2006 Hungarian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Schumacher won at Hockenheim to close further on Alonso. The Ferrari driver arrives at the Hungaroring needing points again as the summer break approaches.

Previous race

Schumacher won the German Grand Prix — his 89th career victory — with Massa second and Räikkönen third despite McLaren inadvertently running too little fuel at qualifying, which forced an early pit stop and cost him any chance of winning. Jacques Villeneuve crashed his BMW on lap 30; it has since emerged to be the last race of his Formula One career.

Between-race developments

Following Villeneuve’s crash and his subsequent disagreements with BMW Sauber over a driver shootout for 2007, Robert Kubica is promoted to a race seat for this Grand Prix and the remainder of the season. Kubica becomes the first Polish driver to enter a Formula One race.

The FIA has filed an appeal against the German race stewards’ ruling that Renault’s mass damper system was legal. The outcome of that appeal is pending.

Penalties

Fernando Alonso receives a two-second qualifying time penalty from stewards, added to his times in each part of qualifying, for dangerous driving and overtaking under a yellow flag in Friday practice. Michael Schumacher receives the same penalty for overtaking Kubica and Alonso under red flag conditions at the end of the Saturday session. Schumacher called the decision “unexpected,” saying “I blame myself partly for what did happen, but I didn’t expect this kind of penalty.” Jenson Button and Christijan Albers both carry ten-place grid penalties for engine changes.