2005 Belgian Grand Prix

The 2005 Belgian Grand Prix, otherwise known as the LXII Foster's Grand Prix de Belgique, was the sixteenth round of the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa, Belgium, on 11 September 2005.^[1] The race would see Kimi Räikkönen claim victory to keep his title hopes alive, although Fernando Alonso finished second to leave Spa just six points away from the crown.^[1]

Qualifying had seen Räikkönen get beaten to pole position by McLaren-Mercedes teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, losing out by half a tenth.^[1] Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli made it an all Italian second row, only for the #6 Renault to get a grid penalty, with Alonso inheriting fourth ahead Ralf Schumacher.^[1] The Spaniard could win the Championship if he out-scored Räikkönen by four points in Spa.^[1]

It would rain on race morning, although by the time the field began to line-up on the grid a large part of the circuit was drying.^[1] Almost everyone would opt to start on intermediate or slick tyres, although the two Minardi-Cosworth opted to start from the pitlane having changed their setups to compensate for the conditions.^[1]

The start itself would be incredibly clean given the conditions, with Montoya easing into an early lead, while Räikkönen had to fend off the attentions of Trulli.^[1] Further down, Takuma Sato streak up the field to claim seventh behind Michael Schumacher, with a lot of twitching on the brakes behind.^[1]

The rest of the opening lap passed without issue, with Montoya and Räikkönen checking out at the front of the field.^[1] Trulli, meanwhile, would fend off the attentions of Alonso, while a mistake from Ralf Schumacher at the Bus-stop dumped him back to eighth and allowed Jenson Button to attack teammate Sato.^[1]

Fisichella proved to be the man to watch during the early stages of the race, charging up the order to eighth with a series of clean moves.^[1] However, having passed Button the Italian racer would put too much faith in the kerbs at Eau Rouge, and duly went skating into the barriers at Radillion at high speed.^[1]

The Italian racer emerged from his wrecked Renault without injury, with the Safety Car appearing to allow the debris to be removed.^[1] At that point several drivers would dive into the pits, with Räikkönen backing up the field to avoid getting stuck behind teammate Montoya, for McLaren called in both their drivers at the same time.^[1]

Only Jacques Villeneuve would remain out, and would restart the race in second behind Montoya and ahead of Ralf Schumacher, who had stopped a lap before the SC.^[1] Montoya duly checked out at the head of the field as Räikkönen and Alonso tried to move back past the Toyota and the Sauber-Petronas.^[1] At the back, meanwhile, Sato would mess up his braking point into La Source, and duly removed Michael Schumacher from the race.^[1]

Villeneuve would soon slip back down the order, although neither Ralf Schumacher, Räikkönen nor Alonso could challenge Montoya.^[1] Indeed, the second round of stops would only result in Ralf Schumacher slipping out of the lead group, with the leaders all sticking with intermediates.^[1]

Into the closing stages and Rubens Barrichello, Mark Webber and Antônio Pizzonia all switched to drys, and immediately began lapping quickly.^[1] As a result, Webber led Barrichello on towards the leaders, with Button in fourth challenging Alonso for third, albeit with time running out.^[1]

However, there would be one late twist as Montoya's McLaren was suddenly spotted buried in the tyre wall at Fagnes.^[1] The cause was a clash between the Colombian ace and a lapped but faster Pizzonia, resulting in both cars receiving terminal damage.^[1]

With that the race was run, with Räikkönen easing through the final laps to claim victory to keep his slim title hopes alive.^[1] Alonso, meanwhile, secured second to all but secure the crown, with Button completing the podium well clear of Webber.^[1] Barrichello, Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher and Tiago Monteiro claimed the remaining points.^[1]

BackgroundEdit

With four races to go the World Championship battle seemed to be over, for Fernando Alonso had managed to extend his lead to 27 points over Kimi Räikkönen. That meant that the Spanish ace could secure the title in Belgium if he out-scored the Finn by four points in Spa. Räikkönen, meanwhile, would have to beat Alonso in each of the four remaining races just to stand a hope of taking the crown, with those two the only drivers mathematically in the fight.

