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The 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix, otherwise known as the I Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, was the third round of the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, on 4 April 2004.[1] The race would see Michael Schumacher claim a third straight victory of the season, as Bahrain made its F1 debut as a host nation.[1]

Qualifying had seen track temperatures spike at almost 60°C, although that was not enough to deny Schumacher his familiar spot on pole position.[1] Teammate Rubens Barrichello would complete the front row for Ferrari, with the two Williams-BMWs sharing the second row, and the BAR-Hondas claiming the third.[1]

However, while high temperatures were no issue for Ferrari over one lap, they had played havoc with their Bridgestone tyres in long runs, and hence were a huge concern ahead of the race.[1] Fortunately for them a twenty degree drop on Sunday brought the Bridgestones back into a more comfortable operating window, and hence destroyed the hopes of any anti-Ferrari challenge.[1]

As such the two Ferraris were able to pull away smartly from the front of the grid at the start, although both Schumacher and Barrichello locked up into the tight right-hander.[1] Behind, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher worked to fend off Takuma Sato, while Jarno Trulli streaked past Jenson Button to claim sixth.[1]

The race for victory was soon over as Schumacher and Barrichello checked out at the head of the field, with the German ace dancing away from the Brazilian as well.[1] Behind, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Kimi Räikkönen were storming their way up through the field after having poor runs in qualifying, although Räikkönen soon lost out to Christian Klien as the McLaren-Mercedes faded towards the end of the first stint.[1]

Räikkönen's race ended a few moments later as his Mercedes engine blew itself apart, leaving David Coulthard to head their challenge at the lower end of the top ten.[1] Up ahead, meanwhile, Sato would find himself having to defend heavily from Ralf Schumacher as the first stops loomed, only for an over ambitious move from the German ace to send the Williams-BMW spinning at turn two.[1]

Ralf would limp back to the pits for checks, just as brother Michael swept into the pits to make his first stop.[1] That handed the lead to Barrichello, Montoya and then Sato as they made their subsequent stops, before Schumacher was promoted back into the lead for the rest of the afternoon.[1]

Elsewhere, Button was up to fourth as the Sato/Ralf Schumacher duel unscrambled itself, while Coulthard and Webber caused a stir, exiting the pitlane side-by-side.[1] Klien, meanwhile, would continue his strong run by bullying Felipe Massa into a mistake, before putting himself into the gravel traps while chasing a spot in the top ten.[1]

The race would calm down until the final round of stops, where Sato managed to claim sixth from Coulthard, while Button and Jarno Trulli fought for fourth.[1] They were both catching third placed Montoya as the final laps ticked away, with the Colombian ace struggling with his brakes.[1]

Indeed, with several laps still to run the BAR-Honda dived past the Williams to claim third, followed by Trulli a lap later.[1] Montoya's plummet continued as he slipped behind Sato, Alonso and teammate Ralf Schumacher, with another train of cars closing in on the back of the Williams as they started the penultimate lap.[1]

Out front, meanwhile, Michael Schumacher cruised through the final stint to secure another impressive victory, while teammate Barrichello secure second to hand Ferrari a one-race advantage in terms of points.[1] Button, meanwhile, secured his second successive podium finish ahead of Trulli, with Sato, Alonso, Ralf Schumacher and Webber claiming the remaining points.[1] Montoya, meanwhile, would retire at the start of the final lap with a gearbox failure, stopping alongside the pitwall.[1]

Background[]

Michael Schumacher continued his perfect start to the 2004 season with victory in Malaysia, leaving the second round with a full points tally of twenty points. Teammate Rubens Barrichello was second, seven behind already, while Juan Pablo Montoya had moved up into third after his second place finish. Jenson Button had also moved up courtesy of his podium finish, with Felipe Massa having been the only driver to add their name to the score sheet.

