• Canadian Grand Prix 2006

Alonso too strong for Raikkonen in Montreal

David Addison
June 25, 2006
Fernando Alonso celebrates his sixth win of the season with the Michelin man, the tyre supplier celebrating its 100th grand prix victory © Sutton Images
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Fernando Alonso fended off an early challenge from Kimi Raikkonen to take the 14th win of his career, producing a dominant performance at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

"It was a perfect weekend," said Alonso. "The race was difficult because off line there was a lot of rubber and you cannot go too wide and make a mistake."

In front of 100,000 spectators, Alonso led away with Raikkonen heading the chasers. McLaren was running a strategy that it hoped would allow Raikkonen to jump Alonso at the first round of pit stops but a sticking rear wheel nut delayed him and condemned him to second place.

Michael Schumacher, who qualified fifth, was helped by a late safety car when Jacques Villeneuve crashed his BMW-Sauber and the German caught up to Raikkonen who had been further delayed when he stalled in his second pit stop. With a lap to go, Schumacher made a daring move to secure second place. Raikkonen took third while Giancarlo Fisichella's fourth place came after a drive-through penalty for a jump start.

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