The Complete 2006 Spanish GP Review

Last week, Bernie Ecclestone suggested that Fernando Alonso did not put as much back into Formula One as a world champion should - that he was somehow neglecting his ambassadorial duties.

"I don't know what Bernie means," Alonso replied. "I go testing, I go to promotional events and I have my sponsors, I go to my obligations, I race and this is my job in Formula One.

"I don't know what more I have to do."

By simply doing 'his job' better than his peers, he has galvanised hitherto unimaginable enthusiasm for F1 in Spain, a country that used to play host to one of the most sterile, poorly attended races on the calendar, but now embraces the sport with a passion rivalled only by the Tifosi.

"Three years ago we had half a million people watching F1 and now there are 10 million people watching the race," Alonso said.

"It has been a big change, because now Formula One is a sport about which everybody is talking in the streets."

It was here that the Schumacher-Alonso story really started, back in 2003. There was no way that Alonso's Renault should have been a match for Michael Schumacher's Ferrari back then, yet somehow the inexperienced Spaniard clung onto the champion throughout the race and forced him to keep pushing on a day when Schumacher probably expected an easy cruise to victory.

That performance came as quite a surprise, and given the way that Ferrari appeared to have wrestled control of F1 back from the 'upstart' Renault in recent weeks, Alonso's win this weekend must also count as a minor shock.

Helped by the temperature rising just enough to hand a tiny advantage to Michelin, Alonso managed to defeat a Ferrari that was slightly faster than his Renault, as fuel corrected qualifying times would clearly show.

It is in such marginal situations that Alonso's now legendary relentlessness - his ability to maximise his package's potential for lap after error-free lap - proves so crucial.

Rather like that 2003 contest, this race was desperately lacking in wheel to wheel entertainment, and was only enthralling on the timing screen.

The spectators probably missed out on the awe-inspiring minutiae of Alonso's victory, the tension that built as Schumacher's superior strategy played out, and the crucial fast laps that broke Ferrari's challenge.

But still, their enthusiasm never waned, the roar never quietened, and the flags never stood still.

Alonso manages to be shy and ultra-professional without being dull - as his increasingly Valentino Rossi-esque parc ferme behaviour, and the astonishing overtaking instinct that he can employ as and when required, both attest.

Admittedly, patriotism is a powerful factor, but surely Alonso's character and style have also played a part in awakening Spain to F1?

The allure of Alonso meant that the capacity crowd at Catalunya went crazy with delight at the end of a race that most neutrals or casual fans would have been thoroughly bored by.

"I don't think even 66 laps tomorrow will be enough for me to enjoy this race," Alonso said after qualifying, "because it is pure pleasure to be driving here in Barcelona this weekend in front of my people."

And they would have quite happily sat through another 66 laps as long as their hero had been at the front of the field for them...

Alonso's presence also means that F1 2006 is building into a breathtaking clash between the legends of two eras. With anyone else in the lead Renault, surely the championship battle would be a foregone conclusion? But with Alonso around, Schumacher has a real challenge to contend with, and the fans have a superb season to look forward to.

Ecclestone is entitled suggest that Alonso "doesn't do much" for F1, but over a hundred thousand Spaniards would beg to differ.

Practice

Since most of the teams are as familiar with the Catalunya track as Ferrari are with Fiorano, few expected the opening session to be busy, especially as it began in damp conditions.

Indeed, the only race drivers to appear in the opening 55 minutes of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend were the Super Aguri duo, and Franck Montagny immediately pulled up with a hydraulic problem.

The Ferraris emerged for a short run right at the end of the morning, with Felipe Massa going fastest on a 1:15.796, 0.3 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher.

The crowd got what they wanted in the slower afternoon session, as Fernando Alonso came out for a concerted effort and was the leading race drivers in third overall, beaten by Honda tester Anthony Davidson (who led the way with a 1:16.533) and Red Bull's Robert Doornbos later on.

It had been an eventful day for Doornbos, beginning with erroneous reports that he was poised to take Christian Klien's race drive from Monaco onwards, and then a spin early in second practice, before he rebounded with an impressive 1:16.8 lap.

Most drivers completed significantly more laps in the second session, but McLaren continued their 'aggressively conservative' approach, with neither car venturing out until the final eight minutes. Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen completed just nine laps between them on Friday, as McLaren saved engine and tyre mileage.

