2005 Formula One season

2005 FIA Formula One World Championship season Previous: 2004 Next: 2006 Index: Races by country | Races by season

Fernando Alonso won the drivers' championship at the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix.

The 2005 Formula One season was the 56th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 6, 2005, and saw fierce battles, as Fernando Alonso and the Renault F1 team brought home the World Drivers and Constructors Championships, ending five years of dominance by Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari. With 19 Grands Prix the 2005 season featured the most events ever.

The most-noted aspect of the early season was Ferrari's lack of pace, and races came to be dominated by the Renaults, especially that of Fernando Alonso. McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen proved Alonso's closest competitor. After early troubles the McLaren was generally considered the fastest package, however technical failures and race incidents meant an inability to translate this into a points lead in either championship.

The 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis saw only three out of ten teams race in a bizarre mishap when it turned out (after several failures) that the Michelin tyres for the other seven teams could not be safely used on the surface of the track, causing them to withdraw from the race when the FIA refused a change for safety reasons, insisting on keeping to the letter of the regulations.

After a high-flying 2004 season the most conspicuous drop in performance after Ferrari was BAR-Honda who were barred from two races due to regulations infractions. Thanks to the efforts of Jarno Trulli the Toyota team became a regular on the podium. Williams, by their standards, had another a poor season and it was announced at the end of June that BMW would split from the team in a deal with Sauber.

After a good start to the year, and despite a late charge from Kimi Räikkönen, Alonso won the world championship by finishing third in the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix, becoming the youngest ever F1 world champion.

At the final race in China, Renault's Alonso and Fisichella finished first and fourth, with McLaren-Mercedes' Kimi Räikkönen second, to help Renault clinch their first ever world constructors' championship.

This season was the last season for several famous teams. They were the Sauber, Minardi, BAR and the Jordan team. Meanwhile, this was Rubens Barrichello's last season with the Ferrari team and Felipe Massa's last season with the Sauber team.

After this race, this season saw all the drivers except Robert Doornbos, Anthony Davidson and Ricardo Zonta scored world championship point(s) for the season and all the race teams scored world championship points for the season.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers were competitors in the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	No	Driver	No	Third driver	Test driver(s)
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F2004M F2005	Ferrari 054 3.0 V10 Ferrari 055 3.0 V10	B	1	Michael Schumacher		n/a	Luca Badoer Marc Gené
					2	Rubens Barrichello
Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR	007	Honda RA005E 3.0 V10	M	3	Jenson Button		n/a	Anthony Davidson Enrique Bernoldi Adam Carroll Tony Kanaan Alan van der Merwe
					4	Takuma Sato1
						Anthony Davidson
Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	Renault	R25	Renault RS25 3.0 V10	M	5	Fernando Alonso		n/a	Franck Montagny Lucas di Grassi Robert Kubica Giorgio Mondini
					6	Giancarlo Fisichella
BMW WilliamsF1 Team	Williams	FW27	BMW P84/5 3.0 V10	M	7	Mark Webber		n/a	Antônio Pizzonia Nico Rosberg Andy Priaulx Sebastian Vettel
					8	Nick Heidfeld
						Antônio Pizzonia
West McLaren Mercedes Team McLaren Mercedes 10	McLaren	MP4-20	Mercedes FO110R 3.0 V10	M	9	Kimi Räikkönen	35	Pedro de la Rosa Alexander Wurz	Pedro de la Rosa Alexander Wurz Gary Paffett
					10	Juan Pablo Montoya2
						Pedro de la Rosa
						Alexander Wurz
Sauber Petronas	Sauber	C24	Petronas 05A 3.0 V10	M	11	Jacques Villeneuve		none	none
					12	Felipe Massa
Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB1	Cosworth TJ2005 3.0 V10	M	14	David Coulthard	37	Vitantonio Liuzzi Christian Klien Scott Speed	Scott Speed Neel Jani
					15	Christian Klien3
						Vitantonio Liuzzi
Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF105 TF105B	Toyota RVX-05 3.0 V10	M	16	Jarno Trulli	38	Ricardo Zonta Olivier Panis	Olivier Panis Ryan Briscoe Franck Perera Borja García
					17	Ralf Schumacher
						Ricardo Zonta
Jordan Grand Prix	Jordan	EJ15 EJ15B	Toyota RVX-05 3.0 V10	B	18	Tiago Monteiro	39	Robert Doornbos Franck Montagny Nicolas Kiesa Sakon Yamamoto	Nicky Pastorelli Mario Domínguez
					19	Narain Karthikeyan
Minardi F1 Team	Minardi	PS04B PS05	Cosworth TJ2005 3.0 V10	B	20	Patrick Friesacher	40	Chanoch Nissany7 Enrico Toccacelo8	Chanoch Nissany Juan Cáceres Roldán Rodríguez
						Robert Doornbos5
					21	Christijan Albers

