2005 Australian Grand Prix

2005 Australian Grand Prix
Previous←	2004 Brazilian Grand Prix
Round	1 of 2005
Next→	2005 Malaysian Grand Prix
Race Details
Date	6 March, 2005
Race Number	732
Official Name	2005 Formula 1 Foster's Australian Grand Prix
Location	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit Melbourne, Australia
Course	Temporary Street Circuit 5.303 km (3.295 mi)
Scheduled Distance	58 laps, 307.574 km (191.118 mi)
Completed Distance	57 laps, 302.271 km (187.822 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Giancarlo Fisichella Renault
Time	3:01.460
Fastest Lap
Driver	Fernando Alonso Renault
Time	1:25.683 on lap 24
Podium
First	Giancarlo Fisichella
Second	Rubens Barrichello
Third	Fernando Alonso
Lap Leaders

The 2005 Australian Grand Prix, officially advertised as the 2005 Formula 1 Foster's Australian Grand Prix was the opening round of the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship, which took place at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, Australia, on 6 March 2005. The race would see Giancarlo Fisichella claim victory on his debut for Renault, as defending World Champion Michael Schumacher retired with damage.

The winter had seen several changes made to the field, with Jaguar and Ford the notable absentees over the winter. Jaguar had become Red Bull having been bought by the Austrian drinks firm, while Jaguar's former owners Ford had ended all of their F1 programmes, including their long standing partnership with Cosworth. The small British firm would continue to supply F1 engines, however, with Red Bull and Minardi using their latest units.

Elsewhere there had been some major changes on the driver front, with Juan Pablo Montoya moving to McLaren-Mercedes from Williams-BMW. He replaced the veteran David Coulthard, who moved to Red Bull, Ralf Schumacher moved to Toyota, meaning Williams were left to hire Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld, while 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve rejoined the paddock as he took a seat at Sauber-Petronas.

Furthermore, there had been some significant changes to the rule book, with both tyres and engines affected. Each driver's engine would now have to last two full race weekends (excluding free practice and barring a failure), while each driver was only allowed to use a single set of tyres for the Grand Prix.

Into the first weekend of the 2005 season itself and it was clear that Ferrari's domination from 2004 was over, as both Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello failed to get into the top ten. Instead, it was Fisichella who emerged on pole position ahead of Jarno Trulli in qualifying, with a new format seeing a driver's times from Q1 (low fuel) and Q2 (starting fuel) combined.

The first attempt at starting the race would have to be aborted when Kimi Räikkönen stalled, meaning a lap was struck from the distance. The second attempt passed without issue, with Fisichella streaking ahead of Trulli at the head of the field.

Those two quickly established a lead at the head of the field, while home hero Webber tried in vain to find a way past Coulthard who had jumped the Aussie at the start. Indeed, the new Red Bull was not the quickest car in the field, and hence ensured that the Scot had a queue of cars behind him throughout the early laps.

That queue allowed Fernando Alonso and Rubens Barrichello to climb up the order, before the first round of stops partially reset the field. Indeed, while Fisichella remained at the head of the field ahead of Trulli, Barrichello and Alonso would jump the rest of the Coulthard conga to move into third and fourth.

That soon became second and third, however, as Trulli's pace collapsed as a blister opened up on his second set of Michelin tyres. With that the race began to settle down, with Trulli falling down the field, with the field remaining largely unchanged through the second round of stops.

The only changes to come during that period would involve two potential title contenders, who both tangled with back markers. The first incident saw Schumacher close the door on Heidfeld, resulting in both cars receiving terminal damage, before Montoya lost a lot of time when he ran off the circuit lapping a Minardi.

With that the race was run, with Fisichella cruising through the third and final stint to claim his first win for Renault. Barrichello, meanwhile, would fend off a challenge from Alonso in the closing stages as they completed the podium, with the rest of the points awarded to Coulthard, Webber, Montoya, Christian Klien and Räikkönen.

The race was also significant as the first to feature an Indian born driver in the form of Narain Karthikeyan, while Tiago Monteiro became the first Portugese driver to race in F1 since Pedro Lamy in 1996.

