Chinese Grand Prix Review

Pole and a virtual lights-to-flag performance cemented Alonso's 7th win of the season in a race where rivals McLaren had everything to play for, with the constructors' title up for grabs. In addition, Renault sealed the teams' crown as well, leaving the silvertails empty handed. Even if Fernando had won fewer races than chief opponent Kimi Raikkonen, that would not have made him any less worthy a champion, but the fact that he squared the ledger at 7 apiece was a nice "Take that!" gesture to his knockers.

Alonso ended up on 133 points, which compares well when you consider that in his awesomely dominant 2002 and 2004 seasons, Michael Schumacher scored 144 and 148 points respectively, although there were 19 races this year compared to 17 in '02 and 18 in '03. In terms of points per race, Schumi racked up 8.47 in 2002, 8.22 in 2004, and Alonso an even 7 this year, but in a slightly inferior car. He won on consistency as much as speed, and the title would have been his regardless of points systems.

Since letting himself off the leash after sealing the title, the Spaniard and his R25 have had speed to burn in both Japan and China, which begs the question, how safely was he driving in the latter European stages in order to secure his title? Was the Renault in fact better than what they showed? Was McLaren's unquestionable car speed superiority less marked than what it appeared to be? In other words, there is much reason to query the proposition that Alonso and Renault are somehow undeserving champions.

When there was nothing to lose for Fernando, and everything to gain for his team, Alonso simply drove away from the field from the start, and after both safety car interventions. It was a brilliant drive that was reminiscent of some of his early dominant displays in Malaysia and Bahrain. In doing so, he once again showed that he is in a different class to the unfortunate Giancarlo Fisichella, who, despite being reasonably quick and a great stylist and technician, has been found wanting this year.

Admittedly Fisico was given some orders to hold up the McLarens as much as possible, but he could have done so and still stay closer to Alonso than what he did. Giancarlo has also had a rougher year as far as reliability and good fortune are concerned, and it struck again in Shanghai when he was given a drive-through penalty for holding cars up in pit-lane during the second safety car period whilst waiting for Alonso to pit, a tactic that we praised when Raikkonen employed it at Spa.

In the end, it didn't cost anything, as Alonso's speed and Juan-Pablo Montoya's retirement all but made Renault the champion team. It was a nice way to round off the V10 era; back in 1989, Renault and Honda pioneered the V10 non-turbo engine route, and from 1991 to 1997 the Renault V10 was the dominant powerplant. Renault's double-title triumph also signed off on all of Viry-Chatillon's unfinished business from their first stint as a manufacturer from the late-70s to 1985. Well done, Flavio Briatore and co.

McLaren ended the season with the proverbial whimper and not a bang. They were not quite on the pace in either qualifying or race, although some of their lack of race pace could be attributed to being held up by Fisichella. Raikkonen did, after all, record yet another fastest lap of the race. But, although they had ironed out most of their reliability issues towards the latter stages of the year, they have still been succumbing to endless little setbacks that have constantly cost them dearly, and it cost them again in China.

For all their late-season string of wins, Kimi has had four pre-race engine changes. Montoya got caught up with slower cars in Turkey, Belgium and Japan, and in China was the victim of an errant drain cover. McLaren may have ended up winning 10 races to Renault's 8, but they have been unable to get one car regularly into the points race in, race out, and that has been their downfall. Regardless of Ron Dennis' protestations, winning neither title this year hurts, and they have no-one to blame but themselves.

JPM will count himself unlucky though, and he will probably be even more unhappy when he discovers that dislodged drain covers is not a new problem at Shanghai. In the Australian V8 Supercar round there in June, Ford pilot Mark Winterbottom ran over one that was likewise sticking up, tearing a massive gash through the entire underbody perilously close to the driver, and slicing through suspension parts. In view of that, it was not surprising that Montoya suffered enough damage to put him out of the race.

