Monaco GP 2004: Trulli's first win as Schumacher's streak ends

At the Monaco GP 2004, Jarno Trulli claimed his first Grand Prix win for Renault. He had started from pole position and won narrowly ahead of Jenson Button in the BAR. Rubens Barrichello finished third in the Ferrari. The race was decided in the second half, in the tunnel of the Circuit de Monaco: first, Trulli's team-mate Fernando Alonso crashed into the barriers. Shortly afterwards, race leader Michael Schumacher collided with Juan Pablo Montoya behind the Safety Car and retired.

Plenty went wrong before the race had even begun. The start was aborted twice, partly because Olivier Panis stalled his Toyota. Panis ultimately had to start from the pit lane. Trulli started from P1, Button from P2 and Alonso from P3. Ralf Schumacher had qualified second but was given a ten-place grid penalty after an engine change. He therefore started the race from P12.

When the race finally got under way, Trulli made a good getaway and Alonso moved past Button, putting Renault first and second. Takuma Sato made a superb start in the second BAR, climbing from grid position 7 to fourth, but touched Michael Schumacher's front wheel in the process. On the opening lap, Christian Klien hit the barriers at the Loews hairpin in his Jaguar. His race was over after zero laps.

Sato's Honda engine was smoking early on and blew up on the third lap in a huge cloud of smoke. The drivers behind could barely see a thing. David Coulthard slowed in his McLaren, and Giancarlo Fisichella slammed into the back of him in the Sauber. The Sauber flipped over and came to rest upside down against the barrier. Fisichella was unhurt, but for him, Coulthard and Sato the race was over after two classified laps. The Safety Car was deployed.

After the restart, Trulli led from Alonso, Button, Kimi Räikkönen and Michael Schumacher. Montoya passed Barrichello early on. Montoya was the first of the front-runners to pit for fuel and tyres, on lap 13 according to Autosport. Button stopped on lap 18 and rejoined behind the Toyota of Cristiano da Matta. He was stuck there for several laps, which cost him a lot of time.

Michael Schumacher, carrying more fuel, ran a considerably longer stint. According to Autosport, he lapped at around 1:14 and did not stop until lap 26. During the stops, Alonso led for one lap while Trulli was in the pits, followed by Schumacher for one lap. From lap 26, Trulli was back in front. Schumacher had moved up from fifth to third through the stops. Räikkönen parked his McLaren after 27 laps: the team had discovered a fault in the engine's pneumatics.

The first turning point came on lap 42. Alonso was running second and trying to lap Ralf Schumacher, who was in P11 in the Williams. In the tunnel, Alonso tried to go round the outside, got onto the dirty line and crashed heavily. Alonso accused Ralf Schumacher of ignoring blue flags for several corners and then pushing him wide. Renault had probably lost a one-two as a result.

The Safety Car came out again. Trulli and Button used the period to make their final stops. Michael Schumacher stayed out and led from lap 43. Then came the incident everyone was talking about after the race. Behind the Safety Car, Schumacher locked his left front wheel in the tunnel, apparently trying to warm up his brakes for the restart. Montoya was right behind him but a lap down. He moved to the right, but Schumacher also moved right and the two cars touched. With damaged suspension, the Ferrari ended up in the barrier. Schumacher limped back to the pits and retired after 45 laps. The stewards deemed it a racing incident and penalised no one. Not even the fastest lap of the race was any consolation to Schumacher on the day.

From lap 46 Trulli was back in the lead, and this time he did not give it up. According to Autosport, he was still 6.7 seconds ahead of Button on lap 51. Trulli then eased off to look after his car. Button, by contrast, pushed flat out and closed in lap after lap. On lap 70 the gap was 1.7 seconds, and in the final laps just a few tenths. On the tight street circuit, though, it was not enough for an attack. Trulli won by just under half a second. Wikipedia lists the margin in the result as 0.497 seconds.

Trulli was so overwhelmed after his win that Alonso handled some of the interviews for him. It was Renault's first Monaco win as a constructor.

Winner of the day, alongside Trulli, was above all Felipe Massa. The Sauber driver started from P16 and finished fifth. Gaining eleven places, he was the biggest climber and scored four championship points. Nick Heidfeld went from grid position 17 to seventh, securing Jordan's first points of the year. Zsolt Baumgartner also gained ten places and finished ninth for Minardi. Da Matta was sixth, despite receiving a drive-through penalty late in the race for ignoring blue flags, according to Autosport. Montoya went from grid position 9 to fourth. Barrichello finished third despite problems with his car, more than a minute behind the winner, and called the result “my birthday present from God”.

Retirements at a glance:

• Christian Klien (Jaguar): crash at the Loews hairpin on lap 1
• Takuma Sato (BAR): engine failure after 2 laps
• David Coulthard (McLaren) and Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber): collision in the smoke cloud after 2 laps
• Mark Webber (Jaguar): gearbox after 11 laps
• Giorgio Pantano (Jordan): transmission after 12 laps
• Gianmaria Bruni (Minardi): gearbox after 15 laps
• Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren): pneumatics after 27 laps
• Fernando Alonso (Renault): crash in the tunnel after 41 laps
• Michael Schumacher (Ferrari): collision with Montoya after 45 laps
• Ralf Schumacher (Williams): gearbox after 69 laps, classified tenth

The biggest losers were Michael Schumacher and Alonso. Both were in contention for victory or a podium and came away empty-handed.

Michael Schumacher had won the first five races of the season, most recently the Spanish GP. That streak came to an end in Monaco. He nevertheless remained clearly at the top of the 2004 drivers' championship with 50 points, ahead of Barrichello (38) and Button (32). Trulli moved up to fourth with 31 points, Montoya (23) to fifth. Alonso dropped from fourth to sixth with 21 points. Massa jumped to ninth with 5 points.

In the constructors' championship, Ferrari led with 88 points ahead of Renault (52), BAR (40) and Williams (35). For the opposition, Monaco was proof that the Scuderia could be beaten. Schumacher's Bridgestone tyres are said to have been inferior that weekend to the Michelins used by Renault, BAR and Williams. For Trulli, the win crowned a perfect weekend: in qualifying he had taken his first pole position with a 1:13.985, at the time the fastest lap ever driven at Monaco. In hindsight, it would remain Trulli's only win in Formula 1. The season continued with the European GP.