# 2006 German Grand Prix

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2006 German Grand Prix Race 12 of 18 in the 2006 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race → The Hockenheimring Race details Date 30 July 2006 Official name Formula 1 Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland 2006 Location Hockenheimring, Hockenheim, Germany Course Permanent racing facility Course length 4.574 km (2.842 miles) Distance 67 laps, 306.458 km (190.424 miles) Weather Sunny, 32°C[1] Pole position Driver Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes Time 1:14.070 Fastest lap Driver Michael Schumacher Ferrari Time 1:16.357 on lap 17 Podium First Michael Schumacher Ferrari Second Felipe Massa Ferrari Third Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes Lap leaders

Motor car race

The **2006 German Grand Prix** (officially known as the **Formula 1 Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland 2006**)[2] was a [Formula One](/source/Formula_One) [motor race](/source/Auto_racing) held at the [Hockenheimring](/source/Hockenheimring) on 30 July 2006. The 67-lap race was the twelfth round of the [2006 Formula One season](/source/2006_Formula_One_season).

[Kimi Räikkönen](/source/Kimi_R%C3%A4ikk%C3%B6nen) took pole position, but it proved artificial, as McLaren had inadvertently not put enough fuel as intended in his car before [qualifying](/source/Formula_One_racing#Qualifying). In the race, his early pitstop left him unable to challenge for the win. [Michael Schumacher](/source/Michael_Schumacher) scored his 89th career win ahead of teammate [Felipe Massa](/source/Felipe_Massa).

The race also saw the last appearance by [1997](/source/1997_Formula_One_World_Championship) champion [Jacques Villeneuve](/source/Jacques_Villeneuve), who blamed the split on the "lack of assurances about his short-term future with BMW Sauber".[3][4][5] [Robert Kubica](/source/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](/source/Mass_damper) system fitted by [Renault](/source/Renault_F1) 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](/source/Formula_One_racing#Free_practice) to avoid further sanctions.

### Driver changes

[Super Aguri](/source/Super_Aguri)'s third driver [Sakon Yamamoto](/source/Sakon_Yamamoto) replaced [Franck Montagny](/source/Franck_Montagny) to make his [Formula One](/source/Formula_One) debut. Montagny took over the role of third driver from the [Turkish Grand Prix](/source/2006_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.[6] The first session was led by [Williams](/source/Williams_F1)'s [Alexander Wurz](/source/Alexander_Wurz), the second by [BMW Sauber](/source/BMW_in_Formula_One)'s third driver [Robert Kubica](/source/Robert_Kubica) and the third by [Christian Klien](/source/Christian_Klien) at [Red Bull Racing](/source/Red_Bull_Racing).[7]

### Friday drivers

The bottom 6 teams in the [2005 Constructors' Championship](/source/2005_Formula_One_season) and [Super Aguri](/source/Super_Aguri_F1) 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

[David Coulthard](/source/David_Coulthard) qualified in the top ten in [Red Bull Racing](/source/Red_Bull_Racing)'s second season of Formula One.

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.[6]

[Kimi Räikkönen](/source/Kimi_R%C3%A4ikk%C3%B6nen) scored his ninth career [pole position](/source/Pole_position) ahead of the [Ferraris](/source/Scuderia_Ferrari) of [Michael Schumacher](/source/Michael_Schumacher) and [Felipe Massa](/source/Felipe_Massa).

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid 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 1:15.150 202 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 1:17.093 212 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 1:20.444 222 22 21 Scott Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth No time1 19 Source:[8]

**Notes**

- **[^1](#ref_1)** – [Scott Speed](/source/Scott_Speed) did not get a time in Q1 after going out in the first corner.

- **[^2](#ref_2)** – [Jarno Trulli](/source/Jarno_Trulli), [Christijan Albers](/source/Christijan_Albers) and [Sakon Yamamoto](/source/Sakon_Yamamoto) received a 10-place grid penalty for engine changes.

## Race

### Race report

[Jacques Villeneuve](/source/Jacques_Villeneuve) walks away from his crashed [F1.06](/source/BMW_Sauber_F1.06) in his final F1 race.

Many questioned the sudden pace of [Kimi Räikkönen](/source/Kimi_R%C3%A4ikk%C3%B6nen) and the sudden lack of it at the [Renault](/source/Renault_F1) team. Soon after the start of the race, the first question was answered: [McLaren](/source/McLaren) had put a minimum amount of fuel in Räikkönen's car, forcing him to make a [pit stop](/source/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](/source/Scuderia_Ferrari) duo of [Michael Schumacher](/source/Michael_Schumacher) and [Felipe Massa](/source/Felipe_Massa) sailed off into the distance, with [Jenson Button](/source/Jenson_Button) in the [Honda](/source/Honda_F1) and the Renaults of [Giancarlo Fisichella](/source/Giancarlo_Fisichella) and [Fernando Alonso](/source/Fernando_Alonso) chasing behind.

Schumacher made his first stop without losing the lead. Meanwhile, Alonso was down in sixth behind [Mark Webber](/source/Mark_Webber_(racing_driver)). The [Australian](/source/Australia) 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](/source/Germany)'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](/source/Jacques_Villeneuve) had crashed his [BMW](/source/BMW_in_Formula_One) on lap 30. It would turn out to be the last race of his career.

