No Second Place

For almost four hours on Sunday, it seemed that mistakes and mechanical reliability had scuppered the prospects for a fine and thrilling San Marino Grand Prix. As the first stop on the European F1 calendar for 2005, San Marino had been eagerly awaited as a harbinger of form to come and the start of the 'real' Championship chase. After Saturday's first qualifying session, the stage was set for an epic race, with Championship leader Fernando Alonso sandwiched between his two main rivals for the WDC title - McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen a mere three thousands of a second faster, and Ferrari's Michael Schumacher hovering ominously in third place.

Sunday morning's qualifying session removed Schumacher from the equation (or so we thought), a rare driving error dropping him back to a seemingly hopeless thirteenth on the grid. Several hours later, Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren had expired from a driveshaft failure. Just nine laps into the race, the weekend's promise had dissipated, resulting in another processional triumph for the flawless reliability and superior pace of Alonso's Renault. Or so it seemed...