2006 Silverstone Feature Race

The 2006 Silverstone Feature Race, formally known as the 2006 Silverstone GP2 Series Race 1, was the tenth race of the 2006 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, Northamptonshire, UK on 10 June 2006. The race, held in support of the LIX Foster's British Grand Prix, would see Lewis Hamilton claim another dominant victory to further enhance his Championship lead.

Indeed, Hamilton's dominance in the Feature would overshadow the fact that he was beaten to pole position by compatriot Adam Carroll, with the Ulsterman beating the Englishman by 0.004s. Best of the rest would be Hamilton's ART Grand Prix teammate Alexandre Prémat, while Nelson Piquet Jr., Hamilton's closest championship challenger, would start from fourth.

Carroll, in-spite of a minor fire caused by a pre-race fault with a spark plug, would sprint into the lead at the start, although Hamilton glued himself to his compatriot's tail. Behind, Piquet made a miserable start and slipped behind Timo Glock, who had moved to iSport International since the trip to Monte Carlo, with Glock going on to pass Prémat out of Copse.

Carroll's lead would likewise be short-lived, for Hamilton would dart down the inside of the Ulsterman into Stowe to claim the lead, before enforcing his lead around the rest of the opening tour. However, his attempts to escape were cut short by an early Safety Car, caused by Franck Perera getting spun around, while José María López spun and stalled in sympathy.

After a single lap the race resumed, with Hamilton blasting clear of Carroll at the restart, before going on to build a handsome lead in the early stages. Indeed, the field would quickly spread out around the Silverstone Circuit, before Prémat and Piquet became the first of the lead drivers to blink for fresh tyres on lap ten.

Carroll came in two laps later, although the undercut of fresh tyres was not enough for him to jump Hamilton when the Englishman came in a lap later, with the Ulsterman instead getting jumped by Glock. Out front, meanwhile, Giorgio Pantano would inherit the lead ahead of Félix Porteiro, and would consistently lap at the same pace of those who had stopped before coming in himself shortly before half-distance.

With Pantano out of the way Hamilton reassumed the lead ahead of Glock, Carroll and Piquet, while Pantano emerged at the back of the lead "group" in seventh. He duly began to harass Ferdinando Monfardini for sixth, passing after a quick lunge, before getting caught behind Andreas Zuber after lapping a slow Gianmaria Bruni.

Behind, Monfardini had a massive accident, caused by a lunge from Prémat into Abbey when the Frenchman tried to pass. The Italian's car ended up in the middle of the circuit having rebounded off the barriers hard, with a SC required in order to recover the ruined DAMS.

With eleven laps to go the race resumed with Hamilton again blasting clear out front, only to be reined in again a lap later when Bruni ground to a halt in the middle of the track exiting Abbey. Another four laps passed before Hamilton was again released to escape from Glock, with the rest of the field stabilising after Zuber ran off track with a brake failure.

Indeed, that settled the final order of the race, with Hamilton duly flashing across the line to secure another impressive victory ahead of Glock. Carroll them completed the podium having denied Hamilton a Grand Slam, while Piquet led Pantano and Prémat across the line to secure fourth. Clivio Piccione survived a late wave of retirements to claim seventh, while Félix Porteiro secured the final point and the Sprint Race pole in eighth.

Background
Eleven months after making its debut in the United Kingdom the FIA GP2 Series returned to the Silverstone Circuit on the Northamptonshire/Buckinghamshire border, again supporting Formula One and the British Grand Prix. The Silverstone Circuit itself was unchanged amid rumours of future investment and a plan to alter the layout, although there were changes to the GP2 Series entry list after the battle of Monte Carlo.

Monte Carlo Misery
Ahead of the trip to Silverstone two drivers would be ruled out of the trip to Silverstone due to injury, both courtesy of accidents sustained at the Circuit de Monaco. The more serious injuries were sustained by Nicolas Lapierre, who had compressed two vertebra and was told to sit out of a race car for at least five weeks. Olivier Pla, meanwhile, would be ruled out after breaks were found in his wrist, resulting in him being given an initial layoff of four weeks.

Lapierre's replacement was the first to be confirmed, with Neel Jani signed by Arden International to replace the Frenchman until Lapierre was fit. The race would mark Jani's return to the Championship after leaving at the end of 2005, with the Swiss racer signed due to his links to the Red Bull Junior Team. Pla's replacement, meanwhile, was named as Mike Conway, the Brit making his GP2 debut having impressed several teams with a strong Championship lead in the British Formula 3 Championship.

Glock Gambles
Elsewhere, Timo Glock jumped from BCN Competición to claim the seat of Tristan Gommendy, after the Frenchman had been forced out of his role at iSport International. Indeed, Gommendy had left the team due to a lack of funding post-Monte Carlo, with Glock coming in to partner Ernesto Viso after the Venezuelan racer had made a similar switch ahead of the 2006 season. Glock's seat, meanwhile, was taken by Luca Filippi, who returned to the series after being replaced by FMS International by Giorgio Pantano earlier in the season.

Hamilton Heroics
A twelve point swing in favour of Lewis Hamilton had catapulted the Brit into a ten point lead in the Championship, with pole and victory in Monte Carlo having left Hamilton on 49 points. Nelson Piquet Jr. had hence made way for him after his non-score, while Alexandre Prémat had moved into a clear third, six off Piquet. Ernesto Viso and Michael Ammermüller then completed the top five, while several drivers claimed their first points of the campaign to join the scorers list.

In the Teams' Championship it had been another good race for ART Grand Prix in Monaco, with a double podium having put them onto 82 points after nine races. Arden International had hence slipped 32 points behind in second, while Piquet Sports had likewise lost ground in third, a further seven behind. iSport International and Trident Racing then completed the top five, while DPR Direxiv and Durango were on the board for the first time in 2006.

Entry List
The full entry list for the is displayed below:

Qualifying
Qualifying for the inaugural GP2 Series race would be staged via a thirty minute session on Friday afternoon, ahead of the Feature Race on Saturday. All 24 drivers would venture onto the circuit during the session, and were allowed to complete as many laps as they could to set their qualifying time. There was also a free choice of tyres, although drivers could not exceed their allocation of Bridgestone tyres.

Results
The final qualifying result for the are outlined below:

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Hernández was disqualified from the race after his rear wing was found to have been illegally repaired.

Milestones

 * Debut race for Mike Conway.
 * Maiden and only pole position for Adam Carroll.
 * Fourth win for Lewis Hamilton.
 * ART Grand Prix claimed their twelfth victory as an entrant.
 * Maiden podium finish for Timo Glock.
 * Final points finish for Félix Porteiro.

Standings
Lewis Hamilton had enhanced his Championship lead with his fourth victory of the campaign, moving onto 60 points as the season reached half-distance. That left him sixteen ahead of Nelson Piquet Jr. in second, while Alexandre Prémat was sat a further eight behind in third. Ernesto Viso and Michael Ammermüller were next up despite failing to score in the Silverstone Feature, while Giorgio Pantano had become the 23rd unique scorer in 2006.

In the Teams' Championship it was another impressive Saturday's running for ART Grand Prix, as they again enhanced their tally to 96 points. Their lead had likewise grown to 46 points over Arden International, with a further two points separating the British squad from Piquet Sports. iSport International and Trident Racing then completed the top five, with Durango remaining at the foot of the table, knowing that they would not be taking part in the Silverstone Sprint.