Brazil: Zonta gives Toyota atlest one highlight
By Nick Sparkes
September 23 2005
Panasonic Toyota Racing began their Brazilian Grand Prix weekend in familiar fashion with homeboy Ricardo Zonta popping his Toyota into the top 3 during the second session. Race drivers Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher faired differently with neither driver entering the top 8 in both sessions.
On a warm Friday morning, Ricardo Zonta set about getting the majority of the work done for Toyota. The Brazilian in front of his home crowd didn’t disappoint, pumping in an amazing 31 laps before the chequered flag came out. Sadly Zonta, who had been running in the top 3 for the first half of the session, ended up tenth, yet still the highest of the Toyota’s. Ralf Schumacher put in only a handful of laps to finish behind Zonta in eleventh, whilst Jarno Trulli struggled to get his TF105 anywhere near his team-mates, as the Italian only set the fifteenth fastest time. Back up at the sharp end, McLaren (as usually) dominated Practice with Alexandra Wurz taking top honours, with a mixture of BAR’s, Renault’s and McLaren’s rounding out the top places.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
| 1 | A. Wurz | Team McLaren Mercedes |
1:11.701 |
25 |
| 2 | T. Sato | Lucky Strike BAR Honda |
1:12.738 |
17 |
| 3 | F. Alonso | Mild Seven Renault F1 Team |
1:12.782 |
10 |
| 4 | J. Button | Lucky Strike BAR Honda |
1:12.918 |
12 |
| 5 | K. Raikkonen | Team McLaren Mercedes |
1:13.065 |
7 |
| 6 | G. Fisichella | Mild Seven Renault F1 Team |
1:13.094 |
10 |
| 7 | J. Montoya | Team McLaren Mercedes |
1:13.256 |
6 |
| 8 | A. Pizzonia | BMW WilliamsF1 Team |
1:13.427 |
4 |
| 9 | M. Webber | BMW WilliamsF1 Team |
1:13.509 |
4 |
| 10 | R. Zonta | Panasonic Toyota Racing |
1:13.573 |
31 |
| 11 | R. Schumacher | Panasonic Toyota Racing |
1:13.788 |
6 |
| 12 | M. Schumacher | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro |
1:14.154 |
10 |
| 13 | R. Barrichello | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro |
1:14.282 |
10 |
| 14 | C. Klien | Red Bull Racing |
1:14.468 |
7 |
| 15 | J. Trulli | Panasonic Toyota Racing |
1:14.504 |
6 |
| 16 | D. Coulthard | Red Bull Racing |
1:14.724 |
7 |
| 17 | V. Liuzzi | Red Bull Racing |
1:14.842 |
28 |
| 18 | J. Villeneuve | Sauber Petronas |
1:15.211 |
14 |
| 19 | N. Karthikeyan | Jordan Grand Prix |
1:16.230 |
14 |
| 20 | T. Monteiro | Jordan Grand Prix |
1:16.230 |
15 |
| 21 | N. Kiesa | Jordan Grand Prix |
1:16.351 |
23 |
| 22 | R. Doornbos | Minardi F1 Team |
1:16.769 |
12 |
| 23 | C. Albers | Minardi F1 Team |
1:17.180 |
8 |
| 24 | F. Massa | Sauber Petronas |
no time |
5 |
The second session saw a reversal of fortunes for Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher, whilst Ricardo Zonta put in another decent 36 laps, to the delight of his Brazilian fans. This time Zonta put in a fine lap to round out third and was the highest placed non-McLaren during the second session. Jarno Trulli looked to have finally got to grips with his TF105, taking up ninth, but behind the two Ferrari’s of Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher. Ralf Schumacher this time failed to make any impression on the front of the field, finishing off the day a disappointing eighteenth. Once again McLaren were the team to beat, with Wurz and Montoya leading the time sheets. Sauber put in a surprising handful of laps to put Felipe Massa fourth and Jacques Villeneuve seventh, putting all four Ferrari engines in the top ten, a first this season.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
| 1 | A. Wurz | Team McLaren Mercedes |
1:12.083 |
38 |
| 2 | J. Montoya | Team McLaren Mercedes |
1:12.694 |
13 |
| 3 | R. Zonta | Panasonic Toyota Racing |
1:12.706 |
36 |
| 4 | F. Massa | Sauber Petronas |
1:12.710 |
28 |
| 5 | R. Barrichello | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro |
1:13.088 |
21 |
| 6 | K. Raikkonen | Team McLaren Mercedes |
1:13.172 |
18 |
| 7 | J. Villeneuve | Sauber Petronas |
1:13.202 |
21 |
| 8 | M. Schumacher | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro |
1:13.205 |
24 |
| 9 | J. Trulli | Panasonic Toyota Racing |
1:13.493 |
26 |
| 10 | G. Fisichella | Mild Seven Renault F1 Team |
1:13.518 |
29 |
| 11 | F. Alonso | Mild Seven Renault F1 Team |
1:13.545 |
29 |
| 12 | M. Webber | BMW WilliamsF1 Team |
1:13.650 |
18 |
| 13 | A. Pizzonia | BMW WilliamsF1 Team |
1:13.828 |
19 |
| 14 | R. Doornbos | Minardi F1 Team |
1:13.922 |
28 |
| 15 | D. Coulthard | Red Bull Racing |
1:14.006 |
22 |
| 16 | V. Liuzzi | Red Bull Racing |
1:14.141 |
29 |
| 17 | J. Button | Lucky Strike BAR Honda |
1:14.189 |
26 |
| 18 | R. Schumacher | Panasonic Toyota Racing |
1:14.427 |
20 |
| 19 | C. Albers | Minardi F1 Team |
1:14.563 |
23 |
| 20 | T. Sato | Lucky Strike BAR Honda |
1:14.584 |
27 |
| 21 | T. Monteiro | Jordan Grand Prix |
1:14.671 |
22 |
| 22 | C. Klien | Red Bull Racing |
1:14.698 |
7 |
| 23 | N. Kiesa | Jordan Grand Prix |
1:15.094 |
25 |
| 24 | N. Karthikeyan | Jordan Grand Prix |
1:15.187 |
19 |
Times courtesy of toyota-f1.com