Saturday morning saw both Honda drivers and Ferrari's Massa spending a while at the top of the timing screens before Giancarlo Fisichella set a 1:15.707 that looked set to stand as the practice benchmark, until Schumacher's final lap beat it by 0.049 seconds.

But Renault's director of engineering Pat Symonds was far more concerned about Schumacher's ominous pace on a long run than he was about this last gasp headline-grabber...

Alonso's potential remained unknown, as what should have been his best lap was abandoned after a wild sideways slide through Campsa.

After two underwhelming weekends, Nick Heidfeld seemed to be back in harmony with his BMW Sauber as he set the third quickest time.

In contrast, his teammate Jacques Villeneuve was only 16th - having visited the gravel in an incident that he felt might have been Fisichella's revenge for their Nurburgring qualifying disagreement.

Villeneuve already knew that he was facing a grid penalty, after his engine was bizarrely damaged 'while being prepared for transportation' at the Nurburgring.

Red Bull continued their promising form as Christian Klien and David Coulthard went fourth and fifth quickest in the third session.

The other performance of note was Takuma Sato's impressive 1:18.857 time - putting the Super Aguri between the two Midlands and within 0.4 seconds of Jarno Trulli's Toyota.

Practice round up

Sorted by total laps from all three sessions

Qualifying

Part one

David Coulthard hoped to commemorate his 200th Grand Prix by making it through to Q3 for the first time.

Instead, a split water pipe sprayed fluid onto his rear tyres as he accelerated through Turn 3 on his out lap, sending the Red Bull backwards into the barriers, and consequently to the back row of the grid.

The crash caused a red flag, although with 7.5 minutes remaining this was not a great drama and did not prompt a sprint to the pit exit when the session resumed.

Fernando Alonso quickly roused his fans with a 1:15.8 lap, leading Giancarlo Fisichella in an early Renault 1-2, albeit with Michael Schumacher just 0.2 seconds away in third.

Coulthard aside, the eliminated drivers were all usual suspects.

Franck Montagny was 1.8 seconds slower than teammate Takuma Sato after going off at the end of what would have been a better lap.

While Super Aguri were relatively pleased with their pace despite being knocked out early, there was anger and frustration at Midland after Tiago Monteiro and Christijan Albers managed only 18th and 19th.

Albers slammed Sato for allegedly dawdling on the racing line during an in-lap ("I nearly had a massive shunt... He should have been more aware of what was going on"), while Colin Kolles decided it was time to raise the Toro Rosso V10 issue again: "I think we would be in the later qualifying stages by now if everyone was using the same engine formula..."

Not that V10 power helped Scott Speed much, as he was the final knockout victim in 17th, albeit just a tenth shy of bumping Nico Rosberg into an early exit.

Part two

Any excitement that Vitantonio Liuzzi felt at making it through to Q2 was tempered by the knowledge that he was highly unlikely to surpass 16th position. "To do a better time would mean taking a short cut," he said, and clearly none were available.

Christian Klien also failed to progress, due to understeer and being "held up" by Jacques Villeneuve, although he was more sanguine about this than Fisichella had been seven days earlier. Villeneuve was one place ahead of Klien, in 14th, which made little difference given his engine penalty.

It was a bad afternoon for Williams, with Mark Webber and Rosberg ending up 11th and 13th - the first time that Webber had failed to reach Q1.

"We got a bit of an idea in testing that maybe it was going to be a little bit difficult for us around here," he said, while noting that he was "just a sniff away" (0.034 seconds to be exact) from making it into the top 10.

Rosberg was optimistic about the team's race pace and pointed out that after coming from 22nd to seventh at the Nurburgring, a similar result should be easily achievable from 13th.

If the Williams duo's elimination was a surprise, then Juan Pablo Montoya's 12th place was a real shock.

McLaren had somehow neglected to refuel his car before the session, so the Colombian had to abandon his flying lap and pit. His tyres then cooled during refuelling, and he could not better 1:15.801 when he rejoined the track.

Late improvements by Fisichella (who leapt right up to second), Ralf Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld ensured that this was insufficient, and Montoya was knocked out in Q2.

