2004 German Grand Prix

2004 German Grand Prix
Race 12 of 18 in the 2004 Formula One World Championship
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Race details
Date 25 July 2004
Official name Formula 1 Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland 2004
Location Hockenheimring
Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.574 km (2.842 miles)
Distance 66 laps, 301.884 km (187.582 miles)
Scheduled distance 67 laps, 306.458 km (190.424 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 1:13.306
Fastest lap
Driver Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:13.780 on lap 10 (lap record)[N 1]
Podium
First
Ferrari
Second
BAR-Honda
Third
Renault
Lap leaders

The 2004 German Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland 2004)[1] was a Formula One motor race that took place on 25 July 2004 at the Hockenheimring in Germany. It was the twelfth round of the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Michael Schumacher of Scuderia Ferrari took pole position for the race and went on to take the race win ahead of Jenson Button of BAR and Fernando Alonso of Renault. This was the final Grand Prix for Brazilian driver Cristiano da Matta, and the final time Williams used the 'Walrus nose' on its FW26 racing car.

Background

The Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Germany hosted a Formula One Grand Prix for the 28th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 23-25 July. The Grand Prix was the twelfth round of the 2004 Formula One World Championship and the 52th running of the German Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship.[2]

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 100 points, built up of 10 victories in 11 races. He was 26 points ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello in second, and 47 ahead of Jenson Button in third.[3] Ferrari, with 174 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Renault and BAR-Honda, who were second and third with 79 and 67 points, respectively.[3]

Driver changes

In the previous two races, Marc Gené had stepped in for Williams driver Ralf Schumacher. Schumacher was still recovering from his back injury at the United States Grand Prix and Gené did not provide the necessary results, so the team decided to promote their other test driver, Antônio Pizzonia, into the race seat.[4]

Practice

Four free practice sessions were held for the event.[5] The first session on Friday was topped by BAR's third driver Anthony Davidson, followed by Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari and Kimi Räikkönen for McLaren.[6] The latter two reached the top of the standings in the second session.[7]

On Saturday, Schumacher again set the quickest time in the third practice session, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya for Williams and teammate Rubens Barrichello.[8] Montoya was second again in the fourth and final session, this time headed by BAR's Jenson Button.[9]

Friday drivers

The bottom 6 teams in the 2003 Constructors' Championship were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.

Constructor Nat Driver
BAR-Honda Anthony Davidson
Sauber-Petronas -
Jaguar-Cosworth Björn Wirdheim
Toyota Ricardo Zonta
Jordan-Ford Timo Glock
Minardi-Cosworth Bas Leinders

Qualifying

Qualifying on Saturday consisted of two sessions. In the first session, drivers went out one by one in the order in which they classified at the previous race. Each driver was allowed to set one lap time. The result determined the running order in the second session: the fastest driver in the first session was allowed to go last in the second session, which usually provided the benefit of a cleaner track. In the second session, drivers were again allowed to set one lap time, which determined the order on the grid for the race on Sunday, with the fastest driver scoring pole position.[10]

Michael Schumacher scored his sixth pole position of the season, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and Jenson Button, to make his 100th start from the front row.[11] Button was demoted 10 places on the grid for replacing the engine after Friday's second practice, so Kimi Räikkönen moved up to the third slot. Toyota brought a new car, the TF104B, but were still working on perfecting their aerodynamic set-up, as demonstrated by their tenth and fifteenth positions. Antônio Pizzonia's first qualifying in a Williams was met with mixed reviews: his time in the first qualifying session would have put him second on the grid, but when it mattered in the second session, he failed to reach higher than eleventh place.[12]

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap Grid
1 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:14.042 1:13.306 1
2 3 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:13.391 1:13.668 +0.362 2
3 9 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:13.535 1:13.674 +0.368 131
4 6 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.842 1:13.690 +0.384 3
5 5 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.640 1:13.821 +0.515 4
6 8 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:13.582 1:13.874 +0.568 5
7 7 Jarno Trulli Renault 1:13.737 1:14.134 +0.828 6
8 2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:14.111 1:14.278 +0.972 7
9 10 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 1:14.465 1:14.287 +0.981 8
10 17 Olivier Panis Toyota 1:13.641 1:14.368 +1.062 9
11 4 Antônio Pizzonia Williams-BMW 1:13.422 1:14.556 +1.250 10
12 14 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:15.093 1:14.802 +1.496 11
13 15 Christian Klien Jaguar-Cosworth 1:15.090 1:15.011 +1.705 12
14 11 Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas 1:13.914 1:15.395 +2.089 14
15 16 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:15.119 1:15.454 +2.148 15
16 12 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 1:13.899 1:15.616 +2.310 16
17 19 Giorgio Pantano Jordan-Ford 1:16.167 1:16.192 +2.886 17
18 18 Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford 1:16.538 1:16.310 +3.004 18
19 20 Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth 1:17.283 1:18.055 +4.749 19
20 21 Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth 1:17.515 1:18.400 +5.094 20
Source:[13]
Notes
  • ^1 – Jenson Button received a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change.[14]

