Renault and Fernando Alonso got their defence of their titles off to a perfect start by beating Ferrari to the chequered flag after an exciting 57-lap race. It was neck-and-neck between Ferrari, Renault and Honda in practice and qualifying, with Schumacher eventually nabbing pole from team-mate Massa. At the off on Sunday, Schumacher managed to scamper away to eek out a lead ahead of Alonso. The Spaniard though, going four laps longer before his first stop, managed to claw the gap back until he was on the German's gearbox throughout the second stint.

The second stops proved to be crucial, with Schumacher this time stopping three laps before Alonso. It was all that Alonso needed, as he took the lead into lap 40, mere metres ahead of rival Schumacher. Although Michael kept on Alonso's tail throughout the final stint, there was no way by as Alonso took the victory by just over a second. Räikkönen recovered from the final row of the grid after a qualifying failure, one-stopping his way to the podium, beating Jenson Button by less than a second.

Further back, it was Williams' Nico Rosberg, debuting in F1 after his climb through GP2, who stole the back-page headlines. The young German became the youngest driver to clock a fastest lap. Rosberg, 20 at the time, spun on lap one, losing his rear wing, forcing him to pit and drop to the back of the field. He then proceeded to drive his way through the field, utilising the full power of the Cosworth V8 to fight his way up to seventh, setting the fastest lap of 1:32.408 on his way.

Points scorers: Alonso, M. Schumacher, Räikkönen, Button, Montoya, Webber, Rosberg and Klien.

Renault continued their great start to 2006 by finishing one-two in Sepang, after a dominating performance by the Anglo-French team. On Friday and Saturday, the race drivers who set the pace were Renault and Ferrari again, but with Ferrari suffering from engine problems, the opportunity was there for Renault to extend their lead in both championships. On Saturday afternoon, Renault secured their first pole of the season thanks to Fisichella, with Alonso starting in eighth after a re-fuelling mistake in Q3, leaving him eight laps heavier than needed.

At the start, Fisichella settled into an early lead, stretching his feet ahead of Button in second. Behind him, the fast-starting Alonso muscled his way up to third, from seventh, at the first turn, thanks to the two battling Williams. Alonso gained back Button's advantage, before going ahead after his second stop, helped by his very long first stint, the short second stop. Rounding off the weekend was Alonso's fastest lap, set on lap 45, a time of 1:34.803.

For Ferrari, the weekend was a disaster. Starting from 14th and 21st (Schumacher and Massa) due to engine penalties, the could only work their way up to fifth and sixth, with Massa heading the scarlet cars. With them scoring only seven points compared to Renault's 18, there was a severe lack of scored points for the Italian marque.

Points scorers: Fisichella, Alonso, Button, Montoya, Massa, M. Schumacher, Villeneuve and R. Schumacher.

The move from its usual season-opener slot failed to detract from the Australian Grand Prix as the spectacle once again proved to be as exciting as years past. With four safety car periods, only 13 finishers, and another Alonso victory, the 2006 Australian Grand Prix will live long in the memory of many people. It was again Ferrari, Renault and Honda who led the way in dry practice sessions, with BMW and Toro Rosso excelling in the wet Saturday practice session. Qualifying, though, on a dry track was headed by Honda, with Button securing his third pole, and Honda's first.

At the start, Button took the lead, from Alonso who slotted into second after Fisichella was forced to start from the pit-lane after stalling on the grid. When the first safety car period ended on lap 4, Alonso slid past Button, taking advantage of the Honda's inability to heat up its tyres adequately. The Spaniard though was pulled back on lap 7 as the safety car was deployed after Klien crashed his RB2. Fernando began to build his gap on lap 10, and by then it was clear the contest was already over. Two further safety car periods failed to thwart Alonso, with him eventually easing to a two-second victory from Räikkönen.

Among the nine retirees were local hero Mark Webber, who retired from the lead on lap 22 with transmission failure. Massa, Rosberg, Trulli, Klien, Michael Schumacher and Liuzzi all crashed out, with Tiago Monteiro and Juan Pablo Montoya completing the long list. Also failing to reach the line was Honda's Jenson Button, with Scott Speed missing out on his first world championship point for ignoring yellow flags and incurring a 25-second penalty.

Points scorers: Alonso, Räikkönen, R. Schumacher, Heidfeld, Fisichella, Villeneuve, Barrichello, Coulthard.

For San Marino, Ferrari arrived with big ambitions. After being disgraced by Renault, and themselves in some sense, with their engine problems, and retirements in Australia, they had bit plans to upset the Renault-train. And they did it in some style. After their stunning performance in 2005, where they narrowly missed out on the victory, the roles were reversed, as Alonso spent miles and miles looking at the gearbox of Michael Schumacher.

