2005 Malaysian Grand Prix
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| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 19 in the 2005 Formula One season | |||
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| Date | 20 March 2005 | ||
| Official name | Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Sepang International Circuit Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia |
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| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.543 km (3.444 mi) | ||
| Distance | 56 laps, 310.408 km (192.879 mi) | ||
| Weather | Fine | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Renault | ||
| Time | 3:07.672 (2 laps) | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Kimi Räikkönen |
McLaren-Mercedes | |
| Time | 1:35.483 on lap 23 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Renault | ||
| Second | Toyota | ||
| Third | Williams-BMW | ||
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The 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Sepang on 20 March 2005.
Contents
Race report
It was slightly overcast and hazy for the start of the race but the track temperature was around 50 degrees. Everyone got away cleanly, with Alonso, Trulli and Fisichella holding position at the front. Gainers at the start were Heidfeld, up to eighth from 10th and BAR's Jenson Button from ninth to seventh. Christian Klien dropped down behind Red Bull teammate David Coulthard and there was a little bit of argy-bargy behind.
Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello and McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya scrapped for 11th and Felipe Massa got his Sauber in front of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. Massa's teammate Jacques Villeneuve overtook the second BAR of Anthony Davidson and further up the field Button took the McLaren of Kimi Räikkönen for sixth.
It was short lived for Button though, as within just a couple of laps his Honda engine started smoking. To compound BAR's misery, Davidson's engine also went up in flames just about at the same time and they both had to retire. Minardi's Patrick Friesacher was a victim of oil from Button's engine and spun off into the gravel to end his race. At the front, Alonso was leading Trulli and Fisichella while Webber and the second Toyota of Ralf Schumacher held station in fourth and fifth. Räikkönen was running sixth, followed by Heidfeld and Coulthard, with Montoya and Klien completing the top ten at that stage.
Heidfeld challenged Räikkönen but the Finn held him off and meanwhile, defending champion Michael was already half a minute behind leader Alonso. Fernando was belting out fastest lap after fastest lap, evidently not concerned about his engine going the distance. Webber was hampered by one of the Jordans, allowing Ralf to close in, with Heidfeld doing likewise behind Räikkönen when they caught the Jordan.
Klien was the first to stop on lap 18, and Ralf, Heidfeld, Coulthard and Tiago Monteiro's Jordan followed suit on lap 20. Alonso and Trulli did likewise next time around, which left Fisichella in the lead until he too took his first stop, along with Webber. Räikkönen inherited the lead and Barrichello was harassing Webber when the Australian rejoined in front of the Ferrari.
Räikkönen pitted and returned ahead of the battling pair but then he suffered a right rear puncture and went over the grass. He managed to drive the car back onto the track and make it back to the pits for a tyre change, but all his and the team's hard work in gaining an advantage was lost. A valve failure caused the puncture and there was a fair bit of debris on the track from his wrecked tyre.
Barrichello took his first stop and rejoined in eighth and Montoya made his first visit to the pits work when he returned ahead of the Red Bulls in seventh. Alonso was back in the lead after the shakeout of pit stops, 12 seconds ahead of Trulli, with the rest of the top five still in the same places as previously, and Heidfeld up to sixth.
Villeneuve was the next retiree when he spun off at turn one and beached the Sauber in the gravel. The Canadian had trouble with braking all weekend. "It's not just that corner, I lock the front wheels all the time but if I push too hard the rears lock as well," he said. "I'm having a hard time with this car."
Fisichella was suffering from oversteer and losing time and Webber was closing. Behind him, Ralf and Heidfeld waited for an opportunity. Webber attacked the Renault and got past and Ralf also went for it; but Fisichella snatched third back from Webber. Heidfeld took advantage of the fight and leapt ahead of Ralf to go side by side with Webber. Ralf was caught in the middle but stayed calm.
The Toyota got back in front of Heidfeld but Nick shot back ahead at the next corner—it was a bit of a mad few minutes and there was contact between Ralf and Webber. The result was Fisichella still in third, Webber in fourth and Heidfeld gained fifth from Ralf. Meanwhile, Coulthard overtook Barrichello for eighth at turn four and Klien also had a go, attacking the Ferrari but Barrichello held him off. Klien had another try and passed the Brazilian at the last corner. Barrichello harassed the Red Bull down the main straight and tried his luck at turn one but Klien wasn't having it. Michael was now behind Barrichello with Massa closing in as well.
Webber was still hanging on Fisichella's rear wing and Heidfeld was right there with them. Barrichello pitted for the second time and rejoined behind Michael and Massa but he struggled with his tyres thereafter and eventually retired. A piece of rubber had lodged in the rear wing which disturbed the balance of the car and caused excessive wear on the rear tyres.
