2004 European GP: Schumacher wins, Sato undone by Barrichello

Michael Schumacher won the 2004 European GP at the Nürburgring from pole position. He also set the fastest lap. Rubens Barrichello climbed from 7th on the grid to second, completing a one-two for Ferrari. Jenson Button finished third in the BAR. The race was decided in the opening phase: before the first pit stops, Schumacher built up a lead that, according to grandprix.com, stood at 17 seconds on lap 7. It was his sixth win from the seventh race of the season and the 76th of his career.

In qualifying, Schumacher was in a class of his own. A time of 1:28.351 gave him his fifth pole of the season and the 60th of his career. The headlines, however, belonged to Takuma Sato: the BAR-Honda driver took 2nd on the grid, becoming the first Japanese driver to start a Formula 1 race from the front row. Behind him were Jarno Trulli in the Renault in third and Kimi Räikkönen in the McLaren in fourth. Barrichello started only from P7 and therefore opted for a two-stop strategy.

The very first corner brought chaos. Juan Pablo Montoya braked too late and hit his Williams teammate Ralf Schumacher, who was pushed into the Toyota of Cristiano da Matta. Ralf Schumacher and da Matta were out without completing a single lap. Da Matta took it calmly: Ralf's car had hit him, and retiring through no fault of your own is part of motor racing, he said, according to Toyota.

Montoya pitted for a new front wing and rejoined in last place. He fought his way back up to 8th and, a lap down, took the final championship point.

Up front, Michael Schumacher kept the lead. According to grandprix.com, Räikkönen got past Sato and Trulli on the opening lap and was second by the end of it. In the McLaren he held up the quicker cars behind him, allowing the Ferrari at the front to pull away undisturbed.

According to Wikipedia, Schumacher made his first stop as early as lap 8. The lead then briefly changed hands: Fernando Alonso led from lap 9, Sato from lap 10 and Barrichello from lap 12. The Brazilian had started with more fuel and stayed out until lap 16. After that, Michael Schumacher was back in front and stayed there all the way to the flag. Ferrari had deliberately put its two drivers on different strategies. It paid off for Barrichello: on two stops he worked his way up to second, according to grandprix.com. Alonso kicked off the final round of stops on lap 42.

For McLaren it was a miserable day. Räikkönen stopped with an engine failure straight after his first pit stop and completed only 9 laps. David Coulthard had started near the back in 18th on the grid, was ninth early on and, with plenty of fuel on board, climbed as high as fourth. After 25 laps he too retired with an engine failure.

After the final stops, things got exciting again. Sato wanted to take second place back from Barrichello. According to Wikipedia, he attacked on lap 46, braked late into the first corner and made contact with the Ferrari. His front wing was damaged, while Barrichello escaped without major damage. Sato pitted for a new nose, but his race was over after 47 laps. Official reason for retirement: engine failure. His teammate Button thus inherited third place and the podium.

With the Ferraris running first and second, everything was settled at the front. At the podium ceremony, Schumacher and Barrichello did without the champagne spray, in memory of former Fiat chairman Umberto Agnelli, who had died a few days before the race.

Winner of the day was Giancarlo Fisichella. Starting only 19th in the Sauber, he finished sixth. No other driver gained as many places as he did: 13. Sauber had apparently sent him out with a heavy fuel load for a long first stint. According to Wikipedia, Fisichella was the last driver to make his first pit stop, on lap 24.

There was cause for celebration further back too: Mark Webber drove his Jaguar from 14th to 7th. Felipe Massa in the second Sauber went from 16th to 9th. Barrichello gained five places.

The losers were Sato and Räikkönen: both retired, each losing 14 positions compared with their grid position. Toyota had nothing to smile about either. Da Matta went out at Turn 1, and although Olivier Panis ran as high as eighth at one stage, according to Toyota, he then lost touch as his tyres faded. He crossed the line a lap down in eleventh. Renault scored solid points with Trulli (4th) and Alonso (5th), but stood no chance against Ferrari.

After seven of 18 races, Michael Schumacher led the 2004 standings with 60 points. Barrichello followed with 46 points, while Button was third with 38 points, just ahead of Trulli on 36 points. Alonso overtook Montoya in the table and was fifth, 25 points to 24.

The picture was even clearer among the teams: Ferrari had 106 points, almost as many as Renault (61) and BAR (46) combined. After their double engine failure, McLaren had just 5 points and were sixth. There was no doubt who was dominating the season: apart from Monaco, Schumacher had won every race up to that point. For BAR and Sato, on the other hand, the front-row start was proof that they could now run at the front.