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The 2004 British Grand Prix, otherwise known as the 2004 Formula 1 Foster's British Grand Prix, was the eleventh round of the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, UK, on 11 July 2004.[1] The race would see Michael Schumacher secure his tenth victory of the season as he continued his dominant streak to a seventh World Championship crown.[1]

There had been a surprise result in qualifying as an out of form Kimi Räikkönen claimed pole position, beating Schumacher's Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello.[1] Jenson Button gave home fans hope by claiming third for BAR-Honda, while Schumacher would start from fourth having reportedly opted for a higher fuel load.[1]

Räikkönen's sudden strong form continued through the start of the race, with the #6 McLaren-Mercedes sprinting clear to establish an early lead.[1] Behind, it would be grid order for Barrichello, Button and Schumacher, for the fabled Renault launch control systems on Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso's cars failed to dent the front of the field.[1]

Indeed, it was a fairly tame start to the race overall, with Räikkönen building a 4.3 second lead in the opening three laps with a succession of new lap records.[1] Behind, Giancarlo Fisichella provided the main entertainment as he sprinted up the field from last place in the pitlane to seventeenth with a series of excellent moves.[1]

As the race wore on the Bridgestone shod cars, primarily the two Ferraris, began to pick up the pace, with the cooler conditions in Silverstone taking their tyres out of their favoured operation window.[1] Indeed, Barrichello was able to exchange a series of new lap records with Räikkönen as he slowly clawed the McLaren back in, while Button did his best to keep pace with Schumacher on his tail.[1]

Räikkönen duly led the top three into the pits for the first of their three stops a few laps later, leaving Schumacher on his own at the head of the field.[1] In clear air the German ace set a series of new lap records to demolish Räikkönen's advantage, with the Finn himself having emerged from his stop behind a stubborn Takuma Sato.[1]

Sato's intervention allowed Ferrari to swap Schumacher onto a two-stop, and hence ended any hopes of the #1 Ferrari being challenged, for it emerged from the pits well ahead of Räikkönen's McLaren.[1] Furthermore, Sato's antics had allowed Button to jump ahead of Barrichello, and hence allowed the Brit to follow Räikkönen right onto Schumacher's tail.[1]

McLaren, hoping to force Ferrari's hand, opted to pit Räikkönen the moment he caught the #1 Ferrari, although the German ace was not to be fazed.[1] Instead, the Ferrari team focused their attention on Barrichello, and a swift stop allowed the Brazilian to jump back ahead of Button to secure third behind Räikkönen.[1]

Furthermore the final round of stops would have no effect on the order, for they came amid a Safety Car period caused by Trulli.[1] Indeed, a suspension failure on the #7 Renault had seen the Italian's car throw itself off the circuit at Bridge, with a barrel roll seeing bits of Renault scattered across the gravel.[1]

After a four lap pause the race resumed, with Schumacher easing away to claim his tenth victory, two seconds clear of Räikkönen.[1] Barrichello, meanwhile, would escape Button's attentions late on to complete the podium, with the Brit himself just fending off Juan Pablo Montoya.[1] The remaining points went to Fisichella, David Coulthard, and Mark Webber.[1]

Background[]

Michael Schumacher's march to a seventh World Championship continued in France with his ninth win of the campaign, leaving the German ace just ten shy of the 100 point mark. Teammate Rubens Barrichello had lost more ground, now facing a 22 point gap to the German ace, while Jenson Button in third left Magny-Cours 42 points away. Jarno Trulli had closed in on the Brit in the fight for third, while Fernando Alonso had inched closer to their fight in fifth.

In the Constructors Championship another strong weekend for Ferrari had put the Scuderia onto 158 points, and hence ensured they still had double the points of their closest challengers. Indeed, Renault left their home race, on the 25th anniversary of their maiden victory, on 79 points, and had hence all but given up hope of challenging for the crown. They were hence working to consolidate second ahead of BAR-Honda, with the Anglo-Japanese alliance having broken clear of Williams-BMW in fourth.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 2004 British 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 Spain Marc Gené 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 MP4-19B Mercedes FO 110Q 3.0 V10 M
6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen United Kingdom West McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-19B 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[]

FP3[]

The event was also notable for the death of Minardi Sporting Director John Walton, who died of a heart attack following the street demonstration, causing the Minardi team to withdraw its cars from Saturday's early practice session. Minardi removed all sponsor logos to mourn Walton death, immediately before the race weekend. However, after the event, the team lost their Dutch title sponsor Wilux, mainly because the logos had been removed without the sponsor's agreement.

Qualifying[]

Q1 Report[]

Q2 Report[]

Qualifying Results[]

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

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
Q1 Q2
1 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.639 1:18.233
2 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Italy Ferrari 1:24.817 1:18.305 +0.072s
3 9 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom BAR-Honda 1:18.872 1:18.580 +0.347s
4 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Ferrari 1:30.293 1:18.710 +0.477s
5 7 Italy Jarno Trulli France Renault 1:21.496 1:18.715 +0.482s
6* 8 Spain Fernando Alonso France Renault 1:21.923 1:18.811 +0.578s
7 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.521 1:19.148 +0.915s
8 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya United Kingdom Williams-BMW 1:34.386 1:19.378 +1.145s
9 10 Japan Takuma Sato United Kingdom BAR-Honda 1:28.910 1:19.688 +1.455s
10 14 Australia Mark Webber United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 1:35.853 1:20.004 +1.771s
11 12 Brazil Felipe Massa Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 1:19.317 1:20.202 +1.969s
12 17 France Olivier Panis Japan Toyota 1:19.967 1:20.355 +2.102s
13 4 Spain Marc Gené United Kingdom Williams-BMW 1:34.981 1:20.355 +2.102s
14 16 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Japan Toyota 1:22.507 1:20.545 +2.312s
15 15 Austria Christian Klien United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 1:38.648 1:21.559 +3.326s
16 19 Italy Giorgio Pantano Ireland Jordan-Ford Cosworth 1:21.350 1:22.458 +4.225s
17 18 Germany Nick Heidfeld Ireland Jordan-Ford Cosworth 1:22.677 +4.444s
18* 20 Italy Gianmaria Bruni Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:22.529 1:23.437 +5.204s
19* 21 Hungary Zsolt Baumgartner Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:23.116 1:24.117 +5.884s
NC* 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Switzerland Sauber-Petronas
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.
  • * Alonso, Bruni, Baumgartner and Fisichella were all handed ten place grid penalties for changing their engines.[5]
  • Panis was handed a five place grid penalty for impeding Massa.[1]

