Course length 4.309 km (2.677 mi) | ||
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Date 25 September 2005 (2005-09-25) Official name XXXIV Grande Prêmio do Brasil Location Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil Course Permanent racing facility Distance 71 laps, 305.939 km (190.067 mi) | ||
The 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the XXXIV Grande Prêmio do Brasil) was a Formula One motor race held on at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil on 25 September 2005. The 71-lap race was the seventeenth round of the 2005 Formula One season. The race was won by McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who took the final race victory of his career, ahead of his team-mate, Kimi Räikkönen, who finished second. Renault driver Fernando Alonso became the Drivers' Champion for the first time after he finished the race in third place. Only he and Räikkönen had entered the race within mathematical contention of winning the title, and Alonso's podium ensured that he did with two rounds remaining. Alonso also qualified in pole position for the race, but the fastest lap went to Räikkönen.
Contents
Qualifying
As Takuma Sato was subject to a ten-place grid penalty given for the accident in the Belgian Grand Prix where he crashed into Michael Schumacher, Sato did not attempt a qualifying lap. Jarno Trulli also had a ten-place penalty, in his case the result of an engine change before qualifying. The Italian started from 18th on the grid.
Race
Juan Pablo Montoya won the race ahead of teammate Kimi Räikkönen; McLaren's first 1-2 finish since the 2000 Austrian Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso finished 3rd and thus became World Champion for the first time, at the time the youngest ever champion at 24 years and 59 days. Jacques Villeneuve was forced to start from pit lane as a penalty for infringement of parc ferme regulations. After getting involved in an accident at the start of the race, Mark Webber was able to rejoin, over 20 laps behind the leaders and do some laps, sufficient to position himself fourth in the official qualifying order for the subsequent Grand Prix at Suzuka. Due to a driveshaft failure, this was Tiago Monteiro's only retirement of the 2005 season.
Classification
Commentators have judged Renault's qualifying performance as evidence that their "conservative phase" was over. Renault's Pat Symonds had said that the team was not aiming to settle for a simple podium finish, rather they were aiming to win. BBC's Maurice Hamilton said that "the thought that Fernando Alonso might cruise to the Championship.....was dispelled in the most convincing fashion". McLaren CEO Ron Dennis remained confident of his team's race strategy given Juan Pablo Montoya's strong second position, despite a major error in the qualifying lap of Kimi Räikkönen.