At the front, Michael Schumacher set out his challenge for pole with a 1:14.637.

Part three

Qualifying may have less relevance all the time that race fuel levels are involved, but that was going to be little comfort to the crowd if their hero Alonso was beaten to pole by Schumacher.

Traffic in sector two left Schumacher almost a second behind Alonso after their first flying laps, but no-one expected it to stay that way.

Alonso's initial 1:14.875 lap was a stunning time for a race fuel session and looked hard to better, but with Schumacher sure to improve, he had to try on his last flying lap of the hour. The Spaniard gained a few thousandths in the first two sectors, before an outstanding run through the final corners resulted in a rapturously received 1:14.648.

Schumacher's concurrent lap was better in sector one, but subsequently tailed off. The Ferrari ended up 0.322 seconds slower, and soon bumped down to third as Fisichella stepped up to complete an all-Renault front row. Schumacher's own wing man was also right in contention, though, as Felipe Massa easily secured fourth place.

There remained a suspicion that Ferrari might have the upper hand in the race, but Alonso was unfazed.

"Okay, when Ferrari's too strong for us we have to be happy with second place, but I think we have to believe that victory is possible tomorrow," he said.

It had been clear all weekend that only two teams were in contention in Spain, and the other Q1 participants decided to run relatively heavy fuel loads and avoid intruding on Ferrari and Renault's private battle.

Rubens Barrichello was relatively satisfied to take best of the rest honours in fifth, his time later equalled by sixth placed Ralf Schumacher. With Jarno Trulli 0.091 seconds behind Schumacher, Toyota were pleased with their afternoon's work.

The understeer-blighted Jenson Button was less thrilled to be behind them in eighth, and feared that the Toyotas would prove to be an impediment in the race.

Ninth appeared to be a genuine reflection of Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren's qualifying potential on this occasion, while Heidfeld decided that 10th was his likely limit and therefore opted for a fuel heavy strategy.

Qualifying results

* Incurred penalty for engine change and therefore started the race from 22nd

The Race

The start worked out perfectly for Renault, with both Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella reaching the first corner comfortably ahead of the Ferraris, and Fisichella obediently tucking in behind his teammate despite having made a faster start.

With Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa also maintaining grid order, it was Kimi Raikkonen's progress from ninth that caught the eye. The McLaren immediately jumped past Jenson Button, then squeezed between the two Toyotas, drove around the outside of Rubens Barrichello under braking, and even had an optimistic nibble at Massa before settling for fifth.

Button dealt with his Toyota concerns by following Raikkonen past Trulli, and then outbraking Ralf Schumacher on the outside at Turn 1. He then slotted in behind his sixth placed teammate Barrichello.

Alonso completed the opening lap with a 1.6-second lead over Fisichella, who was not exactly being pressured by Schumacher. The Ferrari lurked a second or so behind the number two Renault in the early stages, then started dropping away slightly, losing 0.2-0.4 seconds per lap to Fisichella.

Both were losing rather more to Alonso, who was in imperious form. Virtually every lap of his opening stint was a new fastest race lap, as the home hero added another 0.6 seconds (on average) to his lead every time he streaked past the swathes of blue flags in the main grandstand.

Alonso got down to a 1:16.828 before making his first pitstop on lap 17, while Fisichella and Schumacher remained stuck on mid-1:17s as they fell 10.0 and 12.8 seconds behind, respectively. Massa was only 1.4 seconds away from his team leader at this point, while the rest of the field may as well have been participating in a different event.

This disparity was underlined when Alonso emerged from the pits comfortably ahead of fifth placed Raikkonen, the man who crushed the field (Alonso included) so comprehensively at this venue in 2005.

Fisichella and Massa pitted on the next two laps, but Schumacher seemed to have no intention of stopping at this stage. Considering that their drivers had achieved a front row lock-out, Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds seemed awfully pessimistic prior to the race, and now their fears started to look well-founded.

Traffic skewed the picture a little during the six laps that separated Schumacher and Alonso's first pitstops. But despite being unable to match his rival's earlier 1:16 laps, Schumacher extended his lead over Alonso from 10.3 seconds to nearly 15 seconds before pitting, and he emerged ahead of Fisichella, leaving Alonso potentially far more vulnerable than he had been when his teammate had held a 'buffer' position.

