The bottom 6 teams in the 2004 Constructors' Championship were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday.

For the 2006 F1 season, Steve Rider returned to his position as anchor after losing his job when ITV got the rights to broadcast for 1997.

During warmup, as the cars ran from the pits to line up on the grid, a slow-moving Michael Schumacher pulled left into the path of Christijan Albers who was at speed.

[4] Renault's number two driver Giancarlo Fisichella's chances of making the podium ended when he received a drive-through penalty for obstructive driving in the pits during the second safety car period.

Red Bull's Christian Klien had a career-best drive to take fifth position with Felipe Massa, Mark Webber and Jenson Button completing the point-scoring finishers.