On Saturday, Michael sweeped the boards, topping both practice and qualifying, with Alonso back in fifth on a heavier-fuel strategy. At the first round of stops, it was Schumacher, expected, who stopped first, with the Spaniard going five laps further. Eight laps later though, the two were less than a second apart, and that was how it stayed until lap 40, when Renault took the ultimately race-losing decision to pit Alonso early. Ferrari though copped on very quickly, and brought Schumacher in on the following lap, thus winning the race. Alonso kept on the German's tail until the flag, but a mistake on lap 58 put the victory out of reach, and they crossed the line two seconds apart.

The big talking point from the San Marino Grand Prix, however, was the first-lap collision between Yuji Ide and Christijan Albers, with the former taking the latter out of the race after an il-judged move in the Villeneuve chicane. Ide's Super License was subsequently revoked from the Japaneseman, making him illegible to race. It seems as though we may see no more of Mr Ide.

Points scorers: M. Schumacher, Alonso, Montoya, Massa, Räikkönen, Webber, Button, Fisichella.

It was another Ferrari day at the Nurburgring a fortnight after San Marino. Again it was strategy that won it for the Italian marque, with the second sting being the winner. It was themselves and Renault that headed the times in the pre-race sessions, with Alonso getting the better of home-boy Schumacher to take pole. The two-tenths difference between the two was understood though in the race, when Schumacher went a lap longer than Alonso during the first stops, and three laps longer in the second to secure the win.

The new Nüburgring doesn't usually throw up brilliant F1 races, and 2006 was no exception. Schumacher then pulled out a seven-second gap, before easing off to win by four at the flag. Behind Alonso, Schumacher's team-mate Massa got his first taste of a Formula One podium with a good drive from the same place on the grid, with Kimi Räikkönen just missing out in fourth, four tenths adrift. Further back, young Nico Rosberg again made the headlines, driving brilliantly to finish seventh from his back-of-the-grid start, due to an engine change penalty.

Points scorers: M. Schumacher, Alonso, Massa, Räikkönen, Barrichello, Fisichella, Rosberg, Villeneuve.

Seven days later, though, and the tables had turned. After two well deserved victories, Ferrari found themselves picking up the crumbs left behind by Renault and Alonso. It what probably proved to be one of Alonso's races of the season, the local hero ran out a comfortable winner, eclipsing Michael Schumacher by a massive 18.5 seconds. In the build-up to the race, it was clear that Renault had upped their game, with the French team locking out the front row. Ferrari were happy with the second row, with Schumacher and Massa lining up behind Alonso and Fisichella.

Right from the off, Alonso opened a very decisive lead, almost spelling game over for Ferrari. A truly faultless drive from Alonso, clearly highly motivated to win in front of his home crowd, securing his third win of the season, but it was the dominant way in which he did it which amazed the masses. Schumacher, after driving so well at the Nurburging ring a week prior found himself languishing more than 15 seconds behind Alonso only a handful of laps into the race, despite the fact that the German went six laps further into his first sting before stopping. On a day like that, no-one could have stopped Alonso.

Back in third was Giancarlo Fisichella, with the Italian doing a good job for Renault. He was running second in the first sting, before Schumacher leap-frogged him after going longer. For Fisichella though, the second place was still there, until the ran into the gravel on lap 25, losing a handful of seconds and the sight of Schumacher. Massa finished fourth, and set the fastest lap on his way, with Kimi Räikkönen finishing in fifth, almost a minute behind.

Points scorers: Alonso, M Schumacher, Fisichella, Massa, Räikkönen, Button, Barrichello, Heidfeld.

Around the streets of Monte Carlo, Renault and Alonso reigned supreme, but it was the controversy generated the day prior to the race - Schumacher's alleged 'cheating' and him being put to the back of the grid - that stole all the headlines. During practice on Thursday, it was Renault who held the upper hand on Ferrari, and when they carried that through to Saturday, people expected to see a Renault on pole for Sunday's race.

In the end it turned out that that was the case. With Schumacher sitting on provisional pole, and coming to the end of a slightly slower lap, the German locked up going into Rascasse, ran wide and parked his 248 F1 on the exit of the turn. This brought out the yellow flags, and with Alonso roaring up behind the German, a Renault pole was near to impossible. In the end though, the 0.064 second gap meant nothing, as Schumacher was relegated to 22nd, and Alonso promoted to 1st. The scene was set.

