Formula 1 Season 2005

[The Mighty Z]

It seems like the "new rules" are really working.

Once more Schumi didn't even end on the podium. (Could this be the one year that is too much?)

Next up is Bahrein, where Schumacher won last year.

Can't wait till the next race.

And, oh yeah, ............... YAY for Alonso/Renault !

 

[expo]

F1 News

Injured Montoya out of Bahrain GP

McLaren have confirmed Juan Pablo Montoya will not race in this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix because of injury. The Colombian driver suffered a hairline fracture of the shoulder when he fell while playing tennis last week.

Webber raced with fractured rib

Mark Webber drove in the first two races of the new F1 season with a fractured rib, it has been revealed. The Williams driver is fit to take part in this weekend's Bahrain GP after missing testing last week in Barcelona.

Sato set to make Bahrain return

Takuma Sato will be back in action for BAR-Honda at the Bahrain GP this weekend after recovering from a fever. The 28-year-old Japanese driver missed the Malaysian GP last week after falling ill on the Friday before the Sepang event.

New Ferrari excites Barrichello

Rubens Barrichello has warned Formula One to expect a much more competitive showing from Ferrari at the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend. The world champions have introduced their new car two races early after two disappointing showings in the modified version of their 2004 car. "The new car is quicker. It is particularly amazing to drive through high-speed corners," said Barrichello. "The car brought a smile to my face. We can really fight the opposition now."

Barrichello's team-mate Michael Schumacher has endured his worst-ever start to a season with just two points on the board after two races. However, the seven-time world champion refuses to worry about Renault's early-season dominance and has put his faith in hard work to turn around Ferrari's fortunes. "Having been in Formula One for so many years, I know every season has its ups and downs," said Schumacher.

 

[moxdevil]

Despite being a big schuie fan since his time at benetton, and a ferrari fan even longer i cannot help but think the changes that have been implemented, and the rise of renault and toyota are aiding the sport. more teams competing, more oportunity for those who didn't make the podium because of the status quo, it has breathed new life into the sport.

 

[expo]

SAKHIR, BAHRAIN 03 APRIL 2005



Creation date: 2004

First F1 Grand Prix: 04 April 2004

Grand Prix held: 1

Spectactor capacity: around 50000

Track length: 5.417 km

Number of laps: 57 (308.769 Km)

Number of corners: 11 (left:4) (right:7)

Top speed: 315 Km/h

Downforce setup: Medium

Best lap: M. Schumacher - 1'30''252 (2004, Ferrari)

Record Pole: M. Schumacher - 1'30''139 (2004, Ferrari)

2004 Pole: M. Schumacher - 1'30''139 (Ferrari)

2004 Podium
1. M. Schumacher
2. R. Barrichello
3. J. Button

 

[expo]

The 1st Qualifying Results

1. 5 ALONSO Renault M 1:29.848
2. 16 TRULLI Toyota M 1:29.993
3. 1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1:30.237
4. 8 HEIDFELD Williams BMW M 1:30.390
5. 6 FISICHELLA Renault M 1:30.445
6. 7 WEBBER Williams BMW M 1:30.592
7. 9 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1:30.594
8. 15 KLIEN RedBull Cosworth M 1:30.646
9. * DE LA ROSA McLaren Mercedes M 1:30.725
10. 12 MASSA Sauber Petronas M 1:30.933
11. 17 R.SCHUMACHER Toyota M 1:30.952
12. 3 BUTTON BAR Honda M 1:30.957
13. 4 SATO BAR Honda M 1:31.113
14. 14 COULTHARD RedBull Cosworth M 1:31.211
15. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1:31.826
16. 11 VILLENEUVE Sauber Petronas M 1:32.318
17. 19 KARTHIKEYAN Jordan Toyota B 1:33.190
18. 18 MONTEIRO Jordan Toyota B 1:33.424
19. 21 ALBERS Minardi Cosworth B 1:34.005
20. 20 FRIESACHER Minardi Cosworth B 1:34.848


* P. DE LA ROSA is racing in the place of the injured J. P. MONTOYA

It looks like a race between Alonso and Trulli in tomorrows second qualifying for pole position.

