Sunday 24th July 2005

Renault driver Fernando Alonso won the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring, taking his sixth victory of the season, whilst Juan Pablo Montoya finished second for the McLaren team. BAR-Honda driver Jenson Button, completed the podium by finishing in third position. It was his first podium finish of the season, because the BAR team had been disqualified from the San Marino Grand Prix.Kimi Räikkönen qualified first and maintained this position after the start and first round of pitstops. Meanwhile, his team mate Juan Pablo Montoya, had gained nine positions in the first lap after he had failed to set a qualifying time and started last on the grid.However, on lap 35, Räikkönen’s car suffered a hydraulics failure forcing his retirement from the race. This meant that Fernando Alonso inherited first position. It was Räikkönen’s fifth consecutive retirement at the circuit. Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello suffered from the poor durability of the Bridgestone tyres on their Ferraris again, particularly Schumacher who had chosen a softer compound. This allowed Jenson Button to overtake Schumacher to take second place, although he quickly pitted, allowing Montoya take gain the position. Montoya then managed to stay ahead of Button after his own second stop. In the final laps of the race, Schumacher’s problems allowed Giancarlo Fisichella to take his fourth place. During the race Jacques Villeneuve was in three separate collisions; he clashed with Barrichello on lap 1, Robert Doornbos on lap 4, and Tiago Monteiro on lap 27.