The 2006 GP2 Series season began at Valencia, Spain on April 8, 2006 and ended in Monza, Italy on September 10, 2006. The season was won by Briton Lewis Hamilton, with Brazilian Nelson Angelo Piquet finishing second.

The 2006 specification GP2 Car has been designed by Dallara Automobili. The 2006 GP2 car features a biplane rear wing, with the triplane rear wing used in 2005 only to be used at the Monaco race. The front upper and lower wishbones have been reinforced, as have the front and rear suspension uprights.

The 4 litre V8 engine features internal, cartographic and software upgrades designed to improve performance and fuel consumption.

The 2006 gearbox has been manufactured by GearTek, and features an 8 position barrel, with ratchet body and software upgrades, as well as a new transverse shafts fixing system designed to facilitate improved gear selection.

The tyres supplied by Bridgestone for the 2006 season are slick, not featuring the grooves seen in the 2005 season. Bridgestone will supply a soft, medium, and hard compound tire, with the tyre choice being made by Bridgestone and the GP2 Series prior to each event. The wet specification tyre remains the same as 2005.

Ricardo Tormo Blaya (September 7, 1952 – December 27, 1998) was a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.

Tormo was born in the Spanish province of Valencia, in Ayacor, which is a region of Canals. When he was 8, his family moved into the center of Canals. Tormo won the 1978 FIM 50cc world championship as a member of the Bultaco factory racing team. He repeated as 50cc world champion in 1981 on a privately backed Bultaco. He was also a three-time 50cc Spanish national champion and a four-time 125cc national champion. His career was closely linked to that of Ángel Nieto, who was both a team mate and rival of Tormo.

In 1983, together with Jorge “Aspar” Martínez, Tormo signed with the Derbi factory to compete for the 1984 world championship in the new 80cc category. Tormo suffered an engine failure at the first race of the year at Misano. The second race of the season was to be held at Spain’s Jarama Circuit.

At that time, there were only two official circuits in Spain, one in Jarama and the other in Calafat. The team planned test rides before the race, but both circuits were already booked, forcing them to practice in Martorelles. This region of Barcelona was an industrial park near the Derbi factory. The team occasionally had test runs in this area, blocking off the roads to ensure that no cars would interfere with the racers. However, during a practice prior to the Spanish Grand Prix, a vehicle gained access to the area from one of the team’s assistants who was supposed to have blocked off all of the roads. Tragically, Tormo, who was testing a new racing suit, hit the car and shattered his right leg. The accident marked the end of his racing career and the beginning of a countless series of operations.

Timo Glock (born 18 March 1982) is a German motor racing driver, currently driving in Formula One for the Marussia F1 team. At the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix, standing in for Giorgio Pantano who had a contract dispute with Jordan Grand Prix, he joined a select group of drivers who have scored a World Championship point in their first Formula One race.

Born in Lindenfels, West Germany, Glock began his motorsport career in 1998 at the age of 15. He won several karting championships as well as the BMW ADAC Formula Junior Cup in 2000 and the Formula BMW ADAC Championship in 2001. In his first German Formula Three Championship season in 2002, he finished third in the standings en route to rookie of the year honours. In 2003, he competed in the Formula Three Euroseries, winning three races and scoring three other podium finishes, which were enough to place him in fifth position in the Championship.

Glock was signed as Jordan Grand Prix's test driver for the 2004 Formula One season and made his Formula One debut at the Canadian Grand Prix replacing Giorgio Pantano for one race. He finished 11th, but inherited 7th following the disqualification of the Williams and Toyota cars and thus scored two points on his debut. He finished the season with Jordan, taking over from Pantano for the last three races. Glock's sponsorship with Deutsche Post helped bring back the colours of DHL to Jordan.

Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton,MBE (born 7 January 1985) is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He is the 2008 Formula One World Champion.

Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. In December 1995, at the age of ten, he approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards ceremony and told him, "I want to race for you one day ... I want to race for McLaren." Less than three years later McLaren and Mercedes-Benz signed him to their Young Driver Support Programme. After winning the British Formula Renault, Formula Three Euroseries, and GP2 championships on his way up the racing career ladder, he drove for McLaren in 2007, making his Formula One debut 12 years after his initial encounter with Dennis. Lewis Hamilton's contract for the McLaren driver development program made him the youngest ever driver to secure a contract which later resulted in an F1 drive.

Coming from a mixed-race background, with a black father and white mother, Hamilton is often labelled "the first black driver in Formula One", although Willy T. Ribbs tested an F1 car in 1986. He is also the first driver of black heritage to win a major race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in any discipline.