Sixth place for Webber in Spain.


Mark in sixth.
By Andrew Hooper
May 17 2005

The Spanish Grand Prix would see the BMW WilliamsF1 team come away with just a sixth place from Mark Webber. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld was down in tenth. After starting second on the grid Mark struggled for the rest of the race after he made his first fuel stop.

Spanish GP Review

WebberFor the BMW WilliamsF1 team the Spanish Grand Prix again was another race that got away from them. Starting from second on the grid the best that Mark could manage was a disappointing sixth. Nick was down in tenth after suffering from his ten place grid penalty. With the race been sixty-six laps the drivers would line up on the grid. Mark would hope to make the most of his second place on the grid. With the race been sixty six laps the drivers would line up on the grid.

The start would see both Albers and Friesacher stalled on the grid. Webber was passed by Alonso and Ralf which would see him back to fourth position. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld was now in twelfth. With the safety car out Kimi would restart the race. Montoya would take seventh from Michael Schumacher.

Lap three and Kimi would set a fest lap, 1m:19.111. He would drop this to a 1m:17.651 the following lap. Next lap it was down to 1m:17.377. Both Minardi's were able to join the race after been restarted. Webber was now only 0.8 seconds behind Ralf fighting for third. Massa and Coulthard were closing in on Michael. Raikkonen again set a fastest lap, 1m:17.253, on lap six. Another fastest lap on seven a 1m:17.196.

Webber Montoya would spin his McLaren but was able to keep going in seventh position. Team-mate Raikkonen was fastest again on lap ten, a 1m:16.780, with Alonso in second, Ralf in third and Mark in fourth. Liuzzi would spin off into the gravel at turn seven and was the first retirement of the race. Another fastest lap from Kimi, a 1m:16.592, on lap eleven. The gap back to Alonso was now out to 8.5 seconds. Kimi would continue to set fastest lap after lap. He would pull out 1.2 seconds on Alonso on lap thirteen. Webber was struggling to keep up with Ralf and Alonso. Another fastest lap for Kimi on lap twenty. Mark would pit dropping down to tenth place. At the front Kimi was now 21.8 seconds ahead of Alonso after twenty one laps. Ralf was now right behind the Renault, 0.9 seconds. Ralf would pit from third returning with no problems.

Kimi would pit from the lead, returning in the same place. Trulli would pit coming out n front of Ralf. Alonso would also pit. Alonso comes out in fifth ahead of the two Toyotas. Fisichella would pit from second place. Montoya was also in while Michael Schumacher was now in second behind Kimi. On lap thirty it was now Michael's turn to set the fastest lap of the race, a 1m:16.019. He would set another the following lap, a 1m:15.648. Montoya would return to his pit after it looked like he did not get enough fuel.

Michael would pits on lap thirty three. Barrichello was the last driver to pit. At the front Raikkonen was now 25 second ahead of Fisichella with another 3.1 seconds to Alonso. Michael was 35.2 seconds behind Raikkonen and in fourth place. Trulli and Ralf were in fifth and sixth. mark was in seventh while Nick was down in eleventh. Coulthard was in eighth. After his extra stop Montoya was down in tenth.

Heidfeld Fisichella would pit early coming in for a new nose. Bodywork on his car was stuck underneath. He would return in eleventh position losing a whole lap. Michael was now in third and Alonso second. Coulthard was in seventh while Mark would pit returning in ninth. Michael would also pit after a short second stint. He would come out just in from of Webber in eighth. He would start to attack Montoya who was in seventh. But Michael's race would turn bad when he would suffer a flat tyre. He would struggle to get back to his pit. He would retire from the race on lap forty nine. Trulli and Ralf were in third and fourth.

At the front both Kimi and Alonso would pit, returning in first and second. Ralf would start to attack his team-mate for third place. But Ralf would pit, joined by Coulthard. Trulli would also come in. While this was happening Villeneuve would retire. Mark was now in eighth, with Nick right behind him.

FW27 With fifty five laps run Kimi was looking comfortable at the front. Heidfeld would pit. With ten laps of the race remaining the retirements were Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher, Albers, Friesacher and Liuzzi. Montoya would pit, while Ralf would continue to close in on team-mate Trulli. Mark was now in fifth with Fisichella behind him. Nick was now in tenth.

With two laps to go Raikkonen was 25.6 seconds ahead of Alonso. Fisichella would pass Webber at the end of the straight and through the Elf chicane. Massa would retire two laps from the end of the race with left suspension problems. Ralf was now just 0.3 seconds behind Trulli.

So with the final lap of the race Raikkonen would lead Alonso over the finish line in a dominate performance from the Finn and the McLaren team. Jarno Trulli was in third with Ralf Schumacher finishes a very close fourth. Fisichella finished in fifth position after suffering a front wing failure. Mark would finish in sixth while Montoya would come home in seventh despite his fuel delivery failure. The final point was taken by David Coulthard.

Pos  Driver        Team                  Time
 1.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  1h27:16.830
 2.  Alonso        Renault          (M)  +    27.652
 3.  Trulli        Toyota           (M)  +    45.947
 4.  R.Schumacher  Toyota           (M)  +    46.719
 5.  Fisichella    Renault          (M)  +    57.936
 6.  Webber        WilliamsF1-BMW   (M)  +  1:08.542
 7.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes (M)  +     1 lap
 8.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Cosworth(M)  +     1 lap
 9.  Barrichello   Ferrari          (B)  +     1 lap
10.  Heidfeld      WilliamsF1-BMW   (M)  +     1 lap
11.  Massa         Sauber-Petronas  (M)  +    3 laps
12.  Monteiro      Jordan-Toyota    (B)  +    3 laps
13.  Karthikeyan   Jordan-Toyota    (B)  +    3 laps

Fastest Lap: Fisichella, 1:15.641

Not Classified/Retirements:

Driver        Team                  On Lap

Villeneuve    Sauber-Petronas  (M)    51
M.Schumacher  Ferrari          (B)    46
Albers        Minardi-Cosworth (B)    19
Friesacher    Minardi-Cosworth (B)    11
Liuzzi        Red Bull-Cosworth(M)     9
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