After the drama of Saturday, no-one expected Sunday to be as exciting, but as is usual around the streets of Monte Carlo, there was no shortage of drama nor excitement. Alonso, as expected took the lead from pole, with Räikkönen displacing Webber to take second. It stayed like that, through the first round of stops until lap 48, when Mark Webber retired on the pit-exit road, bringing out the safety car. The subsequent stops saw Alonso retain the lead, with Räikkönen retiring minutes later with a heat shield problem.

And so Alonso strode home with a 14-second lead to take his first Monaco Grand Prix win, from Juan Pablo Montoya who benefited from the retiring Webber and Räikkönen. Also benefitting hugely from late retirements was David Coulthard, who claimed Red Bull's first F1 podium. The final story of the day to grab the headlines was, again, Michael Schumacher, whose fight through the field to 5th recieved the definite credit it deserved.

Point scorers: Alonso, Montoya, Coulthard, Barrichello, M Schumacher, Fisichella, Heidfeld, R Schumacher.

Renault's form continued to score victories for them in Britain, as Fernando Alonso ran out a 14-second winner over title rival Michael Schumacher in Silverstone. Throughout the weekend it had been a tough fight between the French and Italian teams, but when it came to race pace, there was no stopping Renault.

With Räikkönen splitting Alonso and Schumacher on the grid, the Spaniard was able to relax in the knowledge that Kimi wouldn't prove to be an easy stumbling block for Schumacher. It turned out that way too, with Schumacher having to rely on his second pit stop to leap-frog the Finn. By then, though, it was too late, and while he did manage to close the gap to Alonso by a fraction, he ended up almost 14 seconds adrift at the flag.

Point scorers: Alonso, M Schumacher, Räikkönen, Fisichella, Massa, Montoya, Heidfeld, Villeneuve.

It was the ninth round of the championship that Alonso managed to complete building his 25-point gap to rival Schumacher, and after a blistering first half to the season, no-one was surprised to see the Spaniard win in Montreal. In the pre-race sessions, it was Renault again who siezed the initiative, before locking out the front row on Saturday afternoon. The rout continued on Sunday, with only a safety car stopping Alonso from running out a dominant winner.

As usual, Alonso managed to convert his pole position into an early lead, but with Fisichella taking a drive-through penalty for a jump start, Alonso had it all to do himself. While Räikkönen kept him honest during the first sting, Alonso built up a healthy lead with the stops, eventually going out of sight. On lap 59 howeven, Jacques Villeneuve's accident brought out the safety car, cutting his lead. He did though hang on to his victory, with Schumacher overtaking Kimi on the penultimate lap to take second.

Point scorers: Alonso, M Schumacher, Räikkönen, Fisichella, Massa, Trulli, Heidfeld, Coulthard.

After the previous year's debacle, when only six cars started the race, many expected Michelin to be conservative in coming to the Brickyard, and it proved to be true, as Ferrari ran away with the 1-2 victory. Ferrari had had the edge over Renault all weekend, and when it came to the race, the Scuderia were once again on top of things. From pole, Schumacher dropped behind the fast starting Massa, who kept the lead up until the first round of stops, when the German was let through to take first.

There was never going to be anything that Renault could have done, as Schumacher came home eight seconds ahead of Massa, who in turn was another eight seconds ahead of Fisichella in third, with team-mate Alonso back in fifth. The dominance of the Bridgestones was further reinforced with Toyota's good showing - Jarno Trulli finishing in fourth place. Ralf Schumacher too had been running strongly until he was forced to retire. Right at the back though, Williams' Bridgesetone tyres were unable to salvage a point for the team, as Rosberg, the last driver to finish the race, was beaten to eighth place by Toro Rosso's Liuzzi, who benefitted from a first lap pile-up to get the team's first and only point of 2006.

Points scorers: M Schumacher, Massa, Fisichella, Trulli, Alonso, Barrichello, Coulthard, Liuzzi.

In a total contrast to the pre-race predictions for Indianapolis, Renault were expected to win, and win comfortably at Magny Cours. Past performances showed that the Renault had the edge, but for 2006, it wasn't to be. In qualifying, Ferrari once again locked out the front row, with Renault coming in in third and seventh. The race, however wasn't much more promising.

At the start the grid left in formation, with the top seven drivers staying where they qualified by the end of lap 1. Massa was the first of the front-runners to pit, and it proved to be the crucial one, giving Renault the chance to change Alonso onto a two-stop strategy, saving them another stop, and securing second place. Schumacher though had no such problems, eventually cruising away to a 10-second victory. Further back, Fisichella struggled to sixth, with McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa scoring his first points of the campaign, after replacing the outgoing Montoya.