For an ultra-modern facility like Shanghai, having problems like this that cause massive damage and ruin drivers' races is simply unsatisfactory, and downright dangerous. Not to forget that the safety car was sent out for an interminable length of time while marshals inspected other drain covers on the spot! The FIA needs to take action to ensure that the issue is solved before further international events. Our 'Reject of the Race' award, therefore, goes to the Shanghai circuit drain covers this time.

REJECT OF THE RACE
Drain cover grates
Highly dangerous and 100% preventable

Toyota finished their generally much-improved season by being more off the pace in China than they have been all year, but stealing a 3rd place for Ralf Schumacher, making up for their horrendous pit strategy in Suzuka with a superb tactical masterstroke here. Much kudos to them, and to Sauber and Red Bull, for not pitting under the second safety car period. That allowed Ralf, Felipe Massa and Christian Klien to get track position, and on a lighter fuel load.

In hindsight, it was surprising that everyone dived for the pits after Narain Karthikeyan's massive accident. It meant that they would have to run essentially half the race on one tank of fuel and on wearing tyres. Little wonder that Schumacher, Massa and Klien could run away from even the likes of Raikkonen behind, such that when they did pit again they could retain points positions. For Ralf, the result catapulted him above team-mate Trulli on points, 45 to 43, for the first time all season.

It is hard to evaluate the Toyota drivers, and no doubt we will have much more to say in our annual season review. But whilst Ralf has not matched Trulli on outright speed, he has scored points much more regularly, and actually started coming into his own in the second half of the year. By contrast, Jarno has had a horror run in the last few events, and finished scoreless in the last four. In his worst showing of the year, he wound up a lapped second-last and, having been 2nd or 3rd in the title for so long, slipped to 7th.

We've always known that the Italian is a master over one lap, but for a long time there were questions over his ability to put a race together. His performances over the last two years and put an end to that debate, but now the question is whether he can chain a consistent championship together. Last year he collapsed in the second half of the year, although that was attributed to his fall-out with Renault. But this year, his second half of the season has not been that much better.

Bravo to Red Bull for finishing the season as strongly as they started, Klien eventually claiming 5th, escaping from reject status on this website, and setting 4th fastest lap of the race in what was almost certainly his best drive yet. There are some (or at least one fellow in our guestbook!) who have criticised us for being on the Klien bandwagon too much and downplaying Vitantonio Liuzzi in the process. But we tell it as we see it, and Klien has been a revelation with his improvement compared to a so-so year for Jaguar last year.

Not to forget also that Klien has had four 9th-place finishes this year. Had those been converted into points, then Christian would have placed 13th in the championship, only one place behind DC. Unless the Red Bull junior team next year, Squadra Toro Rosso, proves to be genuinely competitive with their rev-limited V10 Cosworths, it would be a travesty if Klien does not partner DC in the Ferrari-powered main team. Liuzzi, being Italian, would be a perfect fit for Toro Rosso, and he could show everyone what he can do given a whole season rather than 4 races.

DC himself finished 9th in China, but it was a decent run from the Scot. Red Bull were competitive in Melbourne, and despite the occasional patchiness, they have maintained their ability to threaten the points or actually score them all season, which is a great credit, and puts their previous Jaguar incarnation to shame. Coulthard ended up with 24 points, the same number as what he achieved for McLaren last year, and that's saying something. 12th in the championship seems to underwhelm his achievements a bit.

Felipe Massa delivered a perfect farewell present to Sauber with his 6th place; farewell in terms of himself leaving Sauber for Ferrari next year, and for Peter Sauber as he exits the team which becomes the BMW works operation next season. It was also an important result for Massa as it lifted him above Jacques Villeneuve in the points. Massa has been generally better all season, but Villeneuve had popped up at just the right moments to score nice helpings of points, for example at Imola.

Massa himself has not been brilliant this year, which makes you wonder how he'll handle being a Ferrari man in 2006, but regardless of his protestations Villeneuve has only just matched the Brazilian or been beaten by his team-mate. In particular in qualifying, where, either because of heavier fuel-loads or experimental set-ups, Jacques has not been good; here in China he was even out-qualified by Karthikeyan's Jordan. More could surely have been expected from a former World Champion.