Driver changes

The most noticeable change to the 2005 season was its driver lineup — only 7 drivers raced for the same team with which they began the 2004 season, another 7 drivers switched to new teams.

Team changes

Red Bull Racing, which took over the Jaguar team, ran with Cosworth engines. Red Bull's lead driver is veteran Scotsman David Coulthard, paired with Christian Klien, the '04 Jaguar driver. Red Bull performed well, scoring 11 points after the first two events. Toyota-powered Jordan Grand Prix was purchased by Midland Group, although the team continued as Jordan until 2006. Sauber switched from Bridgestone to Michelin tyres over the winter, further severing their ties with the Ferrari team.

Shortly after the United States Grand Prix, Peter Sauber sold BMW a majority share in his Sauber team, which announced its intention to run as BMW's factory team in 2006.

Results and standings

The 2005 Formula One calendar featured a new event in Turkey, just miles from the Europe-Asia dividing line. The newly-built circuit in Istanbul joined the 2004 newcomers Bahrain and China. The 2005 season witnessed two of the hottest grands prix ever: the track temperature at the beginning of the Malaysian event was 51°C (124°F), while in Bahrain the mercury soared past 56°C (133°F).

Grands Prix

Round	Race	Circuit	Date	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
1	Australian Grand Prix	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit	March 6	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	Report
2	Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit	March 20	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Report
3	Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit	April 3	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Report
4	San Marino Grand Prix	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari	April 24	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Report
5	Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya	May 8	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
6	Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco	May 22	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
7	European Grand Prix	Nürburgring	May 29	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Report
8	Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	June 12	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
9	United States Grand Prix6	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	June 19	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
10	French Grand Prix	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	July 3	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Report
11	British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit	July 10	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
12	German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring	July 24	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Report
13	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring	July 31	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
14	Turkish Grand Prix	Istanbul Racing Circuit	August 21	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
15	Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	September 4	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
16	Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	September 11	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
17	Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace	September 25	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
18	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka Circuit	October 9	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
19	Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit	October 16	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Report

