| 2005 Australian Grand Prix | |||||
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Race 1 of 19 in the2005 Formula One World Championship
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| Race details | |||||
| Date | 6 March 2005 | ||||
| Official name | 2005 Formula 1Foster's Australian Grand Prix | ||||
| Location | Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit,Melbourne,Australia | ||||
| Course | Temporary street circuit | ||||
| Course length | 5.303 km (3.295 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 57 laps, 302.271 km (187.823 miles) | ||||
| Scheduled distance | 58 laps, 307.574 km (191.118 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Cool, partly cloudy | ||||
| Attendance | 118,200[1] | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Renault | ||||
| Time | 3:01.460 (aggregate) | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Fernando Alonso | Renault | |||
| Time | 1:25.683 on lap 24 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Renault | ||||
| Second | Ferrari | ||||
| Third | Renault | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2005 Australian Grand Prix (officially the2005 Formula 1 Foster's Australian Grand Prix)[2] was aFormula One motor race held at theMelbourne Grand Prix Circuit on 6 March 2005. It was the first round of the2005 Formula One season. The 58-lap race was won byRenault driverGiancarlo Fisichella after he started frompole position.Rubens Barrichello finished second for theFerrari team and Fisichella's team-mateFernando Alonso came in third.
This race marked the debut ofRed Bull Racing; the team was bought and previously known asJaguar Racing.
The bottom 6 teams in the2004 Constructors' Championship were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.
| Constructor | Nat | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| McLaren-Mercedes | | Pedro de la Rosa |
| Sauber-Petronas | - | |
| Red Bull-Cosworth |  | Vitantonio Liuzzi |
| Toyota |  | Ricardo Zonta |
| Jordan-Toyota |  | Robert Doornbos |
| Minardi-Cosworth | - |
The 2005 Australian Grand Prix was the first round the2005 FIA Formula One World Championship held atAlbert Park Circuit inMelbourne. For the event eight of the ten entered teams arrived in Melbourne with all-new for 2005 chassis with bothFerrari andMinardi opting to start the season with modified 2004 chassis - adapting them in order to make them compliant with the 2005 technical regulations.[3] Minardi participated in both qualifying and the race having eventually decided to modify the PS04B chassis after dropping legal action against the FIA after the governing body refused to allow the Faenza team to run their cars in the original 2004 specification which had seen the team not run in Friday Practice.[4]
The first practice session of the 2005 Australian Grand Prix was dominated byVitantonio Liuzzi who was appearing at his first Grand Prix for Red Bull at their first race. Twenty-two cars participated with reserve driversPedro de la Rosa for McLaren,Ricardo Zonta for Toyota,Robert Doornbos for Jordan and Liuzzi for Red Bull. Neither of the Minardis ran.Juan Pablo Montoya was fourth fastest while Rubens Barrichello was only 12th.Michael Schumacher didn't participate in this session. The only casualty wasNarain Karthikeyan for Jordan whose engine blew up after 6 laps.
Pedro de la Rosa andKimi Räikkönen put their McLarens fastest in the second session just ahead ofNick Heidfeld andMichael Schumacher.Juan Pablo Montoya was left fifth with a happyFelipe Massa sixth. The main drama wasVitantonio Liuzzi's spin at turn three which left him in the gravel and he had to abandon the car.Narain Karthikeyan was hit with a fine with him speeding in the pit lane during his first ever outing in the last practice session with a speed of 86.2 km/h his fine was US$6750. Once again both Minardis didn't take part.
After the overnight rain in Australia the track was wet for the start of the third practice session with the Ferraris ofMichael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello leading the way ahead ofKimi Räikkönen in the McLaren. Both Minardis got to run butChristijan Albers spun on his final lap at Turn 3. Neither of the Sauber, Williams or Renault drivers set lap times butChristian Klien andJuan Pablo Montoya did go out as didMark Webber but spun twice on his only lap.
The final session got underway and the dampness of the track led to times all over the place butKimi Räikkönen andFernando Alonso did well to fight for fastest with the Finn coming out best.Juan Pablo Montoya put in a last gasp lap for 3rd ahead ofGiancarlo Fisichella and Jenson Button. Another drama forNarain Karthikeyan as he spun at turn nine and had to abandon his car before it briefly caught fire.
Prior to the session several teams' weather forecasts predicted a rain storm after 20 minutes. To begin with the track was merely damp after the early morning rain. The session was run the reverse order of the2004 Brazilian Grand Prix asChristijan Albers shaded teammatePatrick Friesacher to set fastest time. Despite spinning in Turn 12 on his out lap,Narain Karthikeyan went 5 seconds faster than the Minardis with his teammate following behind.
Jenson Button had been an early retirement in Interlagos the previous year, so he had to go out fifth and quickly went fastest with a 1m 41.512. Williams driversNick Heidfeld andMark Webber beat Button's time with 1m 39.717 and a 1m 36.717 respectively. Christian Klien moved to second place beforeJarno Trulli put his Toyota on pole with a 1m 35.270.