Grid[]

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

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

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

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Ferrari 60 1:24:42.700 4 10
2 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 60 +2.130s 1 8
3 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Italy Ferrari 60 +3.114s 2 6
4 9 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom BAR-Honda 60 +10.683s 3 5
5 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya United Kingdom Williams-BMW 60 +12.173s 7 4
6 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 60 +12.888s 20 3
7 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 60 +19.668s 6 2
8 14 Australia Mark Webber United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 60 +23.701s 9 1
9 12 Brazil Felipe Massa Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 60 +24.023s 10
10 8 Spain Fernando Alonso France Renault 60 +24.835s 16
11 10 Japan Takuma Sato United Kingdom BAR-Honda 60 +33.736s 8
12 4 Spain Marc Gené United Kingdom Williams-BMW 60 +34.303s 11
13 16 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Japan Toyota 59 +1 Lap 12
14 15 Austria Christian Klien United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 59 +1 Lap 13
15 18 Germany Nick Heidfeld Ireland Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 59 +1 Lap 15
16 20 Italy Gianmaria Bruni Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 56 +4 Laps 18
Ret 19 Italy Giorgio Pantano Ireland Jordan-Ford Cosworth 47 Spin 14
Ret 7 Italy Jarno Trulli France Renault 39 Suspension 5
Ret 21 Hungary Zsolt Baumgartner Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 29 Engine 19
Ret 17 France Olivier Panis Japan Toyota 16 Extinguisher 17
Source:[6]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Ten wins equated to 100 points for Michael Schumacher leaving the British Grand Prix, with the German ace charging towards his seventh World Championship crown at an alarming rate. Indeed, teammate and closest challenger Rubens Barrichello left Silverstone 26 points behind, while third placed Jenson Button was in danger of falling out of the "fight" completely. Otherwise it had been a productive day for Button as he had inched further away from Jarno Trulli, while Fernando Alonso retained his top-five status.

As their lead driver marched to the Drivers Championship so too did Ferrari, whom left the UK with 174 points to their name. Renault were forming the closest challenge to the Scuderia, although their non-score meant that the gap between the top two was up to 95 points, the equivalent of four race weekend's worth of points. Instead, the French squad were in a fight for second, with BAR-Honda having inched closer to twelve behind the tricolour registered squad.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 Germany Michael Schumacher 100
2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello 74
3 United Kingdom Jenson Button 53
4 Italy Jarno Trulli 46
5 Spain Fernando Alonso 33
6 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya 29
7 Finland Kimi Räikkönen 18 ▲4
8 Japan Takuma Sato 14 ▼1
9 United Kingdom David Coulthard 14
10 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella 13
11 Germany Ralf Schumacher 12 ▼3
12 Brazil Felipe Massa 5
13 France Olivier Panis 5
14 Australia Mark Webber 4 ▲1
15 Brazil Cristiano da Matta 3 ▼1
16 Germany Nick Heidfeld 3
17 Germany Timo Glock 2
18 Hungary Zsolt Baumgartner 1
World Championship for Constructors
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 Italy Ferrari 174
2 France Renault 79
3 United Kingdom BAR-Honda 67
4 United Kingdom Williams-BMW 41
5 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 32
6 Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 18
7 Japan Toyota 8
8 Ireland Jordan-Ford Cosworth 5
9 United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 4
10 Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1

Only point scoring drivers 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 'Britain 2004: Schumacher supreme at Silverstone.', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 11/07/2004), https://www.crash.net/f1/race-report/49484/1/britain-2004-schumacher-supreme-at-silverstone, (Accessed 22/12/2019)
  2. 'Britain 2004: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2004/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 22/12/2019)
  3. '2004 FORMULA 1™ Foster's British Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2004/races/763/great-britain/qualifying-1.html, (Accessed 22/12/2019)
  4. '2004 FORMULA 1™ Foster's British Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2004/races/763/great-britain/qualifying-2.html, (Accessed 22/12/2019)
  5. 5.0 5.1 'Britain 2004: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2004/grande-bretagne/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 22/12/2019)
  6. 'Britain 2004: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2004/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 23/12/2019)
  7. 7.0 7.1 '2004 British GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=2004&gp=British%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 23/12/2019)
  8. 8.0 8.1 '11. Britain 2004', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2004/grande-bretagne.aspx, (Accessed 23/12/2019)
V T E United Kingdom British Grand Prix
Circuits Brooklands (1926 - 1927), Silverstone (1948 - Present), Aintree (1955 - 1962), Brands Hatch (1963 - 1986)
SilverstoneArena2010
Races 19501951195219531954195519561957195819591960196119621963196419651966196719681969197019711972197319741975197619771978197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Non-Championship Races 1926192719481949
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
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