2005 Formula One season

The 2005 Formula One season was the 59th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship, contested over a then record 19 Grands Prix. It commenced on 6 March 2005, and ended 16 October.

Fernando Alonso and the Renault F1 team won the World Drivers' and Constructors' Championships, ending five years of dominance by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari since 2000. Alonso's success made him the youngest champion in the history of the sport, a title he held until Lewis Hamilton's 2008 title success. Renault's success was their first as a constructor. Alonso started the season off strongly, winning three of the first four races, and his title success was in little doubt. He sealed the title in Brazil with two races left after a controlled third-place finish.

Alonso and Renault had to contend with the pace of the resurgent McLaren team with lead driver Kimi Räikkönen outshining team mate Juan Pablo Montoya, who came highly regarded from his time at Williams. Räikkönen won seven races like Alonso, but would have won more if not for a remarkable string of reliability issues, resulting in qualifying engine change penalties and retirements from the lead on three occasions. Nevertheless, Räikkönen grabbed the headlines winning from near the back of the grid in Japan, passing Alonso's Renault team mate Giancarlo Fisichella on the final lap. Reigning champions Michael Schumacher and Ferrari had a poor season by their standards, with Bridgestone unable to compete with Michelin after the tyre-change ban that only affected the 2005 season. Their only win came when Michelin deemed their own tyres unsafe after several incidents in the oval turn at Indianapolis. As a result, only the six Bridgestone cars took part, which, if other drivers' non-starts does not count as participating, is the lowest attended starting field of a Formula One Grand Prix. Schumacher just held on for third in the Drivers' Championship, in spite of the superior pace of McLaren, underlying the disappointing season Montoya had. The Colombian missed two races early on due to an injury allegedly having occurred when playing tennis. He then won three races, showing glimpses of pace, but was distanced by team mate Räikkönen in the championship.

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