Alonso holds off Schumacher—San Marino GP 2005

A dramatic illustration of the changing of the guard in Formula One was the 2005 Grand Prix of San Marino at Imola, Italy. Despite five straight titles (and after catching second-place driver Jenson Button, overturning a 20s gap in 13 laps) Michael Schumacher battled for the lead for 12 laps with a young Fernando Alonso but was unable to hold off the hard-charging Spaniard, who took the race victory by a mere +0.215s. Alonso went on to capture the first of his two world championships, making him the youngest champion in the history of F1 — a title he held until eclipsed by Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and then Sebastian Vettel in 2010. Renault’s success was their first as a Formula 1 constructor, while Schumacher of course retired after 2006. Ferrari has not won a championship since.

The flashback clip below is from today’s telecast of the Chinese Grand Prix by Speed in the U.S., commentary by Bob Varsha, Steve Matchett (Shumacher’s engineer for his first two championships at Benetton) and David Hobbs.