| 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix | |||||
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Race 3 of 18 in the2004 Formula One World Championship
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| Race details | |||||
| Date | 4 April 2004 | ||||
| Official name | 2004Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix | ||||
| Location | Bahrain International Circuit,Sakhir,Bahrain | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 5.417 km (3.366 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 57 laps, 308.523 km (191.860 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Warm, dry and overcast | ||||
| Attendance | 68,000 (Weekend)[1] | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||||
| Time | 1:30.139 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | |||
| Time | 1:30.252 on lap 7(lap record) | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Ferrari | ||||
| Second | Ferrari | ||||
| Third | BAR-Honda | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2004 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially known as the2004 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix)[2] was aFormula One motor race that took place on 4 April 2004 at theBahrain International Circuit inSakhir,Bahrain. It was the third round of the2004 FIA Formula One World Championship.
It was the firstFormula One race to be held in the Kingdom ofBahrain and theMiddle East. The 57-lap race was won byFerrari driverMichael Schumacher ahead of his teammateRubens Barrichello and withJenson Button completing the podium for theBAR team.
With two wins in two races, both starting frompole position,Michael Schumacher was the early favourite for the championship. TheGerman had gathered 20 points, ahead ofFerrari teammateRubens Barrichello (13) andWilliams driverJuan Pablo Montoya (12). In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari was leading with 33 points, almost double that of Williams (17), withRenault in third position (14).[3]
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, theBridgestone runners, among which most notablyFerrari, were expected to have the upper hand.[4]
Fourfree practice sessions were held for the event. On Friday, the first session was topped by theFerraris ofMichael Schumacher andRubens Barrichello. The second session saw Barrichello on top, one thousands of a second ahead ofJuan Pablo Montoya, with Schumacher in fourth.[5]
On Saturday,Jenson Button topped the third session in hisBAR-Honda, ahead of Montoya and Schumacher.[6] TheBrit repeated this feat in the fourth session, with both Williamses,Ralf Schumacher ahead of Montoya, completing the top three.[7]
The bottom 6 teams in the2003 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 |  Anthony Davidson |
| Sauber-Petronas | - | |
| Jaguar-Cosworth | 37 |  Björn Wirdheim |
| Toyota | 38 |  Ricardo Zonta |
| Jordan-Ford | 39 | Timo Glock |
| Minardi-Cosworth | 40 |  Bas Leinders |
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 scoringpole position.[8]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:30.751 | 1:30.139 | — | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | 1:31.283 | 1:30.530 | +0.391 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 |  Juan Pablo Montoya | Williams-BMW | 1:30.247 | 1:30.581 | +0.442 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams-BMW | 1:29.968 | 1:30.633 | +0.494 | 4 |
| 5 | 10 |  Takuma Sato | BAR-Honda | 1:31.135 | 1:30.827 | +0.688 | 5 |
| 6 | 9 | Jenson Button | BAR-Honda | 1:31.131 | 1:30.856 | +0.717 | 6 |
| 7 | 7 |  Jarno Trulli | Renault | 1:31.103 | 1:30.971 | +0.832 | 7 |
| 8 | 17 |  Olivier Panis | Toyota | 1:31.001 | 1:31.686 | +1.547 | 8 |
| 9 | 16 | Cristiano da Matta | Toyota | 1:31.329 | 1:31.717 | +1.578 | 9 |
| 10 | 5 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:31.364 | 1:31.719 | +1.580 | 10 |
| 11 | 11 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Sauber-Petronas | 1:31.203 | 1:31.731 | +1.592 | 11 |
| 12 | 15 |  Christian Klien | Jaguar-Cosworth | 1:31.868 | 1:32.332 | +2.193 | 12 |
| 13 | 12 | Felipe Massa | Sauber-Petronas | 1:32.152 | 1:32.536 | +2.397 | 13 |
| 14 | 14 |  Mark Webber | Jaguar-Cosworth | 1:31.945 | 1:32.625 | +2.486 | 14 |