A disappointing 1m 38.320 forDavid Coulthard in the Red Bull, the Scot was complaining of poor balance.Jacques Villeneuve was the first man to put on the dry tyre but it looked like he'd got it wrong as he spun wildly on his out lap. He brought his Sauber home for 3rd place beforeGiancarlo Fisichella put in a 1m 33.171 to take fastest time before the rain.
The torrential rain arrived just asFelipe Massa started his flying lap on the dry tyre, he had to abort his lap and had to settle for 20th.Michael Schumacher switched to his wetBridgestone tyre and the 7 time world champion could only do a 1m 57.931 to put him 18th after all the drivers finished.
The session had to be stopped whenTakuma Sato in the BAR crashed at Turn 8 on his out lap. When the session resumed the conditions had slightly improved and Ralf Schmacher's lap put him 17th. Fernando Alonso settled for 14th and Rubens Barrichello qualified 12th.
Last out were Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren teammates), but both had to fight for 10th and 11th fastest on the list.
The first attempt to start the race wasyellow flagged, due to the stalledMcLaren ofKimi Räikkönen, who would eventually start the abbreviated race (57 laps from 58) in pit lane. When the red lights did finally go out, front row starters Fisichella andJarno Trulli protected their positions and led the rest of the field through the first lap. Starting third in his home grand prix,Mark Webber– in hisWilliams debut– was outsprinted to the first corner byDavid Coulthard'sRed Bull.Rubens Barrichello andFernando Alonso each moved up three spots on the first lap, showing more of their cars' true potential than what was seen in the rain-soaked qualifying. Sato made the best start, moving from last place to 14th.Jacques Villeneuve had the worst start– his first in theSauber– as he dropped five positions on the opening lap after losing forwardmomentum in a first-corner position skirmish.
As Fisichella and Trulli raced away at the front, Coulthard began to gradually fall back, holding up Webber,Nick Heidfeld (also making his Williams debut),Christian Klien,Juan Pablo Montoya and Barrichello. Several seconds further back was Villeneuve, struggling to hold off a charging Alonso, who was himself just ahead ofJenson Button andRalf Schumacher (in his first start forToyota). Close behind wereFelipe Massa, Sato, the elder Schumacher, and Räikkönen, who doggedly pursued the champion but could not find a way past. The four rookies were a little further back: the twoJordans ofTiago Monteiro andNarain Karthikeyan led theMinardi duo ofPatrick Friesacher andChristijan Albers.
Alonso passed Villeneuve, only to have theCanadian retake the position moments later. But just before the first round of pit stops, Alonso would finally find a way around the former champion, saving any podium hopes for the youngSpaniard. While passing backmarkers on lap 15, Coulthard and Webber nearly collided with one another; Webber briefly went onto the grass, but no serious damage was done. After lap 17, unable to pull out of the pits due to a gearbox problem, Albers retired his Minardi, which had lost second gear as early as the formation lap. This was the only mechanical retirement of the afternoon.
Fisichella remained firmly in command after his first pit stop, although he briefly relinquished the lead while refueling. Barrichello gained the most in the pits, as he moved up from eighth to fourth place; Alonso continued his hard charge, gaining four positions as well. However, Trulli's Toyota slowly began dropping back, getting passed again and again; it would later turn out to be a blistered rear tyre, which would affect him for the remainder of the race. Teammate Ralf Schumacher had a problem of his own, and was forced to pit twice in quick succession to tighten a loose safety harness. Räikkönen was able to get by the elder Schumacher into tenth (his starting grid position) and pull away from the champion in pursuit of Heidfeld.
After Michael Schumacher's second stop, he emerged from the pitlane just ahead of Heidfeld, who thought he saw an opening going into the third turn. Schumacher, who momentarily lost sight of Heidfeld's Williams in his mirrors, closed the door on his fellowGerman, forcing him onto the grass. With no traction on the grass, Heidfeld braked in vain, sliding into the side of the F2004M, pushing both cars into the gravel. Heidfeld's race was finished; although Schumacher was able to get hisFerrari back on track, nevertheless he retired in the pits soon thereafter, due to collision damage.
Montoya went onto the grass briefly at Turn Eight as he prepared to make his second pit stop; this, plus another off-track excursion while tangling with a backmarking rookie, cost him valuable time. When he later lost part of his rear deflector, Montoya eased up to finish the race and to preserve hisMercedes-Benz power plant for the next race. Teammate Räikkönen also lost a significant portion of his deflector, which became embedded under his side barge board; mechanics were later seen removing it during a pit stop.
After the second round of stops, the final order of finish was nearly determined. While most of the field slowed to conserve their engines, Alonso continued pushing hard on Barrichello's heels. Barrichello, despite battling abrake balance problem, was able to answer the challenge, and held off Alonso for second. Fisichella, who flawlessly managed the gap to his nearest opponent all race long, easily took the chequered flag for his second career victory, with his only other victory being forJordan in2003. He never put a foot wrong, and his R25 chassis, although not seriously challenged, performed flawlessly to claim the inaugural race of the season. Teammate Alonso clocked the fastest lap of the race, and was noticeably the fastest car on track for most of the event.
