2004 San Marino GP: Schumacher hits back after Button's first pole

Michael Schumacher won the 2004 San Marino GP at Imola ahead of Jenson Button and Juan Pablo Montoya. Button had started from pole and led the first eight laps. The race was decided during the first round of pit stops: after Button's stop, Schumacher put in two very fast laps and came out in front. For the Ferrari driver, it was a fourth win from four races.

Saturday had already brought a surprise at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. Button took the first pole of his career with a 1:19.753. It was also BAR's first pole. The last time a Honda works engine had been on pole was at the 1992 Canadian GP, with Ayrton Senna. Schumacher had taken every pole of the season up to that point, but this time he overdid it on the kerbs at the Variante Alta and had to settle for second place. Behind them were Montoya, Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher.

The race took place at Imola ten years after the fatal accidents of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna. According to Wikipedia, it was sunny.

Right at the back was Kimi Räikkönen. After technical problems in qualifying and an engine change, the McLaren driver started last. Giancarlo Fisichella started from 18th place for Sauber.

Button got away well and led into the opening corners. Behind him, things got hectic. At Tosa, Montoya tried to go round the outside of Schumacher. The Ferrari driver pushed him onto the grass, and the cars made contact. Montoya called the move unfair. Schumacher later said he had not seen the Williams alongside him. Because Montoya lost momentum, his team-mate Ralf Schumacher also had to take to the grass and lost a place to Sato in the process.

That played into the hands of Takuma Sato: the second BAR driver was fourth after the opening lap, having started from seventh on the grid. At the first chicane, David Coulthard braked too late and ran into the back of Fernando Alonso. Coulthard had to make an unscheduled pit stop to change his front wing and could only finish twelfth.

Button and Schumacher quickly pulled away from the field, with the Ferrari sitting right on the BAR's gearbox. Both were on a three-stop strategy. According to Wikipedia, Button made his first pit stop on lap 9, while Schumacher didn't come in until lap 11. The world champion made the most of that window: according to grandprix.com, two very fast laps gained him around two seconds, and he emerged from his stop ahead of Button. On lap 10 he set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:20.411.

After that, Schumacher steadily extended his lead, at times to around half a minute. He also kept the lead through his second and third stops, which according to Wikipedia came on laps 27 and 46. He crossed the line 9.702 seconds ahead of Button. What stood out at Ferrari, who ran Bridgestone tyres, was that the tyres needed time to come up to temperature but were then very strong.

After the trouble on the opening lap, Montoya drove a clean race to finish third. Ralf Schumacher was running fourth late in the race, but according to Wikipedia, Alonso attacked him on the inside at Tosa on lap 51. The cars touched, Ralf spun and dropped to seventh. The stewards announced they would investigate the incident after the race. Alonso finished fourth.

His Renault team-mate Jarno Trulli defended fifth place against Barrichello on the final lap. Less than half a second separated the two at the flag. Trulli said he had lost around five seconds behind the lapped Minardi cars. Barrichello, in the second Ferrari, had to make do with just three points.

• Giorgio Pantano (Jordan) retired after 6 laps with a hydraulics failure.
• Gianmaria Bruni (Minardi) parked his car after 22 laps with brake problems. According to grandprix.com, this was a precaution.
• Cristiano da Matta (Toyota) first had to serve a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags. He then crashed out after 32 laps. According to grandprix.com, he had accidentally switched off his traction control at the first chicane and spun.
• Nick Heidfeld (Jordan) retired after 48 laps with a driveshaft failure.
• Takuma Sato (BAR) suffered the cruellest blow: six laps from the end, his Honda engine failed after 56 laps. He was still classified 16th.

The biggest winner of the day was Räikkönen. He drove from last on the grid to eighth, gaining twelve places and scoring his first championship point of the season. Fisichella climbed from 18th place to ninth. Trulli and Zsolt Baumgartner each gained four places. On the losers' side were Sato, who came away without points after running fourth on the opening lap, and Mark Webber. The Jaguar driver lost power due to an intermittent electrical fault and dropped from eighth on the grid to 13th.

In the 2004 standings, Michael Schumacher had the maximum possible 40 points after four races. Barrichello followed on 24 points and Button on 23 points, ahead of Montoya (18) and Alonso (16). Among the teams, Ferrari led clearly with 64 points from Renault (31), BAR and Williams (27 each).

The race showed that BAR-Honda could fight for pole and the podium on merit. Even so, they still lacked the pace to beat Ferrari over a full race distance. Their rivals' next attempt came two weeks later at the 2004 Spanish GP in Barcelona.