US Grand Prix Facts & Figures

By BMW WilliamsF1 Team
June 13 2005

 
Facts & Figures
 
Circuit/Date: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 19th June 2005
Start time (local/GMT): 13:00 hrs/18:00 hrs
Lap/Race distance: 4.192 km/306.016 km (73 laps)
Winner 2004: Michael Schumacher (Scuderia Ferrari)
Pole 2004: Rubens Barrichello (Scuderia Ferrari) 1:10.223 min
Lap record: Rubens Barrichello (Scuderia Ferrari) 1:10.399 min (2004)

F1 statistics:
BMW WilliamsF1 Team: 93 starts, 10 wins, 17 poles
WilliamsF1 pre-2000: 356 starts, 103 wins, 108 poles
BMW pre-2000: 97 starts, 9 wins, 15 poles

History and background:

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built in 1909 as a 2.5 mile oval. It earned its enduring nickname "The Brickyard" from the original bricks that were used to surface it. The famous 500 mile race was first held there in 1911.

The Indy 500 runs anti-clockwise on the oval. Formula One, by contrast, runs in a clockwise direction and only uses part of the oval. For the F1 Grand Prix, a narrow, twisty section, featuring eleven corners, was built in the infield area in 2000.

The straight on the oval is the longest on the GP calendar. Along a stretch measuring 1,820 metres, cars run at full throttle for around 20 seconds, of which some ten seconds are taken in seventh gear.

Last year, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team recorded a top racing speed of 351.7 km/h.

This year will be the sixth time that the US Grand Prix has been staged at Indianapolis. Winners, so far, include Michael Schumacher (2000, Ferrari), Mika Hakkinen (2001, McLaren Mercedes), Rubens Barrichello (2002, Ferrari) and Michael Schumacher again (2003 and 2004).

The first US Grand Prix took place at Sebring in 1959 and was won by Bruce McLaren in a Cooper Climax. 1960 saw Formula One move to Riverside and, in the following year, to Watkins Glen where a total of 20 World Championship races were held up to 1980. Between 1976 and 1983, F1 made eight appearances at Long Beach for the USA West Grand Prix. During the 1980s, two F1 races were held in Las Vegas, one in Dallas and seven in Detroit. From 1989 to 1991, Phoenix hosted the US GP. In all, 48 Grands Prix have been held in the USA to date.

WilliamsF1 have won five times in the United States: Alan Jones won at Watkins Glen in 1980 and, in1981, Jones took victory in Las Vegas and Long Beach. In 1984, Keke Rosberg won for Williams in Dallas while, in 1985, Rosberg also won in Detroit. In 1984, Nelson Piquet drove a Brabham BMW to victory in Detroit.

Indianapolis, the capital city of the US state of Indiana, has a population of 860,454. Indianapolis was founded in 1821 and is the twelfth largest city in the USA.

Formula BMW USA will be holding its ninth and tenth races over the Formula One US GP weekend. Formula BMW, which now comprises four championships (Asia, Germany, Britain, USA), allows teenagers to compete in state-of-the-art single-seaters with 140 bhp BMW engines.
 
 
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