The 2006 German Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland 2006) was a Formula One motor race held at the Hockenheimring on 30 July 2006. The 67-lap race was the twelfth round of the 2006 Formula One season.

Kimi Räikkönen took pole position, but it proved artificial, as McLaren had inadvertently not put enough fuel as intended in his car before qualifying. In the race, his early pitstop left him unable to challenge for the win. Michael Schumacher scored his 89th career win ahead of teammate Felipe Massa.

The race also saw the last appearance by champion Jacques Villeneuve, who blamed the split on the "lack of assurances about his short-term future with BMW Sauber". Robert Kubica was promoted to drive in all the remaining Grands Prix.

Background The Grand Prix weekend got off to a controversial start when the mass damper system fitted by Renault was deemed legal by the FIA appointed stewards, despite the FIA banning the use of these devices. The FIA appealed against their own steward's decision and Renault withdrew the system after Friday practice to avoid further sanctions.

Driver changes Super Aguri's third driver Sakon Yamamoto replaced Franck Montagny to make his Formula One debut. Montagny took over the role of third driver from the Turkish Grand Prix on.

Practice Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race: two on Friday, both lasting 90 minutes, and one on Saturday for 60 minutes. The first session was led by Williams's Alexander Wurz, the second by BMW Sauber's third driver Robert Kubica and the third by Christian Klien at Red Bull Racing.

Friday drivers The bottom 6 teams in the 2005 Constructors' Championship and Super Aguri were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race. Constructor Nat Driver Williams-Cosworth Alexander Wurz Honda Anthony Davidson Red Bull-Ferrari Robert Doornbos BMW Sauber Robert Kubica MF1-Toyota Markus Winkelhock Toro Rosso-Cosworth Neel Jani Super Aguri-Honda -

Qualifying

Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into three parts. The first part ran for 15 minutes, and cars that finished the session 17th position or lower were eliminated from qualifying. The second part of the qualifying session lasted 15 minutes and eliminated cars that finished in positions 11 to 16. The final part of the qualifying session ran for 20 minutes which determined the positions from first to tenth, and decided pole position. Cars which failed to make the final session could refuel before the race, so ran lighter in those sessions.

Kimi Räikkönen scored his ninth career pole position ahead of the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa.

Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Q3 1 3 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.214 1:14.410 1:14.070 1 2 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:14.904 1:13.778 1:14.205 2 3 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:14.412 1:14.094 1:14.569 3 4 12 Jenson Button Honda 1:15.869 1:14.378 1:14.862 4 5 2 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:15.916 1:14.540 1:14.894 5 6 11 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:15.757 1:14.652 1:14.934 6 7 1 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:15.518 1:14.746 1:15.282 7 8 7 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:15.789 1:14.743 1:15.923 8 9 4 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.655 1:15.021 1:15.936 9 10 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari 1:15.836 1:14.826 1:16.326 10 11 9 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1:15.719 1:15.094 11 12 15 Christian Klien Red Bull-Ferrari 1:15.816 1:15.141 12 13 8 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:15.430 1:15.150 20 14 17 Jacques Villeneuve BMW Sauber 1:16.281 1:15.329 13 15 10 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 1:16.183 1:15.380 14 16 16 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:16.234 1:15.397 15 17 20 Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:16.399 16 18 19 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota 1:17.093 21 19 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.185 17 20 18 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota 1:17.836 18 21 23 Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda 1:20.444 22 22 21 Scott Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth No time 19 Source: Notes – Scott Speed did not get a time in Q1 after going out in the first corner. – Jarno Trulli, Christijan Albers and Sakon Yamamoto received a 10-place grid penalty for engine changes.

Race

Race report

Many questioned the sudden pace of Kimi Räikkönen and the sudden lack of it at the Renault team. Soon after the start of the race, the first question was answered: McLaren had put a minimum amount of fuel in Räikkönen's car, forcing him to make a pit stop after just ten laps. And it became a long stop when his crew had problems changing the right rear tyre. All this meant that the Ferrari duo of Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa sailed off into the distance, with Jenson Button in the Honda and the Renaults of Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso chasing behind.

Schumacher made his first stop without losing the lead. Meanwhile, Alonso was down in sixth behind Mark Webber. The Australian had started down in eleventh but later even passed Fisichella for fourth. During the second round of pit stops, Fisichella went off track and was passed by his teammate.

Schumacher and Massa scored a comfortable 1-2. It was the German's 89th career win. Räikkönen used the unplanned third-stop strategy to its best to fight off Webber and overtake Button to take the third step on the podium. In the final stages, Webber's car developed an engine problem and he retired on lap 59.

Jacques Villeneuve had crashed his BMW on lap 30. It would turn out to be the last race of his career.

Midland drivers Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro were disqualified after the race for having illegally flexing rear wings.

Race classification Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 67 1:27:51.693 2 10 2 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 67 +0.720 3 8 3 3 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 67 +13.206 1 6 4 12 Jenson Button Honda 67 +18.898 4 5 5 1 Fernando Alonso Renault 67 +23.707 7 4 6 2 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 67 +24.814 5 3 7 8 Jarno Trulli Toyota 67 +26.544 20 2 8 15 Christian Klien Red Bull-Ferrari 67 +48.131 12 1 9 7 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 67 +1:00.351 8 10 20 Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth 66 +1 lap 16 11 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari 66 +1 lap 10 12 21 Scott Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth 66 +1 lap 19 9 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 59 Water Leak 11 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 38 Gearbox 17 17 Jacques Villeneuve BMW Sauber 30 Accident 13 11 Rubens Barrichello Honda 18 Engine 6 16 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 9 Brakes 15 4 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 2 Fuel Pump 9 23 Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda 1 Driveshaft PL 10 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 0 Accident 14 19 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota 66 Illegal rear wing (+1 lap) 21 18 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota 65 Illegal rear wing (+2 laps) 18 Notes – Sakon Yamamoto started the race from the pit lane after changing the chassis of his Super Aguri after qualifying. – Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro originally finished 13th and 14th respectively were disqualified for having illegally flexing rear wings.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points 1 Fernando Alonso* 100 2 Michael Schumacher* 89 2 3 Felipe Massa* 50 1 4 Giancarlo Fisichella* 49 1 5 Kimi Räikkönen* 49Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Constructor Points 1 Renault* 149 2 Ferrari* 139 3 McLaren-Mercedes* 77 4 Honda 37 5 Toyota 23Source:

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Bold text and an asterisk indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

See also 2006 Hockenheimring GP2 Series round

References

External links

(archived)