By Phil Giles
October 1 2006

*** Spoiler Warning *** Spykers racing debut starts from 18th and 22nd on the grid thanks to heavy rain, a technical issue, a penalty and a missed weight check at Shanghai. It's a damp track but it's not raining. Rain is expected during the race so that should give us an interesting couple of hours

Parade lap.
Intermediate tyres for most if not all of the cars on the grid. Lots of standing water on the track throwing the spray into the air. No Problems

Lap 1
Alonso leads into the first corner. Kubica goes wide into the corner
Both Super Aguri's have passed the Spykers.
Raikonnen up to third.

Lap 2
Alonso leads
Doornbos pits for a new nose
Monteiro and Albers are back to 21st and 22nd.
Massa up to 16th

Lap 3
Doornbos back down to 22nd.
Tiago 4s behind Yamamoto. 1.8s behind Sato.

Lap 4
Super Aguri are pulling away from the Spykers
Yamamoto lapping just under a second faster.

Lap 5
Ad break!

Lap 6
Doornbos suffering after that nose change

Lap 7
Alonso 7.8s in front of Fisi.

Lap 8
Massa goes wide in the last corner. Down to 17th
Albers taken by Doornbos.

Lap 9
Barichello taken by Schumacher into 5th

Lap 10
Massa passes Ralf

Lap 11
Massa gets past Trulli after Trulli goes wide.
Monteiro is passed by Doornbos. Albers is 3.8s behind Tiago.
Massa on a charge.

Lap 12
Raikonnen all over Fisichella.
Sato spins from 19th place but he keeps his position in front of Doornbos and the Spykers.
Another Ad break!

Lap 13
Albers 4 seconds behind Monteiro.
Raikonnen takes Fisichella for 2nd place.

Lap 15
Button pits for tyres.
Alonso off the road
Albers may have had an off to as he's now 7 seconds behind Tiago

Lap 16
Raikonnen pits for a scheduled stop.

Lap 17
Albers has been lapped.
Barichello pits as does Pedro.
Kubica passes Button for 9th place

Lap 18
Albers having a torrid time at the back of the pack. 10 seconds behind Tiago who is staying in touch with Sato.

Lap 19
Raikonnen out.
Engine has gone pop.
Yamamoto pits. Back out in front of Albers though.

Lap 20
Albers up to 20th.
Liuzzi spins

Lap 21
Button passed.
Webber pits.

Lap 22
Yamamoto back into the pit.
More inters onto the front of Alonso's Renault.
Fisichella leads.

Lap 23
Fisi Pits. Adjusting tyre pressure.
Kubica sets fastest lap. Dry tyres next stop?
Tiago pits.

Lap 24
Alonso's lap 3 seconds slower than Schumacher
Sauber go to dry tyres. It's too early for grooved slicks. Kubica's all over the place.

Lap 26
Kubica back in for his worn inters
Albers pits.
Alonso still leads but he's far slower than the rest of the pack.

Lap 27
Fisi is now only 3 seconds behind Alonso.
Schumacher 0.6s behind him. This is a disaster for Renault.

Lap 28
Fisi must stay behind Alonso.
Fisi takes the lead and immediately relinquishes it back to Alonso.
Meanwhile Massa is up to 6th.

Lap 30
Schuey has Alonso
Fisichella leads he must win this for Renault.

Lap 31
Liuzzi pits.

Lap 33
Another Ad break
Just as cars look to come in for slick tyres.

Lap 35
Pit stops galore. Dry tyres for all.
Get Alonso in now.

Lap 36
Alonso pits.
Wing and dry tyres. The right rear tyre went on wrong. It's still wobbly out there.

Lap 37
Yamamoto in to the pit again. DC is fastest man on the track.
Pedro slides around on his new slicks.

Lap 38
Schumacher's tyres look totally bald. He'll need to get new tyres shortly.
Monteiro pits.

Lap 39
Monteiro Spins and appears to have lost the engine.
He's out. Shakes his head as he walks away from the car.

Lap 40
Schumacher comes in for tyres.
Massa spins

Lap 41
Fisi in for slicks.
Good stop. can he get out in front?
He does but Fisi gets caught in turn one, Schumacher up onto the grass but hangs on to get past. Schumacher leads.

Lap 42
Another ad break
Trulli has retired. Didn't see that but it was 4 laps ago.

Lap 43
Alonso slams in the new fastest lap. 21 seconds behind Schumacher. Will Fisi yield to him so he can minimise the damage?

Lap 44
Massa slows and ends up in the gravel trap on the pit entrance. He may have taken a whack. Replay shows him hitting DC.

Lap 46
Schumacher 4 seconds slower than Alonso who is fighting for this race victory. Alonso doing 1.38

Lap 47
9 laps left. Can Alonso get second?

Lap 48
Traffic. Albers in front of a queue of traffic.
Alonso 13 seconds behind Schuey

Lap 49
DC locks up allowing Webber through.
Alonso taking seconds a lap out of Schumacher's time. 1:38.3
Button goes wide.

Lap 50
There's not enough time for Alonso to catch Schumacher.
Ralf pits to retire. Both Toyota's out.

Lap 51
5 laps to go and it could be raining. Do they stay out and chance it? Doesn't look like it is going to be a problem.

Lap 53
Scott Speed spins but gets it pointing the right way. Spots of rain on the camera lens.

Lap 54
7.8 seconds separate Michael from Alonso. Although he goes wide. Albers could be in trouble for not giving way to Heidfeld.

Lap 56
It's raining again but Schumacher takes the win. Alonso second and Fisi third.

With two races to go Schumacher takes the lead in the world championship. Renault take the lead back in the constructors championship. Button takes fourth place thanks to Rubens tumping Heidfeld on the last lap.

Albers finishes in 16th place not having made any ground on anyone for the whole race. Spykers first race in charge and it's one they can learn lots of lessons from.