In the Constructors Championship Ferrari had almost secure a whole race weekend's advantage in terms of points, leaving the second round with 33 points to their name. That translated into a sixteen point lead over Williams-BMW in second, while Renault were in third, a further three behind. BAR-Honda were next ahead of McLaren-Mercedes, while Sauber-Petronas completed the scorers list.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix is outlined below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2004 Ferrari 053 3.0 V10 B
2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2004 Ferrari 053 3.0 V10 B
3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya United Kingdom BMW Williams F1 Team Williams FW26 BMW P84 3.0 V10 M
4 Germany Ralf Schumacher United Kingdom BMW Williams F1 Team Williams FW26 BMW P84 3.0 V10 M
5 United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom West McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-19 Mercedes FO 110Q 3.0 V10 M
6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen United Kingdom West McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-19 Mercedes FO 110Q 3.0 V10 M
7 Italy Jarno Trulli France Mild Seven Renault F1 Team Renault R24 Renault RS24 3.0 V10 M
8 Spain Fernando Alonso France Mild Seven Renault F1 Team Renault R24 Renault RS24 3.0 V10 M
9 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom Lucky Strike BAR Honda BAR 006 Honda RA004E 3.0 V10 M
10 Japan Takuma Sato United Kingdom Lucky Strike BAR Honda BAR 006 Honda RA004E 3.0 V10 M
11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Switzerland Sauber Petronas Sauber C23 Petronas 04A 3.0 V10 B
12 Brazil Felipe Massa Switzerland Sauber Petronas Sauber C23 Petronas 04A 3.0 V10 B
14 Australia Mark Webber United Kingdom Jaguar Racing Jaguar R5 Ford Cosworth CR-6 3.0 V10 M
15 Austria Christian Klien United Kingdom Jaguar Racing Jaguar R5 Ford Cosworth CR-6 3.0 V10 M
16 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF104 Toyota RVX-04 3.0 V10 M
17 France Olivier Panis Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF104 Toyota RVX-04 3.0 V10 M
18 Germany Nick Heidfeld Ireland Jordan Ford Jordan EJ14 Ford Cosworth RS2 3.0 V10 B
19 Italy Giorgio Pantano Ireland Jordan Ford Jordan EJ14 Ford Cosworth RS2 3.0 V10 B
20 Italy Gianmaria Bruni Italy Minardi Cosworth Minardi PS04B Ford Cosworth CR-3L 3.0 V10 B
21 Hungary Zsolt Baumgartner Italy Minardi Cosworth Minardi PS04B Ford Cosworth CR-3L 3.0 V10 B
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
35 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson United Kingdom Lucky Strike BAR Honda BAR 006 Honda RA004E 3.0 V10 M
37 Sweden Björn Wirdheim United Kingdom Jaguar Racing Jaguar R5 Ford Cosworth CR-6 3.0 V10 M
38 Brazil Ricardo Zonta Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF104 Toyota RVX-04 3.0 V10 M
39 Germany Timo Glock Ireland Jordan Ford Jordan EJ14 Ford Cosworth RS2 3.0 V10 B
40 Belgium Bas Leinders Italy Minardi Cosworth Minardi PS04B Ford Cosworth CR-3L 3.0 V10 B
Source:[2]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Q1 Report[]

