2006
SEASON

Free practice drivers

Seven constructors entered free practice only drivers over the course of the season.

Calendar

The Australian Grand Prix was held later than usual, to avoid a clash with the 2006 Commonwealth Games . For the first time, Bahrain hosted the first Grand Prix. Brazil hosted the last race, while Japan and China swapped their original dates. In 2006, the FIA announced the Belgian Grand Prix would not be part of the 2006 Formula One season, since the local authorities had started major repair work in Spa-Francorchamps. The Belgian Grand Prix returned in 2007. 2006 was the last season with two tyre manufacturers: The two manufacturers at the time were Japanese manufacturer Bridgestone and French company Michelin . In December 2005, the FIA announced that from the 2008 season, there would be only one tyre supplier. Five days later, Michelin announced it would quit Formula One at the end of the 2006 season as it did not want to be in Formula One as the sole tyre supplier. At the end of 2005, three well-known teams were bought out: Minardi , Sauber and Jordan . The former were bought by Red Bull to be run as a junior team to house their growing list of young talent looking for an F1 drive. Despite campaigns by Minardi fans the team were renamed Scuderia Toro Rosso (Toro Rosso), Italian for Team Red Bull . The Sauber team was purchased by BMW . BMW opted to keep the Sauber name in F1 renaming the team BMW Sauber . Jordan, who had been bought by the Midland Group in... 2006 also saw the introduction of a new Japanese team, Super Aguri F1 , founded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki , who entered at the last moment. Super Aguri notified the FIA on 1 November 2005 (ahead of the governing body's 15 November deadline) of their intention to enter, but the FIA's initial entry list stated they had not approved Aguri's entry. However, the team received the consent of the ten existing teams to compete and paid the US$48 million bond required as a deposit. The team... Between the 2005 and 2006 season the ownership of Formula One changed significantly. Until November 2005 the Formula One group was owned by an Ecclestone family trust and Speed Investments (a grouping of Bayerische Landesbank , JP Morgan Chase and Lehman Brothers ). On 25 November, CVC Capital Partners announced it was to purchase both the Ecclestone shares (25% of SLEC) and Bayerische Landesbank's 48% share, held through Speed Investments. By 30 March, CVC had acquired all remaining shares and ... Another Ecclestone victory involved the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association 's proposal for an alternative world championship. On 27 March, the five car manufacturers involved lodged applications for the 2008 season, reducing the likelihood of a breakaway series. On 14 May, Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association (GPMA) members confirmed they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding , a move toward signing a new Concorde Agreement . Five days later, Bernie Ecclestone and CVC Capital Partners sig...

Report

After a disastrous 2005 season and slow start to the 2006 season Michael Schumacher won consecutive races at Imola and the Nürburgring . During the final lap of his qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix, Schumacher came to a stop at the La Rascasse hairpin , resulting in yellow flags, meaning that other drivers could not go at maximum speed. After the session there were immediate complaints from the other teams claiming that this was a deliberate move by Schumacher to ensure he started in... At the British Grand Prix, Alonso became the first Spanish driver and the youngest driver (24 years and 317 days) to win a race from pole and get fastest lap, leading every lap of the race except one. Schumacher won the United States Grand Prix , his fourth consecutive victory at Indianapolis and fifth career victory there, and the French Grand Prix . Indianapolis also marked the final F1 race for 7 time race winner Juan Pablo Montoya as he moved to the NASCAR Cup Series for 2007 after he decide... The FIA decided that the 'Mass Damper' system used by Renault up to this point of the season did not meet the technical regulations, and it was banned – a polemical decision, since the FIA itself was consulted about the system during its development, and authorised its use. The effect of the ban was clear at the next race where the Renaults struggled to even get points. Schumacher also won the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, with Alonso finishing 5th. Hockenheim also marked the last race for 19... Jenson Button achieved his first Formula One career victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix . Alonso had a mechanical failure whilst leading in the latter stages of the race whilst Michael Schumacher retired after a collision with Nick Heidfeld . However Schumacher was promoted to eighth place in the standings (having been classified ninth following a retirement three laps from the end) because Robert Kubica's debut ended in disqualification. The Polish driver had finished seventh in the BMW. Felipe Massa won the next Grand Prix in Turkey , so for the second race in a row, Formula One had a maiden victor. Fernando Alonso extended his lead over Michael Schumacher by two points after he managed to finish a tenth of a second ahead of the German in second place.

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top eight classified finishers using the following structure: In the event of a tie, a count-back system was used as a tie-breaker, with a driver's best result used to decide the standings. [ c ]