Italy: Toyota closes on Ferrari after Italian GP


By Nick Sparkes
September 5 2005

Panasonic Toyota Racing put in an excellent run to 5th and 6th at the finish to close to within eight points of Ferrari in the constructors championship. Jarno Trulli drove an excellent opening lap whilst Ralf Schumacher took his time to work his way up through the field.

In an eventful race dogged by tyre failures, Toyota lead home another double points finish, with Jarno Trulli ahead of team-mate Ralf Schumacher come the chequered flag.

Juan Pablo Montoya almost lost his second victory of the season after suffering from a deflating right rear tyre. But the McLaren was able to take the finish, just a handful of seconds ahead of championship leader Fernando Alonso. Giancarlo Fisichella was able to add an Italian to the podium after driving a careful race to finish third.

Championship contender Kimi Raikkonen, fighting his way back from a 10-place penalty due to an engine change, suffered from his own tyre failure and a near race ending spin in the dying stages of the race. But amazingly the young Finn was still able to finish a creditable fourth, although his title hopes seriously damaged.

Behind both Ferrari’s and BAR Honda’s failed to live up to their start line positions, moving backwards down the field after the first round of pit stops.

Pos. Driver Team Laps Time Gap Kph Best Lap
1 J. Montoya Team McLaren Mercedes
53
1:14:28.659
247.096
1:21.828
15
2 F. Alonso Mild Seven Renault F1 Team
53
1:14:31.138
2.479
246.959
1:22.146
16
3 G. Fisichella Mild Seven Renault F1 Team
53
1:14:46.634
17.975
246.106
1:22.587
16
4 K. Raikkonen
 Team McLaren Mercedes
53
1:14:51.434
22.775
245.843
1:21.504
51
5 J. Trulli Panasonic Toyota Racing
53
1:15:02.445
33.786
245.242
1:22.831
19
6 R. Schumacher Panasonic Toyota Racing
53
1:15:12.584
43.925
244.691
1:23.076
19
7 A. Pizzonia BMW WilliamsF1 Team
53
1:15:13.302
44.643
244.652
1:22.870
21
8 J. Button
 Lucky Strike BAR Honda
53
1:15:32.294
1:03.635
243.627
1:23.161
16
9 F. Massa Sauber Petronas
53
1:15:44.072
1:15.413
242.996
1:23.365
18
10 M. Schumacher Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
53
1:16:04.729
1:36.070
241.896
1:23.584
5
11 J. Villeneuve Sauber Petronas
52
1:14:29.901
+1lap
242.362
1:23.892
13
12 R. Barrichello
 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
52
1:14:33.570
+1lap
242.163
1:23.466
13
13 C. Klien
 Red Bull Racing
52
1:14:34.359
+1lap
242.121
1:23.633
17
14 M. Webber BMW WilliamsF1 Team
52
1:14:35.624
+1lap
242.052
1:22.935
40
15
 D. Coulthard
 Red Bull Racing
52
1:14:51.151
+1lap
241.215
1:23.867
18
16
 T. Sato
 Lucky Strike BAR Honda
52
1:14:52.104
+1lap
241.164
1:23.341
14
17
 T. Monteiro
 Jordan Grand Prix
51
1:14:42.264
+2laps
237.041
1:24.810
9
18
 R. Doornbos
 Minardi F1 Team
51
1:14:53.706
+2laps
236.437
1:25.193
31
19
 C. Albers
 Minardi F1 Team
51
1:15:26.715
+2laps
234.713
1:24.966
33
20 N. Karthikeyan
 Jordan Grand Prix
50
1:15:45.892
+3laps
229.135
1:25.146
17

Results courtesy of toyota-f1.com