Q2 Report[]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
Q1 Q2
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Ferrari 1:30.751 1:30.139
2 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Italy Ferrari 1:31.283 1:30.530 +0.391s
3 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya United Kingdom Williams-BMW 1:30.247 1:30.581 +0.442s
4 4 Germany Ralf Schumacher United Kingdom Williams-BMW 1:29.968 1:30.633 +0.494s
5 10 Japan Takuma Sato United Kingdom BAR-Honda 1:31.135 1:30.827 +0.688s
6 9 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom BAR-Honda 1:31.131 1:30.856 +0.717s
7 7 Italy Jarno Trulli France Renault 1:31.103 1:30.971 +0.832s
8 17 France Olivier Panis Japan Toyota 1:31.001 1:31.686 +1.547s
9 16 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Japan Toyota 1:31.329 1:31.717 +1.578s
10 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.364 1:31.719 +1.580s
11 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 1:31.203 1:31.731 +1.592s
12 15 Austria Christian Klien United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 1:31.868 1:32.332 +2.193s
13 12 Brazil Felipe Massa Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 1:32.152 1:32.536 +2.397s
14 14 Australia Mark Webber United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 1:31.945 1:32.625 +2.486s
15* 18 Germany Nick Heidfeld Ireland Jordan-Ford Cosworth 1:32.640 1:33.506 +3.367s
16 19 Italy Giorgio Pantano Ireland Jordan-Ford Cosworth 1:33.598 1:34.105 +3.966s
17 8 Spain Fernando Alonso France Renault 1:31.040 1:34.130 +3.991s
18 20 Italy Gianmaria Bruni Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:34.879 1:34.584 +4.445s
19* 21 Hungary Zsolt Baumgartner Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:35.632 1:35.787 +5.648s
20* 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.353
Source:[3][4][5]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
  • Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
  • * Heidfeld, Baumgartner and Räikkönen were awarded ten place grid penalties for changing their engines.[5]

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 1 ______________
Michael Schumacher 2
______________ Rubens Barrichello
Row 2 3 ______________
Juan Pablo Montoya 4
______________ Ralf Schumacher
Row 3 5 ______________
Takuma Sato 6
______________ Jenson Button
Row 4 7 ______________
Jarno Trulli 8
______________ Olivier Panis
Row 5 9 ______________
Cristiano da Matta 10
______________ David Coulthard
Row 6 11 ______________
Giancarlo Fisichella 12
______________ Christian Klien
Row 7 13 ______________
Felipe Massa 14
______________ Mark Webber
Row 8 15 ______________
Giorgio Pantano 16
______________ Fernando Alonso
Row 9 17 ______________
Gianmaria Bruni* 18
______________ Nick Heidfeld
Row 10 19 ______________
Kimi Räikkönen 20
______________ Zsolt Baumgartner
  • * Bruni would start the race from the pitlane.[5]

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

The full results for the 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Ferrari 57 1:28:34.875 1 10
2 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Italy Ferrari 57 +1.367s 2 8
3 9 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom BAR-Honda 57 +26.687s 6 6
4 7 Italy Jarno Trulli France Renault 57 +32.214s 7 5
5 10 Japan Takuma Sato United Kingdom BAR-Honda 57 +52.460s 5 4
6 8 Spain Fernando Alonso France Renault 57 +53.156s 16 3
7 4 Germany Ralf Schumacher United Kingdom Williams-BMW 57 +58.155s 4 2
8 14 Australia Mark Webber United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 56 +1 Lap 14 1
9 17 France Olivier Panis Japan Toyota 56 +1 Lap 8
10 16 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Japan Toyota 56 +1 Lap 9
11 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 56 +1 Lap 11
12 12 Brazil Felipe Massa Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 56 +1 Lap 13
13* 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya United Kingdom Williams-BMW 56 Gearbox 3
14 15 Austria Christian Klien United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 56 +1 Lap 12
15 18 Germany Nick Heidfeld Ireland Jordan-Ford Cosworth 56 +1 Lap 18
16 19 Italy Giorgio Pantano Ireland Jordan-Ford Cosworth 55 +2 Laps 15
17 20 Italy Gianmaria Bruni Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 52 +5 Laps 17
Ret 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 50 Pneumatic 10
Ret 21 Hungary Zsolt Baumgartner Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 44 Engine 20
Ret 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 7 Engine 19
Source:[6]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
  • * Montoya was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.[6]

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Michael Schumacher continued his charge towards the title with his third win in three races in 2004, ending the weekend on a maximum score of 30 points. Rubens Barrichello was now the only driver within a win's worth of points of the German ace, making the German the favourite for the title already. Jenson Button, meanwhile, had moved into third after a second successive podium, with Juan Pablo Montoya and Fernando Alonso completing the scorers.

