MAY 29, 2005

Race incidents from Nurburgring

As the cars prepare to set off on the final parade lap, Toyota mechanics are caught working on Jarno Trulli's car within 15secs of the green light. This means that the Italian will be given a drive-through penalty. As the cars line up at the end of the parade lap Giancarlo Fisichella stalls his Renault and the start is aborted and the cars go off on another parade lap.

* Lap 1: At the start Kimi Raikkonen gets away better than Nick Heidfeld and takes the lead into the first corner. Mark Webber is fighting for third with Juan Pablo Montoya. The McLaren cuts in front of the late-braking Williams and the two cars collide. Behind them there is further action as Ralf Schumacher snags the rear of Fernando Alonso's Renault and knocks off his front wing. The Toyota then slides into the path of Michael Schumacher and he and Rubens Barrichello go off avoiding the incident. Jacques Villeneuve and Takuma Sato are also badly delayed. Webber is out on the spot. At the end of the lap Raikkonen is 1.9secs ahead of Heidfeld who is 2.3secs clear of Trulli. David Coulthard is fourth (up from 12th on the grid) with Alonso fifth, Felipe Massa sixth (from 11th on the grid) and Tonio Liuzzi seventh, up seven places. At the end of the lap Sato and Ralf pit for repairs.

* Lap 2: Raikkonen sets the fastest lap and increases his lead to 2.2secs while Heidfeld's gap to Trullis out to over four seconds. Further back Montoya and Michael Schumacher pass Villeneuve and Narain Karthikeyan to move up to 10th and 11th.

* Lap 3: The midfield sorting out continues with Montoya and Schumacher overtaking Tiago Monteiro. Further back Patrick Friesacher drops behind the recovering Fisichella.

* Lap 4: Fisichella passes Villeneuve and Karthikeyan to move up to 13th.

* Lap 5: At the front Raikkonen is two seconds ahead of Heidfeld and there is then a gap of 8.8secs back to Trulli and Coulthard. In the midfield Fisichella overtook Monteiro for 12th place.

* Lap 6: Trulli's penalty is confirmed. Further back Button is overtaken by Barrichello and Montoya and falls from eighth place to 10th. * Lap 8: Trulli pits for his penalty and so Coulthard moves up to third place with Alonso fourth, Massa fifth and Barrichello sixth, after he passes Liuzzi. Montoya is eighth and Trulli rejoins in ninth place.

* Lap 10: Christijan Albers passes Friesacher for 16th. * Lap 11: Barrichello pits and falls from sixth place to 12th. Michael Schumacher passes Button for 10th

* Lap 12: Heidfeld confirms his three-stop strategy as he heads for the pitlane. He drops from second place to fourth. David Coulthard moves to second and Alonso to third. Further back Villeneuve overtakes Karthikeyan to take 14th. Further back Sato passes Friesacher for 17th. * Lap 13: Sato passes Karthikeyan for 16th. Ralf Schumacher passes Friesacher for 18th.

* Lap 15: Raikkonen's lead is over 20secs with Coulthard asecond clear of Alonso. Heidfeld is fourth with Massa fifth and Liuzzi sixth although the Italian is under attack from Montoya. Down at the back Ralf Schumacher passes Albers for 17th.

* Lap 18: The main pits stops begin with Raikkonen going into pitlane. Coulthard takes the lead for Red Bull Racing. Kimi rejoins in third place. Further back Trulli stops and falls from ninth to 12th. At the back Friesacher also stops.

* Lap 19: Massa, Liuzzi and Montoya all pit. Montoya gets out ahead of the Red Bull. Also pitting is Albers.

* Lap 20: Coulthard pits and is followed into the pits by Michael Schumacher. Alonso goes into the lead with Raikkonen second and Heidfeld third. Coulthard rejoins in fourth place ahead of Button and Fisichella. Barrichello is seventh ahead of Massa and Michael Schumacher.

