2006 Hungarian Grand Prix

2006 Hungarian Grand Prix
Race 13 of 18 in the 2006 Formula One World Championship
The Hungaroring after being modified in 2003.
Race details
Date	August 6, 2006
Official name	XXII Shell Magyar Nagydíj
Location	Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.381 km (2.722 miles)
Distance	70 laps, 306.663 km (190.552 miles)
Weather	Cool and rainy with temperatures reaching up to 20 °C (68 °F)
Pole position
Driver	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:19.599
Fastest lap
Driver	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Time	1:23.516 on lap 65
Podium
First	Jenson Button	Honda
Second	Pedro de la Rosa	McLaren-Mercedes
Third	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber
Lap leaders

The 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on August 6, 2006 at the Hungaroring, Budapest. It was the 13th race of the 2006 Formula One season. Jenson Button won the race, the first victory of his career and the first race win for a British driver since David Coulthard won the Australian Grand Prix three years previously, and the first by an Englishman since Johnny Herbert won the 1999 European Grand Prix nearly seven years previously, in similarly changeable weather circumstances. Pedro de la Rosa finished second for McLaren, the first podium finish of his career, and Nick Heidfeld finished third, giving BMW Sauber their first ever podium.

It was the first win for a Honda chassis since John Surtees' victory in the 1967 Italian Grand Prix and the first win for a Honda engine since Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Mugen-Honda-powered Jordan triumphed in the 1999 Italian Grand Prix, 7 years and 119 races earlier. As of 2015, it was the last time the Kimigayo anthem was played on the Formula One podium, and the first time since the 1967 Italian Grand Prix.

Report

Background

The weekend before the grand prix, British motoring show host Jeremy Clarkson told Jenson Button that if he was going to win a race, he would need a better windscreen. It is not known whether the windscreen was actually changed. During Friday practice Fernando Alonso was given a two-second qualifying penalty by the stewards for dangerous driving and overtaking under a yellow flag condition. This meant that two seconds would be added to his times in each part of qualifying. Christijan Albers was given a ten-place grid penalty for an engine change, his second in as many weekends. Jenson Button received the same penalty after having an engine change when his let go in the final practice session.

In a similar situation to Alonso's penalty, Michael Schumacher was given a two-second penalty for overtaking Robert Kubica and Alonso under "red flag" conditions at the end of Saturday's last free practice session. The decision left Schumacher "fuming," with him saying "I blame myself partly for what did happen, but I didn't expect this kind of penalty."

Qualifying

In qualifying, Kimi Räikkönen achieved pole position with a time of 1:19.599 seconds. Felipe Massa qualified second, with Rubens Barrichello starting the race in third.

Race

Button returns to the pit lane having won the race.

The track was wet at the start of the race, making it the first ever wet Hungarian Grand Prix. Polesitter Kimi Räikkönen took the lead early on. Alonso and Schumacher made their way through the field with Schumacher up into 6th place from 11th into the first corner, and Alonso climbing from 15th place with a spectacular first hardfought lap. He went on to pass Schumacher on the outside of turn 5 after a straight fight for several laps and reached 3rd place. He then took the lead after the McLarens of Pedro de la Rosa and Räikkönen pitted. Bridgestone wet-tyres used to dictate the field in non-dry conditions but today it seemed a one-off for the Japanese rubber. All Bridgestone-drivers, including the Ferraris, were seen struggling and seriously down on pace compared to their competitors. Schumacher fell right back in the clutches of Giancarlo Fisichella and lost his front wing battling for 5th place, hitting the Italian mid-corner fighting off snap-oversteer. This forced the German to pit, going a lap down. Soon after Jenson Button overtook Massa, Fisichella and Schumacher in just under the space of 2 laps. Räikkönen struggled on his second set of tyres and ended up crashing into the back of Vitantonio Liuzzi's Toro Rosso, vaulting the car and bringing out the safety car. Alonso then pitted, allowing Schumacher to get back on the lead lap. Another beneficiary of the safety car was Jenson Button, who decided not to pit during the safety car period and climbed up to 2nd place behind Alonso. After the period was over Button began to challenge Alonso, but soon had to pit for fuel. Alonso led, but after a pitstop for dry tyres his right-rear wheel nut detached, causing the Spaniard to lose control and crash. Button inherited the lead and was never challenged from then on. Schumacher made his way up to 2nd by staying on intermediate tyres as others around him pitted for dry weather ones, but this gamble backfired as the cars on drys caught him in the final laps. Schumacher defended his position (including controversially cutting a chicane on consecutive laps without penalty), but Pedro de la Rosa and Nick Heidfeld both ultimately passed him. Whilst he was being overtaken Schumacher banged wheels with Heidfeld, damaging his Ferrari's suspension and forcing him out of the race three laps short of the finish.

