2004 Canadian Grand Prix

The 2004 Canadian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2004)[3] was a Formula One motor race held on 13 June 2004 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. It was Race 8 of 18 in the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship.

2004 Canadian Grand Prix
Race 8 of 18 in the 2004 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 13 June 2004
Official name Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2004
Location Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Course Street circuit
Course length 4.361 km (2.710 miles)
Distance 70 laps, 305.270 km (189.686 miles)
Weather Clear and mild with temperatures approaching 25.0 °C (77.0 °F)
Wind speeds up to 5.8 km/h (3.6 mph)[1]
Track 35 °C (95 °F)[2]
Pole position
Driver Williams-BMW
Time 1:12.275
Fastest lap
Driver Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari
Time 1:13.622 on lap 68
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third BAR-Honda
Lap leaders

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.

This would be the last time that Scuderia Ferrari won in Canada until the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix, at the same circuit.

Friday drivers edit

The bottom 6 teams in the 2003 Constructors' Championship were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.

Constructor Nat Driver
BAR-Honda   Anthony Davidson
Sauber-Petronas -
Jaguar-Cosworth   Björn Wirdheim
Toyota   Ricardo Zonta
Jordan-Ford -
Minardi-Cosworth   Bas Leinders

Report edit

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.[4]

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. Timo Glock made his debut replacing Giorgio Pantano who did not compete due to personal circumstances. 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 Mick Gomme was dragged along as the Jordan pulled away.[5] 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 teammate 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 (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 Glock and Nick Heidfeld in 7th and 8th respectively, giving Jordan points.

Classification edit

Qualifying edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap
1 4   Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:12.441 1:12.275
2 9   Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:13.333 1:12.341 +0.066
3 7   Jarno Trulli Renault 1:13.149 1:13.023 +0.748
4 3   Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:12.746 1:13.072 +0.797
5 8   Fernando Alonso Renault 1:12.826 1:13.308 +1.033
6 1   Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:13.463 1:13.355 +1.080
7 2   Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:13.782 1:13.562 +1.287
8 6   Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.602 1:13.595 +1.320
9 5   David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.206 1:13.681 +1.406
10 15   Christian Klien Jaguar-Cosworth 1:14.751 1:14.532 +2.257
11 11   Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas 1:13.663 1:14.674 +2.399
12 16   Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:13.807 1:14.851 +2.576
13 17   Olivier Panis Toyota 1:14.166 1:14.891 +2.616
14 14   Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:14.715 1:15.148 +2.873
15 18   Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford 1:15.657 1:15.321 +3.046
16 19   Timo Glock Jordan-Ford 1:16.865 1:16.323 +4.048
17 10   Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 1:12.989 1:17.004 +4.729
18 21   Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth 1:17.903 1:17.064 +4.789
19 12   Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 1:14.392 no time no time
20 20   Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth no time no time no time
Source:[6]

Race edit

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 PL  
Ret 8   Fernando Alonso Renault 44 Driveshaft 5  
Ret 20   Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth 30 Gearbox PL  
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:[7]

Championship standings after the race edit

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

References edit

  1. ^ "Weather information for the "2004 Canadian Grand Prix"". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  2. ^ F1 Racing. July 2004.
  3. ^ "FORMULA 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2004 - Race". Formula1.com. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  4. ^ Formula 1 Magazine (official). December 2003 issue. Page 13 - "Good Month, Bad Month" column.
  5. ^ "Jordan Mechanic Unharmed after Pitstop Scare". autosport.com. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  6. ^ "2004 Canadian Grand Prix - Saturday Qualifying Results". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  7. ^ "2004 Canadian Grand Prix - Race Results". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Canada 2004 - Championship". statsf1.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.


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2004 European Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
2004 season
Next race:
2004 United States Grand Prix
Previous race:
2003 Canadian Grand Prix
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2005 Canadian Grand Prix

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