Yet despite having five additional low fuel laps, Schumacher only just managed to jump Fisichella. Plus, Massa had dropped right out of the picture after emerging from his stop behind the notably slower Hondas, which were on long first stints.

So on the evidence of the first third of the race, Ferrari might have had a superior strategy and perhaps even fractionally superior pace, but its advantage was nowhere near as significant as it had been at the Nurburgring. Overturning Alonso's 10 second lead was therefore going to be a major challenge...

After two laps of shadowing Schumacher, Fisichella speared through the Turn 3 gravel, having lost control when startled by a radio message from his engineer just as he committed to the 145mph right-hander. He regained control with minimal drama and didn't even lose a place, but now had to focus on resisting Massa rather than challenging Schumacher.

All eyes were on the timing screens to see if Schumacher would start hacking away at Alonso's lead now that he had been unleashed. But instead Alonso continued to edge into the distance, albeit only by 0.2-3 seconds per lap.

In fact the middle stint provided yet more evidence that the other 20 drivers in Formula One are currently little more than a support act for Alonso and Schumacher. Whenever they were both in clear air, the past and present champions lapped within a tenth of each other.

In fairness, Fisichella and Massa sometimes matched their teammates' times, but they were now over 20 seconds adrift. The crowd's focus was only on two drivers: their blue-clad idol, and his red uniformed nemesis.

Inevitably the final pitstop sequence proved critical. Alonso set a new benchmark time (1:16.723) on lap 39 despite having to lap Nick Heidfeld and Tiago Monteiro, and then the first two-thirds of his in lap were faster still.

He rejoined neatly between Fisichella and Massa, with the former pulling straight into the pits for his own stop time next around, Then came the decisive blow to Ferrari's chances of winning the Spanish GP, as Alonso took maximum advantage of the 'golden lap' of tyre performance and produced a 1:17.0 on full tanks. D

espite carrying 20 laps' less fuel than Alonso, Schumacher was just 0.1 seconds quicker. With Alonso only 8.7 seconds behind, Ferrari needed to find a lot more speed to have any hope of their late stopping strategy paying off.

That heroic lap proved to be a one-off for Alonso, but Schumacher only had time to add a couple of seconds to his lead before his own final stop on lap 46. He rejoined 12.1 seconds in arrears, and barring the sort of last gasp misfortune that never seems to happen to Renaults, the race for victory was clearly decided.

In Alonso and Schumacher's wake, there was plenty of close competition, but little in the way of palpitation-inducing action. Massa had hoped to leapfrog Fisichella by pitting two laps later, and helped his cause by setting what would stand as the fastest race lap, but having fallen four seconds behind the Renault during the stint, it was always a long shot. In the event, traffic on his in lap ensured that Massa would not repeat his Nurburgring podium, and that Fisichella could return to the rostrum after a run of frustrating races.

Raikkonen's lowly grid spot suggested that he was carrying plenty of fuel, so it was a surprise when he stopped as early as lap 22 - several laps sooner than the Hondas and Toyotas that had beaten the McLaren in qualifying.

Button had the pace to challenge Raikkonen, but lost ground behind teammate Barrichello during the first stint. Although the Brazilian has progressed greatly since his embarrassing early races in Honda colours, he could not match Button's times consistently.

The Hondas swapped places during the first pitstop sequence, and while Button inched ever closer to Raikkonen in the second half of the race, he could not quite get on terms. They finished 1.5 seconds apart in fifth and sixth, but nearly a minute behind the leaders. Hampered by a vibration later on, Barrichello drifted away to a lonely, lapped, seventh.

It would have been intriguing to see what Juan Pablo Montoya might have achieved given that he had opted for an almost unique one stop strategy, which went some way to explaining his poor early pace. A points finish was certainly possible, had he not spun out of 10th on lap 18, ending up helplessly beached on the Turn 2 exit kerbs after the kind of incident that isn't supposed to be possible in the traction control era.

Having outqualified Button and Raikkonen, Toyota really ought to have taken some points from Barcelona, but instead they hit the self-destruct button early on. Although Trulli passed teammate Schumacher on the opening lap, the Italian could not pull away, and soon started struggling with tyre graining.

