Felipe Massa secured his first F1 career podium finish in 2006 European GP after qualifying and finishing third behind winner Michael Schumacher and championship leader Fernando Alonso.
Renault celebrated in the first three races in 2006 while Schumacher and Ferrari won in fourth race in Imola where the German won from pole position ahead of Fernando Alonso who started sixth with more fuel in his R26.
Alonso and Renault opted for different strategy in Germany and Spaniard won from pole position with two tenths advantage ahead of Schumacher while Massa was the third fastest with nearly six tenths behind.
Alonso and Massa first entered the pits in the lap 17 and Schumacher followed them one lap later. After the first pitstops there was no change at the top, but Schumacher and Ferrari put three laps more fuel at their first stop so German managed to build the advantage ahead of his second stop and take the lead.
Schumacher won for the second race in a row at NurburgringMassa had a rather lonely race in which he spent 48 out of 60 laps in third place and fourth-placed Raikkonen closed on him only in the last few laps of the race.
The Brazilian finished third and clinched his first career podium and in his F1 career he had a total of 41 podiums. With Ferrari he has won 36 podiums between 2006 and 2013 and another five in Williams – three times in 2014 and twice in 2015.
After this race, Alonso still led the drivers championship – Spaniard was the first or second in every race and had 13 points advantage over Schumacher. Renault was 16 points ahead of Ferrari.
STARTING GRID
| 1 | 1 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:29.819 | – |
| 2 | 5 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:30.028 | 0.209 |
| 3 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:30.407 | 0.588 |
| 4 | 11 | R.Barrichello | Honda | 1:30.754 | 0.935 |
| 5 | 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:30.933 | 1.114 |
| 6 | 12 | Jenson Button | Honda | 1:30.940 | 1.121 |
| 7 | 8 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:31.419 | 1.600 |
| 8 | 4 | J.P.Montoya | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:31.880 | 2.061 |
| 9 | 17 | J.Villeneuve | BMW Sauber | 1:36.998 | 7.179 |
| 10 | 7 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 1:30.944 | 1.125 |
| 11 | 2 | G.Fisichella | Renault | 1:31.197 | 1.378 |
| 12 | 14 | David Coulthard | Red Bull/Ferrari | 1:31.227 | 1.408 |
| 13 | 16 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:31.422 | 1.603 |
| 14 | 20 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Toro Rosso/Cosworth | 1:31.728 | 1.909 |
| 15 | 15 | Christian Klien | Red Bull/Ferrari | 1:32.901 | 3.082 |
| 16 | 19 | Christijan Albers | Midland/Toyota | 1:32.936 | 3.117 |
| 17 | 21 | Scott Speed | Toro Rosso/Cosworth | 1:32.992 | 3.173 |
| 18 | 18 | Tiago Monteiro | Midland/Toyota | 1:33.658 | 3.839 |
| 19 | 9 | Mark Webber | Williams/Cosworth | 1:33.405 | 3.586 |
| 20 | 22 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri/Honda | 1:35.239 | 5.420 |
| 21 | 23 | Franck Montagny | Super Aguri/Honda | 1:46.505 | 16.686 |
| 22 | 10 | Nico Rosberg | Williams/Cosworth | 1:31.194 | 1.375 |
RACE RESULTS
| 1 | 5 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 60 | 1:35:58.765 | |
| 2 | 1 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 60 | 1:36:02.516 | 3.751 |
| 3 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 60 | 1:36:03.212 | 4.447 |
| 4 | 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren/Mercedes | 60 | 1:36:03.644 | 4.879 |
| 5 | 11 | R.Barrichello | Honda | 60 | 1:37:11.351 | 1:12.586 |
| 6 | 2 | G.Fisichella | Renault | 60 | 1:37:12.881 | 1:14.116 |
| 7 | 10 | Nico Rosberg | Williams/Cosworth | 60 | 1:37:13.330 | 1:14.565 |
| 8 | 17 | J.Villeneuve | BMW Sauber | 60 | 1:37:28.129 | 1:29.364 |
| 9 | 8 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 59 | 1:36:00.978 | 1 lap |
| 10 | 16 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 59 | 1:36:08.187 | 1 lap |
| 11 | 21 | Scott Speed | Toro Rosso/Cosworth | 59 | 1:36:09.384 | 1 lap |
| 12 | 18 | Tiago Monteiro | Midland/Toyota | 59 | 1:37:26.121 | 1 lap |
| 13 | 19 | Christijan Albers | Midland/Toyota | 59 | 1:37:28.526 | 1 lap |
| (6) | 7 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 52 | 1:24:35.119 | Engine |
| (9) | 4 | J.P.Montoya | McLaren/Mercedes | 52 | 1:24:36.992 | Engine |
| (16) | 22 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri/Honda | 45 | 1:15:57.890 | Hydraulics |
| (17) | 23 | Franck Montagny | Super Aguri/Honda | 29 | 49:31.163 | Hydraulics |
| (6) | 12 | Jenson Button | Honda | 28 | 46:03.526 | Engine |
| (14) | 15 | Christian Klien | Red Bull/Ferrari | 28 | 46:27.318 | Transmission |
| (12) | 9 | Mark Webber | Williams/Cosworth | 12 | 20:38.594 | Hydraulics |
| (21) | 14 | David Coulthard | Red Bull/Ferrari | 2 | 4:21.675 | Collision |
| 20 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Toro Rosso/Cosworth | 0 | Collision | ||
Fastest lap: Michael Schumacher – 1:32.099 (lap 39)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP 5/18 RACES
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | 44 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 |
| 2 | Michael Schumacher | 31 | 8 | 3 | – | 10 | 10 |
| 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | 23 | 6 | – | 8 | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 18 | – | 10 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | 15 | – | 4 | – | 5 | 6 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 15 | 4 | 5 | – | 6 | – |
| 7 | Jenson Button | 13 | 5 | 6 | – | 2 | – |
| 8 | Ralf Schumacher | 7 | – | 1 | 6 | – | – |
| 9 | Rubens Barrichello | 6 | – | – | 2 | – | 4 |
| 10 | Mark Webber | 6 | 3 | – | – | 3 | – |
| 11 | Jacques Villeneuve | 6 | – | 2 | 3 | – | 1 |
| 12 | Nick Heidfeld | 5 | – | – | 5 | – | – |
| 13 | Nico Rosberg | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | 2 |
| 14 | David Coulthard | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – |
| 15 | Christian Klien | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| 16 | Jarno Trulli | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 17 | Scott Speed | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 18 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 19 | Christijan Albers | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 20 | Tiago Monteiro | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 21 | Takuma Sato | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 22 | Yuji Ide | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| – | Franck Montagny | 0 | – |
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | Renault | 62 | 10 | 18 | 14 | 9 | 11 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 46 | 8 | 7 | – | 15 | 16 |
| 3 | McLaren/Mercedes | 38 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 5 |
| 4 | Honda | 19 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | BMW Sauber/BMW | 11 | – | 2 | 8 | – | 1 |
| 6 | Williams/Cosworth | 10 | 5 | – | 3 | 2 | |
| 7 | Toyota | 7 | – | 1 | 6 | – | – |
| 8 | Red Bull/Ferrari | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – |
| 9 | Toro Rosso/Cosworth | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10 | Midland/Toyota | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 11 | Super Aguri/Honda | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
