The 58-lap race, which was the fourteenth round of the 2006 Formula One season, and the second Turkish Grand Prix, was held at Istanbul Park in Tuzla, Turkey.

The race was also the first Grand Prix meeting for future quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, who was assigned a Friday test driver role for the BMW Sauber team.

[2] Sebastian Vettel impressed many as he set the fastest time in the second free practice session, on his first Grand Prix weekend appearance.

[3] The following day in qualifying, however, it was Felipe Massa who set the fastest time, taking the first pole position of his career, ahead of Schumacher by one tenth of a second.

Only four hundredths of a second separated Nick Heidfeld, Button and Räikkönen qualified from sixth to eighth before all moving up a place after Ralf Schumacher's penalty.

Räikkönen pitted for a new set of tyres, but soon faced a similar problem due to damaged bodywork; because of this he went straight off the outside of turn 4 and into a barrier, on the next lap.

Nick Heidfeld, Fisichella, Speed and Ralf Schumacher all needed repairs from the incident, and the Midland of Tiago Monteiro was forced to retire.

The final 15 laps of the race were focused on Alonso and Michael Schumacher, who fought for second place behind Massa as part of their championship battle.

Thus, Massa took his first career Formula One victory, making it the second Grand Prix in a row with a first-time winner, following Button's win in Hungary three weeks earlier.

The podium display after the race caused controversy when winner Felipe Massa received the trophy from Mehmet Ali Talat, who was referred to as the president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.