 

[expo]

2005 Bahrain Grand Prix Results

1 Fernando Alonso Renault Winner
2 Jarno Trulli Toyota +13.4 secs
3 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes +32.0 secs
4 Ralf Schumacher Toyota +53.2 secs
5 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes +64.9 secs
6 Mark Webber Williams-BMW +74.7 secs
7 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas +1 Lap
8 David Coulthard Red Bull Racing +1 Lap
9 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari +1 Lap
10 Tiago Monteiro Jordan-Toyota +2 Lap
11 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber-Petronas +3 Lap
12 Patrick Friesacher Minardi-Cosworth +3 Lap
13 Christijan Albers Minardi-Cosworth +4 Lap
Ret Jenson Button BAR-Honda +11 Lap
Ret Takuma Sato BAR-Honda +30 Lap
Ret Nick Heidfeld Williams-BMW +32 Lap
Ret Michael Schumacher Ferrari +45 Lap
Ret Giancarlo Fisichella Renault +53 Lap
Ret Narain Karthikeyan Jordan-Toyota +55 Lap
DNS Christian Klien Red Bull Racing

 

[expo]

Current Driver and Constructer World Championship Standings

Drivers:

1. ALONSO 26 Points
2. TRULLI 16 Points
3. FISICHELLA 10 Points
4. COULTHARD 9 Points
5. SCHUMACHER, R 9 Points
6. BARRICHELLO 8 Points
7. MONTOYA 8 Points
8. RAIKKONEN 7 Points
9. WEBBER 7 Points
10. HEIDFELD 6 Points
11. DE LA ROSA 4 Points
12. KLIEN 3 Points
13. MASSA 2 Points
14. SCHUMACHER, M 2 Points


Constructers:

1. RENAULT 36 Points
2. TOYOTA 25 Points
3. MCLAREN MERCEDES 19 Points
4. WILLIAMS BMW 13 Points
5. REDBULL COSWORTH 12 Points
6. FERRARI 10 Points
7. SAUBER PETRONAS 2 Points


Two wins in a row for Fernando Alonso increases his lead in the championship to 10 points with a 24 point gap back to Michael Schumacher. The new Ferrari looks like it may be competitive later on in the season but it currently has some issues with the gearbox. The next race is in three weeks time at Imola.

 

[expo]

F1 News

Here's all the latest F1 news before this weekends San Marino GP


BERNIE PUSHING FOR NEW QUALIFYING SYSTEM

Bernie Ecclestone is seeking an urgent overhaul of Formula 1’s qualifying system, according to a report in this week’s Autosport magazine.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=32589


WURZ TO REPLACE INJURED MONTOYA

Alexander Wurz will replace injured McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya in the San Marino Grand Prix this weekend.

Montoya suffered a hairline fracture in one of his shoulders while playing tennis last month and scans this week revealed that he is still not yet fit.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4436361.stm


MIDLAND BUYS JORDAN WINDTUNNEL

The Midland Group, which bought Jordan Grand Prix at the beginning of the year, announced today that it has also purchased the team's wind-tunnel.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=32581


Let's hope the exciting start to the season continues in San Marino with the downfall of Ferrari continuing. I'm also hoping that the new windtunnel at Jordan will help build a competitive car for next season so that they can get back to the standard of performance they had in the late 1990's.

 

[smz]

I definitely agree with Bernie about the single qualifying on Saturday being a better and more exciting option over the aggregate system. 1 lap, all or nothing certainly makes for a more interesting and mixed starting grid. Also, those who criticize that after the initial laps the finishing order is pretty much determined, which is true in many cases, get a few extra laps of fighting between faster cars who may have qualified mid-pack for whatever reason and slower cars which happened to qualify higher in the grid.

In regards to balance between the cars and the ever fluctuating rules I think f1 is moving in the right direction, though the rule changes every other race is somewhat annoying. The new Ferarri is fast but doesn’t show that huge performance gap over the other cars like they did in 2004. Renault is super-fast no doubt and Alonso is doing a fantastic driving job over there. It’s good to see McLaren and Williams in good form and I hope they pick up a few races. Kimi and Montoya have a good shot and Webber is looking very well in my humble opinion.

All in all it is shaping up to be a good year for F1, it’s just to bad we have to watch poor Villeneuve push that Sauber around the track.

 

[expo]

All in all it is shaping up to be a good year for F1, it’s just to bad we have to watch poor Villeneuve push that Sauber around the track.

I don't think we'll be seeing Villeneuve driving for much longer. I think Peter Sauber will have had enough with poor performances soon and replace him with a new younger driver. Villeneuve is not half as good behind the wheel now as he was the year he won the world championship.

