Results from the 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix
In 40C plus weather, the Bahrain Grand Prix was another sizzling F1 race weekend. Fernando Alonso did it again, giving Renault the third win in three races this season. Driving superbly, with the most reliable car on the circuit, Alonso cruised into pole position and never looked back, winning his second Grand Prix race in a row. Second place went to Jarno Trulli for Toyota and third place to Kimi Raikkonen, driving for McLaren-Mercedes. With Ferrari nowhere to be seen!
Who would've thought that Ferrari would be in sixth place in the Constructors' Championship standing by the end of race three, with seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher claiming only two points so far? These are the facts for the 2005 F1 season, which is turning out to be a real thriller.
The Grand Prix weekend started off with Alonso in pole position, Trulli in second and Michael Schuhmacher in a comfortable third position. So far this season, Alonso and Trulli have clearly dominated the qualifying races and they proved this again in Bahrain. Schumacher move up to the front of the grid and managed to was giving Alonso a run for his money, but by lap 12 he had to retire after suffering hydraulic problems. This was the first time Schumacher retired from a race due to mechanical problems since the German Grand Prix in 2001.
The driver who really hotted up the race wasn't anyone on the standard line-up, but Pablo Montoya's stand-in driving for McLaren-Mercedes, Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa. Montoya had fractured his shoulder in a tennis game prior to the race and had to pull out. De la Rosa, who hadn't driven an F1 race in over two years, drove an aggressive race, quickly becoming a favourite among the spectators. He ended up overtaking Mark Webber two laps prior the chequered flag, claiming fifth place. This proved a good weekend for McLaren-Mercedes, as teammate Raikkonen had a third place finish.
There were two big losers at the Bahrain Grand Prix. One of which was Ferrari, who had debuted their new 2005 car at Bahrain and did not get any points at all. Closing a chapter in history where their new car has won its debut in every year since 1998, an impressive track record. The second losers were BAR Honda. Still unable to overcome their car’s mechanical problems, neither Jenson Button nor Takuma Sato finished the race, making it three in a row. However, Jenson held onto 5th place until late in the race before failing to return to the track after his second pit stop.
This weekend's results puts Renault in a comfortable lead in the Constructors' Championship with 36 points, Toyota in second place with 25 points and McLaren-Mercedes in third place with 29 points. For the Drivers' Championship, Alonso is in first place with 26 points, Trulli in second place with 16 points and Fisichella with 10 points.
Full race result from Bahrain (2005)
- Fernando Alonso – Renault 1h29m18.531s
- Jarno Trulli – Toyota +13.4s
- Kimi Raikkonen - McLaren-Mercedes +32.0s
- Ralf Schumacher – Toyota +53.2s
- Pedro de la Rosa - McLaren-Mercedes +64.9s
- Mark Webber – Williams-BMW +74.7s
- Felipe Massa - Sauber-Petronas +1 lap
- David Coulthard – Red Bull Racing +72.5s
- Rubens Barrichello – Ferrari +1 lap
- Tiago Monteiro – Jordan-Toyota +2 laps
- Jacques Villeneuve – Sauber-Petronas suspended
- Patrick Friesacher - Minardi-Cosworth +3 laps
- Christijan Albers – Minardi-Cosworth +4 laps