2005 Italian Grand Prix

The 2005 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One race, held on September 4, 2005 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit. Fifteenth race of the 2005 Formula One season, it was the event in which Juan Pablo Montoya achieved the fastest ever speed recorded during a F1 race, 372.6 km/h (231.5 mph).

Report
Kimi Räikkönen qualified his McLaren-Mercedes fastest, but received a 10-place grid penalty for changing his engine, demoting him to 11th on the grid and giving pole to Juan Pablo Montoya.

The race was won by Montoya with Fernando Alonso second and Giancarlo Fisichella third. Räikkönen climbed from 11th place to finish 4th, ahead of Jarno Trulli, Ralf Schumacher, Antônio Pizzonia and Jenson Button. Räikkönen would have had a chance of winning with a one-stop-strategy, but a deflated tyre forced him to make a second pit-stop.

The race allowed Alonso on 103 points to stay in first place in the Drivers' Championship and extended his lead by three points over Räikkönen on 76. Then followed Michael Schumacher still on 55 points. After this Grand Prix, the championship become a two horse race between Alonso and Räikkönen, eliminating Schumacher from mathematical contention although it had been unlikely for some time that Schumacher would be contending for the title. Montoya gained 10 points on Schumacher but still remained in 4th place on 50 points. Renault retained the lead of the Constructors' Championship with 146 points, a ten point advantage over McLaren-Mercedes on 136. Remaining in third place was Ferrari with 86 points; Toyota collected 7 points and had 78 points.

There were no retirements during the race, a feat that had not happened to a full field in Formula One since the 1961 Dutch Grand Prix. The 2005 United States Grand Prix is also considered as a race with no retirements, however only six cars started due to problems with the supply of Michelin tyres, which led to the mass withdrawal of all teams running on those tyres due to safety issues. Antônio Pizzonia replaced Nick Heidfeld for the rest of the season onwards.

Standings after the race

 * Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.


 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Constructors' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.