2005 Monaco Grand Prix

The 2005 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on May 22, 2005 at the Circuit de Monaco.

Summary

Polesitter Kimi Räikkönen led the field from the start of the race, and though he was at first closely followed by Fernando Alonso, he was more than five seconds ahead by the twentieth lap. The race progressed otherwise uneventfully, with Alonso followed by Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli, and Mark Webber, until the twenty-third lap, when Christijan Albers spun his Minardi into a wall at Mirabeau, blocking about two-thirds of the width of the track. David Coulthard, arriving behind him, swerved and successfully stopped his Red Bull without damage; however, Michael Schumacher plowed into Coulthard, breaking off his own nosecone and damaging the Red Bull's suspension beyond repair. As more drivers reached the blocked turn, stewards removed Albers's car and deployed the safety car.

Related Topics:
Kimi Räikkönen - Fernando Alonso - Giancarlo Fisichella - Jarno Trulli - Mark Webber - Christijan Albers - Minardi - Mirabeau - David Coulthard - Red Bull - Michael Schumacher - Safety car

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Both Renault drivers pitted immediately, but Räikkönen was unable to do the same, having just passed the pit entrance. Though this seemingly put Räikkönen in a bad spot, as all of his close competitors had pitted, he fought back with a series of brilliant laps that would give him a 34.7-second lead by the time he pitted on lap 41. Alonso, whose car was substantially slower as it was full of gas, and whose rear tyres were wearing rapidly, was unable to catch up, and Räikkönen, after pitting, returned to the track still 13 seconds ahead. He would go on to win the race having lead every lap of it.

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Nick Heidfeld worked his way up from sixth grid position, passing his own teammate in the pits after Williams called him in a lap earlier whilst Alonso was badly holding the two Williams drivers up, even though Webber was ahead of Heidfeld at this time. The extra lap Webber had behind Alonso was enough for Heidfeld to leapfrog Webber and he eventually advanced to second place by passing Alonso in the harbourside chicane. Webber followed suit a lap later, and Alonso straggled into fourth, his rear tyres almost entirely bald. Montoya advanced from sixteenth on the grid to an eventual fifth, finishing on Alonso's tail, followed by Michael and Ralf Schumacher, who crossed the line almost side-by-side.

Related Topics:
Nick Heidfeld - Chicane

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