*** 2005 Spanish Grand Prix ***

[Toronto]

1 9 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 66 Winner 1 10
2 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 66 +27.6 secs 3 8
3 16 Jarno Trulli Toyota 66 +45.9 secs 5 6
4 17 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 66 +46.7 secs 4 5
5 6 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 66 +57.9 secs 6 4
6 7 Mark Webber Williams-BMW 66 +68.5 secs 2 3
7 10 Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 65 +1 Lap 7 2
8 14 David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 65 +1 Lap 9 1
9 2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 65 +1 Lap 16
10 8 Nick Heidfeld Williams-BMW 65 +1 Lap 17
11 12 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 63 +3 Lap 10
12 18 Tiago Monteiro Jordan-Toyota 63 +3 Lap 18
13 19 Narain Karthikeyan Jordan-Toyota 63 +3 Lap 13
Ret 11 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber-Petronas 51 +15 Lap 12
Ret 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 46 +20 Laps 8
Ret 21 Christijan Albers Minardi-Cosworth 19 +47 Laps 14
Ret 20 Patrick Friesacher Minardi-Cosworth 11 +55 Laps 15
Ret 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Red Bull Racing 9 +57 Laps 11

Fastest Lap: Giancarlo Fisichella 1:15.641

Fernando Alonso’s hopes of a fourth straight victory, and one in front of his home crowd, were cruelly dashed by the juggernaut that was Kimi Raikkonen.

McLaren’s Flying Finn took no prisoners as he stormed to victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, leaving Alonso’s Renault struggling some 28 seconds behind.

The style in which Raikkonen took victory was a signal of his championship ambitions, a sign to his rival that the fight was now on.

But while Alonso couldn’t offer pace to faze the Finn, Fisichella rallied the Renault team on the final circuit of the race with a new lap record.

However a broken nosecone had robbed any ambitions the Italian had for victory, an unscheduled pit stop cost him dearly and he eventually finished fifth.

Between the pair were the two Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher.

They too had hoped to fight for victory but in the end it was a race for second place.

That too proved elusive with Trulli finished almost 20 seconds short of Alonso in third.

Ralf had hoped to score his first podium of the year but he was passed in the pits by his team-mate.

The German never gave up and took the fight to Trulli until the final turn.

But the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix winner didn’t succumb to the pressure, Ralf finished fourth.

In sixth was the Williams of Mark Webber. The Spanish race was another one to forget for the Australian who started on the front row but never managed to put up a fight.

By the first turn he was already in fourth, and from there is afternoon went down hill.

He ran off the track allowing Barrichello to pass and was also done by his team-mate Nick Heidfeld, who started last, into turn one.

But the pair both had a stop in hand and Webber managed to hold on to a three-point finish.

Juan Pablo Montoya’s afternoon wasn’t much better. The Colombian span his McLaren at turn eight early in the race and during his first stop he had refuelling dramas.

But he overcame the troubles to run home in seventh and add two points to his championship tally.

Rounding out the eight was David Coulthard who kept up Red Bull Racing’s record of point scoring in every event.

Ferrari failed to manage that feat with Rubens Barrichello coming home ninth and Michael Schumacher retiring.

Barricello’s weekend was disrupted by an engine replacement while two tyre deflations in a few laps was enough for Schumacher to call it quits.

The Scuderia’s stranglehold on the Formula One crowns has now seriously beginning to slip with Renault scoring another bag of points and McLaren proving they are once again a force.

Alonso remains in the lead of the drivers’ race with 44 points. Trulli is second on 26 and Raikkonen third on 17.

Renault also command the constructors’ championship with 58 points to Toyota’s 40. McLaren are quickly closing them down with 37 points on the board now.

The circus now heads to Monte-Carlo for the famous Monaco Grand Prix.

Pole position is vital on the tight street circuit so if McLaren can keep up their single-lap pace Raikkonen could easily be on for another win.

Renault triumphed in the principality last year and with grip more important than power they are likely to give McLaren much more of a fight.

Written: Sun, 08 May 2005 13:38:28
© Copyright 2005 UpdateSport

[saadie]

well done KIMI ..
frenando also did an amazing race

[mindgam3]

Kimi was shit hot, gonna be a good battle for the season title between him and alonso and maybe schumacher if he gets his act together

[|Nuno|]

Full Fastest Laps Chart:

1.Giancarlo Fisichella 1:15.641
2.Michael Schumacher 1:15.648
3.Juan Pablo Montoya 1:15.771
4.Kimi Räikkönen 1:15.977
5.Fernando Alonso 1:16.098
6.Ralf Schumacher 1:16.469
7.Nick Heidfeld 1:16.519
8.Jarno Trulli 1:16.614
9.Mark Webber 1:16.761
10.Felipe Massa 1:16.802
11.David Coulthard 1:16.947
12.Rubens Barrichello 1:17.156
13.Jacques Villeneuve 1:17.585
14.Tiago Monteiro 1:18.998
15.Vitantonio Liuzzi 1:19.435
16.Narain Karthikeyan 1:19.734
17.Christijan Albers 1:20.124
18.Patrick Friesacher 1:20.865
-------------

Congrats to Kimi, he drove a fantastic race. And it seems that this year the luck isn't on Ferrari's side...


EDIT:

High - Resolution Pictures from Spain (Ferrari only):


http://www.dropload.com/redeem.php?t...f280dde99d65db


Around 18 MB, enjoy. Link will last one week.

