Alonso wins Bahrain Grand Prix
Fernando Alonso won the Bahrain Grand Prix in style today to take control of the world championship and leave Michael Schumacher with a mountain to climb.
Ferrari arrived in Bahrain with their new car and expected to improve on two dismal showings for Schumacher so far in 2005.
But the world champion retired on lap 12 after a spin to leave the way clear for Renault driver Alonso to take an easy 10 points, putting him a massive 24 ahead of Schumacher in the title race.
With Schumacher’s team-mate Rubens Barrichello languishing a lap down in ninth, Schumacher’s retirement marked an inauspicious debut for Ferrari’s new car, rushed in two races ahead of schedule.
Jarno Trulli scored Toyota’s second successive podium with a neat drive to second which emphasised the Japanese team’s rapid change of fortunes.
Kimi Raikkonen gave McLaren their first podium of the season with third after a string of bad luck for the British team this season.
Ralf Schumacher confirmed Toyota’s new-found strength to take fourth place while Pedro de la Rosa enjoyed an action-packed McLaren debut to equal his best-ever finish of fifth. Mark Webber’s challenge faded late on and he finished sixth with Sauber’s Felipe Massa seventh.
David Coulthard kept up his 100% record this season by taking a point for eighth but BAR are still waiting for their first race finish after Jenson Button and Takuma Sato both retired.
Before the race even started, Christian Klien could not convince his Red Bull to leave the grid for the formation lap and retired.
Giancarlo Fisichella did make the start but got little further, retiring his smoking Renault on lap five.
Second-placed Michael Schumacher pushed too hard chasing Alonso on lap 12 and outbraked himself at turn 10 before returning to the Ferrari pits to retire.
Alonso gave up his lead on lap 20 to head into the pits as de la Rosa tried too hard to pass Takuma Sato for sixth and ran wide.
Barrichello continued Ferrari’s miserable debut for their new car when he overdid it on lap 25 attempting to catch Sato and ran wide. The pair pitted on the same lap and swapped positions.
Both drivers moved up the order a lap later when Nick Heidfeld’s Williams-BMW engine expired in a cloud of smoke.
Sato’s good fortune did not last long, however, as he suffered serious brake problems which forced him to retire on lap 27.
Alonso was gradually stretching out a lead over Trulli up front with third-placed Webber some way off that battle.
The Australian was under pressure from Raikkonen but behind that scrap, de la Rosa overtook Button for seventh at the first corner of lap 33.
Webber let the pressure get to him on lap 35 when he spun at speed to gift third to Raikkonen, who almost blew his podium chances by running badly wide two laps later.
The Brazilian’s new Ferrari was struggling badly as its Bridgestone tyres appeared to be fading in the sweltering heat, giving de la Rosa and Button the opportunity to pass.
Button’s good work was undone on lap 46 when he stalled his engine in the pits. He lost over a minute as his team struggled to refire it but only parked up a few yards down the road.
Barrichello’s difficult day continued when Massa passed him for seventh on lap 52. De la Rosa continued to provide good entertainment and passed Webber for fifth with two laps left.
Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, Manama, Bahrain
57 laps: 1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1hr 29mins 18.531secs, 2 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:29:31.940, 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 1:29:50.594, 4 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:30:11.803, 5 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams BMW 1:30:23.519, 6 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) McLaren Mercedes 1:30:33.232, 7 Felipe Massa (Bra) Sauber Petronas at 1 lap, 8 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull at 1 lap, 9 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari at 1 lap, 10 Tiago Monteiro (Por) Jordan Toyota at 2 lap, 11 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) Sauber Petronas at 3 laps, 12 Patrick Friesacher (Aut) Minardi Cosworth at 3 laps, 13 Christijan Albers (Ned) Minardi Cosworth at 4 laps
Not Classified: 14 Jenson Button (Gbr) BAR Honda 46 laps completed, 15 Takuma Sato (Jpn) BAR Honda 27 laps completed, 16 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Williams BMW 25 laps completed, 17 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 12 laps completed, 18 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 4 laps completed, 19 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) Jordan Toyota 2 laps completed, 20 Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull 0 laps completed
World Championship Standings
Drivers’ Championship: 1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 26pts, 2 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 16, 3 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 10, 4 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 9, 5 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 9, 6 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 8, 7 Juan Montoya (Col) McLaren Mercedes 8, 8 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams BMW 8, 9 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 7, 10 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Williams BMW 6, 11 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) McLaren Mercedes 3, 12 Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull 3, 13 Felipe Massa (Bra) Sauber Petronas 2, 14 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 2
Manufacturers’ Championship: 1 Renault 36pts, 2 Toyota 25, 3 McLaren Mercedes 18, 4 Williams BMW 14, 5 Red Bull 12, 6 Ferrari 10, 7 Sauber Petronas 2
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