March 19, 2006
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Malaysian Grand Prix 2006
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Malaysian Grand Prix 2006
Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault; Malaysian GP, Sepang; Sunday March 19th, 2006.
Q& A with Giancarlo Fisichella
Sunday, March 19th 2006, 17:24 GMT
Conducted and provided by the Renault F1 Team press office
Q: Giancarlo: pole and the win. It seems you had an ideal race…
Giancarlo Fisichella: “It was the perfect afternoon for me, but it was very tough mentally and physically. I found it hard! It was really, really hot.
“I began feeling tired from mid-race onwards, but I knew it would be tough and that I had to fight all the way to the end.
“There was no other option, because I had to attack. I didn’t want to lose concentration, and I am really pleased with the result.”
Q: How was the car?
Fisichella: “We had a good balance all through the race, even though there was some graining after the first stop. Apart from that, the R26 handled beautifully and I was very comfortable.”
Q: Were you worried about Fernando’s pace towards the end?
Fisichella: “No. My engineer kept me informed of what was going on, and I was controlling my pace to stay ahead. But there was no point pushing so hard that I went off…”
Q: This was an emotional weekend for you…
Fisichella: “Yes, and that’s why I am so pleased to win. I dedicate the win to my friend Pietro who died last week.
“I was also delighted to see my race engineer, Alan Permane, on the podium alongside me. Thank you to all the team, this is a fantastic result.”
Q: In one sense, is this the real start to your season?
Fisichella: “Yes. It’s the opposite to last year. In 2006, I had a bad first race and I have won the second. I am feeling very confident for the future now. I have a good feeling.”
Fernando Alonso, Renault; Malaysian GP, Sepang; Sunday March 19th, 2006.
Fernando Alonso, Giancarlo Fisichella, Jenson Button; Malaysian GP, Sepang; Sunday March 19th, 2006
Fischella Wins 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix
Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault; Malaysian GP, Sepang; Sunday March 19th, 2006.
Giancarlo Fisichella, Flavio Briatore, Fernando Alonso; Malaysian GP, Sepang; Sunday March 19th, 2006
Fisichella leads Renault 1-2 in Malaysia
By Timothy Collings
Sunday, March 19th 2006, 08:37 GMT
Giancarlo Fisichella won Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix with a determined and consistent drive to finish ahead of his Renault teammate Fernando Alonso.
This gave Renault the second ever 1-2 finish as a constructor - the previous time was in the 1982 French Grand Prix.
It was the third win of Italian Fisichella’s career and helped the him fulfil his pledge to produce a brilliant race in memory of his close friend Pietro Saitta, who was killed in a road accident the previous Sunday.
Fisichella had dedicated his pole position triumph on Saturday to his friend.
The result gave Renault, the defending constructors’ champions, their second ever one-two victory and the first since 1982 on one of their favourite circuits and confirmed them as the dominant early force in this year’s title race.
Briton Jenson Button, still seeking a first win after 102 Grands Prix, came home third for Honda.
Fisichella’s win hoisted him up the embryonic drivers’ championship standings into close contention behind defending champion Spaniard Alonso.
Alonso. who won the season-opening race in Bahrain the previous weekend. leads the title race with 18 points. Fisichella has 10. Button and Michael Schumacher each have 11.
Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya finished fourth for McLaren-Mercedes, but his teammate Finn Kimi Raikkonen crashed out on the opening lap.
Brazilian Felipe Massa was fifth for Ferrari ahead of his vastly more experienced teammate seven times champion Schumacher, who finished sixth in his slipstream as the crossed the line.
Canadian Jacques Villeneuve was seventh for BMW and Ralf Schumacher eighth for Toyota.
The race began in searing heat – again. The track temperature was 37 degrees Celsius, the air 33 and the humidity 61 per cent, as the grid settled for the start.
As they pulled away, Fisichella took the lead and kept it going into the first corner while his Renault teammate Alonso made a dramatic move forward from seventh to third. As this happened, the 20-year-old rookie Nico Rosberg slipped back from third to seventh.
The opening lap was not completed before there was a spectacular incident in which title contender Finn Kimi Raikkonen in his McLaren-Mercedes appeared to collide with Austrian Christian Klien’s Red Bull Ferrari.
