2004 Bahrain Grand Prix
Template:Infobox Grand Prix race report The 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially known as the 2004 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> was a Formula One motor race that took place on 4 April 2004 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the third round of the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship.
It was the first Formula One race to be held in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Middle East. The 57-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello and with Jenson Button completing the podium for the BAR team.
Background
Championship standings before the race
With two wins in two races, both starting from pole position, Michael Schumacher was the early favourite for the championship. The German had gathered 20 points, ahead of Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello (13) and Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya (12). In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari was leading with 33 points, almost double that of Williams (17), with Renault in third position (14).<ref name="2004Points">Template:Cite book</ref>
Weather
The sessions on Friday and Saturday were run under clear skies and high temperatures. Early on Sunday morning, a desert storm hit the circuit, which first brought rain and then sand. With the circuit now even more slippery than the new asphalt already had been the days before, and with the rain having brought the air temperature down, the Bridgestone runners, among which most notably Ferrari, were expected to have the upper hand.<ref name="atlasf1">Template:Cite web</ref>
Practice
Four free practice sessions were held for the event. On Friday, the first session was topped by the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. The second session saw Barrichello on top, one thousands of a second ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya, with Schumacher in fourth.<ref name="practice1">Template:Cite web</ref>
On Saturday, Jenson Button topped the third session in his BAR-Honda, ahead of Montoya and Schumacher.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Brit repeated this feat in the fourth session, with both Williamses, Ralf Schumacher ahead of Montoya, completing the top three.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Friday drivers
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 | 35 | Template:Flagicon Anthony Davidson |
| Sauber-Petronas | - | |
| Jaguar-Cosworth | 37 | Template:Flagicon Björn Wirdheim |
| Toyota | 38 | Template:Flagicon Ricardo Zonta |
| Jordan-Ford | 39 | Template:Flagicon Timo Glock |
| Minardi-Cosworth | 40 | Template:Flagicon Bas Leinders |
Qualifying
Qualifying on Saturday consisted of two sessions. In the first session, drivers went out one by one in the order in which they classified at the previous race. Each driver was allowed to set one lap time. The result determined the running order in the second session: the fastest driver in the first session was allowed to go last in the second session, which usually provided the benefit of a cleaner track. In the second session, drivers were again allowed to set one lap time, which determined the order on the grid for the race on Sunday, with the fastest driver scoring pole position.<ref name="qualifyingformats">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Notes
- Template:Note – After multiple engine issues during practice, McLaren decided to save the Mercedes engine and abort Räikkönen's effort in the second qualifying session.
- Template:Note – Nick Heidfeld, Zsolt Baumgartner and Kimi Räikkönen received a 10-place grid penalty for engine changes.
Race
Race report
At the start, Rubens Barrichello was slightly faster off the line than Michael Schumacher, but the German turned aggressively into the first corner to retain his position.<ref name="dailymotion">Template:Cite web</ref> Juan Pablo Montoya stayed in third place, while Takuma Sato passed Ralf Schumacher for fourth. A couple of laps later, Ralf Schumacher dived down the inside at the first corner, but Sato stayed side-by-side. When Schumacher turned in for the next corner, his rear wheel touched his rival's front wheel and he was sent into a spin. Ralf was issued a warning for leaving too little racing room for his competitor. On lap eight, Kimi Räikkönen suffered his third retirement in three races when his Mercedes engine exploded.<ref name="atlasf1"/><ref name="h2g2">Template:Cite web</ref>
At the end of that lap, leader Michael Schumacher opened the first round of pit stops. He rejoined in sixth but regained the lead when others pitted. Teammate Rubens Barrichello stalled his engine when leaving his pit box. He rejoined over 14 seconds behind Schumacher but still retained second place over Juan Pablo Montoya. Renault's Jarno Trulli had climbed up to fourth, while his teammate Fernando Alonso, who had started down in sixteenth, incurred damage on lap 1 and had to make an unscheduled pit stop, was now pressuring Mark Webber for eighth place. When the Australian overshot the first corner, Alonso went through on the inside, the Spaniard on his way to a sixth place in the end. Ralf Schumacher had another coming-together, this time with Giancarlo Fisichella, sending the Italian spinning.<ref name="atlasf1" />
The order at the front remained unchanged through the second and third round of pit stops, but on lap 47, Montoya slowed down due to a problem with his gearbox. Jenson Button in the BAR had overtaken Trulli and could now pass Montoya to score his second consecutive podium. Montoya's Williams slowed further and the Colombian dropped down to thirteenth place at the finish. Schumacher and Barrichello merely had to complete the race to score another dominant 1-2 finish.<ref name="atlasf1" />
Race classification
- Notes
- Template:Note – Gianmaria Bruni started the race from the pitlane.
Championship standings after the race
Template:Col-start Template:Col-2
- Drivers' Championship standings
| +/– | Template:Abbr | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:1rightarrow blue.svg | 1 | Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher | 30 |
| File:1rightarrow blue.svg | 2 | Template:Flagicon Rubens Barrichello | 21 |
| File:1uparrow green.svg 1 | 3 | Template:Flagicon Jenson Button | 15 |
| File:1downarrow red.svg 1 | 4 | Template:Flagicon Juan Pablo Montoya | 12 |
| File:1rightarrow blue.svg | 5 | Template:Flagicon Fernando Alonso | 11 |
| Source: <ref name="champ">Template:Cite web</ref> | |||
- Constructors' Championship standings
| +/– | Template:Abbr | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:1rightarrow blue.svg | 1 | Template:Flagicon Ferrari | 51 |
| File:1uparrow green.svg 1 | 2 | Template:Flagicon Renault | 22 |
| File:1downarrow red.svg 1 | 3 | Template:Flagicon Williams-BMW | 19 |
| File:1rightarrow blue.svg | 4 | Template:Flagicon BAR-Honda | 19 |
| File:1rightarrow blue.svg | 5 | Template:Flagicon McLaren-Mercedes | 4 |
| Source: <ref name="champ"/> | |||
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.