23 April in Ferrari history: Michael Schumacher’s Imola victory
On 23 April 2006, Michael Schumacher won the San Marino Grand Prix for Ferrari after resisting Fernando Alonso at Imola. The result gave the Scuderia its first victory of the season and another memorable chapter in the rivalry between the two drivers.
2006: Michael Schumacher keeps Fernando Alonso behind
A year earlier, Fernando Alonso had defended successfully against Michael Schumacher at the same circuit. In 2006, their roles were reversed: the Ferrari led, and the Renault driver searched for a way past.
Michael Schumacher maintained the position that mattered and completed the 62-lap race 2.096 seconds ahead. Juan Pablo Montoya finished third, while Felipe Massa took fourth in the second Ferrari.
The finishing order illustrates the importance of the lead battle. Ferrari secured the victory, but Fernando Alonso remained close enough to limit the points lost to his championship rival.
A first win in Ferrari’s 2006 challenge
Imola ended the opening sequence of three races without a Ferrari victory. Michael Schumacher followed it with another win at the European Grand Prix, making the Italian success the beginning of consecutive victories.
The race belongs to the final season of his original Ferrari career. Our Michael Schumacher Formula 1 statistics provide the wider season-by-season record.
Ferrari events on 23 April
April 23 in Ferrari Formula 1 history
Explore Ferrari Grand Prix results, qualifying and Sprint sessions, driver birthdays, remembrance dates and selected milestones connected with this day.
Ferrari Grands Prix held on April 23
Race, qualifying, Sprint and Ferrari driver biographical dates are generated from the locally processed F1DB dataset. Session anniversaries are shown only when an explicit session date is available in the source. Selected non-race Ferrari milestones are curated separately from Ferrari sources. Historical shared-car result rows are preserved without inventing additional Grand Prix starts.
Browse the Ferrari anniversary calendar for more historic races.
