The Fastest Sector is back with another Flashback Friday. Here is a brief look back at the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix.
It is the 9th October 2005 at the Suzuka International Racing Course. This is the penultimate race of the 2005 racing season and the nineteenth Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. The race was 52 laps of the 5.8 kilometre course at the permanent racing track. The weather for the race was rather good for driving, being in the mid twenties (Celsius) and dry, however qualifying was wet.
On the Saturday, the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher took pole position, his last in Formula One. The wet conditions made it difficult for some drivers and caused some usual front running cars to be out of position on the grid for the dry race the following day. Some drivers did not even set a time due to conditions worsening over the course of the first qualifying session.
Due to the mixed up grid, the first lap of the race on Sunday saw many overtakes. There were some racing incidents and a crash on the first lap, triggering some first lap pit stops and a safety car. Fernando Alonso made a flying start, recovering from his poor performance the previous day in qualifying. On the first lap alone he drove from sixteenth to seventh. He ended the race in third position.
The McLaren-Mercedes of Kimi Räikkönen won the race, also gaining the fastest lap of the race. He pulled off a brilliant but risky overtake on the final lap of the race to secure the win from a seventeenth place starting position on the grid. This was his seventh win of the season.
This race did not change the Driver Championship standing, with Alonso winning the title at the previous race weekend, and Räikkönen maintaining his second position with this win.
What races would you like to see us cover next on Flashback Friday? Leave your comments below.
Written by Alexandra.
Featured Image credit: news24.com
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