Results from the 2005 European Grand Prix
The German fans were out in full force, supporting their German drivers, hoping for a home win. The weekend at Nürburgring started out promising for a German win, as Nick Heidfeld, for Williams-BMW, took pole position and two German cars were right behind him. Kimi Raikkonen was of course vying for a hat trick, but neither was to be. Fernando Alonso was back in top form and took the first place finish, his fourth win this season, followed by Nick Heidfeld and Rubens Barrichello. But not without some final lap drama that robbed the fans of a German manufacturered car taking the checkered flag..
The Grand Prix of Europe was a stunning race and no doubt an extremely frustrating one for Kimi Raikkonen and his team McLaren-Mercedes. Coming off a high after having won at Monaco, Raikkonen qualified in number two position on the grid behind Heidfeld and took the lead at the first bend. But by lap 30 he spun off the circuit with apparent tyre wear problems, and rejoined the race behind Heidfeld. He later regained the lead after the pit stops. By lap 50, it was clear that Raikkonen's tyres and vehicle were having severe problems, as his lap times kept slipping. Alonso, in second place, applied the pressure and Raikkonen took the bait by responding with some unreasonable demands to his limping vehicle. Finally, on the last lap the Mclaren's front right suspension collapsed from the persistent vibration of the damaged tyre and Raikkonen finished his race in the barriers.
Alonso and team Renault could not be more pleased with their performance at the N?rburgring. This puts the Spaniard in clear first place for the Drivers'Championship with 59 points and with team mate Giancarlo Fisichella finishing in sixth place, Renault is solidifying its lead with 76 points, 23 points ahead of second place McLaren-Mercedes. Raikkonen is tied in second place on 27 points with Jarno Trulli, who scraped some points by finishing in eight place
The race began full of excitement, as Giancarlo Fisichella stalled on the grid, forcing a re-start and shortening the whole race to 59 laps instead of 60. He had to start from the pit lane. This was followed by Mark Webber, who almost created a first-lap pile up on turn 1 when he reacted a little too late in braking, which in turn spun Juan Pablo Montoya. Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello right behind them, barely avoided the two cars, with Ralf Schumacher bumping up against Barrichello's rear wheels and loosing his nose cone. Mark Webber was instantly out of the race, although other drivers were able to continue. However, Ralf Schumacher spun out in lap 33 and had to retire.
It was not a happy weekend for Ferrari. Although both drivers managed to finish the race in the points this time, Rubens Barrichellos in third place finish and Michael Schumacher fifth, the team is looking less and less likely to defend either their champion or constructors'title. The ten point haul here was their best result so far this season, but not quite what they had hoped for. The bad luck at turn one and poor starting position certainly didn't help their cause at N?rburgring. This result is a far cry from last year's position, where at this point in the season Ferrari already had 106 points and Michael Schumacher 60 points. BAR Honda were perhaps also unhappy with their results, after having returned from a two race ban. Jenson Button drove a solid race, albeit finishing in tenth place and team mate Takuma Sato in Eleventh place.
Setbacks also occurred to David Coultard, who had a storming race in his Red Bull car, but was given a pit lane drive through penalty which left him to settle for fourth place, while Jarno Trulli was also given the same, after his pit crew failed to leave the starting grid in time
Full race result from Nurburgring (2005)
- Fernando Alonso - Renault 1h 31m, 46.648s
- Nick Heidfeld - Williams-BMW +16.5s
- Rubens Barrichello - Ferrari +18.5s
- David Coulthard - Red Bull Racing +31.5s
- Michael Schumacher - Ferrari +50.4s
- Giancarlo Fisichella - Renault +51.9s
- Juan Pablo Montoya - McLaren-Mercedes +58.1s
- Jarno Trulli - Toyota +71.0s
- Viantonio Liuzzi - Red Bull Racing +71.5s
- Jenson Button - BAR Honda +95.7s
- Takuma Sato - BAR Honda +1 lap
- Jacques Villeneuve - Sauber-Petronas +1 lap
- Felipe Massa - Sauber-Petronas +1 lap
- Tiago Monteiro - Jordan-Toyota +1 lap
- Narain Karthikeyan - Jordan-Toyota +1 lap
- Cristijan Albers - Minardi-Cosworth +2 laps
- Patrick Friesacher - Minardi-Cosworth +2 laps