 

[expo]

IMOLA, SAN MARINO 24 APRIL 2005



Interactive Circuit Map: http://www.formula1.com/race/circuitmap/735.html

Creation date: 1980

First F1 Grand Prix: 14 September 1980

Grand Prix held: 25

Spectactor capacity: around 60000

Track length: 4.933 km

Number of laps: 62 (305.609 Km)

Number of corners: 16 (left:10) (right:6)

Top speed: 325 Km/h

Downforce setup: high

Best lap: M. Schumacher - 1'20''411 (2004, Ferrari)

Record Pole: J. Button - 1'19''753 (2004, BAR)

2004 Pole: J. Button - 1'19''753 (BAR)

2004 Podium
1. M. Schumacher
2. J. Button
3. J. Montoya

 

[zxcw]

Räikkönen took the first place in qualiying event. Go Kimi go! But Alonso is very fast, too.

 

[expo]

Results from the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix



1. 5 ALONSO Renault M 1h27'41"921 209.086 Km/h
2. 1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B + 0'00"215 209.077 Km/h
3. 3 BUTTON BAR Honda M + 0'10"481 208.670 Km/h
4. 10 WURZ McLaren Mercedes M + 0'27"554 207.997 Km/h
5. 4 SATO BAR Honda M + 0'34"783 207.713 Km/h
6. 11 VILLENEUVE Sauber Petronas M + 1'04"442 206.556 Km/h
7. 16 TRULLI Toyota M + 1'10"258 206.331 Km/h
8. 8 HEIDFELD Williams BMW M + 1'11"282 206.291 Km/h
9. 7 WEBBER Williams BMW M + 1'23"297 205.827 Km/h
10. 15 LIUZZI RedBull Cosworth M + 1'23"764 205.809 Km/h
11. 17 R.SCHUMACHER Toyota M + 1'35"841 205.346 Km/h
12. 12 MASSA Sauber Petronas M 1 lap(s)
13. 14 COULTHARD RedBull Cosworth M 1 lap(s)
14. 19 KARTHIKEYAN Jordan Toyota B 1 lap(s)
15. 18 MONTEIRO Jordan Toyota B 2 lap(s)
16. 21 ALBERS Minardi Cosworth B 42 lap(s)
17. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 44 lap(s)
18. 9 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 53 lap(s)
19. 20 FRIESACHER Minardi Cosworth B 54 lap(s)
20. 6 FISICHELLA Renault M 57 lap(s)

 

[expo]

Current Dirve and Constructer World Championship Standings

Drivers:


1 Fernando Alonso 36
2 Jarno Trulli 18
3 Giancarlo Fisichella 10
4 Michael Schumacher 10
5 Ralf Schumacher 10
6 David Coulthard 9
7 Rubens Barrichello 8
8 Juan Pablo Montoya 8
9 Kimi Raikkonen 7
10 Mark Webber 7
11 Nick Heidfeld 6
12 Jenson Button 6
13 Alexander Wurz 5
14 Takuma Sato 4
15 Pedro de la Rosa 4
16 Jacques Villeneuve 3
17 Christian Klien 3
18 Felipe Massa 2

Constructers:

1 Renault 46
2 Toyota 28
3 McLaren 24
4 Ferrari 18
5 Williams 13
6 Red Bull 12
7 Sauber 5

 

[expo]

F1 News

Button could lose Imola GP podium

Formula One's governing body is to appeal against the decision by the San Marino Grand Prix stewards not to take any action against Jenson Button.

Officials found Button's BAR car was underweight without fuel after Sunday's race in which the Briton came third.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4482177.stm

BAR protest innocence over Button

BAR have insisted that they did not deliberately run an underweight car during the San Marino Grand Prix.

The team was cleared by race stewards after Jenson Button's car was found to be too light, but F1's ruling body the FIA has appealed against the decision.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4486869.stm

Ralf accuses Ferrari over testing

Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher has criticised Ferrari for refusing to restrict their in-season testing.

All nine other Formula One teams agreed to test on just 30 days this year to cut spiralling costs.

Schumacher said: "We restrict ourselves and Ferrari carry on testing happily. I don't understand this. What they are doing is unfair to everyone else.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4482895.stm

 

[Onimusha]

those last 20 laps at Imola were insane! i hope we're gonna get a lot more 'dogfights' like this one

 

[eROSSIFILMWORKS]

I've been

I've been racing on this track for a year and half. Go to Virtual Grand Prix 2 and download it and try to get 1:23:9.