BothBARs pulled into the pits on the final lap of the race; by not officially finishing the event, they effectively exempted themselves from the new two-race engine rule. By taking advantage of this loophole in 2005 regulations, they were entitled to replace the cars'Honda engines inMalaysia without incurring any penalty. The loophole was immediately closed, as a car was in future required to have a genuine technical problem to be entitled to a new engine.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Total | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 1:33.171 | 1:28.289 | 3:01.460 | 1 | |
| 2 | 16 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:35.270 | 1:29.159 | 3:04.429 | +2.969 | 2 |
| 3 | 7 |  Mark Webber | Williams-BMW | 1:36.717 | 1:28.279 | 3:04.996 | +3.536 | 3 |
| 4 | 11 |  Jacques Villeneuve | Sauber-Petronas | 1:36.984 | 1:29.862 | 3:06.846 | +5.386 | 4 |
| 5 | 14 |  David Coulthard | Red Bull-Cosworth | 1:38.320 | 1:28.892 | 3:07.212 | +5.752 | 5 |
| 6 | 15 |  Christian Klien | Red Bull-Cosworth | 1:37.486 | 1:29.991 | 3:07.477 | +6.017 | 6 |
| 7 | 8 |  Nick Heidfeld | Williams-BMW | 1:39.717 | 1:29.413 | 3:09.130 | +7.670 | 7 |
| 8 | 3 | Jenson Button | BAR-Honda | 1:41.512 | 1:30.616 | 3:12.128 | +10.668 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 |  Juan Pablo Montoya | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:45.325 | 1:29.320 | 3:14.645 | +13.185 | 9 |
| 10 | 9 |  Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:44.997 | 1:30.561 | 3:15.558 | +14.098 | 10 |
| 11 | 2 | Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | 1:45.481 | 1:31.341 | 3:16.822 | +15.362 | 11 |
| 12 | 19 |  Narain Karthikeyan | Jordan-Toyota | 1:44.357 | 1:32.735 | 3:17.092 | +15.632 | 12 |
| 13 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:47.708 | 1:29.758 | 3:17.466 | +16.006 | 13 |
| 14 | 18 |  Tiago Monteiro | Jordan-Toyota | 1:46.846 | 1:33.483 | 3:20.329 | +18.869 | 14 |
| 15 | 17 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 1:51.495 | 1:31.222 | 3:22.717 | +21.257 | 15 |
| 16 | 20 | Patrick Friesacher | Minardi-Cosworth | 1:50.864 | 1:37.499 | 3:28.363 | +26.903 | 16 |
| 17 | 21 |  Christijan Albers | Minardi-Cosworth | 1:49.230 | No time3 | 17 | ||
| 18 | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:57.931 | No time4 | 196 | ||
| 19 | 4 |  Takuma Sato | BAR-Honda | No time1 | No time4 | 206 | ||
| 20 | 12 | Felipe Massa | Sauber-Petronas | No time2 | No time5 | 18 | ||
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | M | 57 | 1:24:17.336 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 2 | Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | B | 57 | +5.553 | 11 | 8 |
| 3 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | M | 57 | +6.712 | 13 | 6 |
| 4 | 14 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Cosworth | M | 57 | +16.131 | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | 7 | Mark Webber | Williams-BMW | M | 57 | +16.908 | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | 10 | Juan Pablo Montoya | McLaren-Mercedes | M | 57 | +35.033 | 9 | 3 |
| 7 | 15 | Christian Klien | Red Bull-Cosworth | M | 57 | +38.997 | 6 | 2 |
| 8 | 9 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | M | 57 | +39.633 | PL1 | 1 |
| 9 | 16 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | M | 57 | +1:03.108 | 2 | |
| 10 | 12 | Felipe Massa | Sauber-Petronas | M | 57 | +1:04.393 | 18 | |
| 11 | 3 | Jenson Button | BAR-Honda | M | 56 | Withdrawn | 8 | |
| 12 | 17 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | M | 56 | +1 Lap | 15 | |
| 13 | 11 | Jacques Villeneuve | Sauber-Petronas | M | 56 | +1 Lap | 4 | |
| 14 | 4 | Takuma Sato | BAR-Honda | M | 55 | Withdrawn | 20 | |
| 15 | 19 | Narain Karthikeyan | Jordan-Toyota | B | 55 | +2 Laps | 12 | |
| 16 | 18 | Tiago Monteiro | Jordan-Toyota | B | 55 | +2 Laps | 14 | |
| 17 | 20 | Patrick Friesacher | Minardi-Cosworth | B | 53 | +4 Laps | 16 | |
| Ret | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | B | 42 | Collision damage | 19 | |
| Ret | 8 | Nick Heidfeld | Williams-BMW | M | 42 | Collision | 7 | |
| Ret | 21 | Christijan Albers | Minardi-Cosworth | B | 16 | Gearbox | 17 | |
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| Previous race: 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2005 season | Next race: 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2004 Australian Grand Prix | Australian Grand Prix | Next race: 2006 Australian Grand Prix |
37°50′59″S144°58′06″E / 37.84972°S 144.96833°E /-37.84972; 144.96833