Sauber in the form that they have been in since 1993 now depart the paddock. They have been the quintessential Swiss team, hardly causing a stir, usually starting the season with a decent car that stayed in midfield because of a lack of development as the season wore on. They will be remembered as the team with which Mercedes-Benz tested the F1 waters in 1993-94, before Stuttgart dumped them in favour of McLaren. That left Sauber to align with Ford in 1995-96, and then Ferrari from 1997 onwards.

Williams ended up with a decent-enough finish for Mark Webber in 7th, after a week in which he admitted that his stocks had fallen throughout the year, not least in his own team in which he is certainly no longer the blue-eyed boy with either management or crew. But at least his races in Belgium, Japan and here in China were fairly strong, and he may have done better had he not cost himself 3-4 places on the grid with a mistake in qualifying. That left him with poor track position all race.

It's now all systems go for the Aussie as he tries to redeem himself in 2006 regardless of how well the Williams itself goes. He wound up 10th in the championship, only two points shy of 8th, but it was below expectations. He will most likely have the rapid and crafty Nico Rosberg next year to contend with, the German (despite his Finnish stock) having all but secured his race berth with Grove next year after another mediocre result for Antonio Pizzonia in Shanghai proved that he is not the man for the job.

Although he scored his tenth consecutive points finish, Jenson Button and BAR ought to be disappointed with how their season wound up. Not only in the fact that they dropped from 2nd in the constructors championship to 6th, but in their general lack of competitiveness on Sunday afternoons. They have tended too much over recent races to qualify well, then slide down come race day, sometimes through average pit work but mostly because the 007 has simply lacked sustained pace.

It is something they will need to work on for next year, but one queries if the full Honda takeover will cause them to take their eyes off the ball a little bit, and even more so if the second Honda team gets up and running as well. Whether it's run by Dome, or by Aguri Suzuki's operation, the main reason for that team's existence seems to be to ensure that Takuma Sato gets another drive somewhere. On the strength of his recent performances which continued in Shanghai, that backing of Taku is hard to justify.

The Japanese driver's jump start was appalling, so too the radio guidance he seems to need off the start-line, which takes the concept of a spotter to a whole new dimension. Then there was that silly spin as he made his way back through the field, before a gearbox failure ended his miserable season, in which he scored one point to Button's 37. Suffice to say that Sato's form (and possibly his career) went south in 2005; that he has been a major disappointment is an understatement.

He was blamed on his pre-race sighting lap collision with Christijan Albers' Minardi, although it truth it looked like a 50-50 affair. But more damning was his spin into the gravel during the first safety car period. To say that was amateurish would be to put it kindly. If Michael spins off or crashes because he is trying so hard to make up for his car's failings, then so be it. But to spin off behind a safety car while you're sprinting and braking hard to warm up your tyres is just plain carelessness.

Rubens Barrichello looked a chance for some minor points, but eventually slipped to 12th on shot Bridgestones. In his most disappointing season for Maranello, he took no wins, no poles, no fastest laps, and only held onto 8th in the drivers title by the skin of his teeth. No doubt that by the end of the season he was driving a F2005 that had no new developments and ideas on it that he could take with him to Honda, but Rubens has been driving like his focus is already on 2006 anyway.

And so we come to the last two teams, both of which in their current form bid farewell to the sport. First, Jordan, whose 250th Grand Prix was also the last for the team founded by Eddie Jordan. Karthikeyan did an excellent job in qualifying, but it is probably too little too late, given that apart from the first few races of the year his pace and racecraft haven't improved. And of course there was that massive shunt in the race itself, which in the end was attributed to driver error.

Again, Tiago Monteiro demonstrated his worth. Despite being annihilated by Karthikeyan in qualifying, Tiago's forte has always been his race pace, and here he claimed a fine 11th, on the lead lap, as the top Bridgestone runner to boot. It was also his 18th finish in 19 races, the best reliability record in the field (Alonso finished 17 out of 18, but of course did not start at Indianapolis). It would be a shame if the Midland bigwigs don't reward his consistency and improvement with a drive next year.