With the Hondas escaping at up to a second per lap, Schumacher was anxious to overtake his troubled teammate. He had an exploratory look into Turn 1 on lap 15, but succeeded only in losing his front wing as Trulli took the normal racing line, unaware that Schumacher - who had approached the braking area some distance behind - was even trying a move.

"I didn't even feel the collision and the first time I noticed that we had touched was when Ralf disappeared from my mirrors," said Trulli. Schumacher was even more sanguine about the incident, even though he dropped from ninth to 20th during the resultant pitstop. He managed to pass the MF1s before calling it a day following electronic problems.

Not for the first time, Trulli's slide down the field would continue throughout the race. Heidfeld closed in on the Toyota during the opening stint and then jumped ahead by pitting two laps later, edging Trulli out of the points in the process.

The process was repeated during the next pitstop sequence, this time with Mark Webber catching and then leapfrogging the Toyota. The Williams got quicker and quicker as the race progressed, and once in clear air Webber was able to start chasing down Heidfeld for the final point.

Heidfeld had managed one of the race's few on track passing moves when he went around the outside of Barrichello (who had recently made his second stop) at Turn 1 on lap 44, allowing him to get maximum benefit from his long middle stint.

When the BMW Sauber emerged from its final pit visit on lap 50, it had an eight second advantage over Webber's Williams, but this was rapidly eroded and the former teammates spent the final few laps nose to tail. Heidfeld held on, and was hugely relieved to be back in points after a puzzling loss of form in the initial European rounds.

A short distance behind, it was Rosberg's turn to queue up behind Trulli, whose tyre concerns worsened in the final stint. Clear air was a rare commodity for Rosberg in this race. Scott Speed had muscled past him on the opening lap, and the Williams remained behind the Toro Rosso until the first pitstops.

Not long afterwards, Rosberg found himself on the tail of Jacques Villeneuve, who was driving another excellent race. Starting last at an overtaking-unfriendly circuit like Catalunya is a nightmarish prospect, so BMW decided to carry out something of an experiment in how much fuel it is possible to pack into a modern F1 car.

Amazingly, Villeneuve did not make his first pitstop until lap 40 of the 66 lap race! He had picked his way through the Super Aguris and Midlands in the opening laps, and then his strategy worked perfectly and allowed the Sauber to vault ahead of the Red Bull/Toro Rosso quartet.

As Rosberg crawled all over the back of Trulli in the final laps, Villeneuve closed in rapidly on them both. With a lap to go, Rosberg got alongside Trulli into Turn 1, but was kept to the outside and had to settle for 11th, while 22nd to 12th was a pretty good achievement for the resurgent Villeneuve. Just 1.6 seconds covered all three drivers at the chequered flag.

Speed lost out to Christian Klien as well as Rosberg during the first stops, then retired with engine problems soon afterwards. Klien therefore had little trouble in winning the 'Red Bull class', as Dietrich Mateschitz's quartet occupied a midfield no man's land - incapable of challenging those ahead, but comfortably clear of the backmarker teams.

Coulthard quickly despatched the MF1s and Super Aguris and was soon up with his stablemates despite starting on the back row. But further progress proved impossible, and he finished 4.6 seconds behind Klien in 14th - bumped up a position when Vitantonio Liuzzi retired on the last lap with a hydraulic issue.

The MF1/Super Aguri squabble was quite lively again. Takuma Sato had to take to the grass to pass Monteiro on the charge off the grid, and then lost several places when his dirty tyres caught him out at Repsol.

That left Franck Montagny at the front of the gaggle, a position he cemented by tangling with Monteiro at Seat on lap two, sending the Midland spinning down to last just moments after it had passed the Super Aguri.

Thankfully - from MF1's point of view - both Super Aguris hit trouble on lap 10, as Sato had a wild spin at Turn 3 and had to pit for new tyres, seconds before Montagny slowed and retired with a driveshaft problem.

Albers later suffered a front wing failure, and would eventually retire after a series of pitstops failed to get the handling back to his satisfaction. That left Monteiro short of playmates - two laps behind the rest of the midfield, but a lap ahead of Sato, as both could at least celebrate making it to the end of the race.

Celebrations of a far more euphoric nature greeted Alonso's commanding victory. He kept up a brisk pace until the last few corners of the 66th lap, when he eased off and started waving to the ecstatic crowd, before performing a series of swerves as he crossed the line to take his first home victory.