Pedro de la Rosa scored the first (and only) podium finish of his career in second position.

Button won the race despite beginning in 14th place through relentless driving with de la Rosa scoring his first podium with second place, and Heidfeld getting BMW Sauber's first ever podium with 3rd. Debutant driver Robert Kubica finished in seventh place and scored two points, but was later disqualified as his car was underweight due to excessive tire wear. This coincidentally meant that Michael Schumacher earned a point despite not finishing, as he was elevated to 8th place in the final results.

Awards

ITV's coverage of this race won a BAFTA in 2007, in the category "Best Sport". The awards took place May 20, 2007.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Q3	Q2	Q1	Grid
1	3	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1.19.599	1.19.704	1.20.080	1
2	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1.19.886	1.19.504	1.19.742	2
3	11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1.20.085	1.19.783	1.21.141	3
4	12	Jenson Button	Honda	1.20.092	1.19.943	1.20.820	141
5	4	Pedro de la Rosa	McLaren-Mercedes	1.20.117	1.19.991	1.21.288	4
6	9	Mark Webber	Williams-Cosworth	1.20.266	1.20.047	1.21.335	5
7	7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	1.20.759	1.20.243	1.21.112	6
8	2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	1.20.924	1.20.154	1.21.370	7
9	8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1.21.132	1.20.231	1.21.434	8
10	17	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1.22.049	1.20.256	1.20.891	9
11	16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber		1:20.623	1:21.437	10
12	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari		1:20.875	1:21.440	11
13	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Ferrari		1:20.890	1:21.163	12
14	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull-Ferrari		1:21.207	1:22.027	13
15	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault		1:21.364	1:21.792	15
16	18	Tiago Monteiro	MF1-Toyota		1:23.767	1:22.009	16
17	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso-Cosworth			1:22.068	17
18	10	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Cosworth			1:22.084	18
19	21	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso-Cosworth			1:22.317	202
20	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda			1:22.967	19
21	19	Christijan Albers	MF1-Toyota			1:23.146	221
22	23	Sakon Yamamoto	Super Aguri-Honda			1:24.016	21
Source:

Notes

• ^1 – Button and Albers both received a 10 place grid penalty because of earlier engine changes.
• ^2 – The Grand Prix stewards stated that Scott Speed impeded another driver during the qualifying session, and penalised him by cancelling his three fastest qualifying times. His qualifying time became 1:23.005 instead of 1:22.317, setting him one position back on the grid.

Race

Nick Heidfeld scored the BMW Sauber team's first podium finish in third position.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	12	Jenson Button	Honda	70	1:52:20.941	14	10
2	4	Pedro de la Rosa	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+30.837	4	8
3	16	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	70	+43.822	10	6
4	11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	70	+45.205	3	5
5	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Ferrari	69	+1 lap	12	4
6	7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	69	+1 lap	6	3
7	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	69	+1 lap	2	2
8	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	67	Suspension	11	1
9	18	Tiago Monteiro	MF1-Toyota	67	+3 laps	16
10	19	Christijan Albers	MF1-Toyota	67	+3 laps	22
11	21	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso-Cosworth	66	+4 laps	20
12	8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	65	Engine	8
13	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda	65	+5 laps	19
Ret	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	51	Wheel nut	15
Ret	3	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	25	Collision	1
Ret	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso-Cosworth	25	Collision damage	17
Ret	10	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Cosworth	19	Electrical	18
Ret	2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	18	Accident damage	7
Ret	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull-Ferrari	6	Spun off	13
Ret	9	Mark Webber	Williams-Cosworth	1	Spun off	5
Ret	23	Sakon Yamamoto	Super Aguri-Honda	0	Engine	21
DSQ	17	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	69	Disqualified1	9
Source:

Notes

• ^1 – Kubica originally finished seventh, but was disqualified after the race, as his car was 2 kg underweight at the end of the race because of heavily worn tyres.

Championship standings after the race

Note, only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Fernando Alonso	100
2	Michael Schumacher	90
3	Felipe Massa	52
4	Giancarlo Fisichella	49
5	Kimi Räikkönen	49

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Renault	149
2	Ferrari	142
3	McLaren-Mercedes	85
4	Honda	52
5	BMW Sauber	26

External links

• Race report at the BBC