As was to be expected, the new rules were the main talking point of the race, as three main changes came into force for 2005. An engine to last for two race weekends, a set of tyres to last for the whole race distance and qualifying and aerodynamic changes which resulted in initial losses of 28%, all of which was regained. Qualifying was also a new experience, with drivers doing two laps, and the fastest aggregate time getting pole. That was Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella, as he lapped in the first session just before the skies opened up and rain poured down in sheets. The race was won by the Italian, only his second win of his career. He led from start to finish, bar three laps during the pitstops, when Barrichello and team-mate Alonso took over the lead briefly. Behind Fisichella at the line were Barrichello and Alonso, both who had brilliant drives from 11th and 13th on the grid respectively. Coulthard finished fourth, just in front of Webber, Montoya, Klien and Räikkönen. World Champion Michael Schumhacher had to retire on lap 42 after he and Heidfeld collided. The general consesus was the Schumacher caused the crash.

Another dominating win from Renault, this time in the form of their number 1 driver Fernando Alonso. At the start he led from Jarno Trulli, before finishing the race 20-odd seconds ahead of the Italian. Alonso's team-mate Fisichella didn't have the same luck, as oversteer caused him and Webber to collide on lap 36, sending them both to the sidelines. Webber's team-mate Nick Heidfeld then came through to claim the final podium positin, after Trulli who finished second for Toyota's best ever result in Formula 1. Fourth was McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya, after a great drive from 11th on the grid. He was followed home by Ralf Schumacher, David Coulthard, Michael Schumacher and Christian Klien. After retiring from the Australian Grand Prix a lap from the end, which caused the rules to be changed, Button and Davidson (Driving for Sato who had a bout of the flu) retired on the second lap of the race from engine failures. BAR clearly suffering from the new rule changes. Alonso's win means he's the first Spaniard ever to lead the Formula 1 World Championship.

Alonso's second win of the campaign, after a dominating drive from pole. It didn't look that apparent from the off though, as Michael Schumacher's Ferrari filled the Renault's mirrors, before the Scuderia retired with mechanical trouble, the first in 58 races since Germany 2001. This put Trulli in second, a position he would keep until the end. Third was Kimi Räikkönen with McLaren's first podium of the season. His team-mate Pedro de la Rosa (Replacing Montoya who had broken his sholdour) finished fifth after he drove a very exciting race which saw him take fastest lap. He tried many un-doable overtaking moves, before finally overtaking Webber for fifth three laps from home. Sandwiched between the two McLarens was the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher. Behind Webber were Massa (Taking Sauber's first points of the season) and Coulthard (Scoring points for Red Bull for the third race in succession).

Alonso's position atop the championship table further consolidate by yet another win. This time it was Räikkönen who led from pole, and pulled out a gap of seconds, before his McLaren came to a halt with driveshaft problems. That gave Alonso the lead, but was unchallenged until lap 50, when Michael Schumacher emerged from the pits just behind the leader. Schumacher had started 13th, but was unfortionate enough to be caught up in the 'Trulli Train' for 20 laps, before the Italian pitted and Schumacher started to reel off some very fast laps. It payed off, and when emerged from the pits for the first time he hadn't lost a position from third. He then started to lap two seconds faster than Alonso, and it wasn't long before Button came in his way. He disposed of him after a few laps, and after his second stop emerged from the pits only seconds behind Alonso. The next 12 laps saw him try everything and anything to get passed for the win, but Alonso stood firm. He won with a fantastic drive. The drive of a star. The drive of a champion. Third was Button, followed by Wurz's McLaren, Sato, Villeneuve, Trulli and Ralf Schumacher.

More drama emerged after the race as it was said that Button's car had been under the 600kg minimum weight requirement when drained of fuel. The race stewards cleared Button, but the FIA appealed sending them to court. They were found guilty, but the FIA's preferred penalty of having them disqualified from the championship for the year was not carried through, and they were given a two-race ban, starting from the next round in Spain. Sato was also disqualified even though his car was not underweight.

