2005 Italian Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Italy
Grand Prix:Italian
Official Name:Formula 1 Gran Premio Vodafone d'Italia 2005[1]
Date:4 September
Year:2005
Race No:15
Season No:19
Location:Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
Monza, Lombardy, Italy
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:3.600
Course Km:5.793
Distance Laps:53
Distance Mi:190.779
Distance Km:306.720
Weather:Sunny
Pole Driver:Juan Pablo Montoya
Pole Team:McLaren-Mercedes
Pole Time:1:21.054
Pole Country:COL
Fast Driver:Kimi Räikkönen
Fast Team:McLaren-Mercedes
Fast Time:1:21.504
Fast Lap:51
Fast Country:FIN
First Driver:Juan Pablo Montoya
First Team:McLaren-Mercedes
First Country:COL
Second Driver:Fernando Alonso
Second Team:Renault
Second Country:ESP
Third Driver:Giancarlo Fisichella
Third Team:Renault
Third Country:ITA

The 2005 Italian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Gran Premio Vodafone d'Italia 2005) was a Formula One motor race held on 4 September 2005 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Italy. It was the fifteenth race of the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship.

The 53-lap race was won from pole position by Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya, driving a McLaren-Mercedes, his second victory with the team and penultimate in Formula One, with Renault drivers Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella second and third respectively. Kimi Räikkönen was fourth, thus losing ground to Alonso at the top of the Drivers' Championship. Antônio Pizzonia scored his last world championship points at this race.

Friday drivers

The bottom 6 teams in the 2004 Constructors' Championship were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.

Constructor Nat Driver
McLaren-MercedesPedro de la Rosa
Sauber-Petronas-
Red Bull-CosworthVitantonio Liuzzi
ToyotaRicardo Zonta
Jordan-ToyotaNicolas Kiesa
Minardi-CosworthEnrico Toccacelo

Report

Background

Fernando Alonso led the drivers' championship with 24 points ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and 40 points ahead of Michael Schumacher. In the constructors' championship, Renault led McLaren-Mercedes by nine points and Ferrari by 44 points.

Practice

Williams' Nick Heidfeld, suffering from headaches following an accident which occurred during the tests held on the circuit the previous week, replaced by Antônio Pizzonia starting from the first free practice on saturday.[2]

Qualifying

Kimi Räikkönen set the fastest time in qualifying in his McLaren-Mercedes, but received a 10-place grid penalty for changing his engine, demoting him to 11th on the grid and giving pole to teammate Juan Pablo Montoya.

Race

Montoya led every lap, winning by 2.5 seconds from the Renault of Fernando Alonso, with Giancarlo Fisichella third in the other Renault. Räikkönen climbed through the field to finish fourth, ahead of Jarno Trulli, Ralf Schumacher, Antônio Pizzonia and Jenson Button. Räikkönen would have had a chance of winning with a one-stop strategy, but a deflated tyre forced him to make a second pit stop. Rubens Barrichello also had the same problem later in the day, and Montoya was lucky to finish in the lead, as his left rear tyre began to cut with several laps remaining.

Alonso extended his lead over Räikkönen in the Drivers' Championship to 27 points, 103 to 76, with Michael Schumacher third on 55 and Montoya fourth on 50. Mathematically, the championship was now a two-horse race between Alonso and Räikkönen. Renault retained an eight-point lead over McLaren-Mercedes in the Constructors' Championship, 144 to 136, Ferrari remaining in third on 86 and Toyota fourth on 78.

There were no retirements during the race, a feat that had not been achieved in Formula One with a full field since the 1961 Dutch Grand Prix, and would not be achieved again until the 2011 European Grand Prix. The 2005 United States Grand Prix is also considered to have had no retirements; however, only six cars started due to problems with the supply of Michelin tyres, which led to the mass withdrawal of all teams running on those tyres due to safety issues.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Lap Gap Grid
19 Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren-Mercedes1:20.878 - 11
210 Juan Pablo MontoyaMcLaren-Mercedes1:21.054+0.1761
35 Fernando AlonsoRenault1:21.319+0.4412
43 Jenson ButtonBAR-Honda1:21.369+0.4913
54 Takuma SatoBAR-Honda1:21.477+0.5994
616 Jarno TrulliToyota1:21.640+0.7625
71 Michael SchumacherFerrari1:21.721+0.8436
82 Rubens BarrichelloFerrari1:21.962+1.0847
96 Giancarlo FisichellaRenault1:22.068+1.1908
1017 Ralf SchumacherToyota1:22.266+1.3889
1114 David CoulthardRed Bull-Cosworth1:22.304+1.42610
1211 Jacques VilleneuveSauber-Petronas1:22.356+1.47812
1315 Christian KlienRed Bull-Cosworth1:22.532+1.65413
147 Mark WebberWilliams-BMW1:22.560+1.68214
1512 Felipe MassaSauber-Petronas1:23.060+2.18215
168 Antônio PizzoniaWilliams-BMW1:23.291+2.41316
1718 Tiago MonteiroJordan-Toyota1:24.666+3.78817
1820 Robert DoornbosMinardi-Cosworth1:24.904+4.02618
1919 Narain KarthikeyanJordan-Toyota1:25.859+4.98119
2021 Christijan AlbersMinardi-Cosworth1:26.964+6.08620
Notes:

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorTyreLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
110 Juan Pablo MontoyaMcLaren-Mercedes531:14:28.659110
25 Fernando AlonsoRenault53+ 2.47928
36 Giancarlo FisichellaRenault53+ 17.97586
49 Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren-Mercedes53+ 22.775115
516 Jarno TrulliToyota53+ 33.78654
617 Ralf SchumacherToyota53+ 43.92593
78 Antônio PizzoniaWilliams-BMW53+ 44.643162
83 Jenson ButtonBAR-Honda53+ 1:03.63531
912 Felipe MassaSauber-Petronas53+ 1:15.41315
101 Michael SchumacherFerrari53+ 1:36.0706
1111 Jacques VilleneuveSauber-Petronas52+ 1 Lap12
122 Rubens BarrichelloFerrari52+ 1 Lap7
1315 Christian KlienRed Bull-Cosworth52+ 1 Lap13
147 Mark WebberWilliams-BMW52+ 1 Lap14
1514 David CoulthardRed Bull-Cosworth52+ 1 Lap10
164 Takuma SatoBAR-Honda52+ 1 Lap4
1718 Tiago MonteiroJordan-Toyota51+ 2 Laps17
1820 Robert DoornbosMinardi-Cosworth51+ 2 Laps18
1921 Christijan AlbersMinardi-Cosworth51+ 2 Laps20
2019 Narain KarthikeyanJordan-Toyota50+ 3 Laps19

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Fernando Alonso*103
2 Kimi Räikkönen*76
3 Michael Schumacher55
4 Juan Pablo Montoya50
5 Jarno Trulli43
Source: [3]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Renault*144
2 McLaren-Mercedes*136
3 Ferrari*86
4 Toyota*78
5 Williams-BMW54
Source:

See also

References

45.6156°N 9.2811°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Italia. Formula1.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20051125095321/http://www.formula1.com/race/circuitdetail/746.html. 23 December 2020. 2005-11-25.
  2. Web site: Pizzonia in for Heidfeld at Monza. Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. 9 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20071025050009/http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2005/9/3520.html. 25 October 2007.
  3. Web site: Italy 2005 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 18 March 2019.