Background

Entry list

The full entry list for the 2005 Australian Grand Prix is outlined below:

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
1	Michael Schumacher	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F2004M	Ferrari	053 3.0 V10	B
2	Rubens Barrichello	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F2004M	Ferrari	053 3.0 V10	B
3	Jenson Button	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR	007	Honda	RA005E 3.0 V10	M
4	Takuma Sato	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR	007	Honda	RA005E 3.0 V10	M
5	Fernando Alonso	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	Renault	R25	Renault	RS25 3.0 V10	M
6	Giancarlo Fisichella	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	Renault	R25	Renault	RS25 3.0 V10	M
7	Mark Webber	BMW Williams F1 Team	Williams	FW27	BMW	P84-5 3.0 V10	M
8	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Williams F1 Team	Williams	FW27	BMW	P84-5 3.0 V10	M
9	Kimi Räikkönen	West McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-20	Mercedes	FO 110R 3.0 V10	M
10	Juan Pablo Montoya	West McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-20	Mercedes	FO 110R 3.0 V10	M
11	Jacques Villeneuve	Sauber Petronas	Sauber	C24	Petronas	05A 3.0 V10	M
12	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	Sauber	C24	Petronas	05A 3.0 V10	M
14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB1	Cosworth	TJ2005 3.0 V10	M
15	Christian Klien	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB1	Cosworth	TJ2005 3.0 V10	M
16	Jarno Trulli	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF105	Toyota	RVX-05 3.0 V10	M
17	Ralf Schumacher	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF105	Toyota	RVX-05 3.0 V10	M
18	Tiago Monteiro	Jordan Grand Prix	Jordan	EJ15	Toyota	RVX-05 3.0 V10	B
19	Narain Karthikeyan	Jordan Grand Prix	Jordan	EJ15	Toyota	RVX-05 3.0 V10	B
20	Patrick Friesacher	Minardi F1 Team	Minardi	PS04B	Ford Cosworth	CRL-3 3.0 V10	B
21	Christijan Albers	Minardi F1 Team	Minardi	PS04B	Ford Cosworth	CRL-3 3.0 V10	B
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
35	Pedro de la Rosa	West McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-20	Mercedes	FO 110R 3.0 V10	M
37	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB1	Cosworth	TJ2005 3.0 V10	M
38	Ricardo Zonta	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF105	Toyota	RVX-05 3.0 V10	M
39	Robert Doornbos	Jordan Grand Prix	Jordan	EJ15	Toyota	RVX-05 3.0 V10	B
Source:

Qualifying

Qualifying Results

The full qualifying results for the 2005 Australian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time			Gap
				Q1	Q2	Total
1	6	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	1:33.171	1:28.289	3:01.460	—
2	16	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:35.270	1:29.159	3:04.429	+2.969s
3	7	Mark Webber	Williams-BMW	1:36.717	1:28.279	3:04.996	+3.536s
4	11	Jacques Villeneuve	Sauber-Petronas	1:36.984	1:29.862	3:06.846	+5.386s
5	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Cosworth	1:38.320	1:28.892	3:07.212	+5.752s
6	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull-Cosworth	1:37.486	1:29.991	3:07.477	+6.017s
7	8	Nick Heidfeld	Williams-BMW	1:39.717	1:29.413	3:09.130	+7.670s
8	3	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	1:41.512	1:30.616	3:12.128	+10.668s
9	10	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren-Mercedes	1:45.325	1:29.320	3:14.645	+13.185s
10	9	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:44.997	1:30.561	3:15.558	+14.098s
11	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:45.481	1:31.341	3:16.822	+15.362s
12	19	Narain Karthikeyan	Jordan-Toyota	1:44.357	1:32.735	3:17.092	+15.632s
13	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:47.708	1:29.758	3:17.466	+16.006s
14	18	Tiago Monteiro	Jordan-Toyota	1:46.846	1:33.483	3:20.329	+18.869s
15	17	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	1:51.495	1:31.222	3:22.717	+21.257s
16	20	Patrick Friesacher	Minardi-Cosworth	1:50.864	1:37.499	3:28.363	+26.903s
NC	21	Christijan Albers	Minardi-Cosworth	1:49.230	—
NC*	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:57.931	—
NC*	4	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	—
NC	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	—
Source:

• ^T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
• Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
• * Schumacher and Sato were awarded ten place grid penalties for changing their engines.

Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
	______________
Row 1	1	______________
	Giancarlo Fisichella	2
	______________	Jarno Trulli
Row 2	3	______________
	Mark Webber	4
	______________	Jacques Villeneuve
Row 3	5	______________
	David Coulthard	6
	______________	Christian Klien
Row 4	7	______________
	Nick Heidfeld	8
	______________	Jenson Button
Row 5	9	______________
	Juan Pablo Montoya	10
	______________	Kimi Räikkönen*
Row 6	11	______________
	Rubens Barrichello	12
	______________	Narain Karthikeyan
Row 7	13	______________
	Fernando Alonso	14
	______________	Tiago Monteiro
Row 8	15	______________
	Ralf Schumacher	16
	______________	Patrick Friesacher
Row 9	17	______________
	Christijan Albers	18
	______________	Felipe Massa
Row 10	19	______________
	Michael Schumacher	20
	______________	Takuma Sato

• * Räikkönen would start the race from the pit lane.

Race

Results

The full results for the 2005 Australian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	57	1:24:17.336	1	10
2	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	57	+5.553s	11	8
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	57	+6.712s	13	6
4	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Cosworth	57	+16.131s	5	5
5	7	Mark Webber	Williams-BMW	57	+16.908s	3	4
6	10	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+35.033s	9	3
7	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull-Cosworth	57	+38.997s	6	2
8	9	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+39.633s	10	1
9	16	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	57	+1:03.108	2
10	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	57	+1:04.393	18
11*	3	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	56	Withdrawn	8
12	17	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	56	+1 Lap	15
13	11	Jacques Villeneuve	Sauber-Petronas	56	+1 Lap	4
14*	4	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	55	Withdrawn	20
15	19	Narain Karthikeyan	Jordan-Toyota	55	+2 Laps	12
16	18	Tiago Monteiro	Jordan-Toyota	55	+2 Laps	14
17	20	Patrick Friesacher	Minardi-Cosworth	53	+4 Laps	16
Ret	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	42	Collision	19
Ret	8	Nick Heidfeld	Williams-BMW	42	Collision	7
Ret	21	Christijan Albers	Minardi-Cosworth	16	Gearbox	17
Source:

• ^T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
• * Button and Sato were withdrawn so that BAR could change their engines without incurring a penalty at the 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix.

Milestones

• Rubens Barrichello entered his 200th Grand Prix.
• Debut race for Christijan Albers, Patrick Friesacher, Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro.
  • Karthikeyan became the first Indian driver to race in Formula One.
• First race for Red Bull as a constructor.
• Cosworth entered their first race as an independent engine supplier.
• Giancarlo Fisichella scored his second career victory.
• Renault claimed their eighteenth win as a constructor.
  • Also Renault's 98th win as an engine supplier.
• Fernando Alonso claimed the twentieth fastest lap to be recorded by a Renault chassis.

Standings

Opening day victory for Giancarlo Fisichella left the Italian racer atop the Championship, holding ten points and a two point lead. Rubens Barrichello and Fernando Alonso completed the early top three, while David Coulthard and Mark Webber rounded out the top five. The remaining opening day scorers were Juan Pablo Montoya, Christian Klien and Kimi Räikkönen.

In the Constructors Championship it was double podium finishers Renault who left the opening round at the head of the hunt, leaving Australia with sixteen points. Defending Champions Ferrari would begin the season in second, eight behind the French manufacturer, while debutantes Red Bull-Cosworth were in third, just point behind the Italian giants. Completing the scorers list were Williams-BMW and McLaren-Mercedes, level on four points.

World Championship for Drivers Pos. Driver Pts. +/- 1 Giancarlo Fisichella 10 — 2 Rubens Barrichello 8 — 3 Fernando Alonso 6 — 4 David Coulthard 5 — 5 Mark Webber 4 — 6 Juan Pablo Montoya 3 — 7 Christian Klien 2 — 8 Kimi Räikkönen 1 —

World Championship for Constructors Pos. Team Pts. +/- 1 Renault 16 — 2 Ferrari 8 — 3 Red Bull-Cosworth 7 — 4 Williams-BMW 4 — 5 McLaren-Mercedes 4 —

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References

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