 

[ceceD]

Where are all the women drivers?

Geez, it's 2005 and no women drivers!

 

[expo]

Geez, it's 2005 and no women drivers!

Why are there no women in Formula One?

There are many background reasons for this. Girls and women are usually less mechanically aware, and young girls are much less likely to take an interest in driving at the age of ten or so, when the champions of Motorsport start racing in karts. It should be noted in favour of the FIA that in their entire existence, even at times less Politically Correct than now, the regulations have always allowed women to race as equals to men, simply because as far as the FIA was concerned they couldn't care less who sat in the cars as long as they were able to drive them.


There have been some women drivers before - just none at the moment

1958: Maria Teresa De Filippis - 4 GPs

This was F1's first lady driver. In the 50's Maria Theresa de Filippis took part in several Grands Prix. Lella Lombardi spent a couple of seasons in Formula One and scored half a point in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix.

1975-76: Lella Lombardi - 12 GPs

So far the only woman to have registered a top six finish in a World Championship Grand Prix, Lombardi took half a point for sixth place in the prematurely terminated 1975 Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona's Montjuich Park circuit. Driving for the factory March team, she contested the entire 1975 World Championship series but was replaced after losing her backing one race into the following year. Subsequently she raced sportscars and touring cars with some success into the 1980s.


Drivers who failed to qualify: Giovanna Amati , Davina Galica, Desiré Wilson

In 1992 Giovanna Amati raced for Brabham early in the season, but the car was not good, and Amati failed to qualify every time she attempted.

In the early 80's Desire Wilson won the Aurora Formula One series in the UK, which led into her attempting to qualify for the British Grand Prix in an old Williams. But she was given a different car than she had won the Aurora series in and didn't get used to the newer Williams before qualifying was over.

 

[expo]

F1 bosses seeking BAR exclusion

Formula One chiefs have asked for BAR-Honda to be disqualified from this year's championship at an appeal hearing in Paris on Wednesday.

Jenson Button's car was found to be five kilogrammes below the 600kg minimum weight at the San Marino GP. "The FIA asks the court to exclude the BAR team from the world championship and to fine the team at least one million euros," a FIA statement read. A lesser penalty could see Button lose the six points he won in Imola.

The BAR team have asked the court to dismiss the FIA appeal and continue to protest their innocence. "At no time would I allow anybody in the team to do anything illegal, we have a common culture of integrity and fairness," BAR technical director Geoff Willis insisted.

FIA president Max Mosley said at the start of the season that any team found guilty of cheating would be thrown out of the championship."And it doesn't matter who it is, Ferrari or anybody in between, it has to be like that," he stated. Officials from his organisation effectively accused BAR of cheating when claiming: "The team set out deliberately to gain an illegitimate and unfair advantage over other teams."

The FIA have disqualified a team in the past. Tyrrell were banned from their last three races of the 1984 season and their results wiped out for the entire season because they were adding lead shot to the car as ballast during races. Toyota were also axed from the World Rally Championship in 1995 for using an illegal turbo-charger.

Team principal Nick Fry hopes BAR will not suffer the same fate, saying: "We are hanging on the basic belief that right will prevail at the end. "At no time was the car light and I don't think that we've done anything wrong."

The FIA believes BAR were using two hidden fuel tanks within the main tank to hide fuel that was used as ballast during the race. That would allow the car to run lighter than its rivals - and dip below the minimum weight limit in the laps immediately preceding its fuel stop. It could also be used to allow the team to do more laps before a stop, giving them a strategic advantage in the race.

But the team says the extra tanks are used to pressurise fuel before it is injected into the engine. The lawyer representing BAR at the hearing, David Pannick said: "There was no secret chamber in this engine. At worst, there was a minor misunderstanding. A modest fine would suffice." But the general secretary of the FIA, Pierre de Coninck, who was presiding over the hearing, said: "A flexible fuel compartment allows a car to stay out for two or three laps when a legitimate car would have to pit. "This enables cars to complete more laps than a genuine 600kg car."

Kris De Groot, a member of the Formula One technical team, told the hearing he asked BAR's chief mechanic Alistair Gibson for a "full draining" of the car. He said he then found more fuel, as well as a plastic tube, the function of which was not clear. "Most teams understand the term 'full drain'," De Groot said. "I asked Gibson what the tube was for and I was given no definitive answer."

The verdict will be announced on Thurday.