2005 Italian Grand Prix

Report

Kimi Räikkönen qualified his McLaren-Mercedes fastest, but received a 10-place grid penalty for changing his engine, demoting him to 11th place in the starting grid, giving the pole to Juan Pablo Montoya.

The race was won by Montoya with Fernando Alonso second and Giancarlo Fisichella third. Räikkönen climbed from 11th place to finish in 4th. Räikkönen would`ve had a chance of winning the race with a one-stop-strategy, but a deflated tyre forced him to take a second pit-stop. Then followed Jarno Trulli, Ralf Schumacher, Antônio Pizzonia, and Jenson Button.

The race allowed Alonso on 103 points to stay in first place in the Drivers' Championship and extended his lead by three points over Räikkönen on 76. Then followed Michael Schumacher still on 55 points. Montoya gained 10 pts on Schumacher but still remained in 4th place on 50 points. Renault retained the lead of the Constructors' Championship with 146 points, a ten point advantage over McLaren-Mercedes on 136. Remaining in third place was Ferrari with 86 points; Toyota collected 7 points and now have 78.

Classification

Qualifying

Race

Notes

• Pole position: Kimi Räikkönen - 1:20.878
• Fastest lap: Kimi Räikkönen - 1:21.504 on lap 51.
• Lap Leaders: Juan Pablo Montoya 1-53 (53).
• There were no retirements. This has not happened to a full field in Formula One since the Dutch Grand Prix in May of 1961 (although the 2005 United States Grand Prix, in which only 6 cars took part, also finished with no retirements).
• Antônio Pizzonia replaced Nick Heidfeld for the rest of the season.
• While Kimi Räikkönen took pole position in qualifying, he started 11th on the grid due to an engine change after the final practice session. This meant that Juan Pablo Montoya took the Finn's place at the head of the starting grid.
• After this Grand Prix, the championship become a two horse race between Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen, eliminating Michael Schumacher from mathematical contention although it had been unlikely for some time that Schumacher would be contending for the title.