* Lap 21: Monteiro pits and falls from 14th to 17th. Coulthard is given a drive-through penalty for speeding in his pitlane. * Lap 22: Alonso sets the fastest lap but is due to pit. Further back Fisichella pits and falls from sixth place to 11th. Further back Karthikeyan drops from 14th to 15th with his first stop.

* Lap 23: Alonso pits and so Raikkonen goes back into the lead with Heidfeld second. Coulthard goes in for his penalty and drops behind Barrichello. Montoya pits and so falls from fifth to 11th.

* Lap 24: Villeneuve is the last man to pit for the first time and falls back from 13th to 15th.

* Lap 25: The order settles down with Raikkonen four seconds ahead of Heidfeld and then a 15secs gap back to Alonso. Barrichello is fourth with Coulthard fifth and Massa sixth, under pressure from Michael Schumacher and Montoya. Liuzzi is ninth and Trulli 10th.

* Lap 26: Ralf Schumacher pits but stays in 14th.

* Lap 27: Sato stops again and remains in 13th.

* Lap 30: Raikkonen goes off and bounces across a sandtrap. This enables Heidfeld to take the lead. At the back Albers pits for a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags.

* Lap 31: Heidfeld pits and so Raikkonen is the leader again. Heidfeld is back in fourth place but Barrichello is due a second stop.

* Lap 33: Barrichello stops and falls from third place to fourth, behind Heidfeld.

* Lap 34: Raikkonen flat-spots his tyres when trying to lap Villeneuve. He goes off but rejoins without losing too much time. His tyres, however, are a problem. Further back Ralf Schumacher spins into retirement from 14th place.

* Lap 37: Down at the back Friesacher has his second stop but he remains 18th.

* Lap 38: Albers has his second stop and stays 17th.

* Lap 40: Karthikeyan has his second stop and drops behind Monteiro.

* Lap 43: Raikkonen pits for the last time and falls behind Alonso.

* Lap 44: Massa stops amd drops from sixth to 11th. Liuzzi also stops for the last time. He rejoins in 12th.

* Lap 45: Alonso goes off at the bottom of the hill and runs across a sandtrap. He loses six seconds. Montoya and Trulli pit. Jarno gets ahead of Liuzzi.

* Lap 46: The pit stops continue with Michael Schumacher falling from sixth to seventh. Button also stops and falls from eighth to 12th. Further back Villeneuve stops again but he stays in 14th place.

* Lap 47: Alonso pits and Raikkonen goes back into the lead again with Heidfeld second (but still to pit again), Coulthard comes in for his second stop but stays fifth.

* Lap 48: Barrichello stops for the last time but he rejoins behind Alonso.

* Lap 49: Sato has another stop but he stays 13th.

* Lap 50: It is time for the final stops and it is clear that Heidfeld is going to be third as he goes into the pitlane and emerges behind Alonso. Fisichella also stops and drops from sixth to seventh, losing out to Michael Schumacher. At the same time Montoya passes Massa for eighth when the Brazilian goes off. It emerges that the Sauber driver has a left front tyre problem.

* Lap 52: Raikkonen has a lead of six seconds but Alonso is closing in. Heidfeld is 15secs behind in third place. In the midfield Massa falls behind Trulli.

* Lap 53: Michael Schumacher goes off but stays in sixth position.

* Lap 54: Massa pits and drops to 14th.

* Lap 55: Karthikeyan makes a mistake and so loses 15th to Monteiro.

* Lap 58: It is clear that Raikkonen has a serious problem with tyre vibration. Alonso is a second behind him but the McLaren hopes to hold off the Renault on the last lap.

* Lap 59: Going into the first corner Raikkonen's right front suspension upper wishbone breaks and the suspension falls apart. The Finn spins off at high speed, narrowly missing Jenson Button. Alonso avoids the wreckage to take the lead and win the race on the last lap. Heidfeld is second with Barrichello third. Coulthard takes fourth with Michael Schumacher fifth and Fisichella sixth while Montoya is seventh. Trulli and Liuzzi cross the line together battling for eighth and ninth. Button is 10th. A lap down is Sato followed home by the two Saubers, the two Jordans and the two Minardis.