Fernando Alonso continued Renault's relentless domination of the 2006 Grand Prix season with victory in Sunday's action-packed Australian Grand Prix. Shortened to 57 laps when Alonso's teammate Giancarlo Fisichella stalled on the grid, the race featured no less than four safety car periods which cut Alonso's lead to nothing each time. But a damaged nose section and greater difficulty getting his tyres up to temperature meant that second place Kimi Raikkonen was unable to challenge the Renault driver.

With only 13 finishers, it was a race of attrition which claimed both Ferraris. Felipe Massa was eliminated in one of several first lap incidents - which also seemed to involve either RBRs or STRs - and Michael Schumacher lost control of his car just after half distance, having run as high as fourth from tenth on the grid. He crashed heavily out of the final corner.

Massa, Nico Rosberg and Jarno Trulli were all eliminated on the first lap in various incidents, which brought out the safety car for the first time. By this stage, poleman Button was leading from Alonso. Then came the two McLarens of Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya (even though the latter spun pre-grid when warming up his tyres). Ralf Schumacher was next from local hero Mark Webber, Nick Heidfeld and Michael Schumacher.

As the safety car went in, Alonso overtook Button to claim the lead, while, like Button, Ralf Schumacher was finding difficulty warming up his tyres and dropped a couple of places. Montoya had also slipped back and was fighting his way back up.

The second safety car came out on lap seven after Christian Klien lost control of his Red Bull Racing and crashed into turn three. At the restart, it was Raikkonen's turn to overtake Button for second place, although the pair did touch and the McLaren driver now had to cope not only with a flat-spotted tyre which then caused the front wing to break up. Button again slipped back to be challenged by Montoya. Webber was next from Ralf Schumacher and then came Heidfeld.

On lap 18, Montoya was the first to make a scheduled stop with Button coming in on the next lap and losing another place to the Colombian. Alonso came in on lap 20, Raikkonen came in a lap later all of which left Webber in the lead. But just two laps later the Williams ground to a halt with transmission failure to the disappointment of the crowd. Heidfeld and Michael Schumacher were the last to pit on lap 25. At half distance, Alonso led Raikkonen by 15s with Montoya in third place 7.5s further back. Heidfeld had managed to maintain fourth place with Button in fifth, not far ahead of Michael Schumacher. Villeneuve was next from Ralf Schumacher.

At the end of lap 33, Michael Schumacher lost control of his car coming out of the final corner when it hit a bump after the Ferrari ran wide, and he crashed heavily. Out came the safety car for the third time and everyone now dived for the pits. That was particularly a problem for Montoya who queued up behind teammate Raikkonen who had his front wing changed. He dropped to sixth but when the safety car went in, he overtook Button and Heidfeld to run fourth, only for the safety car to come out again when Villeneuve made contact with Liuzzi, sending the Italian into the wall. The man who gained most, however, was Ralf Schumacher, who found himself in third place behind Alonso and Raikkonen and ahead of Montoya. Heidfeld was next, with 15 laps to go, ahead of Button and Fisichella. Montoya dropped out when he went wide out of the final corner and hit Schumacher's bump which cut the electrics, so that Heidfeld moved up to fourth.
 

In the closing stages, Button was in fifth, but being pushed by Fisichella on the last lap when his engine blew coming out of the final corner. That promoted Fisichella to fifth, Villeneuve to sixth just ahead of Barrichello, who was less than 1.9s ahead of Scott Speed in the V10 STR. He, in turn, was just ahead of David Coulthard, but Speed was given a 25s penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag, and a $5000 for subsequently swearing at another competitor during the stewards' hearing. Coulthard was therefore classified eighth, Speed lost his final point.

Jean Todt: "It was a weekend to forget. Going home without points is a very bitter feeling, given that we had all we needed to succeed. Felipe paid a high price for yesterday's qualifying, getting caught up in the sort of situation that typically happens towards the back of the pack at the start. After a first part to the race which was difficult as it was hard to get the tyres up to temperature, Michael went on the attack to try and move up the order. Unfortunately, he lost control of the car after clipping a kerb which unbalanced the car and ended up in the wall. This big disappointment does not alter our targets, but it does make them harder to reach. Now we want to show with results that we have what it takes to get back on top, starting when we race at home in Imola."

Michael Schumacher: "I was pushing to the maximum to try and close on Jenson and pass him. Probably he had some problems as he was not very quick. I tucked in behind him and unexpectedly I got some heavy understeer and finished on the grass. I had to push, because that's the part of the track where it's possible to pass. Today, our main problem was keeping the tyres up to temperature, especially in the first part of the race and also because there were a few safety car periods. We had chosen this compound specifically for the race, and once they reached the right operating temperature, they were going well, as was obvious after the pit stop. At first, it was difficult to drive, as after locking the wheels a few times the tyres were completely finished. It's clear we have a lot of work to do."

Felipe Massa: "Not much to say. At the first turn, I had Klien on my left and Speed on my right. Christian touched me, which spun me around and to the right, then I hit Rosberg and ended up in the barrier. There was nothing I could do as I was basically a passenger in my car. I am very unhappy because I am sure I could have had a good race. It's been a weekend to forget. Now we must turn the page and work to be as well prepared as possible for Imola."

Ross Brawn: "It was a bad day. In the first stint of the race, Michael could not push the way he wanted as he struggled to get the tyres up to temperature, which was also partly down to the many safety car periods. Then, in the second part, it was clear that he could maintain a good pace. A shame about the accident which meant a good result was not possible. Now we have work to do, with significant developments to be tried on the car in the coming weeks."

Race Result: Michael Schumacher: Retired lap 33 - chassis 253; Felipe Massa Retired lap 1 - chassis 250; Temperatures: air 16/19°C, track 27/22 °C