Drivers

Pos Driver AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER HUN TUR ITA BEL BRA JPN CHN Pts 1 Alonso 3 1 1 1 2 4 1 Ret DNS 1 2 1 11 2 2 2 3 3 1 133 2 Räikkönen 8 9 3 Ret 1 1 11 1 DNS 2 3 Ret 1 1 4 1 2 1 2 112 3 M. Schumacher Ret 7 Ret 2 Ret 7 5 2 1 3 6 5 2 Ret 10 Ret 4 7 Ret 62 4 Montoya 6 4 INJ INJ 7 5 7 DSQ DNS Ret 1 2 Ret 3 1 14 1 Ret Ret 60 5 Fisichella 1 Ret Ret Ret 5 12 6 Ret DNS 6 4 4 9 4 3 Ret 5 2 4 58 6 R. Schumacher 12 5 4 9 4 6 Ret 6 7 8 6 3 12 6 7 8 8 3 45 7 Trulli 9 2 2 5 3 10 8 Ret DNS 5 9 14 4 6 5 Ret 13 Ret 15 43 8 Barrichello 2 Ret 9 Ret 9 8 3 3 2 9 7 10 10 10 12 5 6 11 12 38 9 Button 11 Ret Ret DSQ EX EX 10 Ret DNS 4 5 3 5 5 8 3 7 5 8 37 10 Webber 5 Ret 6 7 6 3 Ret 5 DNS 12 11 NC 7 Ret 14 4 NC 4 7 36 11 Heidfeld Ret 3 Ret 6 10 2 2 Ret DNS 14 12 11 6 Ret 28 12 Coulthard 4 6 8 11 8 Ret 4 7 DNS 10 13 7 Ret 7 15 Ret Ret 6 9 24 13 Massa 10 10 7 10 11 9 14 4 DNS Ret 10 8 14 Ret 9 10 11 10 6 11 14 Villeneuve 13 Ret 11 4 Ret 11 13 9 DNS 8 14 15 Ret 11 11 6 12 12 10 9 15 Klien 7 8 DNS 8 DNS Ret 15 9 Ret 8 13 9 9 9 5 9 16 Monteiro 16 12 10 13 12 13 15 10 3 13 17 17 13 15 17 8 Ret 13 11 7 17 Wurz 3 6 18 Karthikeyan 15 11 Ret 12 13 Ret 16 Ret 4 15 Ret 16 12 14 20 11 15 15 Ret 5 19 Albers Ret 13 13 Ret Ret 14 17 11 5 Ret 18 13 NC Ret 19 12 14 16 16 4 20 de la Rosa 5 4 21 Friesacher 17 Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret 18 Ret 6 Ret 19 3 22 Pizzonia 7 15 Ret Ret 13 2 23 Sato 14 Ret DSQ EX EX 12 Ret DNS 11 16 12 8 9 16 Ret 10 DSQ Ret 1 24 Liuzzi 8 Ret Ret 9 1 25 Doornbos 18 Ret 13 18 13 Ret 14 14 0 — Davidson Ret 0 — Zonta DNS 0 Pos Driver AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER HUN TUR ITA BEL BRA JPN CHN Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Finished, in points Blue Finished, no points Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate Blank Injured (INJ) Blank Excluded (EX)

Pos	Driver	Constructor(s)	Starts	Wins	Podiums	Poles	F.Laps	Points
1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	18	7	15	6	2	133
2	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	18	7	12	5	10	112
3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	19	1	5	1	3	62
4	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren-Mercedes	16	3	5	2	1	60
5	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	18	1	3	1	1	58
6	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	18	0	2	1	1	45
7	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	18	0	3	1	0	43
8	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	19	0	4	0	0	38
9	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	16	0	2	1	0	37
10	Mark Webber	Williams-BMW	18	0	1	0	0	34
11	Nick Heidfeld	Williams-BMW	13	0	3	1	0	28
12	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Cosworth	18	0	0	0	0	24
13	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	18	0	0	0	0	11
14	Jacques Villeneuve	Sauber-Petronas	18	0	0	0	0	9
15	Christian Klien	Red Bull-Cosworth	18	0	0	0	0	9
16	Tiago Monteiro	Jordan-Toyota	19	0	1	0	0	7
17	Alexander Wurz	McLaren-Mercedes	1	0	1	0	0	6
18	Narain Karthikeyan	Jordan-Toyota	19	0	0	0	0	5
19	Christijan Albers	Minardi-Cosworth	19	0	0	0	0	4
20	Pedro de la Rosa	McLaren-Mercedes	1	0	0	0	1	4
21	Patrick Friesacher	Minardi-Cosworth	11	0	0	0	0	3
22	Antônio Pizzonia	Williams-BMW	5	0	0	0	0	2
23	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	15	0	0	0	0	1
24	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Red Bull-Cosworth	4	0	0	0	0	1
25	Robert Doornbos	Minardi-Cosworth	8	0	0	0	0	0
—	Anthony Davidson	BAR-Honda	1	0	0	0	0	0
—	Ricardo Zonta	Toyota	0	0	0	0	0	0