Kimi Räikkönen puts a stop to Renault's winning as he storms to a dominating lights-to-flag win, keeping the lead for the whole of the 66 laps. Starting from pole he immediately built a gap, and didn't stop until there was a margin of 25 seconds to Alonso in second. The Spaniard kept that place until the flag, with Trulli in third. Ralf Schumacher finished fourth, with Fisichella (Who was on course for a podium until he had to replace his nose-cone), Webber (Who qualified second), Montoya and Coulthard all finishing in the points. In a reduced field of 18 after BAR's disqualification, Schumacher was the first driver to really feel the brunt of the new tyre rule, as he suffered two punctures in quick succession sending him out of the race.

His second lights-to-flag win of the season gives Räikkönen yet another 10 points, and climbs closer to Alonso in the drivers' standings. Leading from pole, the Finn replicates his Spanish GP performance by going out of sight immediately and pits only once to ensure the win. Behind him, both Williams finish on the podium after brilliant drives, with Heidfeld getting the jump on Webber as they get held up behind Alonso before their second and final stops. The team call Heidfeld in first, and as Webber continues to loose time behind Alonso, Heidfeld closes up to jump Webber. Heidfeld finally gets passed Alonso on lap 71, with Webber doing likewise three laps later. Both results were Heidfeld's and Webber's best result in F1. Less than a second separated Alonso from Montoya, Ralf Schumacher, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, the latter two of which had swapped positions on the last lap. During the race, the safety car was deployed on lap 23 after Albers spun his Minardi. Coulthard and Michael Schumacher collided, sending Coulthard out of the race, and Schumacher into the pits for a new nose-cone. In the end it was just another win for the Flying Finn.

With the change in qualifying (Again!) meaning that drivers had only one run on Saturday to decide the grid, Nick Heidfeld performed brilliantly at home to take it from Räikkönen. At the start, Kimi took the lead. Further back, mayhem ensued, as Webber hit Montoya, sending more than themselves off the track. Coulthard was the big gainer from it all, jumping to 4th from 12th at the end of the first lap. After the first round of stops, Heidfeld regained the lead for a lap, as the Finn ran wide. Then the crucial moment on lap 33. Räikkönen, while lapping Villeneuve, locked his front right tyre, flat-spotting it. The vibrations coming from the McLaren were visible through the cameras with ten laps to go, and it told its own story with one lap left. Coming down the straight, the Finn's suspension had enough and broke, sending him into the tyre wall, narrowly avoiding Jenson Button's BAR-Honda. Alonso then took the win, after he got past Heidfeld's Williams after the German stopped. Behind Heidfeld was Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello, outperforming his team-mate Michael Schumacher who finished 5th. Between the two was David Coulthard, who could have finished on the podium had he not been given a driver-through penalty. Fisichella (Who stalled on the grid, forcing another formation lap), Montoya (Who lost many places at the start) and Jarno Trulli finished off the points scoring positions.

Another thrilling race saw Kimi take another win, but this time he didn't lead until lap 49, after all the previous three leaders had taken to the garage to retire. Initially it was Fisichella who stormed into the lead after a brilliant start from fourth on the grid, followed by team-mate Alonso and pole-sitter Jenson Button. The seven laps after his first pitstop on lap 32, Giancarlo Fisichella retired with gearbox problems. Alonso then took the lead, but he too retired, making the only real mistake of his brilliant season, putting his R25 into the wall, thus breaking the suspension, on lap 38. The lap 46 saw the safety car come out after Jenson Button ploughed his BAR into "Champion's Wall", leading onto the main straight. Kimi Räikkönen pitted next time round, leaving Montoya in the lead, furious that he had not been called in. He pulled in though on lap 49, but on trying to get out in front of his team-mate, he broke a red-light exiting the pits, and was disqualified. Räikkönen then took the win easily from Michael Schumacher in second place. Jarno Trulli was set for third until his Toyota gave up on him eight laps from home, handing Barrichello another podium. Mark Webber drove well in his Williams from 14th on the grid to 5th.

It was bound to come, and it did on June 19th. Formula 1 brought to its knees by nothing more than politics. With Michelin unable to supply its seven teams with suitable tyres able to cope with the famous Indianapolis banking after Ralf Schumacher suffered a blow-out at high-speed, the teams were told they could not completed more than 10 laps on any tyre. Qualifying came and they completed their laps as usual, Trulli topping the pile (Although his fuel-load, to this day, remains a mystery). But when the race came around the following day, nothing had been settled. The Michelin-shod teams (Including Minardi) wanted a chicane installed on turn 13 (The banked turn), or if that proposal failed, to impose a speed-limit or have double-waved flags throughout the race at the corner. Both requests were rejected mainly because the Bridgestone-shod teams would be at a disadvantage, even though they had the right tyre and the race went underway with six cars (Minardi decided to join after Jordan took to the field). Michelin did try to repair the damage after the race, announcing that they would refund all spectators to the full value of their ticket. They also revealed that they would be buying 20,000 tickets for the 2006 race and handing them out for free to fans who purchased tickets for the 2005 farce. For the record, Michael Schumacher won from Rubens Barrichello, with Tiago Monteiro coming in third for Jordan.

How better to recover from the Indy tragedy that to have a brilliant drive from two of the greatest drivers in the sport. That is what happened at Magny-Cours, as Fernando Alonso took his fifth win of the campaign. The Spaniard led from pole at the start, and opened a gap of a second in the first lap to second-placed Jarno Trulli. He retained the lead after his first stop of the afternoon, with Montoya behind him. Once the Colombian stopped, his team-mate took second place, and kept it after his first stop. The Finn had started back in 13th after an engine failure in practice, and with an aggressive fuel strategy, managed to gain 10 places in 20 laps. In the end he wasn't quick enough and had to make do with second place. He did finish quite a bit ahead of Michael Schumacher who benefited from Montoya's retirement mid-way through. Fourth was Jenson Button, picking up his and BAR's first points of the season.

Another classic race, with Juan Pablo Montoya winning his first race for McLaren. At the start, Montoya took the lead from pole-sitter Alonso into Maggots after starting third. The after stopping for fuel a lap later than Montoya, Alonso had to back down once again as Montoya came charging through, nicking the lead into Maggots once again. Next time round the lead could have been Alonso's had Jarno Trulli not blocked him as the Spaniard tried to lap him, and once again Montoya flew past when Alonso exited the pits. Third fell to Kimi Räikkönen who was very unfortunate to get stuck behind Michael Schumacher during his first stint. When he did get through, he drove brilliantly, eventually capitalizing from Fisichella's stalled engine in the pits, and thus picking up another point. Fisichella finished fourth, followed by Button's BAR which simply failed to perform. Sixth and seventh fell to Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, with the last point going Ralf Schumacher's way.

Alonso strikes a decisive blow on Kimi Räikkönen's title chances by picking up another race win as the Finn fails to finish. At the start, Kimi took an instant lead from Alonso, who in turn was followed by Michael Schumacher. Further back, the first corner was frought with danger as many drivers were forced to run wide and away from imminent contact with other cars. Some of them were not so lucky, as Sato and Trulli had to pit a lap later. Webber was the most unfortunate, as the Australian had to stay in the pits for 11 laps, in order to fix a suspension problem. Lap 36 was the Kimster ground to a halt handing the lead and victory to Fernando Alonso. Second was the McLaren of Montoya, as he fought valiantly from the back of the grid after spinning out in qualifying on the last corner. He jumped up to third after his first stop, after running longer than anyone else. Third was Fisichella, who recovered from the first corner melee. He lost a lot of time behind Michael Schumacher's Ferrari, before overtaking him into the hairpin on the penultimate lap. Schumacher held on to fourth despite having his brother and David Coulthard less than a second behind.

