2005 GP2 Series season
| 2005 GP2 Series season | |
| Previous: 2004 | Next: 2006 |
The 2005 GP2 Series season started in Imola, San Marino on April 23, and ended in Manama, Bahrain on September 30. The season was won by the German Nico Rosberg, with the Finn Heikki Kovalainen finishing second.
2005 was the first season of the newly-renamed Formula One feeder series, from Formula 3000 to GP2. The inaugural season didn't feature reigning F3000 champion Vitantonio Liuzzi, because the Italian was driving for Red Bull Racing in Formula One. The series did feature two former F1 drivers, Italians Gianmaria Bruni and Giorgio Pantano, driving for Coloni and SuperNova respectively.
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[edit] Season summary
In the opening race at Imola, there were a number of mechanical problems and organizers being afraid of troubles in the start, the rolling start was used in both races, though weather was dry. Nicolas Lapierre had taken inaugular pole position but he was out before the race had started due to mechanical problems. The race was won by his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen.
After the first weekend, it was decided that points for fastest lap will only be awarded if driver is classified. This was due to event in Imola sprint race, where Lapierre started with fuel load with he wouldn't been able to finish, set a fastest lap and retired soon after.
At Barcelona, the drivers could finally experience rolling starts. F1 refugee Bruni won the feature race and José María López the sprint race. First four races had been won by four drivers in four teams, highlighting that field had many competitive drivers. Adam Carroll was first one to take second victory after he won at Monaco, where only one race was held.
At Nürburgring, the sprint race was extended from 80 to 120 kilometres. This coincided with F1 dropping second qualifying session on Sunday morning. The sprint race turned to be one of the most exciting of the season, with Monegasque Clivio Piccione winning.
Heikki Kovalainen was top driver in early season, winning three of first five feature races. However, the season took turnaround at Magny-Cours, where ART Grand Prix started going strong. Tactical errors caused them to lose feature race, but Nico Rosberg gave them first win at the sprint. Rosberg went on to win next two feature races, while Olivier Pla won both sprints having started from pole position in both of them.
At the qualifying of Hungaroring race, ART cars were disqualified for illegal position of steering rack. They were sent to back of the grid but it didn't stop them taking point finishes in feature and 1-2 in the sprint, where Alexandre Prémat won his first race. Neel Jani had joined winners' list in feature race.
Prémat won also next race at Istanbul, while championship leading duo Kovalainen and Rosberg finished outside the points. The sprint race started in wet conditions but dried out, so tyre changes were necessary. Kovalainen did that move perfectly and won the race having started 10th. Rosberg jumped from 17th to 3rd.
Kovalainen and Jani won races at Monza but Rosberg took most points with two second places and two fastest laps. Nelson Angelo Piquet then won feature race at Spa-Francorchamps while Rosberg took championship lead from Kovalainen who spun off on last lap while battling for eighth place and pole for Sunday's race. Carroll led the sprint race from the start but following accidents involving Ernesto Viso, Hiroki Yoshimoto and Jani the race was stopped early and only half points were awarded. Viso still ended in 3rd position thanks to countback rule.
The championship was decided in Bahrain which held the only race not supporting F1. Rosberg led Kovalainen by three points and increased lead by taking pole position. Rosberg also won the race and clinched the title as Kovalainen was 3rd. Rosberg then won also the sprint race, becoming first driver in the series to win both races during the event.
[edit] Teams and drivers
All of the teams used the Dallara chassis with Renault-badged Mecachrome engines in 2005 in order to keep the field fair.
As this was the inaugural season in the series, car numbers were distributed by a pre-season session held at Circuit Paul Ricard on April 6. The fastest driver got number 1, his team-mate number 2, next best driver number 3 etc.
