2005 United States GP: debacle for Michelin but a Ferrari one-two. 2005 United States GP: debacle for Michelin but a Ferrari one-two.

On 19th June 2005, the United States Grand Prix was held at Indianapolis. In qualifying, pole went to Jarno Trulli in the Toyota, while in the F2005, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello were fifth and seventh. There had been some heavy crashes, especially for Ralf Schumacher and it became clear to Michelin they had brought unsuitable tyres here that wore out quickly and were therefore dangerous.

The French tyre supplier asked for the track to be modified so that the corner that made use of the legendary banked oval used for the Indy 500 was not taken flat out. However, the FIA stuck to the rules and no changes were made. Therefore, in the race, all the Michelin drivers pitted and retired at the end of the formation lap leaving just the Bridgestone runners on the grid, Scuderia Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi.

Clearly, the race was not exactly exciting. The crowd, already not exactly great lovers of Formula 1, were not impressed to see just six cars running and even tossed cans onto the track. Schumacher and Barrichello fought it out between themselves at the time of the pit stops, but in the end, the German came out on top. The only lead changes came on lap 26, as Schumacher’s 32-second stop gave Barrichello the lead, and on lap 51, as Schumacher turned in the quickest pit stop at 23.615 seconds, giving him enough time to exit pit lane at the same time as Barrichello, with the result of forcing Barrichello into the grass of Turn One. After this incident, which was not investigated by race officials, both Ferrari drivers were reminded over their radios not to crash out of the race, and they both settled into a slower pace, comfortably ahead of the rest of the field. Michael Schumacher ended up with the victory, ahead of Barrichello. Monteiro and Karthikeyan, more than a lap down, finished in a distant third and fourth, and Albers and Friesacher brought up the rear, two laps down. All four of the drivers for Jordan and Minardi scored their first points in Formula One at this race. Karthikeyan’s points were the first for an Indian driver in Formula One. This was also the final race at which the Minardi team tallied points.

It was win 84 for Michael Schumacher, the 183rd for Ferrari, the seventieth one-two finish. Joining the Scuderia Ferrari duo on the podium was Jordan’s Tiago Vagaroso Monteiro, the first time a Portuguese driver had stood on an Formula 1 podium.