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The 2004 United States Grand Prix, otherwise known as the 2004 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, was the ninth round of the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana, USA, on 20 June 2004.[1] The race, which saw Michael Schumacher secure his eighth victory of the season, would be overshadowed by a huge accident for his brother Ralf that left the German racer in hospital.[1]

Qualifying had been a Ferrari benefit, with Rubens Barrichello beating teammate Michael Schumacher to pole position, three tenths clear of the rest of the field.[1] Takuma Sato was best of the rest alongside his teammate Jenson Button, while Ralf Schumacher shared the third row with Williams-BMW partner Juan Pablo Montoya.[1]

It would be formation flying at the head of the field at the start of the race too, with Barrichello easing ahead of Michael Schumacher to lead into the first corner.[1] Behind, however, there would be some changes, and Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso both made stunning getaways to leap past the Williams-BMWs and the BAR-Hondas, before an early accident caused the Safety Car to appear.[1]

The cause would be the two Toyotas, who went for the same piece of tarmac when fighting at the back of the top ten, before Cristiano da Matta realised he had no room and slammed on his brakes.[1] That caught Christian Klien out and hence saw the Jaguar-Ford Cosworth slam into the Toyota, which duly spun into Giorgio Pantano and Felipe Massa.[1] Nick Heidfeld avoided the melee but hit Gianmaria Bruni, breaking the Italian's suspension, leaving four broken cars on the exit of turn two.[1]

The safety car period ended at the end of lap five, with the restart seeing Michael Schumacher ease past Barrichello to claim the lead.[1] The German ace quickly broke away to leave his Brazilian teammate to fend off Räikkönen and Alonso, until the latter suffered a Michelin tyre failure on lap nine, before an even more dramatic failure ended Ralf Schumacher's day.[1]

Rounding the banked final corner Schumacher's #4 Williams suddenly lost pressure in its left-rear tyre, which pitched the car straight into the outside, concrete, wall.[1] The Williams-BMW duly demolished itself as it skidded along the wall and across the circuit, before coming to rest on the start/finish straight.[1] The SC was called with Schumacher not visibly moving in the cockpit for several tense moments.[1]

The majority of the field took the opportunity to pit, which resulted in Räikkönen jumping ahead of Barrichello for a de facto second.[1] Sato, Button and Montoya, meanwhile, would gamble on not stopping, but emerged from the pits behind race leader Michael Schumacher.[1]

On lighter fuel loads the two BAR-Hondas were able to harass Schumacher's Ferrari for several laps, until they had to stop on laps 24 and 25, ending their hopes of challenging.[1] Sato would, however, make a series of excellent overtakes in the following laps to move back into the points, with Räikkönen beginning the second round of stops for the three-stop drivers on lap 29.[1]

Yet, it was not until the final round of stops that the race got interesting, with Räikkönen falling out of the fight for victory, while Barrichello mounted an assault on teammate Schumacher.[1] Indeed, several near-misses resulted from the fight, inevitably resulting Ferrari boss Jean Todt ordering the Brazilian to hold position behind the #1 Ferrari.[1]

With that the race was over, with Schumacher able to relax in the closing stages to claim his eighth win of the campaign ahead of Barrichello.[1] They were joined on the podium by Sato as he completed his charge back up the field, becoming only the second Japanese driver to finish on the podium.[1] Jarno Trulli, Olivier Panis, Räikkönen, David Coulthard and Zsolt Baumgartner claimed the remaining points.[1]

Background[]

A seventh win of the season left Michael Schumacher as the overwhelming favourite for the title as the halfway point in the season rapidly approached, the German ace leaving Canada on 70 points. That translated into a sixteen point advantage over Rubens Barrichello in second, while Jenson Button was the first non-Ferrari driver in the Championship, 26 behind. Jarno Trulli was next ahead of Fernando Alonso in table, with Timo Glock having become the seventeenth driver to score.

