Canadian GP, Sunday - 25 JUN 2006
Fernando Alonso took his sixth win of the 2006 season, and
the fourteenth of his career, this afternoon with a controlled
drive to victory at the Canadian Grand Prix. The Spaniard
had never previously scored a podium finish at the Circuit
Gilles Villeneuve, and was determined to add some silverware
to his collection at this race. He did so in consummate style,
making a perfect getaway from pole position, defending his
lead robustly against Kimi Raikkonen's pressure during the
opening laps, and then building a crucial gap during the second
stint that gave him the safety margin he needed for the final
part of the race. Ultimately, this was nullified by a safety
car ten laps from the finish, but the Spaniard had enough
in hand to maintain a comfortable lead over Michael Schumacher
to the flag. "Todo es perfecto" was his comment
into the radio on his slowing-down lap – an assessment
it is hard to argue with, as he took his points total to 84
from a possible 90 in the first half of the season.
Giancarlo Fisichella had a more incident-filled afternoon.
The Italian jumped the start from second position on the grid
and although he ultimately lost a position on the opening
lap, was penalised with a drive-through penalty. This dropped
him to fifth, after which he had a race on two fronts: trying
to close the gap to Michael Schumacher ahead, while protecting
his position from Felipe Massa behind. While he was unable
to catch the German, Fisco finished well ahead of the second
Ferrari to further extend Renault's lead in the constructors'
championship. The team now has a total of 121 points, with
a 34 point lead.
The Renault F1 Team was also proud to score Michelin's 100th
victory in Formula 1 this afternoon. The tyres showed they
had a perfect blend of first lap performance and racing consistency,
standing up to a demanding circuit and hot conditions. Michelin's
100th win also comes on the eve of the 100th anniversary of
Renault and Michelin's win in the first ever Grand Prix in
history, which began on 26 June 1906 in Le Mans, France.
Fernando Alonso, Winner
This is a fantastic win. They are all nice but after the last
two years when something always happened to us in Montreal,
this was a race we all felt we should have won – and
now we have. It was difficult because the circuit was really
slippery off line, so if you made any mistakes you lost one
or two seconds straight away. Kimi put a lot of pressure on
me in the opening stint, some laps I was faster, some laps
he was, and he nearly got past me when I ran wide in turn
10. Then after the first stop, the team told me that he was
going longer than me on the middle stint, so I really had
to push to open up a gap. I had three or four scares because
I was pushing to the limit but in the end, I came out with
quite a good lead after the second stop and it would have
been quite comfortable. Then the Safety Car closed everything
up, but I had some cars between me and Kimi, which made it
quite easy to control the final laps. These last races haven't
been easy for us, but we are developing the car and the results
keep on coming. We had a new package for Canada that worked
really well, and we have more coming. That is the best defence
we can do, to keep attacking and winning races.
Giancarlo Fisichella, 4th position
It was a difficult afternoon, a tough race for all of the
drivers. I jumped the start and even though I tried to slow
down and Kimi got past me, I had to do a drive-through penalty.
That was really when I lost the chance of a podium finish.
After that, I pushed to the maximum in the opening stint and
the second one too, but the circuit was destroyed in turn
10, and there was a lot of traffic, so it was easy to make
mistakes out there. Even so, I finished ahead of Massa and
helped us score more points than Ferrari, so it is good for
the championship. Now, we need to do even better in Indy.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director
This was another good race for the team, but not an easy one.
The team managed it well and Fernando did too. It is always
a hard race here with the brakes and tyres, so I am really
pleased for Fernando to take his first win at this circuit.
Giancarlo made a mistake at the start, and one mistake is
enough to make it a very difficult afternoon when the competition
is so close. Even so, he got the car home in the points and
beat Massa. The important thing today was out-scoring Ferrari,
and we can go to Indy feeling very confident. Everybody really
wants to put on a good show there and repair the damage from
last year.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
What a tough race that was! It was certainly the hardest of
the year for the first two stints, and a lot of things could
have happened this afternoon. Fernando was under severe pressure
from Kimi until the second stops, when McLaren seemed to bring
him in a little early. That actually made our life quite a
lot easier, and we then controlled the race to the finish.
Giancarlo's race was compromised by his jump start. He was
in a recovery situation from then on, and made the most of
it to finish fourth. Conditions were very tricky this afternoon,
but we should also thank Michelin for providing a fantastic
tyre. Temperatures hit 48°C and the strategy called for
long stints. In spite of this, they showed excellent consistency
to go with the stunning one-lap performance from yesterday.
It was appropriate that, for their hundredth F1 victory, they
should once again provide us with a perfect tyre.
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