One of the longest slowing down laps in history followed, as Alonso waved, punched the air and made shadow puppet shapes for the benefit of his fans, countrymen, and the superbly enthusiastic marshals.

After a brand new mystery victory dance in parc ferme - this time a broad shouldered, lumbering swagger that was apparently "not an animal" - Alonso earned another huge roar from the grandstands by mounting the podium to receive his trophy from his monarch (and supporter) King Juan Carlos.

Alonso had not only extended his championship lead back to 15 points just as Schumacher and Ferrari were beginning to look unstoppable, he had also thrilled an entire nation in the process. Not a bad afternoon's work.

Race results

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Alonso        Renault              (M)  1h26:21.759
 2.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)  +    18.502
 3.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  +    23.951
 4.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  +    29.859
 5.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  +    56.875
 6.  Button        Honda                (M)  +    58.347
 7.  Barrichello   Honda                (M)  +     1 lap
 8.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (M)  +     1 lap
 9.  Webber        Williams-Cosworth    (B)  +     1 lap
10.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  +     1 lap
11.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)  +     1 lap
12.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber           (M)  +     1 lap
13.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  +     1 lap
14.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  +     1 lap
15.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  +     1 lap
16.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota           (B)  +    3 laps
17.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +    4 laps

Fastest lap: Massa, 1:16.048

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Albers        MF1-Toyota           (B)    49
Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)    48
R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)    32
Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes     (M)    18
Montagny      Super Aguri-Honda    (B)    11


World Championship standings, round 6:

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Alonso        54        1.  Renault               78
 2.  M.Schumacher  39        2.  Ferrari               59
 3.  Raikkonen     27        3.  McLaren-Mercedes      42
 4.  Fisichella    24        4.  Honda                 24
 5.  Massa         20        5.  BMW-Sauber            12
 6.  Button        16        6.  Williams-Cosworth     10
 7.  Montoya       15        7.  Toyota                 7
 8.  Barrichello    8        8.  Red Bull-Ferrari       2
 9.  R.Schumacher   7
10.  Villeneuve     6
11.  Heidfeld       6
12.  Webber         6
13.  Rosberg        4
14.  Coulthard      1
15.  Klien          1

Team by Team

RENAULT

Alonso and Fisichella secure the front row positions despite Ferrari looking ominous in practice. The world champion dominates the race, pulling away from the start and maintaining a lead of at least 10 seconds over arch rival Schumacher.

His victory thrills his 135,000 strong home crowd. Fisichella loses out to the late stopping Ferrari in the first pit sequence, then drops further back after running off the road at Turn 3. Retains third, despite late pressure from Massa.

Verdict: Perfect venue for a superb comeback

Montoya fails to make it into Q1 after a bizarre refuelling error means he has to abort his flying lap, and then suffers from cooled tyres on his second attempt. Starts 12th on a one stop strategy, but spins out when 10th on lap 18. Raikkonen can only qualify ninth, but a brilliant start takes him to fifth. Holds the place throughout, fending off Button later on.

Verdict: Raikkonen's superb first lap is the only thing worth celebrating.

Schumacher and Massa are very quick in practice but can only qualify on the second row behind the Renaults. A long first stint gets Schumacher ahead of Fisichella, but Alonso cannot be caught, so the Imola and Nurburgring winner has to settle for second this time. Massa spends the afternoon chasing Fisichella, ultimately in vain. Finishes fourth.

Verdict: Still very much in title contention, but their momentum has been interrupted.

Middling practice form is followed by promising qualifying, as Schumacher and Trulli line up sixth and seventh. They swap places on the first lap, and also lose out to key rivals Raikkonen and Button. Worse follows, as Ralf mangles his front wing against his teammate's rear tyre in a wildly optimistic move. Drops to 20th after repairs, progresses to 17th before retiring with electronic problems. Trulli suffers from tyre graining and slides to 10th by the finish.

Verdict: At least the drivers were sanguine about their tangle. Other than that, few bright spots.

Not quite on the pace this time, Webber and Rosberg are only 11th and 13th in qualifying. Making progress through the traffic proves virtually impossible, but they show good speed in (rare) clear air. Neither scores, though. Webber finished ninth, pushing Heidfeld hard in the final laps, while Rosberg is 11th and all over the back of Trulli.

