The race was only the second F1 GP held in the Middle East, bringing the challenges of high temperatures and dusty conditions. The race was held the day after Pope John Paul II died, with several teams and drivers offering their respects, most notably Ferrari, who raced with blackened nose cones as a mark of respect. The celebrations on the podium were also muted.

Michael Schumacher with this Ferrari F2005 with the mentioned black nose, retired early in lap 12. making this his first mechanical retirement since the 2001 German Grand Prix– a remarkable run of 58 consecutive grands prix

The race was won by polesitter and championship leader Fernando Alonso for the Renault team. Jarno Trulli finished in second place in a Toyota car and Kimi Räikkönen completed the podium in third position for McLaren.Race afternoon brought the highest ever recorded temperatures experienced at a grand prix, with air temperature of 42.5 °C (108.5 °F) and track temperatures of 56 °C (133 °F). This surpassed the record temperatures of the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix and the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix.

Alonso won the race by a comfortable 13.4 seconds from Trulli, bringing Renault engines their 100th World Championship Grand Prix win.

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