Only a week before Räikkönen looked down and out of the championship, but McLaren got an extra boost when Fernando Alonso failed to score even a single point, as Kimi stormed to victory ahead of the ailing Ferrari of Michael Schumacher. The German had taken pole position the day before, coming to within one of the great Ayrton Senna's record of 65 pole positions. But when it came to the race, the Scuderia simply wasn't up to speed. Kimi started fourth, but was very light on fuel to make up for his early grid slot on Saturday and pitted on lap 11 after being up the Ferrari's gearbox for much of the time. No less than five laps later, he was there again, loosing seconds every lap. Eventually a cleverly worked strategy by the McLaren pit wall saw the Finn take a very short stop on lap 37 which put him ahead of Schumacher once he re-emerged. 11 laps later and he stopped again, after pulling out a massive gap of 24 seconds to the red Ferrari, and it was all over. His team-mate Montoya was also in for the win, until a driveshaft failure put him to the sidelines, the same which stopped Kimi in San Marino. Following Schumacher home was his brother Ralf, who closed to within a second but couldn't find a way past on the tight corners of the Hungaroring. Fourth was team-mate Trulli, who had to drive the race with a damaged diffuser after Rubens Barrichello hit the back of him at the first corner. Alonso was another first-corner casualty, as he lost his front wing thanks to Ralf. He had to pit, and later turned the revs down on his engine concentrating instead on getting a decent qualifying slot for the next race because of excess damage to his R25. He finished 11th, behind Barrichello.

As the newcomer on the block, the pressure was on Turkey to produce an exciting race, and it certainly answered to the pressure. Even before the circuit had been completed, drivers hailed it as a track to look out for, and once they arrived there, the facilities were impeccable. Saturday saw one of the most action-packed qualifying session in many years, as driver after driver failed to master Turn 8, the triple apex corner. Eventually it was Kimi who took pole, from both Renaults and Montoya. At the start of the race, he sped away, almost certainly for the race win. His team-mate Montoya worked his fuel strategy perfectly to get ahead of both Renaults after his first stop. And when it all seemed to be going McLaren's way, Montoya was hit by Tiago Monteiro after breaking in front of the yellow Jordan. Result, Montoya's diffuser broken, with Alonso only seconds behind. The next lap around, Alonso took that second place from the Colombian, when he runs wide at turn 8. A truly satisfactory result from what looked to be like a third and fourth place finish. Fisichella hung on for fourth, with fifth going to Button who fought his way up from 13th on the grid. The only other big incident in the race was that of Schumacher and Webber. One lap down, Webber tried to overtake a slower Michael Schumacher, only to collide. Both drivers continued, only to retire later on.

Yet another race ruined for McLaren by another engine failure. It was Räikkönen's engine that gave up the ghost, meaning that the Finn had to start the race from 11th, despite posting the fastest time during qualifying leaving team-mate Montoya to head the front row. At the start, Montoya kept his lead from pole as Alonso followed, ahead of Button and Sato, who both had low-fuel qualifying runs to boost their grid position. For Montoya, the race was a drive in the park, bar the last five laps. Alonso had managed to close the Colombian's lead slightly, but then the McLaren's left rear Michelin started to delaminate, cutting Montoya's laptimes dramatically. He held on though with a 2.5 second advantage, compared with the 11 seconds he had only a few laps previously. Behind the Spaniard was Fisichella who made his way up from eighth. Fourth was Räikkönen, who went on a very heavy first stint, meaning only one stop was necessary to see him to the flag. He was obliged to take two though, as he suffered the same fate as his team-mate regarding his left rear tyre. He stopped on lap 28, putting him out of contention for a very possible podium finish.

