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| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 18 in the 2004 Formula One season. | ||
| Date | March 7 2004 | |
| Official name | 2004 Formula 1 Foster's Australian Grand Prix | |
| Location | Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia | |
| Course | Temporary street racing facility 4.574 km (2.842 mi) |
|
| Distance | 58 laps, 5.303 km (3.295 mi) | |
| Weather | Dry & cloudy | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  Michael Schumacher |
Scuderia Ferrari |
| Time | 1:24.408 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver | Michael Schumacher |
Ferrari |
| Time | 1:24.125 on lap 29 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Michael Schumacher |
Ferrari |
| Second |  Rubens Barrichello |
Ferrari |
| Third |  Fernando Alonso |
Renault |
The 2004 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on March 7, 2004 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. Michael Schumacher won the race for Ferrari from pole position in a very dominant fashion, with his team-mate Rubens Barrichello finishing behind him in second. This one-two finish gave Ferrari a strong 9 point lead in the constructors' standings after just one race. Williams, Renault and BAR gathered points together, while McLaren, a team that had enjoyed success in years preceding this only managed one point, with David Coulthard finishing a lapped 8th.1
Contents |
Report
Qualifying resulted in a Ferrari one-two, with Juan Pablo Montoya 3rd on the grid for Williams. Gianmaria Bruni, Christian Klien and Olivier Panis all failed to set a qualifying time.2
The race proved that Ferrari once again had a dominant car, with Michael Schumacher winning from team-mate Rubens Barrichello, while the rest of the field was over 20 seconds behind. Schumacher led every one of the 58 race laps.3 At the start, Montoya was jumped by the Renault of Fernando Alonso. Montoya attempted to regain the place by going around the outside of the Spaniard into the first turn, but outbraked himself and ran wide. This dropped him behind his team-mate Ralf Schumacher, who'd qualified 8th. Despite repassing Ralf Schumacher on-track, the Colombian ended up behind him again by the race's end in 5th place.
Fernando Alonso gave Renault a podium with 3rd place, while Jenson Button got BAR off the mark with 6th. Jarno Trulli finished 7th in the Renault and was the first lapped runner. McLaren seemed to be less competitive than in recent years, with Kimi Räikkönen becoming the first retirement of the year, dropping out with an engine problem, and with David Coulthard picking up just 1 point in 8th place. They had only qualified in the mid-field, with Räikkönen and Coulthard 10th and 12th respectively.4
Sauber's Giancarlo Fisichella had a long battle for position in the midfield with Jordan's Nick Heidfeld. Fisichello passed Heidfeld, who later dropped out of the race with a transmission failure.
Other retirements were Zsolt Baumgartner (Minardi), Mark Webber (Jaguar) and Felipe Massa (Sauber). Mark Webber qualified in 6th place, and was running in the race with the Williams and BAR teams, but he suffered a transmission failure on lap 29. Felipe Massa survived a full 360 degree-spin before pulling off with a blown engine.
Classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Michael Schumacher |
Ferrari | 58 | 1:24:15.757 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 2 | Rubens Barrichello |
Ferrari | 58 | +13.605 | 2 | 8 |
| 3 | 8 | Fernando Alonso |
Renault | 58 | +34.673 | 5 | 6 |
| 4 | 4 | Ralf Schumacher |
Williams-BMW | 58 | +1:00.423 | 8 | 5 |
| 5 | 3 |  Juan Pablo Montoya |
Williams-BMW | 58 | +1:08.536 | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | 9 |  Jenson Button |
BAR-Honda | 58 | +1:10.598 | 4 | 3 |
| 7 | 7 |  Jarno Trulli |
Renault | 57 | +1 Lap | 9 | 2 |
| 8 | 5 | David Coulthard |
McLaren-Mercedes | 57 | +1 Lap | 12 | 1 |
| 9 | 10 |  Takuma Sato |
BAR-Honda | 57 | +1 Lap | 7 | |
| 10 | 11 | Giancarlo Fisichella |
Sauber-Petronas | 57 | +1 Lap | 14 | |
| 11 | 15 |  Christian Klien |
Jaguar-Cosworth | 56 | +2 Laps | 19 | |
| 12 | 16 | Cristiano da Matta |
Toyota | 56 | +2 Laps | 13 | |
| 13 | 17 |  Olivier Panis |
Toyota | 56 | +2 Laps | 18 | |
| 14 | 19 | Giorgio Pantano |
Jordan-Ford | 55 | +3 Laps | 16 | |
| Ret | 12 | Felipe Massa |
Sauber-Petronas | 44 | Engine | 11 | |
| Ret | 18 | Nick Heidfeld |
Jordan-Ford | 43 | Transmission | 15 | |
| NC | 20 | Gianmaria Bruni |
Minardi-Cosworth | 43 | Not Classified | 20 | |
| Ret | 14 |  Mark Webber |
Jaguar-Cosworth | 29 | Transmission | 6 | |
| Ret | 21 |  Zsolt Baumgartner |
Minardi-Cosworth | 13 | Electrical | 17 | |
| Ret | 6 |  Kimi Räikkönen |
McLaren-Mercedes | 9 | Engine | 10 |
Notes
- Lap Leaders: Michael Schumacher 58 (1-58)
- First Race: Giorgio Pantano, Gianmaria Bruni, Christian Klien
- This was the Ferrari team's first 1-2 since the 2002 Japanese Grand Prix.
| Previous race: 2003 Japanese Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 2004 season |
Next race: 2004 Malaysian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2003 Australian Grand Prix |
Australian Grand Prix | Next race: 2005 Australian Grand Prix |
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References
- ^ "McLaren knows its weaknesses" Motorsport.com Retrieved 28 December 2007
- ^ "2004 Australian Grand Prix starting grid" Motorsport.com Retrieved 28 December 2007
- ^ "Dominant Australian GP win for Schumacher" Motorsport.com Retrieved 28 December 2007
- ^ "McLaren knows its weaknesses" Motorsport.com Retrieved 28 December 2007
