2004 German Grand Prix

Background

The Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Germany hosted a Formula One Grand Prix for the 28th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 23-25 July. The Grand Prix was the twelfth round of the 2004 Formula One World Championship and the 52nd running of the German 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 100 points, built up of 10 victories in 11 races. He was 26 points ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello in second, and 47 ahead of Jenson Button in third. Ferrari, with 174 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Renault and BAR-Honda, who were second and third with 79 and 67 points, respectively.

Driver changes

In the previous two races, Marc Gené had stepped in for Williams driver Ralf Schumacher. Schumacher was still recovering from his back injury at the United States Grand Prix and Gené did not provide the necessary results, so the team decided to promote their other test driver, Antônio Pizzonia, into the race seat.

Practice

Four free practice sessions were held for the event. The first session on Friday was topped by BAR's third driver Anthony Davidson, followed by Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari and Kimi Räikkönen for McLaren. The latter two reached the top of the standings in the second session.

On Saturday, Schumacher again set the quickest time in the third practice session, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya for Williams and teammate Rubens Barrichello. Montoya was second again in the fourth and final session, this time headed by 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.

Michael Schumacher scored his sixth pole position of the season, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and Jenson Button, to make his 100th start from the front row. Button was demoted 10 places on the grid for replacing the engine after Friday's second practice, so Kimi Räikkönen moved up to the third slot. Toyota brought a new car, the TF104B, but were still working on perfecting their aerodynamic set-up, as demonstrated by their tenth and fifteenth positions. Antônio Pizzonia's first qualifying in a Williams was met with mixed reviews: his time in the first qualifying session would have put him second on the grid, but when it mattered in the second session, he failed to reach higher than eleventh place.

;Notes

• – Jenson Button received a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change.

Race

The race was held on 25 July 2004 and was due to run for 67 laps, but when Olivier Panis stalled his engine on the grid and the first start had to be aborted, the race was shortened to 66 laps.

Race report

At the start, Michael Schumacher held the lead, but second-starting Juan Pablo Montoya dropped down to eighth place. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso shot up from fifth to second, which meant Kimi Räikkönen went on where he started, in third position. When the field arrived at the hairpin for the first time, Rubens Barrichello tried to pass David Coulthard for fifth place, but left his braking too late, locked his rear wheels and crashed into the back of the McLaren. The Scot continued without losing time, but the Brazilian lost his front wing and was forced to pit, dropping to the back of the field. Alonso was passed by Räikkönen at the hairpin on lap 2, while Montoya began his recovery by overtaking Mark Webber into the same corner mere moments later.

Schumacher had opened a gap of three seconds to Räikkönen, but the Finn drew closer to the leader during the first round of pit stops. On lap 13, however, the rear wing collapsed on his McLaren as he was about to turn into the high-speed first corner. His car spun and slammed into the tyre barrier, but the driver escaped unhurt. It was Räikkönen seventh retirement of the season and left Schumacher in the lead with more than ten seconds over Alonso.

Montoya had climbed up to fourth position, but his tyres degraded faster than those around him and on lap 21, he went off track and was passed by Jenson Button. The Colombian triggered the second round of pit stops anded rejoined in a distant fifth place. Schumacher and Alonso kept their positions, while Coulthard fell back behind Button and the latter continued his surge during the third round of pit stops by rejoining right behind Alonso and then passing the Renault driver on lap 51. Button was even faster than Schumacher but the championship leader had enough of a lead to cruise to the finish and take another dominant victory.

Antônio Pizzonia finished seventh and scored two points on his first outing for Williams.

Race classification

• Panis started the race from the pitlane.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

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

Footnotes

References

References

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5. "FORMULA 1™ GROSSER MOBIL 1 PREIS VON DEUTSCHLAND 2004 - PRACTICE 1".
6. (23 July 2004). "Practice 1: Little Ant sets pace".
7. (23 July 2004). "Practice 2: Schu tops Kimi".
8. (24 July 2004). "Practice 3: Schu in charge".
9. (24 July 2004). "Practice 4: Button goes fastest".
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11. Petric, Darjan. (25 July 2022). "2004 German GP – 50th race for Schumacher without mechanical failure".
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15. (25 July 2004). "Schumacher wins, Button stars".
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