German GP 2004: Schumacher wins, Button charges from 13th to 2nd

Michael Schumacher won the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring from pole position on 25 July 2004, giving Ferrari their eleventh win in the twelfth race of the season. The man of the day, though, was the runner-up. Jenson Button had to start his BAR from 13th after an engine change, but he still finished only a little over eight seconds behind Schumacher. The race was decided at the final pit stop. After that, Button got past Fernando Alonso, who finished third in his Renault.

The first start attempt failed. Olivier Panis stalled his Toyota on the grid, so the start was aborted. Panis had to start from the pit lane, and the race was cut to 66 laps. At the second attempt Schumacher kept the lead. Alongside him, Juan Pablo Montoya made a poor start in the Williams and dropped to eighth. Alonso did better. He gained three places and slotted in right behind Schumacher, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen in the McLaren and Jarno Trulli.

On the way to the hairpin, Rubens Barrichello braked too late and ran into the back of David Coulthard. Coulthard carried on without losing much time. The second Ferrari needed a new nose, though, and after the unscheduled stop Barrichello was at the back of the field. He later admitted that the mistake was his. On lap two Räikkönen took second place from Alonso at the hairpin, and Mark Webber made up a lot of ground in his Jaguar on the opening lap.

Räikkönen had even led briefly during the first round of stops and was well placed in the race. Then, on lap 13, his rear wing came off at high speed on the approach to the fast first corner. The McLaren spun and hit the tyre barrier. Räikkönen climbed out unhurt. Team principal Ron Dennis said it was a manufacturing fault, not a design flaw (source 3). It was the Finn's seventh retirement in twelve races, but he still set the fastest lap of the day. His debris also hit other cars. Coulthard's bargeboard was damaged, and part of the wing got stuck on Trulli's car.

Only two other drivers failed to finish:

• Cristiano da Matta (Toyota) parked his car after 38 laps with a puncture.
• Nick Heidfeld (Jordan) retired after 42 laps with handling problems. He had already had to make an extra stop.

The race was run over three rounds of pit stops. Button stayed out long in his first stint, so he even led for a while. The first stop moved him up from ninth to fifth. By then Montoya's rear tyres were wearing badly. On lap 21 he went off the track, and Button was through. On lap 26 Takuma Sato squeezed past Trulli at the hairpin, and the move only just worked.

Alonso briefly took the lead during the second round of stops. Button passed Coulthard first and then attacked the Renault at the hairpin, but Alonso hit back in the Motodrom. At the final stops Schumacher came out ahead of both of them again. Button was then once more just behind Alonso. When the Renault lost front-end grip, Button went past on the inside. Renault later found the cause: a bargeboard had got caught under the car and only came free around lap 58. After that, Alonso was quick enough again to keep Coulthard behind.

Button closed to just over eight seconds behind Schumacher. According to Atlas F1, he did this despite a problem with his helmet strap, which forced him to drive much of one lap with one hand. Afterwards Button called it the best race of his F1 career (source 3).

The winners:

• Jenson Button gained eleven places, more than anyone else, and took eight points.
• Mark Webber went from grid position 11 to sixth.
• Antônio Pizzonia drove for Williams in place of the injured Ralf Schumacher, who was still recovering from his crash at Indianapolis. Marc Gené had stood in for him twice before. Pizzonia finished seventh and scored the first points of his career.
• Giancarlo Fisichella also gained five places in the Sauber, but he finished ninth and just missed the points.

The losers:

• Kimi Räikkönen had a good chance of a podium but retired after 13 laps.
• Rubens Barrichello and Jarno Trulli each lost five places and finished twelfth and eleventh with no points.
• Juan Pablo Montoya started from the front row, but the poor start and his tyre problems left him fifth.

Barrichello scored no points, so Schumacher's lead in the championship standings grew to 36 points: 110 for Schumacher, 74 for Barrichello. Button stayed third on 61 points, ahead of Trulli (46) and Alonso (39). Fourth place moved Coulthard up two places to seventh in the championship (19 points), ahead of Räikkönen (18). Ferrari led the constructors' championship with 184 points, more than twice Renault's 85. BAR were third with 76 points.

Schumacher had been fastest all weekend. It was his sixth pole position of the season and his 100th front-row start. The 81st Grand Prix win of his career gave him eleven wins from the first twelve races of the season. That equalled his own record from 2002, with six races still to go. He also took the chequered flag for the 50th race in a row without a technical failure. At the same time, Button showed he was a new challenger. In the much-improved BAR-Honda he finished second despite the engine penalty, which showed that a new contender was emerging behind Ferrari.