In the Constructors Championship it had been a fairly even day for the main protagonists, with McLaren-Mercedes only able to nudge a point closer to Renault's 144 point tally. Indeed, the Anglo-German squad were sat eight off the French manufacturer with four rounds to go, and were the only constructor feasibly capable of overhauling the French squad in 2005. Indeed, Ferrari were still mathematically in the hunt, but with a huge 58 point deficit to the leaders.

Entry ListEdit

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

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
1	Michael Schumacher	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F2005	Ferrari	055 3.0 V10	B
2	Rubens Barrichello	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F2005	Ferrari	055 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	Antônio Pizzonia	BMW Williams F1 Team	Williams	FW27	BMW	P84-5 3.0 V10	M
9	Kimi Räikkönen	Team McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-20	Mercedes	FO 110R 3.0 V10	M
10	Juan Pablo Montoya	Team 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	EJ15B	Toyota	RVX-05 3.0 V10	B
19	Narain Karthikeyan	Jordan Grand Prix	Jordan	EJ15B	Toyota	RVX-05 3.0 V10	B
20	Robert Doornbos	Minardi F1 Team	Minardi	PS05	Cosworth	TJ2005 3.0 V10	B
21	Christijan Albers	Minardi F1 Team	Minardi	PS05	Cosworth	TJ2005 3.0 V10	B
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
35	Alexander Wurz	Team 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	Nicolas Kiesa	Jordan Grand Prix	Jordan	EJ15	Toyota	RVX-05 3.0 V10	B
40	Enrico Toccacelo	Minardi F1 Team	Minardi	PS05	Ford Cosworth	TJ2005 3.0 V10	B
Source:[2]

Practice OverviewEdit

QualifyingEdit

Q1 ReportEdit

Q2 ReportEdit

Qualifying ResultsEdit

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

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed
1	10	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren-Mercedes	1:46.391	—	236.050 km/h
2	9	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:46.440	+0.049s	235.941 km/h
3*	6	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	1:46.497	+0.106s	235.815 km/h
4	16	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:46.596	+0.205s	235.596 km/h
5	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:46.760	+0.369s	235.234 km/h
6	17	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	1:47.401	+1.010s	233.830 km/h
7	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:47.476	+1.085s	233.667 km/h
8	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	1:47.867	+1.476s	232.820 km/h
9	3	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	1:47.978	+1.587s	232.581 km/h
10	7	Mark Webber	Williams-BMW	1:48.071	+1.680s	232.381 km/h
11	4	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	1:48.353	+1.962s	231.776 km/h
12	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Cosworth	1:48.508	+2.117s	231.445 km/h
13	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:48.550	+2.159s	231.355 km/h
14	11	Jacques Villeneuve	Sauber-Petronas	1:48.889	+2.498s	230.635 km/h
15	8	Antônio Pizzonia	Williams-BMW	1:48.898	+2.507s	230.616 km/h
16	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull-Cosworth	1:48.994	+2.603s	230.413 km/h
17		Robert Doornbos	Minardi-Cosworth	1:49.779	+3.388s	228.765 km/h
18	21	Christijan Albers	Minardi-Cosworth	1:49.842	+3.451s	228.634 km/h
19	18	Tiago Monteiro	Jordan-Toyota	1:51.498	+5.107s	225.238 km/h
20	19	Narain Karthikeyan	Jordan-Toyota	1:51.675	+5.284s	224.881 km/h
Source:[3][4]

• ^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.
• * Fisichella awarded a ten place grid penalty for changing his engine.^[4]

GridEdit

• * Doornbos and Albers started the race from the pitlane.^[4]

