2004 French Grand Prix

2004 French Grand Prix
Race 10 of 18 in the 2004 Formula One World Championship
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Race details
Date 4 July 2004
Official name Formula 1 Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France 2004
Location Magny-Cours, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.411[1] km (2.741 miles)
Distance 70 laps, 308.586[1] km (191.746 miles)
Weather Sunny, 28°C[2]
Pole position
Driver
Renault
Time 1:13.698
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari
Time 1:15.377 on lap 32 (lap record)
Podium
First
Ferrari
Second
Renault
Third
Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2004 French Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France 2004)[3] was a Formula One motor race that took place on 4 July 2004 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Nevers, France. It was the tenth round of the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Famously, championship leader Michael Schumacher employed a four-stop strategy to beat Renault's Fernando Alonso and Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello.

Background

The event was held at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Nevers for the fourteenth time in the circuit's history across the weekend of 2-4 July. The Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 2004 Formula One World Championship and the 54th running of the French Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship.[4]

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 80 points, 16 points ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello in second, and 36 ahead of BAR's Jenson Button in third.[5] Ferrari, with 142 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Renault with 66 and BAR-Honda with 58 points.[5]

Driver changes

Williams reserve driver Marc Gené replaced Ralf Schumacher, following the German's back injury at the previous round. He would also drive in the next Grand Prix.[6]

Practice

Four free practice sessions were held for the event. On Friday it rained, but the first session was unsurprisingly topped by the Ferraris of Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher. The second session, however, saw Toyota's Cristiano da Matta on top, six tenths ahead of Jarno Trulli in the Renault, with Schumacher down in fifth.[2][7]

On Saturday, the sky was clear and Michael Schumacher topped the third session, ahead of David Coulthard in the McLaren.[8] The German dropped down to third place in the fourth and final session, behind Coulthard's teammate Kimi Räikkönen and BAR's Jenson Button.[9]

Friday drivers

Björn Wirdheim driving for Jaguar

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 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson
Sauber-Petronas N/A N/A
Jaguar-Cosworth Sweden Björn Wirdheim
Toyota Brazil Ricardo Zonta
Jordan-Ford Germany Timo Glock
Minardi-Cosworth Belgium 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.[10]

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap
1 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 1:13.750 1:13.698 —
2 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:13.541 1:13.971 +0.273
3 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.649 1:13.987 +0.289
4 9 United Kingdom Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:13.772 1:13.995 +0.297
5 7 Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 1:13.949 1:14.070 +0.372
6 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:13.377 1:14.172 +0.474
7 10 Japan Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 1:14.130 1:14.240 +0.542
8 4 Spain Marc Gené Williams-BMW 1:14.133 1:14.275 +0.577
9 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.736 1:14.346 +0.648
10 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari No time1 1:14.478 +0.780
11 16 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:14.245 1:14.553 +0.855
12 14 Australia Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:15.332 1:14.798 +1.100
13 15 Austria Christian Klien Jaguar-Cosworth 1:15.205 1:15.065 +1.367
14 17 France Olivier Panis Toyota 1:14.540 1:15.130 +1.432
15 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas 1:15.793 1:16.177 +2.479
16 12 Brazil Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 1:14.627 1:16.200 +2.502
17 18 Germany Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford 1:16.366 1:16.807 +3.109
18 19 Italy Giorgio Pantano Jordan-Ford 1:15.913 1:17.462 +3.764
19 20 Italy Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth 1:18.070 1:17.913 +4.215
20 21 Hungary Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth 1:18.108 1:18.247 +4.549
Source:[11]

Notes

  • ^1 – Rubens Barrichello was left without a time in Q1 due to a hydraulic problem.

Race

Race report

Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher kept their positions at the start, while Jarno Trulli took advantage of a slow-starting David Coulthard and managed to pass Jenson Button to take third position. Schumacher kept with Alonso as they traded fastest laps, until the German pitted on the end of lap 11. The leading Renault managed to continue three more laps and, after his stop, had grown his lead to three seconds.[2][12]

Schumacher stopped for a second time on lap 28 and then set a series of fastest laps, which led to Alonso falling behind him after his stop four laps later. Another stop by the Ferrari on lap 42 was a sign of low fuel levels, which explained his superior pace. After Alonso made his third and final stop on lap 45, he rejoined in second place but never managed to match Schumacher's lap times. The gap had opened up to over 20 seconds by lap 57, when the World Champion pitted for a fourth time and returned to the track, still seven seconds ahead of his nearest rival. Schumacher scored his ninth win of the season.[2]

Behind the leading duo, David Coulthard had started third but trouble with the fuel hose on his second stop, dropped him down to eighth, which became sixth at the finish. Jenson Button had started fourth but nearly stalled his engine at the third stop. This left Rubens Barrichello and Jarno Trulli fighting over third place, with the Brazilian getting the upper hand with an audacious overtaking manoeuvre just two corners from the finish line.[2]

Race classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 70 1:30:18.133 2 10
2 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 70 +8.329 1 8
3 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 70 +31.622 10 6
4 7 Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 70 +32.082 5 5
5 9 United Kingdom Jenson Button BAR-Honda 70 +32.482 4 4
6 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 70 +35.520 3 3
7 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 70 +36.230 9 2
8 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 70 +43.419 6 1
9 14 Australia Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 70 +52.394 12  
10 4 Spain Marc Gené Williams-BMW 70 +58.166 8  
11 15 Austria Christian Klien Jaguar-Cosworth 69 +1 lap 13  
12 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas 69 +1 lap 15  
13 12 Brazil Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 69 +1 lap 16  
14 16 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Toyota 69 +1 lap 11  
15 17 France Olivier Panis Toyota 68 +2 laps 14  
16 18 Germany Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford 68 +2 laps 17  
17 19 Italy Giorgio Pantano Jordan-Ford 67 +3 laps 18  
18 20 Italy Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth 65 Gearbox 19  
Ret 21 Hungary Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth 31 Spin 20  
Ret 10 Japan Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 15 Engine 7  
Source:[13]

Championship standings after the race

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

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Grand Prix de France". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 2010-09-15. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  2. ^ a b c d e Keeble, Tom (7 July 2004). "The 2004 French GP Review". AtlasF1.com. USA. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  3. ^ "FORMULA 1 Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France 2004 - Race". Formula1.com. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Grands Prix France". StatsF1. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  5. ^ a b Jones, Bruce (2005). "Final Results 2004". The Official ITV Sport Guide: Grand Prix 2005. London, England: Carlton Books. pp. 102–103. ISBN 1-84442-578-9 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ "Gene for Magny-Cours, Webber for the rest of the year?". GrandPrix.com. 30 June 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  7. ^ "FORMULA 1 ™ MOBIL 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2004 - PRACTICE 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
  8. ^ "Practice 3: Schu sets pace". Autosport. 3 July 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  9. ^ "Practice 4: McLaren hits back". Autosport. 3 July 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  10. ^ "Deciding the grid - A history of F1 qualifying formats". formula1.com. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  11. ^ "2004 French Grand Prix - Saturday Qualifying Results". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  12. ^ Hughes, Mark (2 April 2020). "France 2004: How Ferrari stole victory from Renault with a secret 4-stop plan". Formula1.com. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  13. ^ "2004 French Grand Prix - Race Results". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  14. ^ a b "France 2004 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
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