2004 Canadian Grand Prix

  2004 Canadian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 8 of 18 in the 2004 Formula One season
Date	13 June 2004
Official name	XLII Grand Prix Air Canada
Location	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Course	Street circuit
Course length	4.361 km (2.71 mi)
Distance	70 laps, 305.27 km (189.7 mi)
Weather	Clear and mild with temperatures approaching 25 °C (77 °F); wind speeds up to 5.8 kilometres per hour (3.6 mph)[1] Track 35 °C (95 °F)[2]
Pole position
Driver	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW
Time	1:12.275
Fastest lap
Driver	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Time	1:13.622 on lap 68 (lap record)[N 1]
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Second	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Third	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda
Lap leaders

The 2004 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 June 2004 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

It was won by Michael Schumacher, with teammate Rubens Barrichello second, making for a 1-2 finish for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro as part of a season where Ferrari took the most wins of the season and the driver's championship.

In the post race inspections, Williams and Toyota were excluded from the race due to illegal brake ducts.

Report

The 2004 Canadian Grand Prix nearly did not happen, originally being dropped from the calendar in 2003 but later reinstated. The issue was to do with tobacco sponsorship.^[3]

It was the eighth race of the 2004 Formula One season, and was the first of two North American consecutive rounds. The Canadian Grand Prix 2004 was one of drama, but at the finish line Michael Schumacher took his 77th career victory, his 7th win of the 2004 season, and his 7th win in Canada. The Renaults were fast off the line as was expected, but a suspension failure put Jarno Trulli out of the race before he'd reached the second corner. Takuma Sato starting from the pit lane had a close shave with the two Jaguars and David Coulthard. Christian Klien's Jaguar was hit from behind, propelling him into the McLaren of Coulthard, which also resulted in a collision with Mark Webber who was forced to pit with a punctured tyre, but later retired with suspension failure.

After the start, Fernando Alonso was up to third behind pole sitter Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button. Jordan debutante Timo Glock took advantage of the second corner tangle and managed to find himself in 10th. As the race progressed, Rubens Barrichello moved ahead of Kimi Räikkönen into 6th position, as Glock was forced back by faster cars. Sauber's Felipe Massa battled with the ailing Takuma Sato for 14th, as Coulthard moved up to 12th, with the Toyotas in a strong 8th and 9th. The McLaren's were first to pit as part of their three stop strategy, followed shortly by Button and Montoya. Ralf Schumacher was 5 seconds ahead of Alonso until he pitted and rejoined in fourth, whilst Alonso's podium hopes were later dashed by a problem with the fuel hose which forced the Renault pit crew to resort to the spare hose, costing Alonso an additional 16 seconds. Räikkönen's afternoon couldn't get much worse, as he served a drive through penalty for crossing the white line on his exit from the pit lane. Barrichello later rejoined after his first pit stop behind Montoya, to make the running order Ralf Schumacher, Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya, Rubens Barrichello and Fernando Alonso.

Nick Heidfeld was involved in an incident in the pit lane where the lollipop man lifted whilst the fuel hose was still attached, and the fuel man was dragged along as the Jordan pulled away. The Saubers were on a long first stint and Giancarlo Fisichella did not pit until lap 25, surprisingly rejoining in the points. Meanwhile, Button was closing the gap to Ralf Schumacher, as Montoya did likewise to Ralf's older brother Michael.

Heidfeld finished 12th, but was promoted to 8th because of other drivers being disqualified.

Minardi's Gianmaria Bruni was hauled in for a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, but retired with gearbox failure shortly after. Ralf pitted again on lap 33, and rejoined in 3rd whilst Coulthard narrowly missed another collision with a fiery Christian Klien. In the second stint, Barrichello was seemingly much faster than his team mate Michael Schumacher, but could not find a way past the reigning champion. Alonso began to fly in fourth, as the adventurous Klien took an airborne trip over the grass. Alonso's charge was short-lived though, as his Renault pulled slowly to the side of the circuit with a driveshaft failure. Räikkönen, Barrichello and Michael Schumacher took their second pit stops without much hassle, although Schumacher had a leary moment when he almost hit the pit wall.

Ralf Schumacher then took his third and final stop, and so too did Montoya and Button. Takuma Sato's disappointing afternoon ended with the Honda engine exploding. As the final stages of the race approached, Michael Schumacher led brother Ralf, with Barrichello, Button, and Montoya following, and Räikkönen in sixth. Räikkönen then had to make yet another pit stop to change his steering wheel, dropping the Finn down to 7th.

