2004 Hungarian Grand Prix

Background

Across the weekend of 13-15 August, the Hungaroring in Mogyoród hosted a Formula One Grand Prix for the nineteenth time in the circuit's history, with it being the nineteenth Hungarian Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship as well. It was the thirteenth round of the 2004 Formula One World Championship.

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 110 points, ahead of Scuderia Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello on 74 points and BAR's Jenson Button on 65. Ferrari were leading the Constructors' Championship with 184 points, from Renault (85 points) and BAR (76).

Driver changes

Cristiano da Matta was dropped by the Toyota team because of his poor performance relative to teammate Olivier Panis. He was replaced by the team's third driver Ricardo Zonta but would stay on to perform marketing work while Toyota test driver Ryan Briscoe assumed Zonta's former position.

Practice

Four free practice sessions were held for the event. The first session on Friday was topped by the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, ahead of Anthony Davidson, third driver for BAR. McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen set the fastest time in the second session, ahead of Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya of Williams.

On Saturday, Schumacher again set the quickest time in the third practice session, ahead of Williams drivers Antônio Pizzonia and Montoya. Finally, Jenson Button was fastest in the fourth session in his BAR, ahead of Schumacher and Barrichello.

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.

Despite lower track temperatures and a few drops of the rain, the front of the field saw little surprises. Michael Schumacher scored his seventh pole position of the season and the 62nd of his career, ahead of Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello and over half a second ahead of the BARs of Takuma Sato and Jenson Button.

;Notes

• – Multiple engine issues during practice, Sauber decided to save the Petronas engine and abort Massa's effort in the second qualifying session.
• – Felipe Massa received a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change.

Race

Race report

At the start, Michael Schumacher comfortably kept his lead, while second-starting Rubens Barrichello was under pressure from Fernando Alonso, who had jumped up from fifth position. Both BARs had a slow getaway: Takuma Sato fell down to eighth, Jenson Button to fifth behind Juan Pablo Montoya. Ricardo Zonta's first race for Toyota got off to a rocky start: he was pushed by one of the Jordans and could not avoid hitting the back of Mark Webber's Jaguar. Zonta spun and rejoined in last place. He would later retire from the race.

The Hungaroring's configuration had been altered over the winter, the organisers hoping to create more overtaking opportunities, but the layout still caused the field to spread out and there were very little overtakes. On lap 14, Kimi Räikkönen retired due to mechanical problems for the eighth time this season and on lap 43, the engine on Jarno Trulli's Renault failed. There were no other changes in the points-scoring positions for the remainder of the race. Button pressured Montoya for fourth place but never came closer than three seconds behind. Their respective teammates were fighting over sixth place but never went wheel-to-wheel.

Schumacher scored a dominant victory over Barrichello and Alonso. The German only needed to score two more points than Barrichello to clinch a record-breaking seventh World Championship. The 1-2 finish was enough for Scuderia Ferrari to clinch their sixth consecutive Constructors' Championship.

Race classification

Championship standings after the race

• Bold text and an asterisk indicates the World Champions. ;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

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

References

References

1. "2004 Hungarian GP". ChicaneF1.
2. "2004 Marlboro Hungarian Grand Prix". Racing-Reference.
3. "2004 Hungarian Grand Prix". [[Motor Sport (magazine).
4. "FORMULA 1 Marlboro Magyar Nagydíj 2004 - Race".
5. "Grands Prix Hungary".
6. "Formula One Calendar 2004". Motorsport Stats.
7. "Championship Classification". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
8. (5 August 2004). "Da Matta out, Zonta in at Toyota". Haymarket Publications.
9. "FORMULA 1™ MARLBORO MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2004 - PRACTICE 1".
10. (13 August 2004). "Prac 1: Schu's opening salvo".
11. (13 August 2004). "Prac 2: Kimi strikes back".
12. (14 August 2004). "Prac 3: Schuey back on top".
13. (14 August 2004). "Prac 4: Button stakes claim".
14. "Deciding the grid - A history of F1 qualifying formats".
15. Elizalde, Pablo. (18 August 2004). "2004 Hungarian Grand Prix Review".
16. "2004 Hungarian Grand Prix - Saturday Qualifying Results". Formula1.com Limited.
17. Emmerson, Gary. (14 August 2004). "Massa Changes Engine; to Lose 10 Grid Spots".
18. "2004 Hungarian Grand Prix - Race Results". Formula1.com Limited.
19. "Hungary 2004 - Championship".