On this day, 1 October 2006, Michael Schumacher secured his 91st and final Formula 1 victory at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. The win was pivotal in the 2006 championship, drawing him level on points with Renault’s Fernando Alonso.
The race began on a wet track following heavy rain, which initially favoured the Michelin-shod cars, including Alonso’s Renault. Alonso started from pole position and built a significant early lead, while Schumacher, on Bridgestone tyres, started from sixth.
Schumacher’s Bridgestone intermediates performed better as the track began to dry. While Alonso led, Schumacher methodically moved up the order, passing Rubens Barrichello on lap eight and Jenson Button on lap 14 to take fourth position.
A key phase of the race involved the first round of pit stops. Alonso’s Renault team opted to change only his front intermediate tyres, which created a balance issue and significantly slowed his pace. His lead of over 20 seconds quickly disappeared.
Schumacher and Alonso’s teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, kept their existing sets of intermediates, which proved to be the superior strategy. Fisichella passed a struggling Alonso for the lead on lap 29, with Schumacher following him through into second place a lap later.
The decisive moment came after the second pit stops, when both Ferrari and Renault switched to dry tyres. Fisichella pitted on lap 41, a lap after Schumacher. Struggling on cold tyres, Fisichella ran wide at the first corner, allowing Schumacher to take the lead.
Alonso’s second stop was also problematic, with a wheel nut issue costing him over 19 seconds in the pits. This dropped him to fourth, more than 50 seconds behind the leader.
Despite the setback, Alonso mounted a late charge on dry tyres, setting a series of fastest laps. Fisichella offered no resistance and allowed his teammate past to take second place on lap 48.
Alonso closed the gap to Schumacher but ran out of laps, finishing just 3.1 seconds behind the Ferrari. Fisichella completed the podium in third place for Renault.
The result placed Schumacher and Alonso on 116 points each with two races remaining in the season. Schumacher was classified as the championship leader on countback, having more victories (seven to Alonso’s six).
Renault, however, regained the lead in the Constructors’ Championship by a single point over Ferrari. The victory in China was Schumacher’s seventh of the 2006 season and the last of his career before his initial retirement.