In the Constructors Championship Ferrari, unsurprisingly, would enter the second half of the season as the team to beat, hitting 124 points before the halfway point. Renault were their largest threat, although with a 63 point gap between them it was a matter of when, not if, the Scuderia would claim the 2004 crown. Elsewhere, BAR-Honda were just nine behind the French manufacturer in third, Williams-BMW were in fourth, while Sauber-Petronas had kept hold of fifth ahead of McLaren-Mercedes.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 2004 United States 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 United States Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
Q1 Q2
1 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Italy Ferrari 1:09.454 1:10.223
2 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Ferrari 1:10.129 1:10.400 +0.177s
3 10 Japan Takuma Sato United Kingdom BAR-Honda 1:10.002 1:10.601 +0.378s
4 9 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom BAR-Honda 1:10.115 1:10.820 +0.597s
5 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya United Kingdom Williams-BMW 1:09.824 1:11.062 +0.839s
6 4 Germany Ralf Schumacher United Kingdom Williams-BMW 1:10.003 1:11.106 +0.883s
7 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 1:11.415 1:11.137 +0.914s
8 17 France Olivier Panis Japan Toyota 1:09.923 1:11.167 +0.944s
9 8 Spain Fernando Alonso France Renault 1:10.078 1:11.185 +0.962s
10 14 Australia Mark Webber United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 1:11.444 1:11.286 +1.063s
11 16 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Japan Toyota 1:10.108 1:11.691 +1.468s
12 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 1:11.068 1:12.026 +1.803s
13 15 Austria Christian Klien United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 1:11.777 1:12.170 +1.947s
14 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 1:10.997 1:12.470 +2.247s
15 12 Brazil Felipe Massa Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 1:11.315 1:12.721 +2.498s
16 18 Germany Nick Heidfeld Ireland Jordan-Ford Cosworth 1:12.329 1:13.147 +2.924s
17 19 Italy Giorgio Pantano Ireland Jordan-Ford Cosworth 1:12.017 1:13.375 +3.152s
18 20 Italy Gianmaria Bruni Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:13.776 1:14.010 +3.787s
19 21 Hungary Zsolt Baumgartner Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:14.396 1:14.812 +4.589s
NC* 7 Italy Jarno Trulli France Renault 1:10.559
Source:[3][4][5]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
  • * Trulli no time in Q2 due to a steering wheel problem.
  • Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.

Grid[]

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

Race[]

Report[]

Mattia Binotto Ferrari team joined on the podium to receive the winning manufacturer’s award.

Results[]

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

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Ferrari 73 1:40:29.914 2 10
2 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Italy Ferrari 73 +2.950s 1 8
3 10 Japan Takuma Sato United Kingdom BAR-Honda 73 +22.036s 3 6
4 7 Italy Jarno Trulli France Renault 73 +34.544s 20 5
5 17 France Olivier Panis Japan Toyota 73 +37.534s 8 4
6 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 72 +1 Lap 7 3
7 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 72 +1 Lap 12 2
8 21 Hungary Zsolt Baumgartner Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 70 +3 Laps 19 1
9 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 68 Hydraulics 14
Ret 14 Australia Mark Webber United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 60 Engine 10
DSQ* 3T Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya United Kingdom Williams-BMW 57 Disqualified 5
Ret 18 Germany Nick Heidfeld Ireland Jordan-Ford Cosworth 40 Engine 16
Ret 9 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom BAR-Honda 26 Gearbox 4
Ret 16 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Japan Toyota 17 Gear Selection 11
Ret 4 Germany Ralf Schumacher United Kingdom Williams-BMW 9 Injury 6
Ret 8 Spain Fernando Alonso France Renault 8 Accident 9
Ret 15 Austria Christian Klien United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 0 Collision 13
Ret 12 Brazil Felipe Massa Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 0 Collision 15
Ret 19 Italy Giorgio Pantano Ireland Jordan-Ford Cosworth 0 Collision 17
Ret 20 Italy Gianmaria Bruni Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 0 Collision 18
Source: [6]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
  • * Montoya was disqualified from the results of the race for switching to his spare car without the stewards' permission.[6]