He fought to control his car, but could not stay in command and spun off at turn eight into a gravel trap, the impact smashing the rear wing off his car. Raikkonen walked away unhurt.
This accident ended his day and also meant he faced a major task in rebuilding his championship challenge as he trudged away to watch the Renaults of Fisichella and defending champion Alonso control the race.
Fisichella reeled off a series of fastest laps to open up a clear lead before he pitted after 17 of the 56 laps.
By then, Klien had retired – probably due to the damage caused by his earlier impact with Raikkonen whose rear suspension was wrecked – and so, too, had Rosberg.
The impressive young German’s engine blew up after six laps in a wild blaze of smoke and flames. His departure was soon followed by that of Briton David Coulthard, whose Red Bull was stuck in sixth gear.
Rosberg’s Williams teammate Mark Webber also pulled out in the early laps, sparks flying from the rear of his car indicating engine expiry after 16 laps.
These incidents and the pitting of Fisichella gave Button a brief taste of the lead for Honda between laps 18 and 20 when his own need for fuel allowed the defending champion Alonso to take control.
The Spaniard led from lap 20 to the end of lap 26 when he, too, came in, and Fisichella took the ascendancy again, ahead of Button. When the field settled down, after 28 laps, Alonso set a fastest lap in third and the front three were already 11.5 seconds clear of the rest.
Remarkably, fourth place belonged at this stage to the young Brazilian Massa, who had worked his way up from 21st on the grid at the start without a pitstop.
His Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher was in seventh place, having pitted once, a sure sign that the Italian team were returning to their competitive best after a lacklustre 2005.
Massa pitted, finally, after 29 laps, dropping to seventh when the order settled again.
At the half-distance mark, there was no doubting the power of the Renaults as Fisichella led and Alonso ran third, the pair sandwiching Button’s Honda, who was hanging on in second place, 9.6 seconds behind the leading Italian.
His teammate Brazilian Rubens Barrichello endured a less-happy time. Fined earlier for speeding in the pitlane during practice, he suffered a 10-second penalty for doing the same in the race.
Following the first pitstops, the leading order was established as Fisichella led Button and Alonso, this trio running 23 seconds clear of the chasing pack with 20 laps remaining.
The second pitstops did Button no favours as he wound up running fourth behind the slower Montoya afterwards, and more than 13 seconds down on the two Renaults.
That meant Alonso, after one stop, was out in front of Fisichella, who after two was 8.2 seconds behind his teammate. Montoya was then third, but like Alonso had made only one stop.
Montoya went in and then Alonso, for his second stop, after 43 laps. It was a rapid 6.4 seconds in-and-out leaving him to resume in second place, behind Fisichella, but ahead of Button.
Michael Schumacher, driving consistently, had risen to fourth before he pitted a second time.
PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
The Malaysian Grand Prix
Sepang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
56 laps; 310.408km;
Weather: Cloudy.Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Fisichella Renault (M) 1h30:40.529
2. Alonso Renault (M) + 4.585
3. Button Honda (M) + 9.631
4. Montoya McLaren-Mercedes (M) + 39.351
5. Massa Ferrari (B) + 43.254
6. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) + 43.854
7. Villeneuve BMW-Sauber (M) + 1:20.461
8. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) + 1:21.288
9. Trulli Toyota (B) + 1 lap
10. Barrichello Honda (M) + 1 lap
11. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) + 2 laps
12. Albers MF1-Toyota (B) + 2 laps
13. Monteiro MF1-Toyota (B) + 2 laps
14. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) + 3 lapsFastest lap: Alonso, 1:34.803
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (M) 49
Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 42
Ide Super Aguri-Honda (B) 34
Klien Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 27
Webber Williams-Cosworth (B) 16
Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 11
Rosberg Williams-Cosworth (B) 7
Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1World Championship standings, round 2:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Alonso 18 1. Renault 28
2. M.Schumacher 11 2. Ferrari 15
3. Button 11 3. McLaren-Mercedes 15
4. Fisichella 10 4. Honda 11
5. Montoya 9 5. Williams-Cosworth 5
6. Raikkonen 6 6. BMW-Sauber 2
7. Massa 4 7. Toyota 1
8. Webber 3 8. Red Bull-Ferrari 1
9. Rosberg 2
10. Villeneuve 2
11. Klien 1
12. R.Schumacher 1All timing unofficial
