After 18 closely fought races and an emotional rollercoaster of a season, Fernando Alonso, Renault F1 and Michelin secured both Formula One world championship titles in 2006. Confidence and mutual respect were key factors as the winning trio performed in exemplary fashion throughout the campaign – and a race-by-race seasonal breakdown illustrates the point to perfection.

Defending F1 world champion Renault began its title defence in sparkling style, with a thrilling success in the opening race of the season in Bahrain. The highlight was a fantastic duel between Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher. After savouring victory, Alonso said: "I knew I had to get back on track ahead of Michael Schumacher after my first scheduled stop. Our victory – and today's strategy – owed much to the fact that we were able capitalise on our Michelin tyres by running slightly longer stints than our rivals. I'd like to extend my compliments to everybody. We worked incredibly hard during the winter and today's result speaks for itself."

After finishing second in Malaysia, the Spaniard returned to the top of the podium in Australia. "In Melbourne," he said, "I think we heated our tyres more effectively than our rivals. That enabled me to get a better exit from the final corner, which helped me to pass people on the following pit straight. We plumped for an aggressive strategy in terms of tyre management – a decision that paid off handsomely."

Two weeks later, at Imola, Ferrari notched up its first win of the season. Fernando Alonso was clearly quicker than Michael Schumacher, but was unable to pass the German during an intense, cat-and-mouse battle that raged for the final 15 laps. He said:"Michael certainly had tyre troubles, but overtaking is incredibly difficult at this circuit. In fact, it borders on the impossible if the driver ahead doesn't make a mistake. I did everything I could but had to wait for an opportunity that never came. Once I realised there was no way through, I backed off. It wasn't worth jeopardising those eight points." While overtaking Schumacher might not have been possible, the team was buoyed by many aspects of its San Marino weekend – including the performance of its Michelin tyres. "In 2005 we won this race despite a number of tyre problems," added Alonso. "Victory might have eluded us this time, but paradoxically we had taken a great step forward in tyre performance." Ferrari won again at the Nürburgring, in the Grand Prix of Europe, where Alonso took a comfortable second. "There wasn't a great deal to choose between the Ferrari and the Renault today," he said. "Our tyres worked well, but our main rival's package was just a little bit better."

The Renault F1 Team and Michelin responded magnificently in Barcelona, where a sublime performance earned them a memorable victory. Alonso said: "We thought the Ferraris had the upper hand, but the track temperature rose by five degrees as the race started. That slight fluctuation in the conditions brought our tyres into their optimum operational window. Michelin had chosen a very aggressive tyres strategy but its compounds proved to be more durable than those of the opposition. That allowed me to win my home race – the fulfilment of a dream."

Fernando didn't know it at the time, but Spain was to be the first of four consecutive victories: Monaco, Britain and Canada were just around the corner.