2006 Formula One World Championship
The 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 60th season of Formula One motor racing. It featured the 57th Formula One World Championship which began on 12 March and ended on 22 October after eighteen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Fernando Alonso of Renault for the second year in a row, with Alonso becoming the youngest ever double world champion at the time. Then-retiring seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher of Scuderia Ferrari finished runner-up, 13 points behind. The Constructors' Championship was won by Renault, which defeated Ferrari by five points.
The season was highlighted by the rivalry between Alonso and Schumacher, who each won seven races. Renault and Ferrari drivers dominated the field, victorious in all but one race: the Hungarian Grand Prix was won by Honda's Jenson Button, and the four second-place finishes not achieved by Renault or Ferrari were accomplished by McLaren. For the first time since the 1956 season, no British constructor won any race and for the first time since the 1957 season all races were won by cars powered by an engine built by the same constructor that also built chassis. This season marked the beginning of the usage of 2.4L V8 engines in Formula One from the 3.0L V10 engines that were used in the previous seasons, which continued till the end of the 2013 season. 2006 was also the first season since 1988 and 1997 respectively that various engine displacements and configurations were featured only for Scuderia Toro Rosso that had Cosworth TJ2006 3.0-litre V10 powerplant.
The season saw several changes occurring in the drivers' market starting already in December 2005 as Alonso sealed a move to McLaren for 2007. In September 2006, Schumacher announced his retirement from Formula One at the end of the season, with 2003 and 2005 championship runner-up Kimi Räikkönen being announced as his replacement at Ferrari. Among other notable departures included Juan Pablo Montoya, who left McLaren mid-season to pursue a career in NASCAR.
As of 2023, this is the last Constructors' Championship for Renault, and the last Drivers' Championship for a Spanish Formula One driver. The 2006 championship also saw the last season of the Bridgestone-Michelin tyre war which had started in 2001 as Michelin withdrew from the sport at the end of this season leaving Bridgestone as sole the tyre supplier for 2007, a position the Japanese company would retain until leaving the sport themselves at the end of 2010 and replaced by Pirelli from 2011 onwards. As of January 2024 this is last Formula One season to date to feature more than one tyre supplier.