Webber launched a charge on Fisichella down the back straight and got the third place but Giancarlo fought back. Through turn 14 the Italian went up the inside and seemed to lock up and slide into Webber. The rear of the Renault went up over the nose of the Williams and they both went off track and out of the race. Alonso went in for his second stop and Trulli took the lead until he too dived into the pits. Ralf had a new nose and front wing put on when he went in and after the second shakeout it was Alonso back in the lead form Trulli and Heidfeld, who had moved up to third when Webber and Fisichella went out. Montoya rejoined ahead of Ralf for fourth.
Räikkönen, who had been demoted to 13th after his puncture, got past Massa for 9th when the Sauber went off line at the end of the back straight. The McLaren then closed on Klien but there was not enough time left. Alonso took the chequered flag well ahead of Trulli and Heidfeld and it was a very deserving top three at the end of the race. Fourth was McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya, after starting from 11th on the grid. He was followed home by Ralf Schumacher, David Coulthard, Michael Schumacher and Christian Klien. This made it 4 points finishes from 4 starts for Red Bull Racing. The race ended Ferrari's run of 22 consecutive podium finishes, which started at the 2003 Italian Grand Prix.
The race also marked Rubens Barrichello's 200th Grand Prix.
It was slightly overcast and hazy for the start of the race but the track temperature was around 50 degrees. Everyone got away cleanly, with Alonso, Trulli and Fisichella holding position at the front. Gainers at the start were Heidfeld, up to eighth from 10th and BAR's Jenson Button from ninth to seventh. Christian Klien dropped down behind Red Bull teammate David Coulthard and there was a little bit of argy-bargy behind.
Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello and McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya scrapped for 11th and Felipe Massa got his Sauber in front of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. Massa's teammate Jacques Villeneuve overtook the second BAR of Anthony Davidson and further up the field Button took the McLaren of Kimi Räikkönen for sixth.
It was short lived for Button though, as within just a couple of laps his Honda engine started smoking. To compound BAR's misery, Davidson's engine also went up in flames just about at the same time and they both had to retire. Minardi's Patrick Friesacher was a victim of oil from Button's engine and spun off into the gravel to end his race. At the front, Alonso was leading Trulli and Fisichella while Webber and the second Toyota of Ralf Schumacher held station in fourth and fifth. Räikkönen was running sixth, followed by Heidfeld and Coulthard, with Montoya and Klien completing the top ten at that stage.
Heidfeld challenged Räikkönen but the Finn held him off and meanwhile, defending champion Michael was already half a minute behind leader Alonso. Fernando was belting out fastest lap after fastest lap, evidently not concerned about his engine going the distance. Webber was hampered by one of the Jordans, allowing Ralf to close in, with Heidfeld doing likewise behind Räikkönen when they caught the Jordan.
Klien was the first to stop on lap 18, and Ralf, Heidfeld, Coulthard and Tiago Monteiro's Jordan followed suit on lap 20. Alonso and Trulli did likewise next time around, which left Fisichella in the lead until he too took his first stop, along with Webber. Räikkönen inherited the lead and Barrichello was harassing Webber when the Australian rejoined in front of the Ferrari.
Räikkönen pitted and returned ahead of the battling pair but then he suffered a right rear puncture and went careering off over the grass. He managed to wrestle the car back onto the track and make it back to the pits for a tyre change, but all his and the team's hard work in gaining an advantage was lost. A valve failure caused the puncture and there was a fair bit of debris on the track from his wrecked tyre.
Barrichello took his first stop and rejoined in eighth and Montoya made his first visit to the pits work when he returned ahead of the Red Bulls in seventh. Alonso was back in the lead after the shakeout of pit stops, 12 seconds ahead of Trulli, with the rest of the top five still in the same places as previously, and Heidfeld up to sixth.
Villeneuve was the next retiree when he spun off at turn one and beached the Sauber in the gravel. The Canadian had trouble with braking all weekend. "It's not just that corner, I lock the front wheels all the time but if I push too hard the rears lock as well," he said. "I'm having a hard time with this car."
Fisichella was suffering from oversteer and losing time and Webber was homing in. Behind him, Ralf and Heidfeld waited for an opportunity. Webber attacked the Renault and got past and Ralf also went for it; Fisichella snatched third back from Webber so Heidfeld took advantage of the fight and leapt ahead of Ralf to go side by side with Webber. Ralf was caught in the middle but stayed calm.
