Results from the 2005 Italian Grand Prix
Everyone was holding their breath to see whether Kimi Raikkonen could further narrow his 24 point gap with Fernando Alonso. But needing an engine change after qualifying meant that pretty much all chances of winning the Italian Grand Prix were out of Raikkonen’s reach, being penalized 10 places on the grid. Nevertheless, it was a good weekend for McLaren-Mercedes, as Raikkonen’s team mate Juan Pablo Montoya took first place. With only a 2.4 second gap, Fernando Alonso took second place, followed by Giancarlo Fisichella in third place. It was a great point weekend for Renault, with a 14 point haul for the weekend. Although McLaren-Mercedes were also happy with a 15 point haul for the Constructors'Championship ranking, keeping Renault in check.
This was only the third time in the history of F1 that all drivers who started the race finished it. Of course all eyes were on Ferrari, as this was a home race for them, but Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, finished 10th and 12th respectively. This ended Schumacher's five year winning streak at Monza and the first time since 1997 that a Ferrari driver has not stood on the podium at Monza! Schumacher complained that tyre grip problems were still plaguing him and Bridgestone announced that they would probably be unable to rectify this problem until the last race of the season.
It was really Montoya who stole the show this weekend, pretty much dominating from start to finish - setting the fastest qualifying time, starting on pole position and taking the first place finish. Alonso, who started in second place on the grid, pretty much chased Montoya throughout the race, to no avail. Although first and second were pretty much set in stone, it was the rest of the field that contributed to a noteworthy race.
Raikkonen had to battle his way up the pack after his 10 place grid penalty, amazingly finishing in fourth place. This was even after a tyre failure and a spin! You have to hand it to him, he is world champion material. Toyota's Ralf Schumacher and BAR Honda's Takuma Sato drove aggressively and were doing well early in the race, but were in the end hobbled by fuel problems - low fuel load and re-fueling issues -, with Button taking the last point slot in eighth place, with Sato dropping down to 16th. No doubt, both drivers were extremely disappointed by this result. It was a good weekend for drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli, who finished third and fifth respectively.
Raikkonen's inability to reach the podium at Monza means that the gap between him and Alonso has widened somewhat. Alonso is in a clear lead in the Drivers'Championship standings with 103 points, Raikkonen in second with 76 points. Technically, there are still 40 points to be had for the remainder of the season, so the battle between these two will continue. Michael Schumacher is still holding on to third place with 55 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, the race is getting closer. Renault is in first place with 144 points, but with only an eight point gap is McLaren-Mercedes in second place on 136 points. Third is Ferrari with 86 points and Toyota is fourth with 78.
Full race result from Monza (2005)
- Juan Pablo Montoya - McLaren-Mercedes 1h 14m 28.659s
- Fernando Alonso - Renault +2.4s
- Giancarlo Fisichella - Renault +17.9s
- Kimi Raikkonen - McLaren-Mercedes +22.7s
- Jarno Trulli - Toyota +33.7s
- Ralf Schumacher - Toyota +43.9s
- Antonio Pizzonia - Williams-BMW +44.6s
- Jenson Button - BAR-Honda +63.3s
- Felipe Massa - Sauber-Petronas +75.4s
- Michael Schumacher - Ferrari +96.0s /li>
- Jacques Villeneuve - Sauber-Petronas +1 lap
- Rubens Barrichello - Ferrari +1 lap
- Christian Klien - Red Bull Racing +1 lap
- Mark Webber - Williams-BMW +1 lap
- David Coulthard - Red Bull Racing +1 lap
- Takuma Sato - BAR-Honda +1 lap
- Tiago Monteiro - Jordan-Toyota +2 laps
- Robert Doornbos - Minardi-Cosworth +2 laps
- Christijan Albers - Minardi-Cosworth +2 laps
- Narain Karthikeyan - Jordan-Toyota +3 laps