Constructors

Standing by constructor

Pos Constructor Car no. AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER HUN TUR ITA BEL BRA JPN CHN Pts 1 Renault 5 3 1 1 1 2 4 1 Ret DNS 1 2 1 11 2 2 2 3 3 1 191 6 1 Ret Ret Ret 5 12 6 Ret DNS 6 4 4 9 4 3 Ret 5 2 4 2 McLaren Mercedes 9 8 9 3 Ret 1 1 11 1 DNS 2 3 Ret 1 1 4 1 2 1 2 182 10 6 4 5 3 7 5 7 DSQ DNS Ret 1 2 Ret 3 1 14 1 Ret Ret 3 Ferrari 1 Ret 7 Ret 2 Ret 7 5 2 1 3 6 5 2 Ret 10 Ret 4 7 Ret 100 2 2 Ret 9 Ret 9 8 3 3 2 9 7 10 10 10 12 5 6 11 12 4 Toyota 17 12 5 4 9 4 6 Ret 6 DNS 7 8 6 3 12 6 7 8 8 3 88 16 9 2 2 5 3 10 8 Ret DNS 5 9 14 4 6 5 Ret 13 Ret 15 5 Williams BMW 7 5 Ret 6 7 6 3 Ret 5 DNS 12 11 Ret 7 Ret 14 4 NC 4 7 66 8 Ret 3 Ret 6 10 2 2 Ret DNS 14 12 11 6 Ret 7 15 Ret Ret 13 6 BAR Honda 3 11 Ret Ret DSQ EX EX 10 Ret DNS 4 5 3 5 5 8 3 7 5 8 38 4 14 Ret Ret DSQ EX EX 12 Ret DNS 11 16 12 8 9 16 Ret 10 DSQ Ret 7 RBR Cosworth 14 4 6 8 11 8 Ret 4 7 DNS 10 13 7 Ret 7 15 Ret Ret 6 9 34 15 7 8 DNS 8 Ret Ret 9 8 DNS Ret 15 9 Ret 8 13 9 9 9 5 8 Sauber Petronas 12 10 10 7 10 11 9 14 4 DNS Ret 10 8 14 Ret 9 10 11 10 6 20 11 13 Ret 11 4 Ret 11 13 9 DNS 8 14 15 Ret 11 11 6 12 12 10 9 Jordan Toyota 18 16 12 10 13 12 13 15 10 3 13 17 17 13 15 17 8 Ret 13 11 12 19 15 11 Ret 12 13 Ret 16 Ret 4 15 Ret 16 12 14 20 11 15 15 Ret 10 Minardi Cosworth 21 Ret 13 13 Ret Ret 14 17 11 5 Ret 18 13 NC Ret 19 12 14 16 16 7 20 17 Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret 18 Ret 6 Ret 19 18 Ret 13 18 13 Ret 14 14 Pos Constructor Car no. AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER HUN TUR ITA BEL BRA JPN CHN Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Finished, in points Blue Finished, no points Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate Blank Injured (INJ) Blank Excluded (EX)

Pos	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	Starts	Wins	Podiums	Poles	F.Laps	Points
1	Renault	R25	Renault	M	18	8	18	7	3	191
2	McLaren	MP4-20	Mercedes	M	18	10	18	7	12	182
3	Ferrari	2004M F2005	Ferrari	B	19	1	9	1	3	100
4	Toyota	TF105 TF105B	Toyota	M	18	0	5	2	1	88
5	Williams	FW27	BMW	M	18	0	4	1	0	66
6	BAR	007	Honda	M	16	0	2	1	0	38
7	Red Bull	RB1	Cosworth	M	18	0	0	0	0	34
8	Sauber	C24	Petronas	M	18	0	0	0	0	20
9	Jordan	EJ15 EJ15B	Toyota	B	19	0	1	0	0	12
10	Minardi	PS04 PS05	Cosworth	B	19	0	0	0	0	7

Rules changes

For a time there existed a distinct possibility that some teams would be running three race cars per grand prix. (Fewer than 10 teams, or 20 cars, starting on the grid would have resulted in some teams running three cars, under an obscure term in the Concorde Agreement.) By the first round of the season, though, there were ten teams, as Red Bull completed their takeover of Jaguar and were ready to race in Australia. Minardi, which initially received an injunction allowing them to compete despite their cars' non-conformity to new 2005 technical regulations, later modified their cars to adhere to 2005 regulations.

Qualifying

The first six races of the 2005 season used a new qualifying format, marking the third year in five with sharply-revised qualifying rules. Grid position was determimed by aggregate times from two single-lap flying runs, one Saturday afternoon and one Sunday morning. Refueling was allowed after the first qualifying run Saturday; however, the car must have been fuelled for the race for Sunday's qualifying. (Although some rules changes are brought about to even the playing field or to reduce costs, this rule change was prompted by the typhoon which rescheduled qualifying for the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix). Adverse weather conditions affecting either qualifying session impacted the final, aggregate time.

