2004 Spanish F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Spanish Grand Prix
Track: Catalunya Circuit

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

Michael SCHUMACHER won his 75th F1 World Championship race at the 2004 Spanish F1 GP. The Ferrari driver started from pole and won at Barcelona by 13.290 seconds from teammate Rubens Barrichello. It was the 175th win for the Ferrari F1 team and Schumachers 5th win of the season, a fifth win in five rounds to start the year.

Schumacher pole, Ferrari race-pace advantage huge

Barcelona on 9 May 2004 opened with Michael Schumacher taking pole with a 1:15.022 lap, Montoya second, Sato third for BAR-Honda. Trulli fourth for Renault, Barrichello fifth for Ferrari after a Q3 error. Ferrari came into Spain with a 0.617 second qualifying advantage over the fastest non-Ferrari and 1.250 seconds over Barrichello, a stark reminder of the Ferrari F2004s speed.

Race day: Trulli briefly leads, then Schumacher pulls away

Trulli made a stunning start from fourth to lead the opening eight laps in the Renault before pitting. Schumacher took the lead on lap 9 and drove away, winning by 13.290 seconds from Barrichello. Trulli was third for Renault, Alonso fourth in the sister car. Sato took a fine fifth for BAR-Honda. Michael Schumacher also set the fastest lap on lap 12 with a 1:17.450, a full second faster than his pole lap and a total demonstration of pace.

McLaren winless still, Ralf trouble

Ralf Schumacher only sixth after another difficult afternoon, Fisichella seventh for Sauber, Button eighth for BAR. McLaren scored no points at Barcelona, Coulthard and Raikkonens season showed no signs of turning around. The MP4-19 was simply not competitive with the F2004, and the Barcelona test-based team could not extract more from their own home circuit.

Championship: Schumacher on 50, no realistic challenger

After five races Schumacher led with 50 points, Barrichello 29, Button 24. The championship lead was already 21 points over Barrichello with fourteen races remaining. It was not yet mathematically decided, but the psychological trend was clear.

Classification 2004 Spanish F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	1	MichaelSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari F2004Ferrari 053	1	66	51	1:27:32.841	10
2	2	RubensBarrichello	Ferrari	Ferrari F2004Ferrari 053	5	66	7	1:27:46.131+13.290s	8
3	7	JarnoTrulli	Renault	Renault R24Renault RS24	4	66	8	1:28:05.135+32.294s	6
4	8	FernandoAlonso	Renault	Renault R24Renault RS24	8	66		1:28:05.793+32.952s	5
5	10	TakumaSato	BAR	BAR 006Honda RA004E	3	66		1:28:15.168+42.327s	4
6	4	RalfSchumacher	Williams	BMW Williams FW26BMW P84	6	66		1:28:46.645+1:13.804	3
7	11	GiancarloFisichella	Sauber	Sauber C23Petronas 04A	12	66		1:28:49.949+1:17.108	2
8	9	JensonButton	BAR	BAR 006Honda RA004E	14	65		+1 lap	1
9	12	FelipeMassa	Sauber	Sauber C23Petronas 04A	17	65		+1 lap
10	5	DavidCoulthard	McLaren	McLaren MP4/19Mercedes FO 110	10	65		+1 lap
11	6	KimiRäikkönen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/19Mercedes FO 110	13	65		+1 lap
12	14	MarkWebber	Jaguar	Jaguar R5Cosworth CR-6	9	65		+1 lap
13	16	Cristianoda Matta	Toyota	Toyota TF104Toyota RVX-04	11	65		+1 lap
DNF	19	GiorgioPantano	Jordan	Jordan EJ14Ford RS2	19	51		Steering
DNF	3	Juan-PabloMontoya	Williams	BMW Williams FW26BMW P84	2	46		Brakes
DNF	15	ChristianKlien	Jaguar	Jaguar R5Cosworth CR-6	16	43		Throttle
DNF	17	OlivierPanis	Toyota	Toyota TF104Toyota RVX-04	7	33		Hydraulics
DNF	18	NickHeidfeld	Jordan	Jordan EJ14Ford RS2	15	33		Hydraulics
DNF	20	GianmariaBruni	Minardi	Minardi PS04BCosworth CR-3	18	31		Spin
DNF	21	ZsoltBaumgartner	Minardi	Minardi PS04BCosworth CR-3	20	17		Spin

Fastest lap: 1:17.450 min. by Michael Schumacher

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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