Points scorers: M Schumacher, Alonso, Massa, R Schumacher, Räikkönen, Fisichella, de la Rosa, Heidfeld.

In Germany, it was the off-track action that grabbed all the headlines, as the issue with Renault's mass dampers got into full swing. Although the team insisted that there would no severe loss in performance, many wondered if that was the truth, as the team lost out poorly to Ferrari, who notched up their fifth victory of the season, and their second one-two finish. In qualifying, it was McLaren who stole the show, taking an almost certain from Schumacher's grasp. In the race though, it was a totally different story, as Schumacher and Ferrari dominated the scene. In the end though, Schumacher and Massa crossed the line in formation, 13 seconds ahead of Kimi's McLaren.

The race began as planned, with rumours of a fuelling error at McLaren coming true as the Finn pitted only ten laps in. Schumacher went another ten laps before re-fuelling, and by that stage, it was clear the race was done and dusted. In fourth, Button and Honda began their resurrection, with Alonso having to make do with fifth, and another big chunk missing from his championship lead. It was a bad day for Williams too, who's almost certain fifth place was taken away from them due to a water leak in the engine. A number of hours after the end of the race, the two Midlands were disqualified for having flexing rear wings.

Points scorers: M Schumacher, Massa, Räikkönen, Button, Alonso, Fisichella, Trulli, Klien.

For Hungary, another Schumacher victory was widely expected, but a mixture of bad weather, drastic errors and a penalty put paid to his chances of a race victory. Even before qualifying had begun, both Schumacher and Alonso had been heavily handicapped - a two second penalty for each of the three qualifying periods, thus jeporadising their chances of getting into the final 15 minutes. To no surprise, the pair didn't make, as Michael and Fernando lined up in 11th and 15th, with Räikkönen on pole.

It wasn't all over though, as rain on race-day forced dramatic changes. At the start, Schumacher showed his mastery in the wet, by getting up to fourth by the end of lap 1, with Alonso working his way up to sixth. Schumacher, however, quickly lost grip and performance, and soon fell behind Alonso, thanks to a daring move around the outside of the German's Ferrari at turn 6. By lap 18, Alonso was in the lead, and comfortably so, with Schumacher back in ninth. As more and more driver fell to the wayside, it was clear that the race would be won by keeping the car between the ditches.

But, ironically, it was a mechanical failure that caused Alonso to retire, losing him the race. After his second and final stop on lap 51, a failed wheel nut caused him to part his R26 only a few corners into the lap. Button thus led, and with Schumacher in third, soon to become second, it was clear a big chunk would be taken from Alonso's championship lead. But that never transpired, and Schumacher made the disasterous error in defending his third place from a much faster Nick Heidfeld. The two collided, with Schumacher retiring, the only respite being a point thanks to Kubica's disqualification. Button then went on to take his maiden Grand Prix victory, 30 seconds ahead of McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa.

Points scorers: Button, de la Rosa, Heidfeld, Barrichello, Coulthard, R Schumacher, Massa, M Schumacher.

For the second race in a row Formula One had a new debut winner, this time in the form of Ferrari's Felipe Massa. Given the speed of the Ferrari, it was only a matter of time before the Brazilian would take to the top step, and when he did it, he did it in style. Throughout the weekend, it was Ferrari who had the edge, and that advantage carried right through to the race. On Saturday, a Ferrari front-row lock-out was the result, with Renault taking third and fourth.

Massa converted pole into an early lead, with Alonso keeping second behind Schumacher. On lap 13 though, Toro Rosso's Liuzzi spun his STR01, bringing out the safety car. The resulting dash to the pits more or less ruined Ferrari's chances of a Schumacher victory, as when forced to queue, Alonso managed to pass Schumacher, setting up a tense and exciting final two thirds. In the end though, Alonso held out, reaching the line 0.081 seconds before the German, as Massa cruised to a five second victory. Behind them, Button produced another solid display, finishing in fourth, with Fisichella driving very to sixth, after a first-lap collision.

Points scorers: Massa, Alonso, M Schumacher, Button, de la Rosa, Fisichella, R Schumacher, Barrichello.

Reliability was again key for round 15, with another Schumacher victory effectively vaporising Alonso's championship lead. But it wasn't the on-track action that grabed the headlined, rather the penalty imposed on Alonso for illegally, but unintentionally, holding Massa up in qualifying. Alonso thus started in 10th, and with Räikkönen on pole, much to the dismay of the tifosi, followed by Schumacher, a Renault victory was most unlikely.

