October
16, 2005
Grand Prix of China (Shanghai)
Grand Prix of China (Shanghai)
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October
16, 2005 Grand Prix of China (Shanghai) |
Alonso win seals Renault double
As he crossed the line to take victory in China, Fernando Alonso broke into song over the team radio - and his choice of ‘We Are The Champions’ couldn’t have been more appropriate.
It was an inspired drive, Alonso led from pole position to the chequered flag and ensured that Renault add the constructors’ championship to the drivers’ title that he secured two races ago. Kimi Raikkonen put in a determined challenge, but had to settle for second place. And some brilliant pit-stop strategy saw Ralf Schumacher take a somewhat improbable third place.
The race was defined by two long periods running behind the safety car. The first was after Juan Pablo Montoya hit an upright drain cover on the exit from turn 10. He had been running in fourth place and challenging team mate Raikkonen for third but was forced to pit in for a new front tyre and then retired shortly afterwards with substantial damage to the underside of his car. The safety car effectively cancelled out Alonso’s early 20 second lead but, crucially, he managed to emerge from his pit stop still ahead of the pack.
After nearly 15 minutes under the safety car, as marshals gathered debris and made sure other drain covers were secure, the race restarted. And barely had it done so that Narain Karthikeyan had a massive accident in his Jordan, leaving debris all over the track and bringing the safety car out again. Most teams opted to bring their cars in again to fuel them to the finish - Ralf Schumacher a notable exception. Some nifty pitwork by McLaren helped Raikkonen to finally pass Fisichella, with the Finn rejoining in fifth place, three cars that had yet to make their second stops between him and Alonso.
CHINESE
GRAND PRIX RACE Sunday 16 October 2005 The Jordan Grand Prix drivers experienced mixed fortunes in the concluding race of its final season and 250th Grand Prix in Formula One. Karthikeyan came into the pits at the end of the formation lap while Monteiro had a good start. After the safety car period due to a damaged drain cover being on the track, Karthikeyan lost control of his car at turn 13 but fortunately escaped unhurt from the ensuing accident. Meanwhile, Monteiro, the first Bridgestone finisher today, had a rather uneventful race, ran a two-stop strategy and finished in 11th position. TEAM QUOTES ON THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX RACE TIAGO MONTEIRO (EJ15B/02) 11th “Wow, what a season. I am so happy and excited about the whole year. When you start the season you do not really know what to expect and to finish the season with such a high record of race finishes, great reliability, best rookie of the year, man of the race in Spa, a podium at Indy is unbelievable. I could not have dreamt of a better first season. I would like to thank the team as Formula One is really a team sport. They have all done a fantastic job to give me such a good car. Even in the last race, we were able to fight with the Toyotas and Williams. It was a lot of fun and I have really enjoyed this season. ” NARAIN KARTHIKEYAN (EJ15B/01) retired “It was an exciting race. We had to pit in the first lap because we had a slight problem and we wanted to make sure it was ok. I passed Doornbos in the first pit stop and the safety car came out for what was a long time, which caused my tyres to lose temperature and pressure. A lot of drivers were making mistakes trying to warm up their tyres. Then when the race started again, I had a good first lap and passed Sato. I was following Trulli and coming to turn 13, I do not know what happened. The car was on the artificial grass and it sucked me into the wall. I had a very big accident but I am happy to say that it could have been worse. I have a bit of a sore neck but apart from this I am ok.” |
With Montoya out of the race, after the second restart the constructors’ championship had boiled down to a simple equation - not only would Raikkonen have to get past Alonso, but Fisichella would have to drop down the order. McLaren’s hopes were raised when Fisichella was given a drive-through penalty for slowing down the pack too much behind the safety car and before his second stop - although this only dropped the Italian a single place to fourth. But Alonso didn’t make any mistakes and drove a flawless race to take a historic victory.
Christian Klien and Felipe Massa also benefited from making late second stops, finishing in fifth and sixth respectively. Mark Webber drove a strong race from 10th on the grid to seventh at the flag - and Jenson Button will have been disappointed by another race in which his strong qualifying performance faded to a relatively poor result - P4 on the grid but eighth at the flag.
Ferrari suffered from another terrible weekend. Michael Schumacher smashed into Albers’ Minardi on his way to the grid before the race even got underway, forcing him to begin the race from the pitlane in the T-car. He then span off during the first period of running under the safety car, his championship ending in a gravel trap. Team mate Barrichello fought hard to defend what had been a fifth position - but his Ferrari faded as the race progressed and he would have been very disappointed to end up in 12th.
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