2006 European GP: Michael Schumacher's masterclass performance as Ferrari wins at Nurburgring

On 7th May 2006, the Nurburgring hosted the European Grand Prix. Fastest in qualifying was Fernando Alonso in the Renault, while alongside him was Michael Schumacher in the 248F1. After the start, the German had to settle in behind the Spaniard and the race turned into a long procession with virtually no overtaking. However, when Alonso pitted, Michael put the hammer down and from lap 36 to 39 he put on a masterclass, banging in quickest laps on shot tyres with a free track ahead of him. The seven times world champion thus built up a big enough lead to come out ahead of the Renault after his own stop.

There was nothing Alonso could do about this display of class from Schumacher, who once he had the lead, managed to make the most of the 248 F1, pulling away from the Spaniard. In turn, Alonso had to fend off the other Ferrari, which as from this year, was in the hands of Felipe Massa. At the line, Michael Schumacher took his 86th win, giving Ferrari its 185th. He finished 3.751 ahead of Fernando Alonso and 4.447 in front of Felipe Massa, who thus secured his first Formula 1 career podium finish.

RACE RESULTS

1	5	M.Schumacher	Ferrari	60	1:35:58.765
2	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	60	1:36:02.516	3.751
3	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	60	1:36:03.212	4.447
4	3	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren/Mercedes	60	1:36:03.644	4.879
5	11	R.Barrichello	Honda	60	1:37:11.351	1:12.586
6	2	G.Fisichella	Renault	60	1:37:12.881	1:14.116
7	10	Nico Rosberg	Williams/Cosworth	60	1:37:13.330	1:14.565
8	17	J.Villeneuve	BMW Sauber	60	1:37:28.129	1:29.364
9	8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	59	1:36:00.978	1 Lap
10	16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	59	1:36:08.187	1 Lap
11	21	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso/Cosworth	59	1:36:09.384	1 Lap
12	18	Tiago Monteiro	Midland/Toyota	59	1:37:26.121	1 Lap
13	19	Christijan Albers	Midland/Toyota	59	1:37:28.526	1 Lap

(6)	7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	52	1:24:35.119	Engine
(9)	4	J.P.Montoya	McLaren/Mercedes	52	1:24:36.992	Engine
(16)	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri/Honda	45	1:15:57.890	Hydraulics
(17)	23	Franck Montagny	Super Aguri/Honda	29	49:31.163	Hydraulics
(6)	12	Jenson Button	Honda	28	46:03.526	Engine
(14)	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull/Ferrari	28	46:27.318	Transmission
(12)	9	Mark Webber	Williams/Cosworth	12	20:38.594	Hydraulics
(21)	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull/Ferrari	2	4:21.675	Collision
	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso/Cosworth	0		Collision