Belgian GP 2004: Räikkönen wins from 10th, Schumacher crowned world champion

The Belgian GP 2004 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps had two main protagonists. Kimi Räikkönen won for McLaren from 10th on the grid. It was the first win of the season for both him and McLaren, and it would remain their only one of the year. Behind him, Michael Schumacher finished second in the Ferrari, wrapping up his seventh world title. Rubens Barrichello recovered from a first-corner collision to take 3rd place.

The race was decided on lap 12. The leading Renault started leaking oil, and Räikkönen took over at the front. From lap 17 onwards he only gave up the lead during the pit stops until the chequered flag, even though three Safety Car periods bunched up the field again and again.

Jarno Trulli started from pole position in the Renault. In qualifying on a drying track he had picked the right intermediates. Alongside him was Schumacher, who dropped behind Fernando Alonso and David Coulthard straight away at the start.

Further back, chaos broke out. At the La Source hairpin, Mark Webber in the Jaguar hit Barrichello's Ferrari. Moments later, at Eau Rouge, Webber touched the BAR of Takuma Sato, sending Sato spinning across the track. Taking avoiding action, the two Minardi drivers Zsolt Baumgartner and Gianmaria Bruni collided. Then Giorgio Pantano in the Jordan ran into Bruni's car, which briefly caught fire. Webber, Sato, Bruni and Pantano did not make it beyond the first lap. According to grandprix.com, Räikkönen also made contact with Felipe Massa at La Source, and Jenson Button lost his front wing in the melee.

The Safety Car stayed out until the end of the fourth lap. Barrichello had to pit for a new rear wing and was last at the restart.

After the restart, Schumacher initially made little impression. On lap 5, Juan Pablo Montoya in the Williams passed him around the outside at the Bus Stop chicane. Räikkönen was a different story: on lap 6 he grabbed Coulthard at Les Combes to move up to third. Trulli led until his first stop on lap 10, after which Alonso took over.

The turning point came on lap 12. Alonso's Renault was leaking oil, and the Spaniard spun at Les Combes and again shortly afterwards at Rivage. That ended his race. Officially, he is classified with an engine failure after 11 laps. Räikkönen inherited the lead. Coulthard was also out of luck: according to race reports, a rear tyre on his McLaren disintegrated at around the same time, but he limped back to the pits.

The lead changed hands several times during the first round of pit stops. Montoya, Schumacher and Antônio Pizzonia each led briefly. From lap 17, Räikkönen was back in front. Further back, Trulli's race fell apart: on lap 20, Montoya crashed into him while attempting a pass at the chicane and spun him round. Schumacher had already overtaken the Renault driver before that.

Before the closing phase, Räikkönen had a lead of around 12 seconds, according to grandprix.com. Then a series of incidents bunched the field up again. After Räikkönen's second stop on lap 29, Schumacher led briefly before disaster struck Button. At the end of the Kemmel straight, his right-rear tyre exploded at around 330 km/h. The BAR spun and slammed into the Minardi of Baumgartner, who was being lapped at the time. Both retired, and the second Safety Car came out. Schumacher, Pizzonia and Nick Heidfeld used the neutralisation to make their stops. Räikkönen then led again.

The Williams cars also dropped out: according to grandprix.com, Pizzonia was running 3rd when his gearbox failed after 31 laps. Montoya also retired after 37 laps with a puncture. Shortly afterwards, Coulthard and Christian Klien touched while fighting for 7th place. Coulthard's front wing broke off and got caught at the rear of his car, and the debris brought out the third Safety Car. After the final restart, Räikkönen stayed ahead and won by 3.1 seconds from Schumacher. Along the way he also set a new lap record of 1:45.108.

Winners:
- Kimi Räikkönen gained nine places from 10th on the grid, won the race and set the fastest lap.
- Christian Klien climbed from 13th to 6th, scoring the first championship points of his career.
- Sauber got both cars into the points, with Massa in 4th and Giancarlo Fisichella in 5th. Fisichella had lost parts of his front wing after an off along the way.
- Rubens Barrichello dropped to the back of the field after the start crash and still made it onto the podium.

Losers:
- Fernando Alonso was leading the race when the oil leak stopped him. That cost him 13 positions relative to his grid position.
- Jarno Trulli started from pole position and, after the collision with Montoya, finished only ninth, out of the points.
- Ricardo Zonta started last in the Toyota and was running 4th shortly before the end when his engine gave up after 41 laps. He is classified tenth. Team-mate Olivier Panis took a point in eighth after Coulthard passed him on the penultimate lap.
- Williams lost both cars, Pizzonia and Montoya, from promising positions.

The 8 points for 2nd place took Michael Schumacher to 128 points. Team-mate Barrichello followed on 88 points, while Button stayed on 65 after his retirement. With four races remaining, nobody could catch Schumacher any more, and the title was decided. It was his seventh. According to grandprix.com, he said that winning the title at Spa of all places was something very special for him. It was there that he had made his Formula 1 debut in 1991 and taken his first win in 1992.

Further down, it remained tight: Trulli had 46 points, Alonso 45, Montoya 38. Räikkönen jumped to 7th place with 28 points, moving ahead of Coulthard (21). In the constructors' championship, Ferrari were well clear on 216 points. Renault (91) and BAR (83) were fighting for 2nd place. McLaren, on 49 points, closed to within five points of Williams (54). You can find the full 2004 standings in our archive.

For McLaren, Spa was a bright spot in a difficult season. An unpredictable race full of punctures and neutralisations showed what Räikkönen could achieve with a reliable car.