Verdict: Still showing fighting spirit, but seem to be losing ground.

Barrichello's renaissance continues with fifth on the grid, while Button is an unhappy eighth. They run nose to tail in sixth and seventh early on, then swap places in the first pit stops. Button chases Raikkonen for fifth, Barrichello slips back with a vibration on his final set of tyres but retains seventh. Test driver Anthony Davidson tops the practice two times.

Verdict: Are their best races of 2006 already behind them?

Klien sets some eye-opening practice times (as does Friday tester Robert Doornbos), but only qualifies 15th. Battles mostly with Toro Rossos on the way to an underwhelming 13th in the race. Coulthard crashes at the start of qualifying thanks to a split water pipe. Makes rapid progress in the opening laps, but even a late stopping strategy can't elevate him higher than 14th by the end.

Verdict: Seem to have hit a worryingly unimpressive plateau at present.

Heidfeld is back on form, qualifying 10th and using a late stopping strategy to take eighth in the race, defending from the fast closing Webber at the end. A bizarre post-race incident at the Nurburgring means that Villeneuve has to take an engine penalty at Catalunya, dropping him from 14th to 22nd on the grid. Does a good job on a vast fuel load (40 laps' worth!) to progress to 12th.

Verdict: A single point does not justly reward a pair of impressive drives.

Monteiro and Albers qualify 18th and 19th, and lose out to the Super Aguris at the start again. A tangle with Montagny drops Monteiro to last, but he recovers as others hit trouble. Finishes a lonely and distant 16th. Albers suffers a front wing breakage, and debris damages other parts of the car. After several long pit stops, he eventually retires.

Verdict: Disappointing after recent signs of improvement.

Liuzzi and Speed feel that 16th and 17th is their limit in qualifying. An excellent first lap takes Speed up to 13th, and he fends Rosberg off until the pit stops. Ultimately retires from 14th with engine failure. Liuzzi is overshadowed somewhat. Picks up 14th when his teammate stops, but has to pull off with a lap remaining when a hydraulic problem affects his steering.

Verdict: Double retirement is a bit of a letdown after matching the 'senior' Red Bull cars.

Sato gets closer to the pace than ever in practice, yet still ends up 20th on the grid, with Montagny 21st after a late error. At least Coulthard and Villeneuve's problems keep them off the back row... Great starts take them ahead of the MF1s, but it doesn't last long. Sato spins on lap 10, losing time and places, and prompting an unscheduled stop. Soldiers on to finish four laps down in 17th. Montagny is pleased to run ahead of his teammate, but retires with driveshaft trouble on lap 10.

Verdict: Scrappy, but quite exciting to watch, and moving (slowly) in the right direction.

Lap by Lap

Lap 1: Fernando Alonso - the first Spaniard to qualify on pole position for his home Grand Prix - makes a good start to lead teammate Giancarlo Fisichella into Turn 1.

Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa retain their grid positions, third and fourth, but Kimi Raikkonen vaults from ninth to fifth ahead of Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button, Jarno Trulli, Ralf Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld, Juan Pablo Montoya, Mark Webber, Scott Speed, Nico Rosberg, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Christian Klien, Franck Montagny, David Coulthard (in his 200th Grand Prix, at the track where it all started in 1994), Tiago Monteiro, Takuma Sato, Jacques Villeneuve (who started 22nd after two unscheduled engine changes ahead of the race) and Christijan Albers.

Fernando Alonso leads from pole into the first turn © LAT

Alonso pulls 1.4 seconds clear of Fisichella, with Michael Schumacher another 1.6 seconds adrift.

Lap 2: Alonso extends his advantage to 2.2 seconds. Coulthard passes Montagny for 17th.

Lap 3: Monteiro spins at Turn 5 and drops to the tail of the field.

Lap 4: Alonso laps in 1:18.084 to lead by 3.8 seconds. Fisichella holds Michael Schumacher at bay while the leader escapes.

Lap 5: Alonso posts a 1m 17.907 seconds and extends his advantage by another second.

Lap 6: Villeneuve passes Montagny for 18th.