In the Constructors Championship Ferrari looked to be in a class of their own, having dropped just three points across the opening three rounds. They therefore had a crushing 29 point lead over second placed Renault, while Williams-BMW slipped to third, three of the French manufacturer. BAR-Honda, meanwhile, had drawn level with the Anglo-German alliance, with McLaren-Mercedes completing the top five.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 Germany Michael Schumacher 30
2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello 21
3 United Kingdom Jenson Button 15 ▲1
4 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya 12 ▼1
5 Spain Fernando Alonso 11
6 Italy Jarno Trulli 11
7 Germany Ralf Schumacher 7
8 Japan Takuma Sato 4 ▲4
9 United Kingdom David Coulthard 4 ▼1
10 Brazil Felipe Massa 1 ▼1
11 Australia Mark Webber 1 ▲7
World Championship for Constructors
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 Italy Ferrari 51
2 France Renault 22 ▲1
3 United Kingdom Williams-BMW 19 ▼1
4 United Kingdom BAR-Honda 19
5 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 4
6 Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 1
7 United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 1 ▲1

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 'Bahrain GP, 2004', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2014), https://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr716.html, (Accessed 17/12/2019)
  2. 'Bahrain 2004: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2004/bahrein/engages.aspx, (Accessed 17/12/2019)
  3. '2004 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2004/races/755/bahrain/qualifying-1.html, (Accessed 17/12/2019)
  4. '2004 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2004/races/755/bahrain/qualifying-2.html, (Accessed 17/12/2019)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 'Bahrain 2004: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2004/bahrein/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 17/12/2019)
  6. 6.0 6.1 'Bahrain 2004: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2004/bahrein/classement.aspx, (Accessed 17/12/2019)
  7. 7.0 7.1 '2004 Bahrain GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=2004&gp=Bahrain%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 17/12/2019)
  8. 8.0 8.1 '3. Bahrain 2004', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2004/bahrein.aspx, (Accessed 17/12/2019)
V T E Bahrain Bahrain Grand Prix
Circuits Bahrain International Circuit (2004–present)
Sakhir1
Races 200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
V T E 2004 Formula One Season
Teams Ferrari • Williams • McLaren • Renault • BAR • Sauber • Jaguar • Toyota • Jordan • Minardi
Engines BMW • Cosworth • Ferrari • Ford • Honda • Mercedes • Petronas • Renault • Toyota
Drivers M. Schumacher • 2 Barrichello • 3 Montoya • 4 R. Schumacher • 4 Gené • 4 Pizzonia • 5 Coulthard • 6 Räikkönen • 7 Trulli • 7 Villeneuve • 8 Alonso • 9 Button • 10 Sato • 11 Fisichella • 12 Massa • 14 Webber • 15 Klien • 16 Da Matta • 16/17 Zonta • 16 Trulli • 17 Panis • 18 Heidfeld • 19 Pantano • 19 Glock • 20 Bruni • 21 Baumgartner
Other Drivers Badoer • Davidson • De la Rosa • Doornbos • Kovalainen • Monteiro • Piquet • Rosberg • Rossi • Wurz
Cars Ferrari F2004 • Williams FW26 • McLaren MP4-19 • McLaren MP4-19B • Renault R24 • BAR 006 • Sauber C23 • Jaguar R5 • Toyota TF104 • Toyota TF104B • Jordan EJ14 • Minardi PS04B
Tyres Bridgestone • Michelin
Races Australia • Malaysia • Bahrain • San Marino • Spain • Monaco • Europe • Canada • United States • France • Britain • Germany • Hungary • Belgium • Italy • China • Japan • Brazil
See also 2003 Formula One Season • 2005 Formula One Season • Category
V T E Promotional Trophy
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