Fifteen years ago, Michael Schumacher won his last Formula 1 race
It was October 1st, 2006 in Shanghai, Michael Schumacher won his 91st and last victory in Formula 1, ahead of the Renaults of Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella.
While the Chinese Grand Prix has been absent from the calendar for 2 years now, Motors Inside offers you a look back at Michael Schumacher’s last victory in F1. Let’s go back 15 years, just after the end of the qualifying session.
Qualifying was wet and the seven-time German world champion fell victim to it. While the Ferrari driver secured a modest sixth place, reigning world champion Fernando Alonso set the fastest time of the session. The Spaniard will start ahead of his teammate at Renault, Italian Giancarlo Fisichella. If the Ferrari driver achieves a good result, he will have the opportunity on Sunday to regain the lead in the drivers’ standings from Fernando Alonso.
Sunday, October 1st, 2006: The race
It stopped raining but the track is wet, so all the drivers are opting for wet tires for the start. At the lights out, the Renault drivers do not attack and the best start at the front of the pack is to the credit of McLaren driver Kimi Räikkönen going from 5th place to 2nd in the span of 13 laps. On his side, Michael Schumacher, at the wheel of his Ferrari, maintains his position and remains on the lookout for opportunities.
A dry trajectory appears on the Shanghai circuit, Michael Schumacher begins his climb by overtaking the two BAR Hondas and benefits from Kimi Räikkönen’s retirement to take 3rd place just behind the two Renaults.
After a first refueling stop, Fernando Alonso leads the Grand Prix, ahead of his teammate and Michael Schumacher. However, the Spaniard is struggling with his intermediate tires and is quickly overtaken by Fisichella, while the red car of the German driver is rapidly approaching in his rear-view mirrors and ends up passing him on the 28th lap.
At the time of the second pit stop, the drivers put on dry track tires. Fernando Alonso loses about twenty seconds in the pit lane, due to a stubborn tire. Stopping one lap after Michael Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella narrowly comes out ahead of the German. However, his cold tires give him no chance to fight back and he sees the Red Baron overtake him at the first corner.
Fernando Alonso manages to take second place from his teammate, but he knows that victory will elude him this Sunday, October 1st. At the end of a Grand Prix led masterfully by Michael Schumacher but also by the strategists on the Ferrari pit wall, the German wins the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix.
Ross Brown was delivering these words to the German pilot’s radio: “Fantastic job from you Michael, great flying.”
With two races left in his career at Ferrari, Michael Schumacher takes the lead in the driver’s standings for the first time this season, tied on points with Fernando Alonso (116).
At the end of the race, Michael Schumacher declared: “Soon, my future will belong to my family, but for the moment, it is the world championship that matters.”
Unknowingly, the Ferrari driver had just secured his 91st and final victory in Formula 1, a record that would only be matched by Lewis Hamilton in 2020 at the German Grand Prix. The English champion will receive, from the hands of Michael Schumacher’s son, a helmet from the Red Baron, a powerful symbol.