With a few laps left to go, Felipe Massa suffered a rear suspension failure at the hairpin, a wheel flying beyond the retaining fence (fortunately nobody was injured) as his Sauber flew into the tyre barrier. The Brazilian was taken to hospital for precautionary tests, but was basically unharmed. Christian Klien continued an entertaining afternoon by spinning 360 degrees, narrowly avoiding a surprised Timo Glock.

The front runners remained the same until the chequered flag, Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari coming away with a 7th victory of the season. Younger brother Ralf, and Barrichello completed the podium portrait. Jenson Button ended the race in 4th, and Montoya finished in 5th. Giancarlo Fisichella's quiet race ended with an impressive 6th, with Räikkönen taking two points for seventh and Toyota's Cristiano da Matta taking the final point for 8th.

After the race, however, both Toyota's and Williams's cars were disqualified with brake irregularities, brake ducts seemingly not conforming to regulations. After the disqualification, Jenson Button claimed 3rd, with Giancarlo Fisichella taking 4th, Räikkönen and Coulthard taking 5th and 6th, and an excellent result for Timo Glock and Nick Heidfeld in 7th and 8th respectively, giving Jordan a good points haul.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	1:12.275	—
2	9	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	1:12.341	+0.066
3	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	1:13.023	+0.748
4	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:13.072	+0.797
5	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:13.308	+1.033
6	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:13.355	+1.080
7	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:13.562	+1.287
8	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:13.595	+1.320
9	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:13.681	+1.406
10	15	Christian Klien	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:14.532	+2.257
11	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sauber-Petronas	1:14.674	+2.399
12	16	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	1:14.851	+2.576
13	17	Olivier Panis	Toyota	1:14.891	+2.616
14	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:15.148	+2.873
15	18	Nick Heidfeld	Jordan-Ford	1:15.321	+3.046
16	19	Timo Glock	Jordan-Ford	1:16.323	+4.048
17	10	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	1:17.004	+4.729
18	21	Zsolt Baumgartner	Minardi-Cosworth	1:17.064	+4.789
19	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	no time	no time
20	20	Gianmaria Bruni	Minardi-Cosworth	no time	no time
Source:[4]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	70	1:28:24.803	6	10
2	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	70	+5.108	7	8
3	9	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	70	+20.409	2	6
4	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sauber-Petronas	69	+1 Lap	11	5
5	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	69	+1 Lap	8	4
6	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	69	+1 Lap	9	3
7	19	Timo Glock	Jordan-Ford	68	+2 Laps	16	2
8	18	Nick Heidfeld	Jordan-Ford	68	+2 Laps	15	1
9	15	Christian Klien	Jaguar-Cosworth	67	+3 Laps	10
10	21	Zsolt Baumgartner	Minardi-Cosworth	66	+4 Laps	18
Ret	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	62	Accident	17
Ret	10	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	48	Engine	20
Ret	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	44	Driveshaft	5
Ret	20	Gianmaria Bruni	Minardi-Cosworth	30	Gearbox	19
Ret	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	6	Suspension	14
Ret	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	0	Transmission	3
DSQ	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	70	Disqualified (+1.062)	1
DSQ	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	70	Disqualified (+21.200)	4
DSQ	16	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	69	Disqualified	12
DSQ	17	Olivier Panis	Toyota	69	Disqualified	13
Source:[5]

Notes

• Timo Glock replaced Giorgio Pantano in this race, due to personal circumstances for Pantano.
• Williams, whose drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya finished 2nd and 5th and Toyota, whose drivers Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis finished 8th and 10th were excluded from the race due to an irregularity in the brake ducts. If Ralf was not disqualified, this would have marked the fifth time the Schumacher brothers scored a one-two finish. This would have meant that the race in Japan that same year would mark the sixth Schumacher 1-2.
• Jordan was the main beneficiary of the disqualifications, with Nick Heidfeld and Timo Glock scoring points.
• Timo Glock scored points on his F1 debut.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher 70 2 Rubens Barrichello 54 3 Jenson Button 44 4 Jarno Trulli 36 5 Fernando Alonso 25

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 124 2 Renault 61 3 BAR-Honda 52 4 Williams-BMW 36 5 Sauber-Petronas 15

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Footnotes

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2004 Canadian Grand Prix.

Coordinates: 39°47′42″N 86°14′05″W / 39.79500°N 86.23472°W / 39.79500; -86.23472