The 2006 GP2 Series season began at Valencia, Spain on 8 April 2006 and ended in Monza, Italy on 10 September 2006. The season was won by Briton Lewis Hamilton, with Brazilian Nelson Angelo Piquet finishing second.
Contents
The chassis
The 2006 specification GP2 Car has been designed by Dallara Automobili. The 2006 GP2 car features a biplane rear wing, with the triplane rear wing used in 2005 only to be used at the Monaco race. The front upper and lower wishbones have been reinforced, as have the front and rear suspension uprights.
Engine
The 4 litre V8 engine features internal, cartographic and software upgrades designed to improve performance and fuel consumption.
The gearbox
The 2006 gearbox has been manufactured by GearTek, and features an 8 position barrel, with ratchet body and software upgrades, as well as a new transverse shafts fixing system designed to facilitate improved gear selection.
The tyres
The tyres supplied by Bridgestone for the 2006 season are slick, not featuring the grooves seen in the 2005 season. Bridgestone will supply a soft, medium, and hard compound tire, with the tyre choice being made by Bridgestone and the GP2 Series prior to each event. The wet specification tyre remains the same as 2005.
Other parts
Brembo is supplying a new development of monobloc brake calipers and disc bells, which are exclusive to GP2.
The car also features internal cooling upgrades, a new water radiator, radiator duct, oil/water heat exchanger, modified oil degazer, new oil and water pipes and new heat exchanger fixing brackets.
Sporting regulations changes
The only change to the sporting regulations for the 2006 season is that drivers will only be awarded a single point for fastest lap in a race, rather than the two points that were awarded in 2005. The driver must now also start the race from his allocated grid position to be eligible to claim the fastest lap.
Season summary
Nelson Piquet, Jr. started the season on high note, winning the first race at Valencia ahead of two rookies, Lewis Hamilton and Adrián Vallés. The latter one failed to score in the rest of the season apart from one point for fastest lap at Barcelona. In a sprint race, Vallés was involved in a collision with Adam Carroll who rolled multiple times. The sprint race was won by Michael Ammermüller who had promising start to the season but failed to score during last six weekends.
Gianmaria Bruni and Ernesto Viso then shared victories at Imola, where Hamilton failed to score, after being black-flagged in the feature race and therefore starting sprint race from back of the grid. He recovered well to win both races at Nürburgring, where Piquet had a bad weekend. He had taken pole position but had a big crash following car failure in the feature race. He also failed to score in the sprint.
Hamilton was on course to win feature race at Barcelona too, but he collided with his team-mate Alexandre Prémat on the last lap. The Frenchman went on to win with Hamilton second. Viso took second victory of the season by winning the sprint. Hamilton then went to win three races in a row, taking single Monaco event where Nicolas Lapierre and Olivier Pla were injured and missed some races. At his home circuit in Silverstone Hamilton won the feature and then the sprint, where he overtook Clivio Piccione and Piquet in one move.
There were few notable driver changes during the early season. Giorgio Pantano returned to the series with after missing first three rounds and Timo Glock moved from BCN to iSport between Monaco and British rounds. Both were serious contenders for race wins for the rest of the season and they shared victories at Magny-Cours. Glock also won at Hockenheim after overtaking José María López on the final lap.
At this point, Hamilton had a massive 26-point lead over Piquet, but the Brazilian bounced back with a perfect weekend at Hungary, taking pole, two wins and two fastest laps. Hamilton spun in qualifying and started feature race from back of the grid. He failed to score there but took second place in the wet Sunday sprint.
Piquet's form continued in Turkey, where he won the feature race from pole. Hamilton was second, and in the sprint, Hamilton recovered well from early spin to take 2nd place, while Piquet had to settle for 5th. Andreas Zuber took advantage of his front row starting position and won the race.
Hamilton led by ten points before final weekend in Monza. Piquet cut the lead to eight by taking pole. Pantano beat both of them in the feature race and had set fastest lap as well. Piquet finished second and Hamilton third, so it looked like championship would be decided in final race. However, Pantano was deemed to have ignored yellow flags on his fastest lap so that time was disallowed, giving a point to Hamilton who now clinched the title. Pantano made a fantastic start in the sprint and went from 8th to 1st before first corner, and went on to win the race. Hamilton followed and took 2nd, beating Piquet by 12 points in the end.
Driver changes
Midseason changes
Drivers
Polesitter for the feature race on bold. Driver in italics has been awarded point for fastest lap.