RaceEdit

ReportEdit

ResultsEdit

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

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	9	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	44	1:30:01.295	2	10
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	44	+28.394s	4	8
3	3	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	44	+32.077s	8	6
4	7	Mark Webber	Williams-BMW	44	+1:09.167	9	5
5	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	44	+1:18.136	12	4
6	11	Jacques Villeneuve	Sauber-Petronas	44	+1:27.435	14	3
7	17	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	44	+1:27.574	5	2
8	18	Tiago Monteiro	Jordan-Toyota	43	+1 Lap	19	1
9	15	Christian Klien	Red Bull-Cosworth	43	+1 Lap	16
10	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	43	+1 Lap	7
11	19	Narain Karthikeyan	Jordan-Toyota	43	+1 Lap	20
12	21	Christijan Albers	Minardi-Cosworth	42	+2 Laps	18
13	20	Robert Doornbos	Minardi-Cosworth	41	+3 Laps	17
14*	10	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren-Mercedes	40	Collision	1
15*	8	Antônio Pizzonia	Williams-BMW	39	Collision	15
Ret	16	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	34	Accident	3
Ret	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Cosworth	18	Engine	11
Ret	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	13	Collision	6
Ret	4	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	13	Collision	10
Ret	6	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	10	Accident	13
Source:[5]

• ^T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
• * Montoya and Pizzonia were both classified despite retiring as they had completed 90% of the race distance.^[5]

MilestonesEdit

• 50th Grand Prix entry for Felipe Massa.^[6]
• Juan Pablo Montoya claimed his thirteenth and final pole position.^[7]
  • Also the tenth pole for a car with #10 registered as its race number.^[6]
• Kimi Räikkönen registered his eighth career victory.^[7]
• 146th win for McLaren as a constructor.^[7]
  • Mercedes claimed their 51st win as an engine supplier.^[7]
• Twentieth podium finish for Fernando Alonso.^[7]
• Jenson Button secured the fifteenth and final podium for a BAR chassis.^[7]
  • Also the 170th podium finish for Honda as an engine supplier.^[7]
• Ralf Schumacher recorded his eighth and final Fastest lap.^[7]
  • This was also the first fastest lap recorded by a Toyota chassis and engine.^[7]

StandingsEdit

Victory for Kimi Räikkönen ensured that the title fight would go on for at least one more race, although the Finn was facing a very one-sided battle. Indeed, second place in Spa for Fernando Alonso ensured that the Spaniard had to score just six points across the final three rounds to claim the crown, leaving Belgium with 25 points in hand. Behind, Michael Schumacher was set to fight with Juan Pablo Montoya to finish third, while Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella were to battle for fifth.

In the Constructors Championship McLaren-Mercedes had once again inched closer to leaders Renault, leaving Belgium with a six point deficit. Those two would hence battle it out over the final three races, with a huge 56 point gap back to Ferrari in third, now mathematically out of the fight. Toyota were the Scuderia's biggest threat, ten behind the Italian manufacturer, with Williams-BMW set to round out the top five.

World Championship for Drivers Pos. Driver Pts. +/- 1 Fernando Alonso 111 — 2 Kimi Räikkönen 86 — 3 Michael Schumacher 55 — 4 Juan Pablo Montoya 50 — 5 Jarno Trulli 43 — 6 Giancarlo Fisichella 41 — 7 Ralf Schumacher 37 — 8 Rubens Barrichello 35 — 9 Jenson Button 30 ▲1 10 Mark Webber 29 ▲1 11 Nick Heidfeld 28 ▼2 12 David Coulthard 21 — 13 Jacques Villeneuve 9 ▲3 14 Felipe Massa 8 ▼1 15 Tiago Monteiro 7 ▼1 16 Alexander Wurz 6 ▼1 17 Narain Karthikeyan 5 — 18 Christian Klien 5 — 19 Christijan Albers 4 — 20 Pedro de la Rosa 4 — 21 Patrick Friesacher 3 — 22 Antônio Pizzonia 2 — 23 Takuma Sato 1 — 24 Vitantonio Liuzzi 1 —

World Championship for Constructors Pos. Team Pts. +/- 1 Renault 152 — 2 McLaren-Mercedes 146 — 3 Ferrari 90 — 4 Toyota 80 — 5 Williams-BMW 59 — 6 BAR-Honda 31 ▲1 7 Red Bull-Cosworth 27 ▼1 8 Sauber-Petronas 17 — 9 Jordan-Toyota 12 — 10 Minardi-Cosworth 7 —

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

ReferencesEdit

Images and Videos:

References:

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