A classic circuit with an action-packed race. The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps once again provided the perfect stage for the ultimate in motorsport races. Kimi won, keeping his championship hopes alive, albeit by the slimmest of hopes. With Alonso's second place finish, thanks in no end to Montoya crashing out four laps from home, he needed only six points to secure his first World Championship. The race was not all about Kimi and Fernando, as tyre choice was the make or break factor of the day. With the track damp from early morning rain, drivers took to the grid with intermediate tyres. Then on lap 10 Fisichella, running on a heavy fuel load lost his R25 out of Eau Rouge, bringing out the safety car. He had made good progress up to seventh from 13th on the grid after an engine failure earlier in the weekend. All drivers bar a few then dashed to the pits with a few making the wrong decision of fitting dry weather tyres. The drivers concerned pitted a lap later to re-fit inters. Montoya continued to lead until the second round of stops, when Kimi took over at the front. He took the flag, only to find out that Montoya had failed to back him up. The Colombian collided with Antonio Pizzonia's lapped Williams when the Brazilian tried to get by. Alonso thus took another second place gifted to him by Montoya, with Button driving well to third. Fourth saw another great drive, as Webber judged the time just right to fit dry tyres. He dropped to seventh after his stop, but quickly made them up. Down in eighth was Tiago Monteiro, who benefited from the safety car to score his first well-deserved point of the championship, putting the shambles of Indy aside.

Alonso only needed six points to wrap the championship up, and he certainly delivered as he crossed the finish line in third, becoming the youngest ever Formula One World Champion. The race was well fought by the Spaniard, as he took a deserved lead from pole at the start. The gap he pulled out from Montoya was soon demolished as the safety car was deployed for an accident involving Pizzonia, Coulthard and Webber, the latter of which got going again to improve his qualifying slot. When the safety car pitted and action resumed, Montoya took the lead from Alonso down the back straight. The Spaniard stayed in second until Kimi leapfrogged him during the pitstops, with the Finn pitting nine laps later than the eventual champion. Fourth was Ferrari's Schumacher who wasn't quite close enough to challenge Alonso. Fisichella held on for fourth, after third looked possible before Schumacher took over.

Even if the drivers' championship had been decided a fortnight before, Japan was to be one of the most overtaking-filled race of the year. With a dry-wet qualifying session the grid was a right mix-up as Ralf Schumacher started from pole. The race looked to be a Fisichella triumph, until the last lap, when Kimi Räikkönen took him on the inside into turn 1. Fisichella had qualified in third and took the lead on lap 13, but simply didn't have the speed to fend the Finn off. His speed showed in the number of lapped cars as he managed only five, compared with nearly twice that amount which Montoya got passed in Brazil. The race has been seen as Kimi finest hour, as he climbed up from 17th on the grid. Alonso was close enough too, as he climbed up to third from 16th. His chances of victory were ruined though when he had to re-pass Klien's Red Bull after a mix-up between Renault and the FIA. His afternoon is best summed up with the spectacular overtaking manoeuvre on Schumacher, around the outside of 130R. Pat Symonds later said that had he crashed, he probably would have been killed. Mark Webber had another good race for Williams, as he finished fourth. He had been looking likely to finish on the podium, after running as high as second at one stage. He has his pit-crew to thank, as they helped him overcome Klien and Button, in his two respective stops. Takuma Sato was disqualified from the race following post-race investigations after he collided with Trulli, while Villeneuve was penalised 25 seconds after pushing Montoya off the track on the first lap, owing to the Colombian's absence from the remaining of the race.

Fernando Alonso put the icing on an already delicious cake in China, as he raced out a brilliant victory, handing Renault's first ever Formula One Constructors' World Championship. He led from pole, as Fisichella stayed back, fending both Räikkönen and Montoya off. Progress was ceased on lap 18 though, when Montoya hit a drain cover, bringing the safety car out for six laps. No sooner had it pitted than it was re-deployed again, this time for Narain Karthikeyan's crash. Most drivers pitted, except for a few who made up positions, mainly Ralf Schumacher and Felipe Massa. Behind Alonso at the flag was Kimi Räikkönen, but because of Montoya's retirement due to cooling problems arising from the incident with the dislodged drain cover, McLaren failed to take anything away from the season, bar pride. Fisichella had looked likely to secure third place, but was given a drive through penalty for 'stacking'. This dropped him behind Ralf, a place he never made up. So where did the ex-champion finish in his last race as reigning champion? Nowhere. He spun out behind the safety car on lap 22 and walked into the sunset. Will he be back on the top step? Who knows.