* Lap 1: On pole position for the first time this season, Kimi Räikkönen makes a clean start to break away from Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa. He leads by 0.8s at the end of the lap. Jenson Button is squeezed out by both Renaults and drops to sixth, but he repasses Fernando Alonso before the end of the lap to annexe fifth, behind Giancarlo Fisichella. Pedro de la Rosa runs seventh ahead of Mark Webber, Rubens Barrichello, Christian Klien, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Jarno Trulli (up from 20th) and Takuma Sato. Snagged by Ralf Schumacher at the hairpin, David Coulthard drops to 14th, ahead of Scott Speed, Tiago Monteiro and Christijan Albers. Ralf Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld pit for repairs in the wake of the hairpin skirmish. Nico Rosberg spins into retirement at Turn 12. Sakon Yamamoto starts late from the pit lane.





* Lap 2: Räikkönen laps in 1m17.383s and increases his lead to 1.1s. Button passes Fisichella for fourth. Coulthard gets ahead of Sato for 12th.


* Lap 3: Räikkönen posts a 1m16.780s and edges 1.6s clear. De la Rosa pulls off to retire from seventh. Yamamoto pits and drops out of his first grand prix.


* Lap 5: Räikkönen leads by 2.4s.

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Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa secured another dominant 1-2 finish this afternoon at the 4.574km Hockenheim circuit, giving Bridgestone its 100th win from the 165 Grand Prix the company has participated in since entering Formula One as a tyre supplier in 1997.

Michael Schumacher is personally responsible for 56 of those wins. However, today’s results also means that the seven time world champion is now just 11 points behind title leader Fernando Alonso in the driver points standings while Ferrari lie just ten points adrift in the Constructors’ championship.


Toyota Racing also took points today for Jarno Trulli’s strong drive from 20th on the grid to seventh. However, it was a desperately unlucky day again for the Williams F1 team. Nico Rosberg crashed out early on while Mark Webber had been set for a top five finish before a car problem hit ten laps from the finish line.


MF1 Racing’s Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro both finished the race today but for Super Aguri F1, who debuted their new SA06, it was disappointing not to get either car over the finish line.

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It has been on the calendar for more than half a century, but did you know the following about the German round of the championship?


The German Grand Prix’s current home, Hockenheim, was built by Mercedes-Benz as a high-speed test track in the 1930s. The original track was almost eight kilometres long and featured two lengthy curved straights with two long corners at either end. It was designed to help Mercedes prepare for the pre-world championship era Tripoli Grand Prix, which took place on a very similar circuit.


Hockenheim is a small town in southern central Germany. For most of the year its population averages little over 20,000. However, on race weekends that figure soars to well over 100,000.


Four German drivers will be competing in their home Grand Prix at Hockenheim this weekend: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), Ralf Schumacher (Toyota), Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) and Nico Rosberg (Williams). It will be the biggest German contingent since Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s final home outing back in 2003.


The 2006 German Grand Prix will mark the 54th appearance of the race on the Formula One calendar.


This year’s German Grand Prix will mark Honda’s 300th Grand Prix - as either a works team or an engine supplier - since the Japanese company first entered Formula One racing back in 1964.


In the 1960s, the construction of an autobahn cut Hockenheim’s original oval in two. The circuit was redesigned by renowned Dutch engineer John Hugenholz and the updated track was reopened in 1966.


Hockenheim staged its first German Grand Prix in 1970, whilst the race’s normal Nurburgring home was being updated. Victory went to Lotus’s Jochen Rindt.


Hockenheim has hosted every German Grand Prix since 1977, with the exception of the 1985 event, when Ferrari’s Michele Alboreto took the final win of his Formula One career at the Nurburgring.


McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen has set the fastest lap around Hockenheim for the last two years running, with a time of 1m 13.780s in 2004 and 1m 14.873s in 2005.


In 2002 Hockenheim was radically altered for safety reasons. The sweeping tree-lined straights were removed and a tighter, shorter and more modern track was designed. The new layout increased the amount of seats available for spectators and significantly reduced the speed of the circuit.

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