Alonso wins as Raikkonen blows gearbox
Spaniard Fernando Alonso has done an incredible job in his chase for the 2005 F1 crown. The victory was handed to him when Kimi Raikkonen's gearbox failed while he was leading. He extends his lead with another 10 points resulting in a 36 points gap. He was joined on the podium by Montoya and Button.
A fast-paced McLaren of Juan Pablo Montoya made up 10 spaces at the start. The British Grand Prix winner had been forced to start from the back of the grid after a mistake on the final corner of his qualifying lap yesterday afternoon.
Meanwhile, further down the field, Barrichello was struggling to recover track position from his poor grid spot. The Brazilian suffered from brief contact with Villeneuve in the action-packed first corner, before skilfully shuffling himself up to 13th.
As eyes turned to the pit stops, Button was first in closely followed by Michael Schumacher, both drivers were in, out and serviced without hitch to maintain position. Having qualified with a heavier fuel load than his team mate, Rubens Barrichello stayed out until lap 26 before coming in for more Shell V-Power fuel. Following the first round of pit stops, Raikkonen led Alonso, Schumacher, Button and Montoya.
By mid distance, Raikkonen had developed a rhythm, calmly lapping at the head of the field in the low 1.14’s, but all was not to be. With 30 laps to go, yet another McLaren mechanical failure added a further retirement to the Finn’s frustrating season.
While Alonso was cruising in first place, half a minute ahead of Michael Schumacher, the German began to struggle on his soft Bridgestone tyres. By lap 40 Button was right behind the Ferrari and eager to overtake. Juan Pablo Montoya had also cruised up to the back of Button. Button set up Michael Schumacher and outbraked the German down the inside of the hairpin, stealing second place on lap 45.
Button's second place would not last long, he pitted on the next lap and Schumacher came in another lap later. Montoya suddenly found himself with some clear air and put the hammer down. The Colombian kept going until lap 56 - just 11 laps from the end when he had built up enough advantage to refuel and retain second place.
Fernando Alonso constantly completed lap after lap to the chequered flag without any real threat. Juan Pablo Montoya crossed the finish line in second just in front of Jenson Button.
Fourth is the other Renault of Fisichella who overtook M. Schumacher 2 laps from the end. The world champion held off a challenging Ralf while David Coulthard goes home with two points again. The only point left for 8th place went to the Sauber of Felipe Massa.
Results are as follows:
1 F. Alonso Renault 1:26:28.599
2 JP. Montoya McLaren + 22.569
3 J. Button BAR + 24.422
4 G. Fisichella Renault + 50.587
5 M. Schumacher Ferrari + 51.690
6 R. Schumacher Toyota + 52.242
7 D. Coulthard Red Bull + 52.700
8 F. Massa Sauber + 56.570
9 C. Klien Red Bull + 1:09.818
10 R. Barrichello Ferrari + 1 laps
11 N. Heidfeld Williams + 1 laps
12 T. Sato BAR + 1 laps
13 C. Albers Minardi + 2 laps
14 J. Trulli Toyota + 3 laps
15 J. Villeneuve Sauber + 3 laps
16 N. Karthikeyan Jordan + 3 laps
17 T. Monteiro Jordan + 3 laps
18 R. Doornbos Minardi + 4 laps
19 M. Webber Williams + 12 laps
Did not finish
20 K. Räikkönen McLaren + 32 laps
