Spanish GP 2005: Räikkönen wins comfortably, Schumacher hit by tyre trouble

Kimi Räikkönen dominated the 2005 Spanish GP at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He started from pole, led every lap and claimed the first win of the season for McLaren. Home hero Fernando Alonso took second place in the Renault, while Jarno Trulli finished third in the Toyota. At the flag, Räikkönen was almost half a minute clear of Alonso. The race was effectively decided as soon as it restarted after the Safety Car.

One team was missing from the fifth round of the season: BAR were serving the first of a two-race ban following the irregularities at the San Marino GP.

Mark Webber lined up second on the grid in the Williams but made a poor getaway. Alonso and Ralf Schumacher both got past him. Further back, neither Minardi got away from the start. While the cars of Patrick Friesacher and Christijan Albers were pushed off the track, the Safety Car came out at the end of the first lap.

After the restart, Räikkönen immediately turned up the pace. According to grandprix.com, he set the fastest lap of the race 13 times in 17 laps. After his first pit stop he saw how big his lead was and eased off. Nobody threatened him after that.

In the refuelling era the stops decided a lot, and several drivers were unlucky. Webber had qualified on low fuel. Williams brought him in early to refuel, on lap 18 according to grandprix.com. He dropped from fourth to tenth. After that his tyres vibrated badly and he could only manage sixth place.

Trulli had a brief scare at his stop on lap 25: some spilt fuel briefly caught fire. He fell from fourth to eighth. Even so, he worked his way up to third and kept team-mate Ralf Schumacher behind him all the way to the flag.

It was even worse for Juan Pablo Montoya. He had missed two races with a shoulder injury and was making his comeback here. On lap 7 he spun without hitting anything. When he pitted from third, no fuel went into the tank. According to grandprix.com, an electrical fault with the refuelling rig was to blame. Montoya had to come in again to refuel and dropped as far back as twelfth. In the end he finished seventh, a lap down on the winner.

Alonso struggled with blistering on his left-rear tyre. He had to look after his tyres and was never able to attack Räikkönen.

For Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari, the race went well for a long time. He had started from eighth on the grid and was running third after his stop. On lap 44 he came into the pits with a left-rear puncture. According to crash.net, it caught the Ferrari crew by surprise. On his out-lap, the left-front tyre also gave way under braking for the first corner. Schumacher parked the car after 46 laps. Because two tyres failed in quick succession, grandprix.com considered wear a more likely cause than debris on the track. It was Schumacher's third retirement of the season.

Team-mate Rubens Barrichello had to start ten places further back after an engine change. He climbed from 16th on the grid to ninth, but narrowly missed out on the points.

• Vitantonio Liuzzi (Red Bull) had already made a poor start. After 9 laps he spun into the gravel.
• Patrick Friesacher (Minardi) spun off the track after 11 laps.
• Christijan Albers (Minardi) retired after 19 laps with a gearbox failure.
• Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber) retired after 51 laps with an engine failure. According to Wikipedia, a water leak had caused the engine to overheat.
• Felipe Massa (Sauber) ran in the points for a long time. He dropped back after his final pit stop and stopped shortly before the end with a broken wheel rim. Having completed 63 laps, he was still classified eleventh.

Giancarlo Fisichella had an eventful race. A part under the nose of his Renault broke, costing him front-end downforce. An unscheduled stop dropped him to eleventh. He then fought his way back up to fifth, finishing ahead of Webber among others. On the final lap he set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:15.641. That denied Räikkönen the grand chelem: pole, win, leading every lap and fastest lap.

Winners: After a flawless weekend, Räikkönen claimed the third win of his career. At the San Marino GP two weeks earlier, he had come away empty-handed. Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld gained the most places, seven each. Heidfeld started 17th after a penalty for an engine change and finished tenth. Tiago Monteiro (Jordan) started last after an engine change and gained six places to finish twelfth. Toyota brought both cars home in third and fourth with Trulli and Ralf Schumacher.

Losers: Michael Schumacher came away with nothing after his retirement. Webber lost four places and could only finish sixth despite starting from the front row. The refuelling problem probably cost Montoya a possible podium. David Coulthard took the final point in eighth for Red Bull. Narain Karthikeyan finished 13th and last in the second Jordan.

With his second place, Alonso extended his lead in the 2005 standings. He now had 44 points, with Trulli next on 26. The win lifted Räikkönen to third on 17 points. Behind him were Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher with 14 each, while Webber had 12. Michael Schumacher had no more than 10 points and was down in seventh.

In the constructors' standings, Renault led with 58 points ahead of Toyota on 40 and McLaren on 37. Williams had 21 points, Ferrari 18.

In context: The win in Barcelona showed that McLaren had the fastest car over a race weekend. Until then, reliability problems had largely prevented Räikkönen from turning that into points. Ferrari's weak season continued, with the tyres causing problems time and again. Alonso was already 27 points ahead of Räikkönen, a sizeable cushion in the title race. You can find all the results of the season in the 2005 results overview.