2005 Hockenheimring Feature Race

The 2005 Hockenheimring Feature Race, formally known as the 2005 Hockenheimring GP2 Series Race 1, was the twelfth race of the 2005 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on 23 July 2005. The race, staged in support of the LXVII Großer Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland, would see Nico Rosberg become the first driver to claim a maximum score in a GP2 Series Feature Race, as he claimed pole, fastest lap and victory.

Indeed, Rosberg would be untouchable during qualifying, as the German racer streaked to his second pole position in a row with a 1:24.691, leaving him half a second clear of Scott Speed in second. The German youth's ART Grand Prix teammate Alexandre Prémat would share the second row with Olivier Pla, while Championship leader Heikki Kovalainen could only claim ninth.

Much like qualifying there would be no stopping Rosberg at the start of the race, with the #9 ART blasting clear when the lights went out to claim the lead. Furthermore, it would be grid order behind with Speed, Prémat and Pla holding station in second, third and fourth, while the rest of the field managed to make it through turn one without issue.

Indeed, the major action would wait until the field arrived at the hairpin of turn six for the first time, with Kovalainen literally forcing his way past Ernesto Viso and Hiroki Yoshimoto to claim sixth. As the two BCNs took avoiding action there was contact at the back, with Fairuz Fauzy, Ferdinando Monfardini and Alexandre Negrão all coming together to give each other heavy damage.

Negrão ended up stranded at the side of the circuit, although remarkably there would be no call for a Safety Car, with the marshals deciding that it was safe enough for them to remove the car from exit of the hairpin. Regardless, Kovalainen would make an early stop when the pits opened on lap two in-case the SC was retroactively deployed, with Fauzy joining him in the pits with a heavily damaged rear wing.

That, however, would prove to be immaterial to the fight for the podium, with Rosberg simply easing away out front, while Speed and Prémat scrapped for second. The Frenchman briefly got ahead before making his stop on lap eight, rejoining well ahead of Kovalainen, while Speed would go on to lead when Rosberg stopped on lap twelve.

Speed's stop ultimately settled the order at the front of the field, with the #1 iSport rejoining behind Prémat's #10 ART in third, while Rosberg had a comfortable advantage out front. Regardless, Speed would spend the rest of the race trying to find a way back past Prémat, only to run wide at turn one and gift third to Nelson Piquet Jr. in the closing stages.

With that the race was run, with Rosberg sweeping across the line with fastest lap to claim a maximum score, half a second clear of teammate Prémat. Piquet duly kept the resurgent Speed at bay to complete the podium, while Kovalainen elbowed his way up to fifth with significantly worn tyres. Giorgio Pantano was next up ahead of Borja García, while eighth place for Pla granted the Frenchman a point and pole position for the Sprint Race.

Background
For the seventh round of the inaugural 2005 FIA GP2 Series the field would return to Germany, once again supporting Formula One as it continued its European tour. This time, however, the paddock would be found at the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, using the now established shortened Grand Prix layout. Otherwise, there would be no changes to the GP2 field, with the same 24 drivers that had competed since the start of the campaign making the trip to Hockenheim.

Silverstone Supplicants
There had been little change atop the Championship as the inaugural 2005 Championship reached its halfway mark, with Heikki Kovalainen heading into the second half of the campaign as the favourite. Indeed, eight podiums in just eleven races had left the Finn on 64 points, meaning he was twenty clear of second placed Nico Rosberg on 44. Scott Speed, Adam Carroll and Gianmaria Bruni then completed the first half top five, with twenty-one drivers having scored in the first eleven races.

In the Teams' Championship, pre-season favourites Arden International led the way with half the season completed, the British squad having claimed 76 points after eleven races. That left them eight ahead of ART Grand Prix in second, while Super Nova Racing were sat in third, some 32 off the lead. iSport International and Coloni Motorsport then completed the top five, with all twelve teams having scored in the first half of the 2005 season.

Entry List
The full entry list for the is displayed below:

Qualifying
Qualifying for the inaugural GP2 Series race would be staged via a thirty minute session on Friday afternoon, ahead of the Feature Race on Saturday. All 24 drivers would venture onto the circuit during the session, and were allowed to complete as many laps as they could to set their qualifying time. There was also a free choice of tyres, although drivers could not exceed their allocation of Bridgestone tyres.

Results
The final qualifying result for the are outlined below:

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Viso was disqualified from the race after his car was found to be underweight in post-race scrutineering.
 * † Bruni was unable to be classified as he failed to complete 90% of the race distance.

Milestones

 * Third victory for Nico Rosberg.
 * Also Rosberg's fifth podium finish.
 * Rosberg became the first driver to claim a maximum score in a Feature Race.
 * ART Grand Prix secured their third win as an entrant.
 * Maiden points finish for Borja García.

Standings
There had been no major changes to the positions atop the Championship after the first battle of Hockenheim, although there had, potentially crucially, been a major change in the points difference. Indeed, Heikki Kovalainen's huge 20 point lead had been cut in half by Nico Rosberg after the German youth's perfect Saturday afternoon, leaving Rosberg as the Finn's main title pretender. Scott Speed had also gained ground but was still 22 points behind the Finn in third, while Alexandre Prémat had moved into sixth after his second place.

In the Teams' Championship it had been a very good afternoon for ART Grand Prix, as their first one-two, combined with Rosberg's perfect score, moved them to the top of the title hunt. Indeed, they would head into the Sprint Race with a ten point advantage over former leaders Arden International, the first time they had been headed since the. Behind, iSport International had moved up to third ahead of Super Nova Racing, with no changes to the rest of the field.