Race

The race was held on 25 July 2004 and was due to run for 67 laps, but when Olivier Panis stalled his engine on the grid and the first start had to be aborted, the race was shortened to 66 laps.[15]

Race report

At the start, Michael Schumacher held the lead, but second-starting Juan Pablo Montoya dropped down to eighth place. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso shot up from fifth to second, which meant Kimi Räikkönen went on where he started, in third position. When the field arrived at the hairpin for the first time, Rubens Barrichello tried to pass David Coulthard for fifth place, but left his braking too late, locked his rear wheels and crashed into the back of the McLaren. The Scot continued without losing time, but the Brazilian lost his front wing and was forced to pit, dropping to the back of the field. Alonso was passed by Räikkönen at the hairpin on lap 2, while Montoya began his recovery by overtaking Mark Webber into the same corner mere moments later.[12]

Schumacher had opened a gap of three seconds to Räikkönen, but the Finn drew closer to the leader during the first round of pit stops. On lap 13, however, the rear wing collapsed on his McLaren as he was about to turn into the high-speed first corner. His car spun and slammed into the tyre barrier, but the driver escaped unhurt. It was Räikkönen seventh retirement of the season and left Schumacher in the lead with more than ten seconds over Alonso.[12]

Montoya had climbed up to fourth position, but his tyres degraded faster than those around him and on lap 21, he went off track and was passed by Jenson Button. The Colombian triggered the secound round of pit stops anded rejoined in a distant fifth place. Schumacher and Alonso kept their positions, while Coulthard fell back behind Button and the latter continued his surge during the third round of pit stops by rejoining right behind Alonso and then passing the Renault driver on lap 51. Button was even faster than Schumacher but the championship leader had enough of a lead to cruise to the finish and take another dominant victory.[12]

Antônio Pizzonia finished seventh and scored two points on his first outing for Williams.[12]

Race classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 66 1:23:54.848 1 10
2 9 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 66 + 8.388 13 8
3 8 Fernando Alonso Renault 66 + 16.351 5 6
4 5 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 66 + 19.231 4 5
5 3 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 66 + 23.055 2 4
6 14 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 66 + 41.108 11 3
7 4 Antônio Pizzonia Williams-BMW 66 + 41.956 10 2
8 10 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 66 + 46.842 8 1
9 11 Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas 66 + 1:07.102 14  
10 15 Christian Klien Jaguar-Cosworth 66 + 1:08.578 12  
11 7 Jarno Trulli Renault 66 + 1:10.258 6  
12 2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 66 + 1:13.252 7  
13 12 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 65 + 1 Lap 16  
14 17 Olivier Panis Toyota 65 + 1 Lap PL  
15 19 Giorgio Pantano Jordan-Ford 63 + 3 Laps 17  
16 21 Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth 62 + 4 Laps 20  
17 20 Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth 62 + 4 Laps 19  
Ret 18 Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford 42 Handling 18  
Ret 16 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 38 Puncture 15  
Ret 6 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 13 Rear Wing/Accident 3  
Source:[16]
  • Panis started the race from the pitlane.[12]

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Although Michael Schumacher set a lap time of 1:13.306 in qualifying, Kimi Räikkönen's time of 1:13.780 is recognised as the lap record as it was set under race conditions.

References

  1. ^ "FORMULA 1 Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland 2004 - Race". Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Grands Prix Germany". StatsF1. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b Jones, Bruce (2005). "Final Results 2004". The Official ITV Sport Guide: Grand Prix 2005. London, England: Carlton Books. pp. 102–103. ISBN 1-84442-578-9 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ "JPM: "Gene was unlucky."". CRASH.net. 31 March 2022 [22 July 2004]. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  5. ^ "FORMULA 1™ GROSSER MOBIL 1 PREIS VON DEUTSCHLAND 2004 - PRACTICE 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  6. ^ "Practice 1: Little Ant sets pace". Autosport. 23 July 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  7. ^ "Practice 2: Schu tops Kimi". Autosport. 23 July 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  8. ^ "Practice 3: Schu in charge". Autosport. 24 July 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  9. ^ "Practice 4: Button goes fastest". Autosport. 24 July 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  10. ^ "Deciding the grid - A history of F1 qualifying formats". formula1.com. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  11. ^ Petric, Darjan (25 July 2022). "2004 German GP – 50th race for Schumacher without mechanical failure". MaxF1.net. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Elizalde, Pablo (28 July 2004). "2004 German Grand Prix Review". AtlasF1.com. Spain. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  13. ^ "2004 German Grand Prix - Saturday Qualifying Results". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  14. ^ "German Grand Prix Starting Grid". AtlasF1. 25 July 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  15. ^ "Schumacher wins, Button stars". Formula1.com. 25 July 2004. Archived from the original on 27 July 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  16. ^ "2004 German Grand Prix - Race Results". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  17. ^ a b "Germany 2004 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
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