The Toyota got back in front of Heidfeld but Nick shot back ahead at the next corner—it was a bit of a mad few minutes and there was contact between Ralf and Webber. The result was Fisichella still in third, Webber in fourth and Heidfeld gained fifth from Ralf. Meanwhile, Coulthard overtook Barrichello for eighth at turn four and Klien also had a go, attacking the Ferrari but Barrichello held him off.
Not to be discouraged, Klien had another try and passed the Brazilian at the last corner. Barrichello harassed the Red Bull down the main straight and tried his luck at turn one but Klien wasn't having it. Feisty stuff from young Christian, who seems much improved after his rookie year. Michael was now behind Barrichello with Massa closing in as well.
Webber was still hanging on Fisichella's rear wing and Heidfeld was right there with them. Barrichello pitted for the second time and rejoined behind Michael and Massa but he struggled with his tyres thereafter and eventually retired. A piece of rubber had lodged in the rear wing which disturbed the balance of the car and caused excessive wear on the rear tyres.
Webber launched a charge on Fisichella down the back straight and got the third place but Giancarlo fought back. Through turn 14 the Italian went up the inside and seemed to lock up and slide into Webber. The rear of the Renault went up over the nose of the Williams and they both went off track and out of the race.
Friday drivers
The bottom 6 teams in the 2004 Constructors' Championship were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.
| Constructor | Nat | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| McLaren-Mercedes |  |
Pedro de la Rosa |
| Sauber-Petronas | none | |
| Red Bull-Cosworth |  |
Vitantonio Liuzzi |
| Toyota |  |
Ricardo Zonta |
| Jordan-Toyota |  |
Robert Doornbos |
| Minardi-Cosworth | none |
Classification
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Total | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Fernando Alonso |
Renault | 1:32.582 | 1:35.090 | 3:07.672 | |
| 2 | 16 | Jarno Trulli |
Toyota | 1:32.672 | 1:35.253 | 3:07.925 | +0.253 |
| 3 | 6 | Giancarlo Fisichella |
Renault | 1:32.765 | 1:35.683 | 3:08.448 | +0.776 |
| 4 | 7 |  Mark Webber |
Williams-BMW | 1:33.204 | 1:35.700 | 3:08.904 | +1.232 |
| 5 | 17 |  Ralf Schumacher |
Toyota | 1:33.106 | 1:35.901 | 3:09.007 | +1.335 |
| 6 | 9 | Kimi Räikkönen |
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:32.839 | 1:36.644 | 3:09.483 | +1.811 |
| 7 | 15 |  Christian Klien |
Red Bull-Cosworth | 1:33.724 | 1:35.865 | 3:09.589 | +1.917 |
| 8 | 14 |  David Coulthard |
Red Bull-Cosworth | 1:33.809 | 1:35.891 | 3:09.700 | +2.028 |
| 9 | 3 | Jenson Button |
BAR-Honda | 1:33.616 | 1:36.216 | 3:09.832 | +2.160 |
| 10 | 8 | Nick Heidfeld |
Williams-BMW | 1:33.464 | 1:36.453 | 3:09.917 | +2.245 |
| 11 | 10 |  Juan-Pablo Montoya |
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:33.333 | 1:36.757 | 3:10.090 | +2.418 |
| 12 | 2 | Rubens Barrichello |
Ferrari | 1:34.162 | 1:37.340 | 3:11.502 | +3.830 |
| 13 | 1 | Michael Schumacher |
Ferrari | 1:34.072 | 1:37.561 | 3:11.633 | +3.961 |
| 14 | 12 | Felipe Massa |
Sauber-Petronas | 1:34.151 | 1:37.733 | 3:11.884 | +4.212 |
| 15 | 4 | Anthony Davidson |
BAR-Honda | 1:34.866 | 1:37.024 | 3:11.890 | +4.218 |
| 16 | 11 |  Jacques Villeneuve |
Sauber-Petronas | 1:34.887 | 1:38.108 | 3:12.995 | +5.323 |
| 17 | 19 |  Narain Karthikeyan |
Jordan-Toyota | 1:37.806 | 1:39.850 | 3:17.656 | +9.984 |
| 18 | 18 |  Tiago Monteiro |
Jordan-Toyota | 1:37.856 | 1:40.106 | 3:17.962 | +10.290 |
| 19 | 20 | Patrick Friesacher |
Minardi-Cosworth | 1:39.268 | 1:41.918 | 3:21.186 | +13.514 |
| 20 | 21 | Christijan Albers |
Minardi-Cosworth | 1:40.432 | 1:42.569 | 3:23.001 | +15.329 |
Race
Championship standings after the race
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
| Previous race: 2005 Australian Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 2005 season |
Next race: 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2004 Malaysian Grand Prix |
Malaysian Grand Prix | Next race: 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix |
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