2005 German GP - Hockenheimring

Qualifying has begun. So far the McLarens were the pacesetters in practice.m They'll need to do well here if they are to close the gap to Reanult in the championship.

At Minardi Robert Doornbos has replaced Patrick Friesacher. He is first out seting a time of 1:18.313.

Next up his team mate Albers goes comfortably quicker with a 1:17.519.

Next Karthikeyan makes a mess of his lap and abandons it, returning to the pit without recording a time.

Monteiro was very slow in the second Jordan, only managing 1:18.599. That means both Minardis have outqualified both Jordans!

Sato is the first serious contender out and ups the ante with a respectable 1:15.501.

Next Klein in his RB1. He is faster than Sato in the second sector but just misses out bettering the BAR with a time of 1:15.635.

Villeneuve now, is he getting to grips with the Sauber? He records a 1:16.012, third best so far.

Coulthard can't match his teammate - 1:15.697.

Heidfeld raises the mark to 1:15.403

Webber in the second Williams responds with a time of 1:15.070 and claims his moment of glory at the head of the list.

Saubers Felipe Massa on track next. The tiniest fraction quicker than Villenuve with a 1:16.009, slotting in 6th so far.

Qualifying specialist Truli now - but he is surprisingly slow at 1:15.532, only fourh best so far. That will be a relief to everybody in front!

A slow as Trulli seemed Ralf was a touch slower at 1:15.689. Perhaps the Toyota's are on more reasonable fuel this round? Or everybody is light?

First of the Ferraris in the hands of Barichello. They have been nowhere near the top of the time sheets in practice. What as all that extra testing produced?

Result is a painful 1:16.230, fastest Bridgestone runner but slower than ALL the Michelin cars.

Michael Scumacher turns it around 'though with possibly his quickest lap of the weekend - 1:15.006. On fumes for the home crowd fans?

Jenson Button, shuts down the Ferrari party with a time of 1:14.759 to move to provisional pole. Just the McLarens and Renaults to come now.

Fisichella can't quite match Button's BAR - 1:14.927.

Now the favourite for pole - Kimi Raikkonen. Comfortably quickest with 1:14.320. Can Alonso or Montoya beat that?

Even in the first sector Alonso is way off Kimi's pace. He finaly slots in behind Button with a 1:14.904, still quicker than his teammate.

Montoya is super quick at the start of the lap, but screws everything up at the final turn and clouts the wall! :disappoin Good for Alonso but not for the hardworking McLaren mechanics.

So Kimi takes pole, but Alonso is right behind him, which is all Fernando will need to keep doing in order to secure his maiden championship.

As usual we'll have to wait and see how the strategies play out. I'd expect that the heavy hitters are all on similar loads. Button and Schumacher lighter.

I guess Montoya can have a new engine now? The ten position penaly will not affect him since he is at the back of the grid anyway. Might be better to take over the spare if his race car requires extensive repairs.

Another bright point to note is that Williams are firmly back in the top ten after their last couple of poor efforts.

M Schumacher shocked me how long he went. Lap 22 was is first pit, same lap as Fonso.

Kimis reliability woes are back!

Bloody hell! I tune in just in time to see that.

Congratulations Fernando Alonso - 2005 WDC.

I make that the third time this year Kimi has retired from the lead of a GP. Add that to his 10 position grid penalties and it is frightening.

I wonder how fueled up Montoya is? He could jump both Button and Schumacher if the stops work out to his advantage.

Button finaly finds a way past Schumacher. :)

And the BAR pits soon after. Now Montoya will need to find a way past Schumacher.

Schumacher in, releasing Montoya. What can he do with his McLaren?

Slow lap from Montoya, did Schumacher hold him up intentionally? If so it backfired cause Jenson retains his advantage over the Ferrari.

Montoya had some problems lapping traffic but now he is getting serious, posting his personal best lap. Trulli has been awarded a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags and baulking Montoya.

Monty pits, he should have enough time to make it out ahead of Button for second place.

Fisichella is reeling Schumacher in at a tremendous rate. Can he pass the Ferrari and it's worn out Bridgestones?

Quite a que forming behind Schumacher now. He is the Trulli of Hockenheim.

Coulthard and Massa will be joining the conga line soon at this rate.

Fisichella finaly made it past Schumacher for fourth place.

Alonso takes his second win and massively increases his lead in the Championship. McLaren really blew it with reliability again. Of course Montoya threw it away in qualifying but still managed a storming second positon from last on the grid. Good points for Button, rounding out the podium.

Good drive by most.


Williams are getting futher off the pace, Kimi's car keeps breaking as always (I wouldn't be surprised if he goes to Ferrari at this rate), Barichello was slow, JV was a Human wrecking ball.

Courthald, Massa and Ralf all did well, Michael drove extremely well given the state of his tyres (I'm still baffled about his choice of a soft compound on Hockenheimring), Fisi was unremarkable, Button did a good move on MS, Juan Pablo and Alonso both drove very well.

I also think it's neccessary to congratulate Christian Albers on a very solid result (13th I believe), not very far off some far superior machines.