[Midland](/source/Midland_F1_Racing) drivers [Christijan Albers](/source/Christijan_Albers) and [Tiago Monteiro](/source/Tiago_Monteiro) were disqualified after the race for having illegally flexing rear wings.[9]

### Race classification

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari B 67 1:27:51.693 2 10 2 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari B 67 +0.720 3 8 3 3 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes M 67 +13.206 1 6 4 12 Jenson Button Honda M 67 +18.898 4 5 5 1 Fernando Alonso Renault M 67 +23.707 7 4 6 2 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault M 67 +24.814 5 3 7 8 Jarno Trulli Toyota B 67 +26.544 20 2 8 15 Christian Klien Red Bull-Ferrari M 67 +48.131 12 1 9 7 Ralf Schumacher Toyota B 67 +1:00.351 8 10 20 Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth M 66 +1 lap 16 11 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari M 66 +1 lap 10 12 21 Scott Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth M 66 +1 lap 19 Ret 9 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth B 59 Water Leak 11 Ret 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda B 38 Gearbox 17 Ret 17 Jacques Villeneuve BMW Sauber M 30 Accident 13 Ret 11 Rubens Barrichello Honda M 18 Engine 6 Ret 16 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber M 9 Brakes 15 Ret 4 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes M 2 Fuel Pump 9 Ret 23 Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda B 1 Driveshaft PL3 Ret 10 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth B 0 Accident 14 DSQ 19 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota B 66 Illegal rear wing (+1 lap)4 21 DSQ 18 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota B 65 Illegal rear wing (+2 laps)4 18 Source:[10][11]

**Notes**

- **[^3](#ref_3)** – [Sakon Yamamoto](/source/Sakon_Yamamoto) started the race from the pit lane after changing the chassis of his Super Aguri after qualifying.[12]

- **[^4](#ref_4)** – [Christijan Albers](/source/Christijan_Albers) and [Tiago Monteiro](/source/Tiago_Monteiro) originally finished 13th and 14th respectively were disqualified for having illegally flexing rear wings.

## Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Fernando Alonso* 100 2 Michael Schumacher* 89 2 3 Felipe Massa* 50 1 4 Giancarlo Fisichella* 49 1 5 Kimi Räikkönen* 49 Source:[13] Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 Renault* 149 2 Ferrari* 139 3 McLaren-Mercedes* 77 4 Honda 37 5 Toyota 23 Source:[13]

- **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](/source/2006_Hockenheimring_GP2_Series_round)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-pitpass_1-0)** ["2006 German Grand Prix"](https://www.pitpass.com/src/seasons/2006/gp/germany/report/result.php). *Pitpass.com*. Retrieved 23 July 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["German"](https://web.archive.org/web/20061020085322/http://www.formula1.com/race/circuitdetail/762.html). *Formula1.com*. Archived from [the original](http://www.formula1.com/race/circuitdetail/762.html) on 20 October 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Villeneuve parts company with BMW"](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/5243540.stm). *BBC Sport*. 7 August 2006. Retrieved 3 April 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Au revoir Jacques"](http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17285.html). GrandPrix.com. 7 August 2006. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20060831104458/http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17285.html) from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 21 August 2006.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Kubica replaces Villeneuve"](http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17241.html). GrandPrix.com. 1 August 2006. Retrieved 21 August 2006.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-sportingregulations_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-sportingregulations_6-1) ["2006 Formula One Sporting Regulations"](https://web.archive.org/web/20060408104015/http://www.fia.com/resources/documents/548514743__2006_F1_SPORTING_REGULATIONS.pdf) (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 15 December 2005. Archived from [the original](http://www.fia.com/resources/documents/548514743__2006_F1_SPORTING_REGULATIONS.pdf) (PDF) on 8 April 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-practice1_7-0)** ["FORMULA 1™ GROSSER MOBIL 1 PREIS VON DEUTSCHLAND 2006 - PRACTICE 1"](https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2006/races/797/germany/practice/1). *formula1.com*. Retrieved 23 July 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Domenjoz, Luc; et al. (February 2007). *Formula One Yearbook 2006-2007*. Chronosports S.A. p. 158. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-2-84707-110-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-2-84707-110-8).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Midlands disqualified over rear-wing flex"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080828183342/http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2006/7/4730.html). *formula1.com*. [Formula One Administration](/source/Formula_One_Group). 30 June 2006. Archived from [the original](http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2006/7/4730.html) on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["2006 German Grand Prix - Race"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140828094346/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2006/762/). *Formula1.com*. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from [the original](http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2006/762/) on 28 August 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["2006 German Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive"](https://gparchive.com/formula-1/2006-german-grand-prix/). *GPArchive.com*. 30 July 2006. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Schumacher leads Farrari one-two in German GP"](https://web.archive.org/web/20260522100807/https://au.motorsport.com/f1/news/schumacher-leads-ferrari-one-two-at-german-gp/1349973/). *Motorsport.com*. Retrieved 22 May 2026.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Championship_standings_13-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Championship_standings_13-1) ["Germany 2006 - Championship • STATS F1"](https://www.statsf1.com/en/2006/allemagne/championnat.aspx). *www.statsf1.com*. Retrieved 18 March 2019.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [2006 German Grand Prix](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:2006_German_Grand_Prix).

- [Detailed German Grand Prix results](https://web.archive.org/web/20120204163623/http://www.manipef1.com/results/2006/germany.php) (archived)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [2006 German Grand Prix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_German_Grand_Prix) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_German_Grand_Prix?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.