2004 French Grand Prix

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.

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. Ferrari, with 142 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Renault with 66 and BAR-Honda with 58 points.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Notes

• – 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.

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.

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.

Race classification

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

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

References

Year_of_race = 2004 | Previous_year's_race = 2003 French Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 2005 French Grand Prix

References

1. "Grand Prix de France". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
2. Keeble, Tom. (7 July 2004). "The 2004 French GP Review".
3. "FORMULA 1 Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France 2004 - Race".
4. "Grands Prix France".
5. Jones, Bruce. (2005). "The Official ITV Sport Guide: Grand Prix 2005". Carlton Books.
6. (30 June 2004). "Gene for Magny-Cours, Webber for the rest of the year?".
7. "FORMULA 1 ™ MOBIL 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2004 - PRACTICE 1".
8. (3 July 2004). "Practice 3: Schu sets pace".
9. (3 July 2004). "Practice 4: McLaren hits back".
10. "Deciding the grid - A history of F1 qualifying formats".
11. "2004 French Grand Prix - Saturday Qualifying Results". Formula1.com Limited.
12. Hughes, Mark. (2 April 2020). "France 2004: How Ferrari stole victory from Renault with a secret 4-stop plan".
13. "2004 French Grand Prix - Race Results". Formula1.com Limited.
14. "France 2004 - Championship • STATS F1".