Lap 9: Alonso posts the latest in a series of fastest laps: 1:17.268.

Lap 10: Alonso leads by 7.2 seconds. The rest remain as they were. Sato spins at Turn 3 and pits at the end of the lap. Teammate Montagny peels in too. The Frenchman's car is pushed into the garage.

Lap 14: Alonso's lead is up to 9.4 seconds.

Lap 15: Ferrari sends its mechanics into the pit lane... but neither driver peels in.

Lap 16: Ralf Schumacher tries to pass Trulli at Turn 1, but the Italian turns in and swipes off his teammate's front wing. Ralf Schumacher heads for the pits.

Lap 17: Alonso pits and drops to fourth.

Lap 18: Fisichella pits. Montoya spins into retirement at the exit of Turn 2.

Lap 19: Massa pits.

Lap 20: Michael Schumacher leads Alonso by 11.6 seconds.

Lap 22: Raikkonen pits.

Ralf Schumacher collides with teammate Jarno Trulli while trying to overtake © LAT

Lap 23: Leader Michael Schumacher comes in. He rejoins just ahead of third-placed Fisichella. Alonso is 10s to the good.

Lap 24: Barrichello pits.

Lap 25: Button pits and gets out ahead of teammate Barrichello.

Lap 26: Alonso leads by 10.3 seconds. Fisichella runs wide at Turn 3 and loses about five seconds, but he stays third. Speed pits.

Lap 27: Trulli, Rosberg, Liuzzi and Coulthard pit.

Lap 28: Webber and Klien pit.

Lap 29: Heidfeld pits.

Lap 32: The gap at the front remains about 10.5 seconds. Raikkonen's car sheds a piece of bodywork. Ralf Schumacher pits to retire.

Lap 33: Half-distance. Alonso comfortably leads Michael Schumacher, Fisichella, Massa, Button, Barrichello, Heidfeld, Trulli and Webber. Villeneuve - yet to stop - is lapped, as are Rosberg, Klien, Speed, Liuzzi, Coulthard, Monteiro, Albers and Sato.

Lap 35: Alonso is pulling away. He leads by 12.4 seconds.

Lap 39: Alonso sets a new fastest lap: 1:16.723. He leads by 13.4 seconds.

Lap 40: Alonso pits and rejoins third, just behind Fisichella.

Lap 41: Fisichella pits and rejoins fifth, behind Raikkonen. Michael Schumacher leads Alonso by 8.6 seconds. Barrichello stops for fuel and tyres as, finally, does Villeneuve.

Lap 42: Massa sets a new fastest lap: 1:16.048.

Lap 43: Michael Schumacher manages a personal best - 1:16.922. Massa pits and slips to fifth.

Lap 44: Sixth-placed Button pits.

Lap 46: Michel Schumacher and Raikkonen pit. Alonso resumes the lead and has more than 12 seconds in hand. Trulli pits, too.

Lap 47: Webber pits. So does Speed, but the latter has a technical problem and goes no farther.

Lap 49: Rosberg makes his second stop, ditto Liuzzi.

Fernando Alonso takes a home win in the Spanish Grand Prix for Renault © LAT

Lap 50: Heidfeld and Klien make their final stops.

Lap 52: Alonso is pulling away at the head of the field, 14.5 seconds clear of Michael Schumacher. Fisichella, Massa, Raikkonen, Button and Barrichello. The lapped Heidfeld is eighth, ahead of Webber, Trulli, Rosberg, Villeneuve, Coulthard, Klien, Liuzzi, Monteiro and Sato.

Lap 53: Coulthard pits and drops to 15th. The closest battle in the midfield is between Trulli and Rosberg, who are scrapping for 10th.

Lap 60: With six to go, Alonso leads by 17 seconds. Rosberg is 0.2 seconds adrift of Trulli.

Lap 62: Webber is catching eighth-placed Heidfeld but is 2.3 seconds in arrears.

Lap 65: Liuzzi pits.

Lap 66: The grandstands erupt as Alonso becomes the first Spaniard to win his home Grand Prix, 18.5 seconds clear of Michael Schumacher. Fisichella, Massa, Raikkonen, Button, Barrichello and Heidfeld complete the points scorers. Trulli repels as last-lap, first-turn challenge from Rosberg to retain 10th.