2004 Brazilian Grand Prix

2004 Brazilian Grand Prix
Race 18 of 18 in the 2004 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Race details
Date	24 October 2004
Official name	Formula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2004
Location	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.309 km (2.677 miles)
Distance	71 laps, 305.909 km (190.083 miles)
Weather	Dry/Wet
Pole position
Driver	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Time	1:10.646
Fastest lap
Driver	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW
Time	1:11.473 on lap 49
Podium
First	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW
Second	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes
Third	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2004)^[1] was a Formula One motor race held on 24 October 2004 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace. It was Race 18 of 18 in the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship. It marked the first time that a GP in Brazil was held at the end of the F1 season. Juan Pablo Montoya won the race after starting from second on the grid, Kimi Räikkönen finished second after starting third and Rubens Barrichello finished third, his only podium finish at his home event.

The bottom 6 teams in the 2003 Constructors' Championship were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.

Constructor	Nat	Driver
BAR-Honda		Anthony Davidson
Sauber-Petronas		-
Jaguar-Cosworth		Björn Wirdheim
Toyota		Ryan Briscoe
Jordan-Ford		Robert Doornbos
Minardi-Cosworth		Bas Leinders

Ricardo Zonta returned to his home race for the Toyota team, replacing Olivier Panis, who had retired from the sport after the previous race. It was the last race for Gianmaria Bruni and Zsolt Baumgartner and the Jaguar team. It was also the last race in which Sid Watkins took part in the role of medical officer.

In qualifying, Barrichello also achieved the fastest lap and secured pole position ahead of Montoya and Räikkönen. It was Barrichello's 13th career pole and his last until the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix.

The race started with a damp track. Most drivers began on intermediate tyres, with only Alonso, Villeneuve and Coulthard opting for dry tyres. At the start, Barrichello maintained the lead, but the Brazilian driver was overtaken after a few corners by Räikkönen. Montoya, however, got off to a bad start and was relegated to fourth place. The intermediate tires soon proved to be unsuitable for the track, which began to dry out. The first to mount dry tires was Ralf Schumacher, during the 4th lap, and he was followed by every other driver still on intermediate tires, handing Alonso the lead of the race. Meanwhile, Räikkönen and Montoya engaged in an intense duel exiting the pit lane, with the Colombian getting the better of his rival. After tire changes, Alonso led ahead of Montoya, Räikkönen, Ralf Schumacher, Sato, Barrichello, Villeneuve and Coulthard. Alonso gave up first place to Montoya at the end of the 18th lap when he returned to the pits to refuel.

On lap 23, Webber attempted to overtake his teammate Klien, but the two came into contact. Webber was forced to retire, while Klien returned to the pits to repair his car. At the head of the race, Räikkönen followed Montoya closely, but the Williams driver managed to control him without any particular problems. Further back, Barrichello tries to recover from Sato. The second series of pit stops brings no changes in position between these four drivers, but allows Alonso to move up to third place, ahead of Ralf Schumacher. On lap 32, however, Sato makes a mistake at the first braking, giving up fifth place to Barrichello. Montoya had a good lead over Räikkönen and was driving a car with more fuel.

The third series of pit stops proved decisive. Alonso, the only one among the leading drivers to make two stops, refueled on lap 47, followed in sequence by Ralf Schumacher, Barrichello, Montoya and Michael Schumacher, who returned to the pits at the same time on lap 50. Räikkönen, leading the race, pushed hard to try to overtake his rival, but when the Finn also made his pit stop, on lap 55, he returned to the track just one second behind Montoya. Behind him, Barrichello prevailed against his direct competitors in the duel for third place. A queue of cars formed behind him, with Alonso a few tenths ahead of Sato, Ralf Schumacher and Michael Schumacher. At the front of the race, Räikkönen tried in vain to put pressure on Montoya, but the Colombian was not distracted and took his first win of the season ahead of Räikkönen, Barrichello, Alonso and Ralf Schumacher. For Montoya it was the 4th victory of his career, and for Williams it was the last victory until the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix. It would be Barrichello's first finish at Interlagos in ten years and his only podium, with third place; his previous finish at the circuit being at the season opening in 1994 (a fourth place).

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1 Time	Q2 Time	Gap	Grid
1	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:09.822	1:10.646	—	1
2	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:09.862	1:10.850	+0.204	2
3	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:10.440	1:10.892	+0.246	3
4	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	1:09.930	1:10.922	+0.276	4
5	9	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	1:10.607	1:11.092	+0.446	5
6	10	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	1:10.373	1:11.120	+0.474	6
7	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	1:10.258	1:11.131	+0.485	7
8	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:10.192	1:11.386	+0.740	181
9	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:10.637	1:11.454	+0.808	8
10	16	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:10.478	1:11.483	+0.837	9
11	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sauber-Petronas	1:10.467	1:11.571	+0.925	10
12	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:11.230	1:11.665	+1.019	11
13	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:10.418	1:11.750	+1.104	12
14	7	Jacques Villeneuve	Renault	1:10.708	1:11.836	+1.190	13
15	17	Ricardo Zonta	Toyota	1:11.315	1:11.974	+1.328	14
16	15	Christian Klien	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:11.912	1:12.211	+1.565	15
17	18	Nick Heidfeld	Jordan-Ford	1:11.394	1:12.829	+2.183	16
18	19	Timo Glock	Jordan-Ford	1:12.242	1:13.502	+2.856	17
19	21	Zsolt Baumgartner	Minardi-Cosworth	1:13.032	1:13.550	+2.904	191
20	20	Gianmaria Bruni	Minardi-Cosworth	1:12.916	No time		201
Source:[2]

Notes

• ^1 – Michael Schumacher, Zsolt Baumgartner and Gianmaria Bruni received a 10-place grid penalty for engine changes.

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	71	1:28:01.451	2	10
2	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	71	+1.022	3	8
3	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	71	+24.099	1	6
4	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	71	+48.508	8	5
5	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	71	+49.740	7	4
6	10	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	71	+50.248	6	3
7	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	71	+50.626	18	2
8	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	71	+1:02.310	4	1
9	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sauber-Petronas	71	+1:03.842	10
10	7	Jacques Villeneuve	Renault	70	+1 Lap	13
11	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+1 Lap	12
12	16	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	70	+1 Lap	9
13	17	Ricardo Zonta	Toyota	70	+1 Lap	14
14	15	Christian Klien	Jaguar-Cosworth	69	+2 Laps	15
15	19	Timo Glock	Jordan-Ford	69	+2 Laps	17
16	21	Zsolt Baumgartner	Minardi-Cosworth	67	+4 Laps	PL1
17	20	Gianmaria Bruni	Minardi-Cosworth	67	+4 Laps	PL1
Ret	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	23	Collision	11
Ret	18	Nick Heidfeld	Jordan-Ford	15	Clutch	16
Ret	9	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	3	Engine	5
Source:[3]

Notes

• ^1 – Baumgartner and Bruni started the race from the pitlane.

• Bold text and an asterisk indicates the World Champions.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher* 148 2 Rubens Barrichello 114 3 Jenson Button 85 4 Fernando Alonso 59 5 Juan Pablo Montoya 58 Source:[4]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari* 262 2 BAR-Honda 119 3 Renault 105 4 Williams-BMW 88 5 McLaren-Mercedes 69 Source:[4]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

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