2004 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2004)[1] was a Formula One motor race held on 24 October 2004 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace. It was Race 18 of 18 in the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship. It marked the first time that a GP in Brazil was held at the end of the F1 season.

2004 Brazilian Grand Prix
Race 18 of 18 in the 2004 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date24 October 2004
Official nameFormula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2004
LocationAutódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil
CoursePermanent racing facility
Course length4.309 km (2.677 miles)
Distance71 laps, 305.909 km (190.083 miles)
WeatherDry/Wet
Pole position
DriverFerrari
Time1:10.646
Fastest lap
DriverColombia Juan Pablo MontoyaWilliams-BMW
Time1:11.473 on lap 49
Podium
FirstWilliams-BMW
SecondMcLaren-Mercedes
ThirdFerrari
Lap leaders

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.

ConstructorNatDriver
BAR-Honda Anthony Davidson
Sauber-Petronas-
Jaguar-Cosworth Björn Wirdheim
Toyota Ryan Briscoe
Jordan-Ford Robert Doornbos
Minardi-Cosworth Bas Leinders

Report

Background

Ricardo Zonta returned to his home race for the Toyota team, replacing Olivier Panis, who had retired from the sport after the previous race. It was the last race for Gianmaria Bruni and Zsolt Baumgartner and the Jaguar team. It was also the last race in which Sid Watkins took part in the role of medical officer.

Qualifying

In qualifying, Barrichello also achieved the fastest lap and secured pole position ahead of Montoya and Räikkönen. It was Barrichello's 13th career pole and his last until the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Race

The race starts with a damp asphalt, most of the riders use intermediate tyres, only Alonso, Villeneuve and Coulthard opt for dry tyres. At the start, Barrichello maintains the lead, but the Brazilian driver is overtaken after a few corners by Räikkönen. Montoya, however, got off to a bad start and was relegated to fourth place. The intermediate tires soon proved to be unsuitable for the track, which began to dry out the first to mount dry tires was Ralf Schumacher, during the 4th lap. Soon, the German pilot is imitated by all the others Alonso thus takes the lead of the race. Meanwhile, Räikkönen and Montoya engage in an intense duel exiting the pit lane, with the Colombian getting the better of his rival. After tire changes, Alonso leads ahead of Montoya, Räikkönen, Ralf Schumacher, Sato, Barrichello, Villeneuve and Coulthard the, Alonso gives up first place to the Montoya at the end of the 18th lap, when he returns to the pits to refuel.

On lap 23, Webber attempts to overtake teammate Klien, who closes the line the two come into contact and the Australian is forced to retire, while Klien returns to the pits to repair his car. At the head of the race, Räikkönen follows Montoya closely, but the Williams driver controls him without any particular problems. Further back, Barrichello tries to recover from Sato. The second series of pit stops brings no changes in position between these four drivers, but allows Alonso to move up to third place, ahead of Ralf Schumacher. On lap 32, however, Sato makes a mistake at the first braking, giving up fifth place to Barrichello. Montoya had a good lead over Räikkönen and was driving a car with more fuel.

The third series of pit stops proved decisive Alonso, the only one among the leading drivers to make two stops, refueled on lap 47, followed in sequence by Ralf Schumacher, Barrichello, Montoya and Michael Schumacher, who returned to the pits at the same time on lap 50. Räikkönen, leading the race, pushes hard to try to overtake his rival when the Finn also made his pit stop, on lap 55, he returned to the track just one second behind Montoya. Behind him, Barrichello prevailed against his direct competitors in the duel for third place. A lot of cars formed behind him, with Alonso a few tenths ahead of Sato, Ralf Schumacher and Michael Schumacher. At the front of the race, Räikkönen tried in vain to put pressure on Montoya, but the Colombian was not distracted and took his first win of the season ahead of Räikkönen, Barrichello, Alonso and Ralf Schumacher, Sato, Michael Schumacher and Massa. For Montoya it was the 4th victory in career and for Williams it was the last victory until the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix. It would be Barrichello's first finish at Interlagos in ten years and his only podium, with third place; his previous finish at the circuit being at the season opening in 1994 (a fourth place).

