The 2005 San Marino Grand Prix will always be remembered for Michael Schumacher’s thrilling pursuit of Fernando Alonso in the closing stages of the race.
In a special upload featuring our Bring Back V10s classic F1 podcast, current Sky F1 pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz joins Glenn Freeman and Mark Hughes to look back on a memorable weekend that also featured BAR’s exclusion and a ban for cheating, McLaren unlocking the pace of what would become 2005’s fastest car, tension between Jacques Villeneuve and Sauber, and Red Bull’s early moves off track to establish itself as a credible contender in F1.
With Ted’s help, and insight from Mark who was in the commentary box that weekend, we also get to the bottom of ITV’s controversial late-race ad break that caused so much uproar with UK viewers.
00:00 Intro
07:13 Ferrari’s confidence
11:14 Schumacher on Alonso
13:45 Schumacher’s future
17:37 Wurz at McLaren
20:03 Villeneuve-Sauber tension
24:48 Qualifying format under fire
28:56 Red Bull’s seat swapping
31:50 Red Bull lands Ferrari engines
35:07 BMW-Sauber talks begin
37:06 ‘Disillusioned’ Newey
40:53 McLaren’s promise short-lived
43:08 The Trulli Train
45:44 Schumacher turns it up
49:10 Alonso v Schumacher
52:14 Was Ferrari back?
55:43 ITV’s infamous ad break
01:06:08 BAR gets excluded… and banned
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22 Comments
The golden era of the modern age
What timing
This race is live right now on F1 youtube channel!
Ross brawn wearing Ferrari red is such a nostalgic sight
Shame the chicane on the start finish straights/straights ruined any chance of overtaking though
So some F1 fans know the pain of adverts during the race like USA fans do still today for Nascar and IndyCar. Didn't know that
I thought this was a video. Not a podcast. Not cool
The UK had an advert at that peak ending? haha
I laugh bc yesterday I tried to watch a suggested video which actually looked so good I got really excited when I clicked on it which opened to just black with small white letters saying, "The uploader has not made this video available in your country." Translation: You're not British. Ever heard of a VPN?
So heh! My little bit of uninvolved vengeance getting a kick out of it.
(It was prob skysports tho & not the race.)
edit: ugh nvm. wasn't until towards the end of the podcast I realized it was during the original live race which makes my entire comment pointless but i'm leaving it anyway
I like Alonso, he's a good driver and this season I'm supporting him, but Shumacher is just on a whole other level.
He, Senna and Fangio are my favourites of all time.
Michael can be fast even in a non compete car, as we saw at his debut and many times when the McLaren's were WAY faster than the Ferrari's and yet he was able to keep close enough to put pressure on them. One race Hakkinen was like 10s ahead but on the track Michael was still hanging onto second and on the strait his car could still see Hakkinen. Quite a feat.
He also introduced the concept of driver fitness. Before that they barely did any training. Nigel Mansell for example was clearly "padded" compared to Michael.
And one of his greatest strengths, which very, very few drivers possess is that Michael could improve the technical aspects of the car and uplift the entire team. He knew if he was going to Ferrari that it needed major improvement and that Ferrari weren't capable of that on their own. Hence he stipulated Brawn must be hired too, if this team, and Michael's career, was to have a chance.
Alonso doesn't have that skill to motivate. Give him a good car, and he'll drive it well, but he cannot lift the team and get it to improve. Same with Hamilton. When his car was bouncing, he was WAY back and George was beating him consistently.
However with Michael he always out performed all his teammates and even in a lesser car was up fighting with the faster cars.
If Aston can give Alonso a good car, he has a chance to come 2nd or 3rd in this championship (Verstappen will win of course) but if Aston start dropping the ball half way through the season or Ferrari get their act together, he'll be further down.
As for LeClerc, he's talented but has low self esteem and is a "yes sir, sorry sir" man. I don't see him winning championships.
Sainz has similar issues. They are both scared of the boss and a bit young for Ferrari. To be a Ferrari driver you need some balls to stand up to management otherwise they'll have you running in circles or burn you out.
Overall I miss seeing older men in F1. They are all too young for my liking and it's all coming too easy.
Back in the day a driver was lucky to get paid, whereas today they are overpaid, given free cars, doing ads, spending way too much time on selfies and social media.
Between races the legends were testing the car, the tyres, new components etc. Now the drivers are travelling, going on scenic bike rides (Bottas), selling their own line of vodka, coffee, merchant etc.
I think only Verstappen spends time in the simulator. Lewis says he doesn't bother, let's the test driver do it.
No wonder Max is killing it. He's actually focused on driving, unlike the many of the others.
And also WHAT is with all the dumb excuses and blaming in F1 now?!
"Did you see that? He touched me!" "What's that fool doing in the middle of the track!?" "It's not fair, there was traffic and I couldn't get slipstream" waaa, waaa,waaa 😭 Crying like babies!!
Give me a break! Shut up and just drive the damn machine to the limit! Balls to the wall! No excuses, just drive!
How many times in the 80's did someone get a puncture and still completed the lap, got new tyres, went full speed back out and even though last, by the end won or came in the top3 because other drivers engine blew, or they spun, or ran out of fuel? Many times! Never give up!
Hell, in one race Prost climbed out if his car just before the finish line and freaking PUSHED IT because he ran out of fuel!!! THOSE are racing drivers. Not this sorry bunch of soft spoiled brats we have today.
Might as well replace them with an AI robot driver. Will probably get better results!
The minimum age to be an F1 driver should be 30. Any younger and you don't get in. The recent crop are all too wet behind the ears. F1 needs mature men who know what it's like to work hard for a living.
Well this was a nice format
Would have been such a great video then Ted Kravitz started speaking.
ITV's ad break was a travesty.
How lovely to hear Teds voice on here!!! Please come back Ted on a regular basis…. you have the best voice in F1!
A yearly reminder of the Alonso v Schumacher Imola race.
Good example that you don’t need easy overtaking to create an exciting battle
If i was applying to be lead commentator, I would have a no adbreak clause in my contract for when the race takes place.
I think the whole no tire change was the dumbest way possible to try and tamp down on Ferrari's dominance. They shouldve come up with something like what happened with these latest regulation changes. They specifically took an advantage one car had and banned it. Thats all. And thats a shameful way of doing it i believe. It created a scenario where it acted as if the FIA made these changes to the rule to counter some kind of illegal design Ferrari was using. And that wasn't fair.
If I would have come into F1 in 2005, with no prior knowledge of the sport, I would not have become a fan. The extreme rule changes they were making to rule out Ferrari distorted the entire sport and made a joke of it.
When the cars weren’t fat pigs and the sound sent shivers through your body (if you never heard one of the F1 V10s or even just the lesser V8s in person, you can’t understand what was lost). Anyway, despite no passes between the pair, one of the most exciting duels ever.
Loved Alonso and many of the other drivers on the grid that season (JPM, Kimi, Sato, Etc.) but god did I hate that no tire changes rule that only lasted a single season. It just felt so dull and unnatural every time they pitted. It was comical to see 20 guys surround the car to check tire pressures and wipe the driver’s visor.
Jacques still hates Kubica. I don’t remember Kubica ever making any of those other insulting comments about JV besides the speed one.