German GP 2005
JULY 24, 2005
Race Notes - Alonso wins German GP
© The Cahier Archive
Fernando Alonso won the German Grand Prix, at Hockenheim, in his Renault, 22 seconds ahead of second placed Juan Pablo Montoya in his McLaren-Mercedes, with Jenson Button in his BAR-Honda finishing third - after polesitter Kimi Raikkonen retired from the lead.
Giancarlo Fisichella took fourth in his Renault, Michael Schumacher took fifth in the Ferrari, Ralf Schumacher was sixth in the Toyota, David Coulthard was seventh in the Red Bull and Felipe Massa in the Sauber-Petronas finished in the final points position.
At the start Raikkonen took the lead from pole followed by Alonso, and Michael Schumacher jumped up to third. Takuma Sato ran into the back of Giancarlo Fisichella the Japanese driver pitting to replace his nose - and Mark Webber in his Williams-BMW pulled into the pits on the first lap - to rejoin later after repairs ten laps down.
Montoya went 20th on the grid to 9th place by lap 3.
By lap 10, Raikkonen led Alonso by 3.8 seconds, with Schumacher a further 6.4 seconds behind, followed by Button, Heidfeld, Coulthard, Massa, Fisichella, Montoya and Klien.
Heidfeld was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 15, followed by Massa on lap 19, Button and Coulthard on lap 20, Alonso and Schumacher on lap 22, Fisichella on lap 23, Raikkonen on lap 25, and Montoya on lap 27.
After the first round of stops, Raikkonen led Alonso by 11 seconds, with Schumacher 29 seconds behind the leader, Button 2.5 seconds further back, Montoya , Fisichella, Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, Heidfeld and Massa.
On lap 34, Coulthard passed Ralf Schumacher to take seventh place.
On lap 36, Raikkonen's McLaren retired from the lead with a hydraulic failure, leaving the Finn stranded and handing over the lead to Alonso.
On lap 40, Alonso led Schumacher by nearly 30 seconds with Button right on his tail in third, Montoya two seconds further back, followed by Fisichella, Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, Massa, Klien and Barrichello.
On lap 45, Button passed Schumacher at the hairpin to take over second place - the German suffering with rear tyre wear issues.
Button started the second round of stops, pitting on lap 46, Alonso and Coulthard on lap 47, Schumacher and Barrichello on lap 49, Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher on lap 50, and Montoya on lap 56 - jumping up to second place.
On lap 66, Fisichella got past a struggling Schumacher to take fourth place away from the World Champion.
At the finish, Alonso won from Montoya, with Button in third.