During the race, Alonso faught well, getting up to sixth by the end of lap 2. From then though, advancements dried up, with the long Monza straights proving very difficult to pick off opponents. By lap 43, he had worked his way up to third, but the strain on the engine had been too much, and coupled with the pit stop two laps earlier, his RS26 V8 engine blew up in a plume of smoke at the end of the main straight, and with it another six glorious points. Schumacher strided to victory, a victory very much shadowed by his imminent retirement. His chances of championship success though were very much improved, with the 12-point deficit, reduced to a very managable 2 points.

Points scorers: M Schumacher, Räikkönen, Kubica, Fisichella, Button, Barrichello, Trulli, Heidfeld.

Schumacher took another giant leap towards an eighth championship success with a well-deserved victory in China. In the rain-affected qualifying, it was Renault who were untouchable, as Alonso took pole by half a second to team-mate Fisichella, in turn another half a second ahead of the Honda pairing. With Schumacher down in sixth, Renault had the advantage on Ferrari, but was it enough?

It proved not to be, as another rain-affected race saw the undoing of Alonso. Early in the race, Alonso opened out a healthy lead, as team-mate Fisichella ran in second. Alonso's lap-22 pit stop was the undoing of all his fine work, as fitted with new front intermediate tyres, and worn rears, the performance left him. With the first sign of a drying track, Alonso darted into the pits, bolted on a fresh set of dry Michelins, only after a ten-second wait due to a sticking right-rear wheel, costing him, in hindsight, the victory. A number of laps later, Schumacher and Fisichella, the then leader, changed to dry tyres, Schumacher a lap earlier than Fisichella, and into turn 1 on lap 42, Schumacher took the lead.

Unfortunately for Alonso, his 20-lap rampage through the field came to nothing, as a gap of 3 seconds to Schumacher on the line meant that the German took the lead in the championship, the first time in 33 races that the Spaniard was not leading. The gap though was non-existent, with both players on 116 points.

Points scorers: M Schumacher, Alonso, Fisichella, Button, de la Rosa, Barrichello, Heidfeld, Webber.

Following Alonso's blow-up in Italy, parity was restored in the championship in Japan, as Schumacher's first engine failure in five years all but ended his championship hopes. With a gap of ten points between him and Alonso, nothing short of a miracle would secure his eight crown. On Saturday, Ferrari secured another front-row lock-out, with Renault struggling on the third row. For Alonso, fifth soon became fifth early on in the race, eventually working his way up to second by lap 14. During the following laps, the gap to Schumacher grew steadily smaller.

Lap 35 saw Alonso take his final stop, followed by Schumacher a lap later. The ten seconds spent stationary in the pits was too much for Schumacher V8 however, as half-way through his out-lap, his engine expired. Unsurprisingly, Alonso cruised to his first victory in months, ahead of Massa in second, and Fisichella in third.

Points scorers: Alonso, Massa, Fisichella, Button, Räikkönen, Trulli, R Schumacher, Heidfeld.

Things didn't get any better for Ferrari in Brazil, as, only days after their engine failure, things couldn't have gone any worse for the team at Interlagos, Massa's victory aside. After fighting his was into the final period of qualifying, Schumacher's Ferrari suffered from a fuel pressure problem, thus summonsing him to tenth on the grid. There were scenes of jubilation too at Ferrari, as Massa took his first home pole position, by a dominating six tenths of a second from Kimi Räikkönen in second.

The race was the same old story as qualifying, with Massa dominating and Schumacher plagued with problems. By lap two, all seemed to be okay for Schumacher, as he had worked his way up to sixth. While trying to overtake Fisichella on lap eight though, Schumacher suffered a puncture, forcing him to drive the guts of a full lap on a punctured Bridgestone. By the time he had re-emerged form the pits, he was a huge 70 seconds behind team-mate and leader Massa. But, despite the mountain that he had to climb, the German didn't stop. From 20th on lap nine, he was in sixth on lap 47, thanks in no end to some great overtaking moves. He didn't stop there, and soon worked his way up to fifth, before taking Räikkönen's fourth place. From there though, the three remaining laps was not enough, and the 'Schu' ended his career by setting fastest lap, a lap from the end.

At the front, Massa took the victory, followed by Alonso, almost 20 seconds adrift. Alonso's second place, along with Fisichella's sixth secured both titles for Renault for the second year running. But it was Schumacher who stole the limelight. In his final Grand Prix, he was still able to perform, still able to entertain, still able to race.

Points scorers: Massa, Alonso, Button, M Schumacher, Räikkönen, Fisichella, Barrichello, de la Rosa.