[phantomfocus]

The race just ended here in the states. Great drive by Kimi absolute dominance. Fernando's lead gets more comfortable with every race that goes by, it will get harder and harder to catch him. I was impressed with Ralf's pace in the toyota. He has been chasing Trulli all season and now finally looked as quick(maybe even quicker). I was dissapointed by the lack of speed by the Ferrari, I was exspecting a rocketing pace by the red cars this weekend. But with the exception of Michael's few quick laps they were not all that impressive.

We all know how different things can be in Monaco, and I am looking forward to it!

[phantomfocus]

I'll agree with the crappy coverage. When you take time during a race to explain how a track is divided into sectors, and that's how we get (sector times) IT'S RETARDED. Bring back Varsha, Hobbs, and Matchett.

[philios55]

I'm really glad to see Mclaren and specially Kimi got what they really deserved!!!It was unfortunate what happened last time in Imola with the car gearbox problem but this time Mclaren-Mercedes in the hands of Kimi was absolutely flying!!!Alonso-Renault were good but not at their best and Michael
was unlucky and now he and Ferrari need to climb a mountain to win something this year, but you never know!! The good thing Mclaren-Mercedes looking real strong and thats what is matter for me!!

[sameerrao]

Poor Michael - I am pretty sure he would have got the podium otherwise. Shit happens!

Mclaren is the best car in the pack. It is the kindest on its tires of all the Michelin runners. Michael's performance in Imola was slightly enhanced by the cooler conditions that favored Bridgestone. He still had the race pace to challenge for a win but the tires are lousy in qualifying. He is forced to adopt a large fuel load initial position and is sort of locked up in the midpack till the front runners go in for their first pitstop.

Webber has been consistently making mistakes in every race. He looses one or two spots off the line (for no fault of his - the Williams are slow off the line) and then loses another spot or two due to driving errors.

Nice to see the relief in Kimi's face.

If Alonso can sustain the podium finishes he is looking good for the championship even if Renault is not the faster car.

[Toronto]

Kimi is stupid he kept on pushing the car, doesn't he know he is going to have to use it again :roll:
I think Schumi is going to punch the first asian guy he see's in the pits.
all in all it was a boring race IMO

oh and sameerrao - ferrari have the best car, bad tires
schumi was setting fast lap after fast lab until his tires gave up on him :cry:

[zondaland]

Originally Posted by sameerrao Webber has been consistently making mistakes in every race. He looses one or two spots off the line (for no fault of his - the Williams are slow off the line) and then loses another spot or two due to driving errors.

It is interesting that the Williams have poor starts. All the electronics on that car are done by BMW, so far it seems as though it has been killing them. If BMW want to criticise Williams then they need to pull their finger out of their arse.

Lets not forget that Webber would have grabbed the podium in Malysia if Fisichella hadnt driven into the side of him. In the Australian coverage we were given another angle that clearly showed that Fisi locked up, then slid to almost the extreme outer edge of the track before colliding with Webber. In fact Webber turned away from the apex to avoid Fisi. In other races he has made mistakes but in San Marino they were generally while stuck in traffic. IMO the Williams aero package is even worse than most while trailing another car. Also he is pushing harder than others because his car is slower than that of those around him, this means that he has to take more risks and obviously that he will make more errors.

Just the opinion of a biased Webber fan.

[gottacatchup]

Stupid Fisi, hes been on my fantasy team for the past 3 races and hes completely f'd it up every time i'm really getting tired of it.

but damn kimi just dominated everyone, it was really a spectacular showing.

[kksh]

Webber makes too many mistakes during the race. He should polish up both his race craft and speed during the race. He hasn't shown any of the speed he has during qualifying.

When kimi was putting in those fastest laps, I was like going 'slow down kimi, you got a comfortable lead already'

Great to see McLaren back. Good to see Fisi back also. Shame we didn't have the BARs though. It'd have been an even better race.

[dingo]

Average race - the battle between the Toyota's was the most exciting part. A good performance by Kimi but didn't gain in much in the points since Alonso got himself another podium I am a little amazed at Ferrari's struggles this year after dominating for the previous few seasons

Originally Posted by kksh Webber makes too many mistakes during the race. He should polish up both his race craft and speed during the race. He hasn't shown any of the speed he has during qualifying.

any examples of when during this race Webber made a mistake? He lost spots off the line through no fault of his own and then had to pit early so that disadvantaged him also, and Fisi passed him towards the end in a much faster car So I don't think the criticism of him in this race is valid

[sameerrao]

any examples of when during this race Webber made a mistake? He lost spots off the line through no fault of his own and then had to pit early so that disadvantaged him also, and Fisi passed him towards the end in a much faster car So I don't think the criticism of him in this race is valid

There are a couple over the past couple races:
- Spain: I forget now what happened here - this race was pretty boring once Schumi's tires died on him.
- Imola: Webber looses it going into the varianti alta chicane and gets passed
- Bahrain: Webber spins off at least once

Sepang was not his fault at all. Fisi understeered into him.

Dont get me wrong - I like Webber - I thought he of all the young(er) drivers is one who most resembles Schumi in parameters such as work ethic, ability to hone the team around himself.

But I expected him to blow away Heidfeld but this hasnt happened yet. So the speed is undoubtedly there for qualifying but he doesnt seem to bring it home to a good position.

Webber had it easy with the likes of Pizzonia, Yoong and others. Heidfeld is mid-pack material in my book. So the million dollar question is how would Webber cope with someone in the top drawer like Kimi or Alonso?

[Toronto]

we will see how many laps of the high rev course of manaco kimi will last