| Team | # | Driver | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | All | ||
| 2 | All | ||
| 3 | All | ||
| 4 | All | ||
| 5 | All | ||
| 6 | All | ||
| 7 | All | ||
| 8 | All | ||
| 9 | All | ||
| 10 | All | ||
| 11 | All | ||
| 12 | 1–7 | ||
| 8–12 | |||
| 14 | All | ||
| 15 | All | ||
| 16 | All | ||
| 17 | 1–9 | ||
| 10–11 | |||
| 12 | |||
| 18 | All | ||
| 19 | All | ||
| 20 | All | ||
| 21 | All | ||
| 22 | All | ||
| 23 | All | ||
| 24 | All | ||
| 25 | 1–10 | ||
| 11–12 |
[edit] Driver changes
- Entering GP2
- Juan Cruz Álvarez: World Series by Nissan (Gabord Competicion) → Campos Racing
- Can Artam: International Formula 3000 (Coloni Motorsport & Super Nova Racing) → iSport International
- Gianmaria Bruni: Formula One (Minardi Cosworth) → Coloni Motorsport
- Adam Carroll: British Formula Three Championship (P1 Racing) → Super Nova Racing
- Fairuz Fauzy: British Formula Three Championship (Menu F3 Motorsport & P1 Racing) → DAMS
- Borja García: Spanish Formula Three Championship (Racing Engineering) → Racing Engineering
- Sergio Hernandez: Spanish Formula Three Championship (Adrian Campos Motorsport) & World Series by Nissan (Saulnier Racing) → Campos Racing
- Neel Jani: Formula Renault V6 Eurocup (DAMS) → Racing Engineering
- Heikki Kovalainen: World Series by Nissan (Pons Racing) → Arden International
- Mathias Lauda: International Formula 3000 (CMS Performance) & Superfund Euro Formula 3000 (Traini Corse) → Coloni Motorsport
- Nicolas Lapierre: Formula Three Euroseries (Signature) → Arden International
- José María López: International Formula 3000 (CMS Performance) & Formula Renault V6 Eurocup (DAMS) → DAMS
- Ferdinando Monfardini: International Formula 3000 (Spero I.E.) → Durango
- Alexandre Sarnes Negrão: Formula Three Sudamericana (Piquet Sports) → Hitech/Piquet Racing
- Giorgio Pantano: Formula One (Jordan Ford) → Super Nova Racing
- Clivio Piccione: British Formula Three Championship (Carlin Motorsport) → Durango
- Nelson Angelo Piquet: British Formula Three Championship (Piquet Sports) → Hitech/Piquet Racing
- Olivier Pla: World Series by Nissan (RC Motorsport & Carlin Motorsport) → David Price Racing
- Alexandre Prémat: Formula Three Euroseries (ASM Formule 3) → ART Grand Prix
- Nico Rosberg: Formula Three Euroseries (Team Rosberg) → ART Grand Prix
- Ryan Sharp: Formula Renault V6 Eurocup (Jenzer Motorsport) → David Price Racing
- Scott Speed: Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 & Formula Renault 2.0 Germany (Motopark Academy) → iSport International
- Toni Vilander: Italian Formula Three Championship (Coloni F3) & Formula Three Euroseries (Coloni F3) → David Price Racing
- Ernesto Viso: [British Formula Three Championship (P1 Racing) & International Formula 3000 (Durango) → BCN Competición
- Hiroki Yoshimoto: World Series by Nissan (Gabord Competicion) → BCN Competición
[edit] Midseason changes
- Giorgio Mondini replaced Ryan Sharp for Hungarian races
- Toni Vilander replaced Gianmaria Bruni for Italian races.
- Gianmaria Bruni replaced Ferdinando Monfardini for Belgian races.
- Ferdinando Monfardini replaced Toni Vilander for Bahrain races.
[edit] 2005 Schedule
There were 23 races in the 2005 GP2 Series championship at 12 different circuits. Eleven race weekends had one race on Saturday and another on Sunday, the exception being the race at Circuit de Monaco where there was only one race on the weekend. The season began on April 23, 2005 and concluded on September 25, 2005.
The calendar was as follows:
[edit] Results
[edit] Championship standings
[edit] Drivers
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- Polesitter for feature race in bold.
- Driver with asterisk has been awarded two points for fastest lap.
- Driver who retired but was classified in italics.
Note: Sprint race at Spa was stopped early and half points were awarded.
[edit] Teams
| Pos. | Team | Drivers | Points | Wins | Poles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Nico Rosberg, Alexandre Prémat | 187 | 7 | 6* | |
| 02 | Heikki Kovalainen, Nicolas Lapierre | 126 | 5 | 3 | |
| 03 | Giorgio Pantano, Adam Carroll | 102 | 3 | 2* | |
| 04 | Scott Speed, Can Artam | 69.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 05 | Borja García, Neel Jani | 65.5 | 2 | 1 | |
| 06 | Nelson Angelo Piquet, Alexandre Sarnes Negrão | 50 | 1 | 2** | |
| 07 | José María López, Fairuz Fauzy | 36 | 1 | 0 | |
| 08 | Ernesto Viso, Hiroki Yoshimoto | 35 | 0 | 2** | |
| 09 | Gianmaria Bruni, Mathias Lauda, Toni Vilander, Ferdinando Monfardini | 34 | 1 | 1* | |
| 10 | Olivier Pla, Ryan Sharp, Giorgio Mondini | 22 | 2 | 2** | |
| 11 | Clivio Piccione, Ferdinando Monfardini, Gianmaria Bruni | 21 | 1 | 3** | |
| 12 | Sergio Hernández, Juan Cruz Álvarez | 7.5 | 0 | 0 |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: GP2 Series |
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