Sep 20, 2005 08:49 AM
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(Updated Sep 20, 2005 11:26 AM)
Now that we are nearing the Final Moments of the Formula 1 Season 2005, I thought of writing a review on the Year gone by…
This year has been full of controversies, Accidents, Bad Mouthing, New Circuit Additions and of course the Speed and Thrills we are all accustomed to seeing…
I would list down the major events that spanned this Season…
The year started on the best possible note for Indian Motor sports when our Fastest Indian Narain Karthikeyan was signed by the Jordan Team to drive their car, it was a historical Day for him and India as a whole. The Jordan Team also signed another Rookie Tiego Monteiro to partner him and this was a new thing as after a very long time both the Drivers for a Team were First Timers.
The Opening Race in Melbourne, Australia saw a surprise winner in Giancarlo Fisichella (sadly he has not won a race since then) from the Renault Team that gave us a hint that this year might belong to Renault and also that Ferrari’s long-standing Dominance might just end in 2005, and today both of those doubts have been cleared.
The second Race in Sepang, Malaysia started the Dream season of Fernando Alonso who won three consecutive races in Sepang, Bahrain and San Marino. This 24-Year-old is a great driver and well supported by his team, Renault. It proves that loads of money has gone into the R&D at Renault, barring Fisichella’s poor form, Renault has been brilliant this year.
Finland’s Kimi Raikonnen won the fifth Race of the Year at Barcelona, Spain and he also won the next race at the picturesque Monte Carlo. As of now he stands second in the Championship Race, he has had his shares of misfortunes, like a Last Lap tyre Failure at the German Grand Prix but as of today he is the Fastest Driver on the circuit.
The ninth Race of this season at Indianapolis, United States was loaded with controversies prior to the race and lots were written after the race as well. One of two tyre manufacturers Michelin decided to pull out of the race as they couldn’t ensure the safety of the drivers and the cars running on their tyres. So the race started with just three teams on the Grid- Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi-Cosworth who use Bridgestone tyres. And not surprisingly Michael Schumacher won the race (His only win this year!!!). Narain Karthikeyan won the first points of his Formula 1 Career by finishing fourth out of the six drivers, nevertheless it was a proud day for him as Formula 1 points are always well-earned points.
This year two new Race Tracks have been added – Bahrain and Turkey. From next year Montreal, Canada won’t be there due to the new Anti-Tobacco norms laid down by the Canadian Government, and if we read between the lines Indianapolis might not be there as well.
The biggest disappointment of this year has been the BAR-Honda team who showed such great promise last year and much was expected from them this year, but Jenson Button is currently 12th and Takumo Sato has only 1 point to his credit. Apart from this the Williams Team has also under performed in a big way with both of their drivers Australia’s Mark Webber and Germany’s Nick Heidfeld performing poorly. Maybe next year with some luck we can see better results from both of these teams.
The Red Bull Racing Team made their debut this year with David Coulthard and Christian Klien in their ranks, Another Former Champion Jacques Villeneuve made a comeback with the Sauber-Petronas Team.
As of today 16 out of the 19 races are over and Fernando Alonso leads with 111 points, followed by Kimi Raikonnen at 86 points, a margin of 25 points, and Raikonnen has only a mathematical chance of winning or if Alonso performs to the worst of his capabilities. Michael Schumacher is third with 55 points and Juan Pablo Montoya fourth with 50 points.
In the Constructers Championship, Mclaren and Renault have a neck-to-neck battle with Renault leading by just six points, and who would win take this years Honours is anybody’s guess. Ferrari is third with 90 points and Toyota is at fourth with 80 points.
This year we would have a new Champion after five long years’ of Michael Schumacher’s dominance at the top, and it has brought new popularity to the sport as there was a huge debate last year that F1 has become very boring due to his continuous dominance. Due to this only, lots of changes were decided by FIA, The Governing Body of F1 like new rules of qualifying, new Pit Stop Formats and new Scoring as well, and their moves have paid off pretty well much to the chagrin of Ferrari. In spite of these new rules Mclaren and Renault have been the better teams by a huge margin.
Maybe next year we would see a rejuvenated Michael Schumacher and a charged performance from Narain Karthikeyan. With new circuits and new rules the Formula 1 Season 2006 would surely bring new controversies, a new Champion, Fresh Race Circuits and new Team formations.
This review has been pretty long and I am sure I would have missed some valuable points, please use the Comments section for additions or corrections.
Hope this review was useful to you all.
