Kimi Räikkönen took pole position, it proved artificial as McLaren had inadvertently not put enough fuel as intended in his car before qualifying.

Sakon Yamamoto made his Formula One début at the Grand Prix, starting from pit lane after changing chassis after the qualifying session.

A nightmare weekend for Albers was summed up with his disqualification, along with team-mate Tiago Monteiro, as the Midlands were disqualified after the race for having illegally flexing rear wings.

[2] The race also saw the last appearance by 1997 champion Jacques Villeneuve, who blamed the split on the "lack of assurances about his short-term future with BMW Sauber".

[3][4][5] Robert Kubica was promoted internally at BMW to drive at the Hungaroring because Villeneuve was still recovering from the after-effects of his crash in Germany, and went on to race in all the remaining Grands Prix.