Jordan were a team that brought youth, colour and vigour into the paddock. Eddie Jordan was much like the late Ken Tyrrell, able to constantly bring in new talent and treading the fine line in order to stay afloat, generally without having to resort to less-able pay-drivers. Often EJ gambled successfully on youngsters; Michael Schumacher, Alex Zanardi, Rubens Barrichello, Eddie Irvine, Giancarlo Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli all owe either their F1 debut or their big break to Jordan.

After scratching around with the Ford HB engine in 1991, the Yamaha in 1992 and the Hart in 1993-94, the works deal with Peugeot from 1995-97 gradually lifted their fortunes, but the Mugen Honda years in 1998-99 brought the team front-running status and three wins. It was the disappointment and eventual loss of the works Honda engine, plus the pull-out of major sponsors Deutsche Post and DHL, that spelled the financial death knell for the team. This year's Midland ownership was but a P.S. in the adventure.

Jordan is the only name out of the four disappearing from the grid at the end of this year to have recorded Grand Prix victories; by contrast, Minardi have only scored 38 points in 21 years, and seven of those came in the fortuitous circumstances of Indy this year. Neither Robert Doornbos nor Albers were ever in the hunt to add to that tally in Shanghai. Albers in particular had his race destroyed before it began after the collision with Schumacher; he eventually started from the pits, but several laps down already.

And yet Minardi will be the most-missed name above the garages, not only because of their longevity, but because, no matter now much F1 is based on competition, success and money, there is a sporting heart beating at its very soul, and as a result, over the years everyone has come to love the hard-triers from Faenza. With a more competitive budget, who knows what they could have achieved over the years; it has been said before, but no team has managed to do as much with so little.

For the first ten years or so of their existence, Minardi was not a backmarker team. It was a midfield outfit that could have their day in the right conditions. They had two cars in the points in Britain in 1989, and later that year led a lap with Pierluigi Martini in Portugal. Towards the end of that season, Pirelli qualifiers were propelling the cars to the pointy end of the field. There was also the front-row start for Martini at Phoenix in 1990, and the competitive days of the Ferrari customer engine in 1991.

Step in Paul Stoddart. Love him or hate him, he must be credited for throwing his own money and himself into keeping Minardi alive and trying to improve their fortunes, but post September 11, the source of Stoddy's funds, aviation, had nosedived. But Minardi's legacy will not be one of under-achievement; it will stand in F1 history as the fiercely independent team that for 21 years was the entry point into F1 for many drivers, the breeding ground for talent, a Grand Prix kindergarten, if you like.

Of the 37 drivers who have driven for them, 25 had their first Grand Prix start with the team. It was Minardi that introduced onto the F1 grid precocious talents such as Martini himself, Alessandro Nannini, Christian Fittipaldi, Tarso Marques, Marc Gene, Mark Webber, Anthony Davidson and Justin Wilson, not to forget two Grand Prix winners in Fisichella and Trulli, and now a World Champion as well in Fernando Alonso. How appropriate that Alonso's first world title came in Minardi's final year.

Indeed, one of the saddest things about Minardi's departure is that Midland is now probably the only team where a young, talented but independent driver can find an F1 seat. It seems like one has to be affiliated with a manufacturer or backed by Red Bull if he or she is to end up on the grid these days. Competitive series such as GP2, the World Series by Renault, and now even A1 GP show just how many able drivers there are out there who will never make it to the top flight.

But in the end, if Formula One has the bulk of the world's best drivers, in the world's most high-tech cars, providing good racing, then we can't ask for much more. 2005 had that, and overall it was a fine season, which will go down as marking the changing of the guard in the sport. Congratulations to Renault and to Fernando Alonso. Thanks to our readers for checking out our race reviews throughout the year. Look out for our season review, and for more articles and profiles, in the weeks and months to come.