Results from the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix
So, the Drivers'Championship for this season has been wrapped up! Fernando Alonso's third place finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix means that he has captured enough points to become the youngest and first Spanish driver ever to win the F1 Drivers'Championship. The 24-year-old driver was elated at his new title and this answers many F1 enthusiasts'questions about who will be taking Michael Schumacher's position at the helm of F1.
Alonso's winning of the Drivers'Championship title, somewhat overshadowed a wonderful win by Juan Pablo Montoya at Interlagos. Montoya's win and Kimi Raikkonen's continued strong driving this season has given McLaren-Mercedes their first one-two finish this year and first one-two finish since 2000. It also leapfrogged them ahead of Renault in the Constructors'Championship – a battle that is turning out to be a thrilling end to the 2005 season. This is a great feat for a team that struggled badly at the beginning of the season with technical difficulties. The one-two finish gives McLaren-Mercedes a whopping 18 points, putting their total at 164. Renault is now in second place, with ten points from Brazil, on a total of 162.
Alonso started well; clinching pole position during qualifying from arch rival Kimi Raikkonen, after a driving error by Raikkonen put him in fifth position on the grid. The Spaniard took a clear lead from pole position, but was soon stifled by the safety car that came onto the track after the grid altercation which knocked out Mark Webber and team mate Antonio Pizzonia - making it a bad race weekend for Williams-BMW. Although Webber joined the race 25 laps later, he was not able to classify in the race. Montoya took the opportunity of the slow down to catch Alonso on the back straight, showing off McLaren-Mercedes speed versus the slower Renault car. Raikkonen was also able to overtake Alonso with his pit stop strategy and that left Alonso securely in third place - the minimum number of points he needed to clinch the Championship title.
BAR-Honda had to also contend with a disappointing weekend. Jenson Button started the race strongly, with a fourth position start on the grid, but could only finish in seventh place and team mate Takuma Sato only managed a tenth place finish. This gave BAR-Honda a measly two points towards the Constructors'Championship in a miserable season that sees them currently in sixth place.
Compared to BAR-Honda and Williams-BMW, it was a good weekend for Ferrari, with Michael Schumacher finishing fourth and team mate Rubens Barrichello in sixth place. This puts Ferrari in a respectable third place in the Constructors' Championship, with 98 points. Although there is no hope in catching up with current first place McLaren-Mercedes and second place Renault, Ferrari will have to watch their back for team Toyota, who have been slowly crawling up in the rankings and are currently in fourth with 81 points.
Full race result from Interlagos (2005)
- Juan Pablo Montoya - McLaren-Mercedes 1h 29m 20.574s
- Kimi Raikkonen - McLaren-Mercedes +2.5s
- Fernando Alonso - Renault +24.8s
- Michael Schumacher - Ferrari +35.6s
- Giancarlo Fisichella - Renault +40.2s
- Rubens Barrichello - Ferrari 69.1s
- Jenson Button - BAR-Honda +1 lap
- Ralf Schumacher - Toyota +lap
- Christian Klien - Red Bull Racing +1 lap
- Takuma Sato - Red Bull Racing +1 lap
- Felipe Massa - Sauber-Petronas +1 lap
- Jacques Villeneuve - Sauber-Petronas +lap
- Jarno Trulli - Toyota +2 laps
- Christijan Albers - Minardi-Cosworth +2 lap
- Narain Karthikeyan - Jordan-Toyota +3 laps