On May 24, the ten team bosses met with Max Mosley and recommended a return to a single, one-lap qualifying run on Saturday on race fuel and race tires, which, having been approved by the FIA World Motorsport Council, took effect at the European Grand Prix on May 29.

Tyres

A hugely significant change in 2005 was the absence of tyre changes during pit stops. Under new regulations, a driver had to use one set of tyres during qualifying and the race itself. Tyre changes were allowed for punctures and for wet weather, under the direction of the FIA. The FIA had to post a "change in climatic conditions" notice in order for tyre changes to occur normally. After Kimi Räikkönen's disastrous accident at the Nurburgring when his suspension collapsed after a flat-spotted tyre ripped the carbon fiber suspension apart, team principals and the FIA agreed that a single tyre change per car could be made without penalty, provided it was to change a tyre that had become dangerously worn like Räikkönen's had. Obviously, preserving a single set of tyres for the entire race became a new challenge for drivers; the challenge for tyre manufactures was to produce more durable, long-lasting compounds. Michelin-shod runners had a distinct advantage over their Bridgestone counterparts. It was rumored that this new tyre rule-change was made mostly to end the dominance of Ferrari & Michael Schumacher from the 2000-2004 seasons Template:Fact.

Engine life

Formula One engines had to last two race weekends, double that demanded by 2004 regulations. A driver who needed to change an engine was subject to a 10 place grid penalty for the race. Designed to limit revs and power outputs demanded by greater reliability, this regulation was also a cost-cutting measure for engine manufacturers. After the initial race of the season, the FIA acted to close a loophole in this new regulation exposed by BAR, who purposefully pitted their cars rather than finish the race.

Aerodynamics

The technical aerodynamics regulations were modified to improve competition, especially for cars traveling in another car's aeroflow wake in order to overtake. By changing the size and placement of both front and rear wings, as well as requiring higher noses, the new rules attempted to reduce downforce by roughly one-quarter, but teams developed other chassis innovations to reclaim much of that "lost" downforce.

Notes

1. Anthony Davidson (BAR) raced in Malaysia for an ill Takuma Sato (fever, flu).
2. Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren) raced in Bahrain for an injured Juan Pablo Montoya (non-racing shoulder injury); Alexander Wurz was third driver in place of de la Rosa. For the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix, de la Rosa and Wurz swapped roles.
3. Vitantonio Liuzzi and Christian Klien are both contracted to Red Bull Racing to participate in at least three races, and have agreed to share their race seat for the season. Klien drove in the first three races; Liuzzi replaced him for the San Marino, Spanish, Monaco, and European Grands Prix; Klien returned again for the Canadian GP, and completed the remainder of the races for the season.
4. Robert Doornbos was Jordan third driver for 9 of the first 11 races of the season. Franck Montagny replaced him at the European Grand Prix, Jordan were banned from using a third car at the Canadian Grand Prix after using too many tyres at the previous race. Nicolas Kiesa replaced Doornbos for the German Grand Prix onwards.
5. Patrick Friesacher was replaced at Minardi by Robert Doornbos for the 2005 German Grand Prix and beyond due to sponsorship issues.
6. No Michelin-shod teams participated in the U.S. Grand Prix for safety reasons, leaving just six cars on the grid at the start of the race.
7. Chanoch Nissany became Minardi third driver for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
8. Enrico Toccacelo replaced Chanoch Nissany as Minardi third driver for the Turkish Grand Prix.
9. Antônio Pizzonia replaced Nick Heidfeld at Williams for the Italian Grand Prix after Heidfeld decided to withdraw after complaining of a severe headache. Earlier in the week, he crashed heavily during a test session at Monza. Pizzonia replaced Heidfeld again for the remaining three races of the season after Heidfeld had a motorcycle accident.
10. At the Hungarian Grand Prix, West McLaren Mercedes became Team McLaren Mercedes.
11. 2005 was the final year of the 3 litre V10 engine formula.