| 15 | 18 | Nick Heidfeld | Jordan-Ford | 1:32.640 | 1:33.506 | +3.367 | 181 |
| 16 | 19 | Giorgio Pantano | Jordan-Ford | 1:33.598 | 1:34.105 | +3.966 | 15 |
| 17 | 8 |  Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:31.040 | 1:34.130 | +3.991 | 16 |
| 18 | 20 | Gianmaria Bruni | Minardi-Cosworth | 1:34.879 | 1:34.584 | +4.445 | 17 |
| 19 | 21 |  Zsolt Baumgartner | Minardi-Cosworth | 1:35.632 | 1:35.787 | +5.648 | 201 |
| 20 | 6 |  Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:30.353 | No time1 | 192 | |
Source:[9] | |||||||
At the start,Rubens Barrichello was slightly faster off the line thanMichael Schumacher, but theGerman turned aggressively into the first corner to retain his position.[10]Juan Pablo Montoya stayed in third place, whileTakuma Sato passedRalf 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 hisMercedes engine exploded.[4][11]
At the end of that lap, leaderMichael Schumacher opened the first round ofpit stops. He rejoined in sixth but regained the lead when others pitted. TeammateRubens Barrichello stalled his engine when leaving his pit box. He rejoined over 14 seconds behind Schumacher but still retained second place overJuan Pablo Montoya.Renault'sJarno Trulli had climbed up to fourth, while his teammateFernando Alonso, who had started down in sixteenth, incurred damage on lap 1 and had to make an unscheduled pit stop, was now pressuringMark Webber for eighth place. When theAustralian overshot the first corner, Alonso went through on the inside, theSpaniard on his way to a sixth place in the end. Ralf Schumacher had another coming-together, this time withGiancarlo Fisichella, sending theItalian spinning.[4]
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 hisgearbox.Jenson Button in theBAR had overtaken Trulli and could now pass Montoya to score his second consecutive podium. Montoya'sWilliams slowed further and theColombian dropped down to thirteenth place at the finish. Schumacher and Barrichello merely had to complete the race to score another dominant 1-2 finish.[4]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | B | 57 | 1:28:34.875 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 2 | Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | B | 57 | +1.367 | 2 | 8 |
| 3 | 9 | Jenson Button | BAR-Honda | M | 57 | +26.687 | 6 | 6 |
| 4 | 7 | Jarno Trulli | Renault | M | 57 | +32.214 | 7 | 5 |
| 5 | 10 | Takuma Sato | BAR-Honda | M | 57 | +52.460 | 5 | 4 |
| 6 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | M | 57 | +53.156 | 16 | 3 |
| 7 | 4 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams-BMW | M | 57 | +58.155 | 4 | 2 |
| 8 | 14 | Mark Webber | Jaguar-Cosworth | M | 56 | +1 Lap | 14 | 1 |
| 9 | 17 | Olivier Panis | Toyota | M | 56 | +1 Lap | 8 | |
| 10 | 16 | Cristiano da Matta | Toyota | M | 56 | +1 Lap | 9 | |
| 11 | 11 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Sauber-Petronas | B | 56 | +1 Lap | 11 | |
| 12 | 12 | Felipe Massa | Sauber-Petronas | B | 56 | +1 Lap | 13 | |
| 13 | 3 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Williams-BMW | M | 56 | Gearbox | 3 | |
| 14 | 15 | Christian Klien | Jaguar-Cosworth | M | 56 | +1 Lap | 12 | |
| 15 | 18 | Nick Heidfeld | Jordan-Ford | B | 56 | +1 Lap | 18 | |
| 16 | 19 | Giorgio Pantano | Jordan-Ford | B | 55 | +2 Laps | 15 | |
| 17 | 20 | Gianmaria Bruni | Minardi-Cosworth | B | 52 | +5 Laps | PL1 | |
| Ret | 5 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | M | 50 | Pneumatics | 10 | |
| Ret | 21 | Zsolt Baumgartner | Minardi-Cosworth | B | 44 | Engine | 20 | |
| Ret | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | M | 7 | Engine | 19 | |
Source:[12] | ||||||||
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| Previous race: 2004 Malaysian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2004 season | Next race: 2004 San Marino Grand Prix |
| Previous race: N/A | Bahrain Grand Prix | Next race: 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix |
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by 2003 Spanish Grand Prix | Formula One Promotional Trophy for Race Promoter 2004 | Succeeded by 2005 Monaco Grand Prix |
26°01′57″N50°30′38″E / 26.03250°N 50.51056°E /26.03250; 50.51056