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1 TimeQ2 TimeGapGrid
12 Rubens BarrichelloFerrari1:09.8221:10.6461
23 Juan Pablo MontoyaWilliams-BMW1:09.8621:10.850+0.2042
36 Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren-Mercedes1:10.4401:10.892+0.2463
412 Felipe MassaSauber-Petronas1:09.9301:10.922+0.2764
59 Jenson ButtonBAR-Honda1:10.6071:11.092+0.4465
610 Takuma SatoBAR-Honda1:10.3731:11.120+0.4746
74 Ralf SchumacherWilliams-BMW1:10.2581:11.131+0.4857
81 Michael SchumacherFerrari1:10.1921:11.386+0.740181
98 Fernando AlonsoRenault1:10.6371:11.454+0.8088
1016 Jarno TrulliToyota1:10.4781:11.483+0.8379
1111 Giancarlo FisichellaSauber-Petronas1:10.4671:11.571+0.92510
1214 Mark WebberJaguar-Cosworth1:11.2301:11.665+1.01911
135 David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes1:10.4181:11.750+1.10412
147 Jacques VilleneuveRenault1:10.7081:11.836+1.19013
1517 Ricardo ZontaToyota1:11.3151:11.974+1.32814
1615 Christian KlienJaguar-Cosworth1:11.9121:12.211+1.56515
1718 Nick HeidfeldJordan-Ford1:11.3941:12.829+2.18316
1819 Timo GlockJordan-Ford1:12.2421:13.502+2.85617
1921 Zsolt BaumgartnerMinardi-Cosworth1:13.0321:13.550+2.904191
2020 Gianmaria BruniMinardi-Cosworth1:12.916No time201
Source:[2]
Notes
  • ^1 – Michael Schumacher, Zsolt Baumgartner and Gianmaria Bruni received a 10-place grid penalty for engine changes.

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
13 Juan Pablo MontoyaWilliams-BMW711:28:01.451210
26 Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren-Mercedes71+1.02238
32 Rubens BarrichelloFerrari71+24.09916
48 Fernando AlonsoRenault71+48.50885
54 Ralf SchumacherWilliams-BMW71+49.74074
610 Takuma SatoBAR-Honda71+50.24863
71 Michael SchumacherFerrari71+50.626182
812 Felipe MassaSauber-Petronas71+1:02.31041
911 Giancarlo FisichellaSauber-Petronas71+1:03.84210
107 Jacques VilleneuveRenault70+1 Lap13
115 David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes70+1 Lap12
1216 Jarno TrulliToyota70+1 Lap9
1317 Ricardo ZontaToyota70+1 Lap14
1415 Christian KlienJaguar-Cosworth69+2 Laps15
1519 Timo GlockJordan-Ford69+2 Laps17
1621 Zsolt BaumgartnerMinardi-Cosworth67+4 LapsPL1
1720 Gianmaria BruniMinardi-Cosworth67+4 LapsPL1
Ret14 Mark WebberJaguar-Cosworth23Collision11
Ret18 Nick HeidfeldJordan-Ford15Clutch16
Ret9 Jenson ButtonBAR-Honda3Engine5
Source:[3]
Notes
  • ^1 – Baumgartner and Bruni started the race from the pitlane.

Championship standings after the race

  • Bold text and an asterisk indicates the World Champions.
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Ferrari*262
2 BAR-Honda119
3 Renault105
4 Williams-BMW88
5 McLaren-Mercedes69
Source:[4]

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

Footnotes

References


Previous race:
2004 Japanese Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
2004 season
Next race:
2005 Australian Grand Prix
Previous race:
2003 Brazilian Grand Prix
Brazilian Grand PrixNext race:
2005 Brazilian Grand Prix

23°42′13″S 46°41′59″W / 23.70361°S 46.69972°W / -23.70361; -46.69972