2005 Belgian Grand Prix

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.

Report

Background

Before the race, In the World Drivers' Championship Renault driver Fernando Alonso was leading with 103 points; Kimi Räikkönen was second on 76 points, 27 points behind Alonso. Behind Alonso and Räikkönen in the Drivers' Championship, Michael Schumacher was third on 55 points in a Ferrari, with Juan Pablo Montoya and Jarno Trulli on 50 and 43 points respectively. Renault were leading the Constructors' Championship with 144 points and McLaren were second with 136 points, with Ferrari third on 58 points.

Practice and qualifying

Four practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—two on Friday from 11:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 15:00 local time, with the final two sessions held on Saturday morning between 09:00 to 09:45 and 10:15 to 11:00. In the first free practice session on Friday, Räikkönen was fastest with 1:48.206 minutes ahead of Wurz and Fisichella. In the second session on Friday, no driver recorded valid times due to adverse weather conditions. The only drivers who took to the track during the session were Liuzzi, Doornbos and Alonso. Running was stopped just five minutes into the one-hour session after Liuzzi's car swerved left under braking for Les Combes and spun 180 degrees before hitting the barriers on the right hand side then spinning across the gravel and coming to rest at a second set of barriers.

Saturday's afternoon qualifying session took place as a one-lap session held between 13:00 and 14:00. Drivers went out one at a time in the reverse order of their finishing positions at the previous race. The cars ran on the fuel that would be used for the Sunday race.

Race

The race took place in the afternoon from 14:00 local time. On lap 11 Fisichella had an accident at Eau Rouge, emerging unhurt from his wrecked Renault but this brought out the safety car. On lap 14, Takuma Sato hit Michael Schumacher's car from behind, causing both to retire. Antônio Pizzonia crashed into Juan Pablo Montoya—in second position at the time—shortly before the finish of the race. Jacques Villeneuve was able to finish sixth by virtue of a one-stop pit strategy, while other drivers stopped as many as five times.

This race saw the Jordan team score their final point, courtesy of Tiago Monteiro, while the BAR team achieved their last podium finish through Jenson Button. Also, Ralf Schumacher scored his last, and Toyota's first, fastest lap.

Post-race

The race stewards ruled that Sato had caused the collision with Schumacher, and he would consequently drop ten places on the grid for the next Grand Prix in Brazil. They also fined Pizzonia $8,000 for his collision with Montoya.

Unusually, McLaren did not send a representative to the podium to collect the constructors' trophy, so, Räikkönen accepted it on behalf of the team.

Classification

Qualifying

;Notes:

• – Giancarlo Fisichella started the race from 13th place – the result of a ten-place grid penalty given for an engine change between final practice and qualifying on the Saturday.

Race

;Notes:

• – Robert Doornbos and Christijan Albers started the race from the pitlane.

Championship standings after the race

• Bold text and an asterisk indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion. ;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

| Previous_year's_race = 2004 Belgian Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 2007 Belgian Grand Prix

References

1. "2005 FORMULA 1 Belgian Grand Prix - Race".
2. "2005 Italian GP".
3. (15 December 2004). "2005 Formula One Sporting Regulations". [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile]].
4. "Second Practice Washed Out - Belgium". Autosport.com.
5. (11 September 2005). "Belgian Grand Prix as it happened".
6. (11 September 2005). "Sato docked ten places in Brazil for accident".
7. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0kBiCyzimc&t=123s Belgian Grand Prix 2005 - Podium (MTV3) (Räikkönen collects the constructors' trophy at the 2:03 mark)]
8. "2005 FORMULA 1 Belgian Grand Prix - Qualifying". Formula1.com Limited.
9. Gray, Will. (14 September 2005). "The 2005 Belgian Grand Prix Review".
10. "2005 FORMULA 1 Belgian Grand Prix - Race". Formula1.com Limited.
11. (11 September 2005). "2005 Belgian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive".
12. "Belgium 2005 - Championship • STATS F1".