2005 was F1 watershed year

2005-12-30 21:30

London - The 2005 Formula One season was a watershed.

Fernando Alonso became Formula One's youngest champion at 24, ending seven-time winner Michael Schumacher's string of five straight season titles.

The Spaniard won three of the first four races -_ and four of the first seven - and then protected the lead. The Renault driver wound up with seven wins, the same as McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen.

"I had to think about the big prize," Alonso said. "I could have taken risks to win each race, but I had to think about the wider picture. We made a good start to the year, then controlled the performance during the summer."

In 19 races, Alonso racked up 133 points, followed by Raikkonen with 112 and Schumacher with 62. Renault also won the team title with 191 points, while McLaren was second with 182 and Ferrari third with 100. Ferrari had won six straight team titles.

Alonso clinched the season title in Brazil - with two races to spare - by finishing third in a race won by Juan Pablo Montoya of McLaren. McLaren won 10 times and probably had the quickest car, but broke down too often.

Asked about his best memory of the season, Alonso replied: "I think Brazil will stay as the day of my life."

He was also certain about his best overtaking move of the year. It happened before 160 000 fans in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, where Alonso swept by Schumacher at 300km/h through a tough, left-hand turn.

Closed the door

Many called it one of the best passes ever in F1.

"He (Schumacher) closed the door. It was risky but I made it," Alonso said. "It was a big risk move, maybe too much in fact - but very satisfying."

Alonso announced this month that he will join McLaren in 2007.

Schumacher will be 37 when the new season begins on March 12 in Bahrain, and has vowed to rebound.

"When I came home from the final race in China, it was different than before," Schumacher said. "I had no need for a vacation, I had no need to rest."

He said he'd been in constant touch with the Ferrari plant in Maranello about the design of the new car.

"That's why I wanted to drive again and I am really looking forward to it," he said.

Four teams were sold or renamed in 2005. BAR, Jordan, Sauber and Minardi gave way to Honda, Midland, BMW and Red Bull as rich corporations replaced small, independent teams.

From the first race in Melbourne to the 2005 final in Shanghai, attention was divided between action on the track - and a potential breakaway series that could begin with the 2008 season.

Five teams have agreed to stay with commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone when the current Concorde Agreement ends after the 2007 season. They are Ferrari, Williams, Midland and Red Bull's two teams - Red Bull and Toro Rosso. The Concorde Agreement between the FIA and F1 teams spells out how the sport is governed and how revenue is divided.

Rival series

The five carmakers in F1 - DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes, Renault, BMW, Honda and Toyota - are threatening to set up a rival series in 2008.

Some are hopeful of preventing a split.

"There is a gradual passage toward agreement," Honda team director Nick Fry said. "We are not there yet, but talks are extremely constructive.

"I think there will be more movement, probably not before Christmas but in the first of next year. ... I would be very disappointed if we went in to next season in a situation of flux."

In 2005, the sport introduced a new venue in Istanbul, Turkey, and Jordan's Narain Karthikeyan became the sport's first Indian driver. He scored five points.

The low point came in the US Grand Prix when the Michelin teams - meaning 14 cars - sat out the race with concerns over tyre safety. It was Schumacher's only win of the season, which was greeted by boos and catcalls at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

At the end of the year, Michelin announced it would depart F1 after the 2006 season, leaving Japanese builder Bridgestone as the only tire maker.

Next season promises more changes.

There will be another new qualifying format - one of a half-dozen changes in the last few seasons. Under the new format, qualifying will take place in three phases.

Five slowest cars

In the first, the five slowest cars will drop out after the first 15 minutes, and five more will depart after the next 15. The remaining cars will compete in a 20-minute session for the top spots on the grid.

In 2005, tyre changes were outlawed except in rare cases. Next season pit stops for tyre changes return with teams able to change their rubber as often as they want.

Next season will also see the introduction of V8 engines, replacing the V10s. All teams are expected to run V8s except Toro Rosso, which will used a V10 equipped with an RPM-limiting device.

Renault and McLaren keep the same driver teams. Felipe Massa replaces Rubens Barrichello at Ferrari, with Barrichello going to Honda.

Nico Rosberg steps in at Williams to team with Mark Webber. Nick Heidfeld has left Williams, joining Jacques Villeneuve at BMW-Sauber.

Midland will have Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro. Albers moves over from Minardi.

The old Minardi team, which was sold to Red Bull and will run as Toro Rosso, is going with Italy's Tonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed. The Californian will be the first American driver in F1 since Michael Andretti in 1993.

- AP