F1 Legend Sim/Seasons/2005

2005 F1 Season

19 races · Renault R25

The 2005 season ended Ferrari's reign and gave birth to a new star. A rule change (a single set of tyres for the whole race) sank Bridgestone and Ferrari and opened the door to Renault and McLaren.

Aged just 24, Fernando Alonso drove the solid, reliable Renault R25 with maturity beyond his years and became the youngest world champion in history at the time, breaking Schumacher's stranglehold. His great rival, Kimi Räikkönen, was often faster with the McLaren MP4/20, but disastrous reliability squandered his chances.

The year was also marred by the embarrassing United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, where safety problems with Michelin tyres left only six cars on track, one of the most awkward episodes in the sport's modern history.

Drivers’ Champion

Fernando Alonso

Renault R25

Constructors’ Champion

Renault

19 races

See the 2005 simulation Ver en español

Key moment

«Alonso celebrates the title in Brazil, the youngest champion in history at that point.»

The 2005 grid, car by car

The 10 teams that raced in 2005, ordered by how good we rate the car. It is our own judgement, not an official figure: what it is worth is that the same yardstick is applied to every season since 1988, so you can compare eras.

#TeamOur ratingDrivers
1McLaren
98
Kimi Räikkönen · Juan Pablo Montoya
2Renault
97
Fernando Alonso · Giancarlo Fisichella
3Ferrari
90
Michael Schumacher · Rubens Barrichello
4Williams
86
Mark Webber · Nick Heidfeld
5Toyota
85
Ralf Schumacher · Jarno Trulli
6BAR
84
Jenson Button · Takuma Sato
7Sauber
81
Felipe Massa · Jacques Villeneuve
8Red Bull
80
David Coulthard · Christian Klien
9Jordan
73
Tiago Monteiro · Narain Karthikeyan
10Minardi
68
Christijan Albers · Patrick Friesacher

How 2005 actually ended

The official final standings, from the Australian Grand Prix to the Chinese Grand Prix. This is the real result; the simulation is further down.

DriverPointsWinsPodiumsPoles
1Fernando AlonsoRenault1337156
2Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren1127125
3Michael SchumacherFerrari62151
4Juan Pablo MontoyaMcLaren60352
5Giancarlo FisichellaRenault58131
6Ralf SchumacherToyota45021
7Jarno TrulliToyota43031
8Rubens BarrichelloFerrari38040

Alonso took it by 21 points with 7 wins and 6 poles across 19 races. 5 different drivers won that season, and the last Grand Prix went to Fernando Alonso.

Official FIA standings via Jolpica (formerly Ergast).

2005, race by race

All 19 races: who started first, who won and from where, and how many cars reached the flag.

5different drivers won: Alonso 7 · Räikkönen 7 · Montoya 3 · Fisichella 1 · Schumacher 1.

3different teams won: McLaren 10 · Renault 8 · Ferrari 1.

9different drivers took pole: Alonso 6 · Räikkönen 5 · Montoya 2 · Button 1 · Fisichella 1 · Heidfeld 1 · Schumacher 1 · Schumacher 1 · Trulli 1.

13different drivers stood on the podium.

2one-twos for a single team: Ferrari 1 · McLaren 1.

9 of 19races were won from pole position.

0first-ever wins: every winner had won before.

From 17ththe win from furthest back: Kimi Räikkönen, Japanese Grand Prix.

23 years, 234 daysthe youngest winner of the year: Fernando Alonso, Malaysian Grand Prix.

75%of starts reached the flag (271 of 361).

11 of 20cars finished the Canadian Grand Prix, the race with fewest survivors.

0hat tricks (pole, win and fastest lap). Most fastest laps: Räikkönen 10 · Schumacher 3 · Alonso 2.

#Grand PrixWinnerStarted
1Australian Grand PrixGiancarlo FisichellaRenault1st
2Malaysian Grand PrixFernando AlonsoRenault1st
3Bahrain Grand PrixFernando AlonsoRenault1st
4San Marino Grand PrixFernando AlonsoRenault2nd
5Spanish Grand PrixKimi RäikkönenMcLaren1st
6Monaco Grand PrixKimi RäikkönenMcLaren1st
7European Grand PrixFernando AlonsoRenault6th
8Canadian Grand PrixKimi RäikkönenMcLaren7th
9United States Grand PrixMichael SchumacherFerrari5th
10French Grand PrixFernando AlonsoRenault1st
11British Grand PrixJuan Pablo MontoyaMcLaren3rd
12German Grand PrixFernando AlonsoRenault3rd
13Hungarian Grand PrixKimi RäikkönenMcLaren4th
14Turkish Grand PrixKimi RäikkönenMcLaren1st
15Italian Grand PrixJuan Pablo MontoyaMcLaren1st
16Belgian Grand PrixKimi RäikkönenMcLaren2nd
17Brazilian Grand PrixJuan Pablo MontoyaMcLaren2nd
18Japanese Grand PrixKimi RäikkönenMcLaren17th
19Chinese Grand PrixFernando AlonsoRenault1st

Pole goes to whoever started first, after penalties. «Finished» counts classified cars that took the flag. Fastest lap is the race fastest lap.

What if 2005 had been raced 100 times?

We took the real 2005 grid (every car with its performance and reliability, every driver with his rating) and re-ran the full 17-race championship 100 times.

DriverAvg. finishTitles
Fernando Alonsoreal championRenaultP1.373%
Kimi RäikkönenMcLarenP1.827%
Juan Pablo MontoyaMcLarenP3.10%
Michael SchumacherFerrariP4.40%
Giancarlo FisichellaRenaultP4.50%
Rubens BarrichelloFerrariP6.10%

Fernando Alonso takes the title 73% of the time: one in every 4 simulated championships goes to somebody else, almost always Kimi Räikkönen. It was not a dominated year, it was a won one.

What if Senna, Hamilton or Alonso had driven the 2005 championship-winning car?

Build your own hypothesis

Hypotheses from 2005

Alonso vs Räikkönen 2005: the Asturian's first title

Duel

▶ Simulate now

Drivers of 2005

Fernando Alonso★ 2Kimi Räikkönen★ 1
All seasons 1980-2025

Keep reading

What we have measured about 2005 and about what decided it, with our own numbers.

All articles