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Unsurprisingly an eighth win of the season had allowed Michael Schumacher to extend his title lead to eighteen points with half the season to run. Furthermore, his closest challenger was teammate Rubens Barrichello, and the latest spat of "team orders" in the US had made it clear that the Brazilian was not allowed to fight the German ace for race victories, let alone the crown. Jenson Button was therefore Schumacher's closest competitor, albeit with a 36 point deficit at the halfway point.

In the Constructors Championship Ferrari continued to ease away at the head of the pack, leaving North America with a huge 142 point tally. That left them with over double the number of points of second placed Renault, meaning the French squad were realistically in a fight for second with BAR-Honda. Eight points split the pair at the halfway point, while Minardi-Ford Cosworth were on the scoresheet for the first time, after a pointless run extending back to the 2002 Australian Grand Prix.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 Germany Michael Schumacher 80
2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello 62
3 United Kingdom Jenson Button 44
4 Italy Jarno Trulli 41
5 Spain Fernando Alonso 25
6 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya 24
7 Japan Takuma Sato 14 ▲2
8 Germany Ralf Schumacher 12 ▼1
9 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella 10 ▼1
10 United Kingdom David Coulthard 9
11 Finland Kimi Räikkönen 8 ▲1
12 Brazil Felipe Massa 5 ▼1
13 France Olivier Panis 5 ▲4
14 Brazil Cristiano da Matta 3 ▼1
15 Australia Mark Webber 3 ▼1
16 Germany Nick Heidfeld 3 ▼1
17 Germany Timo Glock 2 ▼1
18 Hungary Zsolt Baumgartner 1 ▲1
World Championship for Constructors
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 Italy Ferrari 142
2 France Renault 66
3 United Kingdom BAR-Honda 58
4 United Kingdom Williams-BMW 36
5 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 17 ▲1
6 Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 15 ▼1
7 Japan Toyota 8 ▲1
8 Ireland Jordan-Ford Cosworth 5 ▼1
9 United Kingdom Jaguar-Ford Cosworth 3
10 Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 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 'United States GP, 2004', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2014), https://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr722.html, (Accessed 21/12/2019)
  2. 'USA 2004: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2004/etats-unis/engages.aspx, (Accessed 21/12/2019)
  3. '2004 FORMULA 1™ United States Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2004/races/761/united-states/qualifying-1.html, (Accessed 21/12/2019)
  4. '2004 FORMULA 1™ United States Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2004/races/761/united-states/qualifying-2.html, (Accessed 21/12/2019)
  5. 5.0 5.1 'USA 2004: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2004/etats-unis/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 21/12/2019)
  6. 6.0 6.1 "2004 United States Grand Prix - Race Results". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2004/races/761/united-states.html. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 '9. USA 2004', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2004/etats-unis.aspx, (Accessed 21/12/2019)
  8. 8.0 8.1 '2004 United States GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=2004&gp=United%20States%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 21/12/2019)
V T E United States United States Grand Prix
Circuits Sebring (1959), Riverside (1960), Watkins Glen (1961–1980), Phoenix (1989–1991), Indianapolis (2000–2007), Austin (2012–present)
CircuitoftheAmericas2012
Formula One Races 19591960196119621963196419651966196719681969197019711972197319741975197619771978197919801981–19881989199019911992–1999200020012002200320042005200620072008–2011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Non-F1 races 1908190919101911191219131914191519161917–1957 • 1958
See also Miami Grand PrixLas Vegas Grand PrixUnited States Grand Prix WestIndianapolis 500Detroit Grand PrixCaesars Palace Grand PrixDallas Grand PrixQuestor Grand Prix
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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