumacher at Mirabeau but thinks better of it.

The Williams of Mark Webber expires after exhaust problems set the car on fire © XPB/LAT

Lap 36: Michael Schumacher pits. He rejoins 18th, a lap down.

Lap 37: Massa pits.

Lap 39: Half-distance. Alonso leads Raikkonen by 0.8 seconds with Webber third, 2.0 seconds behind the leader. Ralf Schumacher pits. Fisichella passes Coulthard at the chicane.

Lap 40: Heidfeld pits. Fisichella passes Villeneuve at the chicane.

Lap 41: Klien and Button pit.

Lap 43: Alonso and Raikkonen lap Fisichella. The Spaniard gains about half a second in the process. Webber is losing time in the traffic.

Lap 44: Michael Schumacher passes Villeneuve for 12th. Villeneuve pits at the end of the lap.

Lap 45: Barrichello and Trulli pit from fifth and sixth but retain their positions.

Lap 49: Webber pulls off in a haze of smoke at the exit of Ste Devote and posts the earliest retirement. The Safety Car is deployed. The top three all pit, as do Fisichella, Liuzzi, Rosberg, Montagny, Monteiro and Sato. The latter retires.

Lap 50: The field lines up in the order Alonso, Raikkonen, Montoya, Barrichello, Trulli, Klien and Coulthard. Michael Schumacher is a lapped eighth, ahead of Fisichella, Heidfeld, Ralf Schumacher, Massa, Liuzzi, Rosberg, Villeneuve, Button, Albers, Speed, Montagny and Monteiro.

Lap 51: Raikkonen's engine blows while he's running behind the Safety Car.

Lap 53: Race restarts. Alonso tears away. Montoya is 6.3 seconds adrift, amid lapped traffic. Rosberg crashes at Virage Anthony Noghes.

Lap 54: On a clear track, Alonso extends his advantage over Montoya to 12.1 seconds. Barrichello is now third ahead of Trulli, Klien, Coulthard, the lapped Michael Schumacher and Fisichella - the latter pair running as one.

Lap 56: Both Red Bulls are harassing Trulli.

Lap 57: Coulthard passes Klien for fifth. Seconds later, the Austrian pulls into the pits to retire.

Lap 58: Villeneuve is handed a drive-through penalty for overtaking behind the Safety Car. He serves it almost straight away.

Lap 60: Barrichello, Trulli and Coulthard are covered by a couple of seconds.

Fernando Alonso wins the Monaco Grand Prix for Renault © LAT

Lap 63: Barrichello is handed a penalty for speeding in the pits. Raikkonen is spotted relaxing on a boat.

Lap 64: Trulli and Coulthard move up to third and fourth. Barrichello is fifth, 20.4 seconds clear of Michael Schumacher and Fisichella - both of whom have unlapped themselves as Alonso eases his pace.

Lap 67: Michael Schumacher laps in 1:15.527 - he is now just 14.5 seconds adrift of Barrichello. Fisichella is falling away from the German.

Lap 70: Michael Schumacher is now just 9.8 seconds from Barrichello with eight laps to go.

Lap 73: Trulli crawls to a halt exiting Ste Devote. Coulthard takes third. Michael Schumacher slices 2.6 seconds out of Barrcihello's advantage and closes to within 5.2 seconds.

Lap 74: Michael Schumacher sets fastest lap: 1:15.143. Barrichello is 2.6 seconds away.

Lap 75: Michael Schumacher is just 0.4 seconds behind Barrichello - and 3.4 seconds away from a potential podium finish.

Lap 78: Alonso wins by 14.5 seconds from Montoya and Coulthard, who secures Red Bull Racing's first podium. Barrichello just holds off Michael Schumacher Fisichella, Heidfeld and Ralf Schumacher complete the top eight.