2005 Japanese Grand Prix
The 2005 Japanese Grand Prix (officially known as the 2005 Formula One Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One race which was held at Suzuka International Racing Course on 9 October 2005. It was the eighteenth and penultimate round of the 2005 Formula One World Championship, the thirty-first running of the Japanese Grand Prix and nineteenth to be held at Suzuka.
| 2005 Japanese Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 18 of 19 in the 2005 Formula One World Championship
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| Race details | |||||
| Date | 9 October 2005 | ||||
| Official name | 2005 Formula 1 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix | ||||
| Location | Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka, Mie, Japan | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 5.807 km (3.608 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 53 laps, 307.573 km (191.117 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Partially cloudy and dry with temperatures reaching up to 25 °C (77 °F) | ||||
| Attendance | 320,000 | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Toyota | ||||
| Time | 1:46.106 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | |||
| Time | 1:31.540 on lap 44 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
| Second | Renault | ||||
| Third | Renault | ||||
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Lap leaders | |||||
Kimi Räikkönen won the race after starting from seventeenth, overtaking long-time race leader Giancarlo Fisichella on the final lap to win a race that saw many overtaking manoeuvres. Fisichella’s teammate Fernando Alonso completed the podium, having come through from sixteenth, including an overtake on Michael Schumacher around the outside of 130R corner.
The race marked Ralf Schumacher’s sixth and final pole position in Formula One.
This was also Räikkönen's last win until the 2007 Australian Grand Prix, his last win for McLaren and McLaren's last win until the 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix.