2004 German GP Result

[Toronto]

Schumi wins the title

1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari Winner

2 Jenson Button BAR-Honda +8.3 secs

3 Fernando Alonso Renault +16.3 secs

4 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes +19.2 secs

5 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW +23.0 secs

6 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth +41.1 secs

7 Antonio Pizzonia Williams-BMW +41.9 secs

8 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda +46.8 secs

9 Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas +67.1 secs
10 Christian Klien Jaguar-Cosworth +68.5 secs
11 Jarno Trulli Renault +70.2 secs
12 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari +73.2 secs
13 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas +1 Lap
14 Olivier Panis Toyota +1 Lap
15 Giorgio Pantano Jordan-Ford +3 Lap
16 Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth +4 Lap
17 Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth +4 Lap
Ret Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford +24 Laps
Ret Cristiano da Matta Toyota +28 Laps
Ret Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes +53 Laps

[sameerrao]

- Kimi crashes out while battling with Michael due to rear wing failure heading into Turn 1. Luckily he was uninjured.

- 2 stop strategy did not prove beneficial to the runners today - Fisichella finished 9th the fastest of the two stoppers

- Button drove superbly to go from 13th to second. Considering he stopped something like 4 laps later than Michael it was an amazing qualifying effort to be only 0.3 secs off the pole. If he had less fuel he would have surely beaten Michael to the pole at least. Also he had a problem with his helmet strap coming loose and his helmet choking him down the straights - so he was driving with one hand pushing down his helmet for quite some time in the last couple laps...

- Montoya lost it all out at the start - he lost something like 6 places with a slow getaway. He struggled towards th end of every stint with what looked like tyre issues.

- Some nice overtaking moves by Button, Alonso, Montoya.

- Coulthard was homing in on Alonso but then dropped off significantly towards the end

- Both Renaults had some debris affecting their front suspension - most probably from Raikkonen's incident...

- Barrichello screwed up on the first lap when he outbraked himself and lost his front wing when he hit Coulthard - he fought his way back to 9th but dropped to 12th in the last 100 metres with rear tyre delamination

- If Kimi didn't crash and Button didnt have the engine failure in practice dropping him 10 spots we would have a marvellous race as overtaking was possible (Turns 6 and 9). Too bad

[sameerrao]

Top 5 Fastest Laps

1 6 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.780
2 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:13.783
3 9 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:14.117
4 17 Olivier Panis Toyota 1:14.247
5 8 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:14.265

Michael and Kimi did their fast laps just before the first pit stop. After that Michael had a gap of 10 secs or more so he really did not have to push hard at all. Kimi retired shortly after the first stop so he also did not get an opportunity to improve his fastest lap.

Panis despite that fast lap was not good on an average and didnt really distinguish himself.

Alonso recorded the fifth fastest lap but he and Button did very well on average which is why they ended up so high. Both drivers and Michael were able to sustain a good pace throughout the race. Alonso's pace dropped due to debris in the suspension but once that fell away his times dropped...

[5vz-fe]

That's some pace from Kimi's Mclaren. I wonder how the race would turn out if Kimi didn't have that rear wing failure.

[ae86_16v]

Simply amazing. . . kinda like Lance.

[stracing]

congrats to button.
but i'm a schumacher fan...WOOHOO!!!

[hwe]

Great result for Schumacher once again.

Some great battles going on, especially Alonso and Button.
Too bad Raikkonen went out, although I'm a M. Schumacher fan. Would've been nice to se if he was competitive for the victory.

btw toronto, what do you mean "Schumacher wins the title" ? He probably will, but its not secured yet. Neither did Ferrari clinch the contructors title yet.

11 out of 12 ain't bad...

50th race in a row without technical problems with the car.
81th grand prix victory for M.Schumacher after his 61th pole.

[yg60m]

Really impressive, of course his car is certainly one of the best but i am sure that Ferrari now concentrate on the 2005 car, they are almost sure to get the 2 titles and he keep wining.
Bravo !

[5vz-fe]

^ I think Brawn came out yesterday saying that they have halted most of the 2005 work for now due to all the rule changes in 05.

http://f1.racing-live.com/en/headlines/news/detail/040725082513.shtml

Ferrari forced to scrap 2005 car designs
Same engine for Ferrari next season?

World champions Ferrari have already scrapped development on their 2005 car and could start next season with their current machine, Technical Director Ross Brawn said Saturday at Hockenheim.

New regulations were put forward for next year by the sport's governing body, FIA, before the French Grand Prix and they are likely to be accepted by the teams to be brought in for next year's season-opening race in March.

Brawn said his team are now working on designs based on the proposed new regulations and admitted: "We had already started next year's car and done quite a lot of work on it and most of that is now scrapped."

"We have had to stop gearbox design and have put a hold on some of the chassis design. The engine that we were making has been stopped and we are now going to keep the same engine because of the requirement for it to last for two races."

"So (the rule changes) have had quite an impact and a lot of teams will be looking at taking their old cars to the first few races. It is a big compromise but you have to design a car for next year that is good over 19 races."

"I think it will be a struggle for teams to do a really good job for the first race of the season and I think a lot of teams will choose to have a compromise for the first few races to do a better job for the subsequent races. Particularly if we have 19 races on the calendar then if you do the first four races with your old car you still have 15 races to take advantage of the extra time."



Ferrari are well ahead of the competition - they could win the constructors' world championship in this weekend's German Grand Prix - and they had already stopped development on this year's car to work towards next season.

Brawn said that any improvements in the final six races of this season will come from tyre development and small engine tweaks rather than any new mechanical and aerodynamic chassis parts from Ferrari.

Next year's changes, which include a raised front wing and alterations to the rear of the car, have been suggested in a bid to reduce the speeds of the cars and Brawn said that tests show they reduce downforce by 25-30 percent.

He admitted the cars do need to be slowed "every now and again" and backed the plans but blamed himself and fellow Technical Directors from other teams for not acting on the FIA's demands more hastily.

"The FIA have been asking us for a couple of years to come forward with proposals to slow the car and, of course, generally we like to see the cars go fast so it is not our priority to slow them down," said Brawn.

"We have only got ourselves to blame because we didn't respond early enough and what we have now is what you always have as a consequence of making rule changes that late. It was probably time we did make some changes and if we didn't they would be another one or two seconds faster next year. And we have probably got the most to lose because we are winning in a strong fashion. Some people feel it is a good thing to shake the whole thing up and cause a little bit of chaos. It is no bad thing because it may change the natural order of things."

"We accept the changes are necessary and we look upon it as a new challenge and a new set of rules we have to build the best car to. Our people are now working hard on the proposed new regulations."

[twboy1999]

hope
ther is a full race coverage i could download later

me got no tv..>.<..

[nthfinity]

hope
ther is a full race coverage i could download later

me got no tv..>.<..

id hope so too... as i no longer get speed tv :(

[DjPtsatsot]

Schumi wins the title

1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari Winner

2 Jenson Button BAR-Honda +8.3 secs

3 Fernando Alonso Renault +16.3 secs



Wow i have to see this! I was waiting till 9 o'clock tonight for the re-run but damn this race seeems very unpredictable cant wait!

[Toronto]

Simply amazing. . . kinda like Lance.

or lance is kinda like Schumi?

Lance 5 going for 6
Schumi 7 going for 8 :D

[DMbaseball1604]

well this is why Ferrari is sooo good because they dont have small things go wrong like a rear wing failure...kimi and McLaren may have had the faster lap..but Schumi and Ferrari are so much better overall..they are so much more consistent

[68-998]

Great race to watch. Good work from the director, would have been boring watching Michael cruising around by himself.

Webber did well. He was saying before the race that Jaguar were in damage control mode, i.e. not going to do particularly well.

Was good watching him attempting to overtake Trulli, then sneaking through when Sato went through.

[dingo]

^ I also enjoyed the good result for Webber....that move on Trulli had me worried as i thought Trulli might not see him and drive into the side of Webbers car.
The battle between Button and Alonso was sensational, just wish there was more of it. It was a funny sight seeing Button driving around with one hand on his helmet, looked like he had a sore head. :)
It would have been nice if Montoya didn't start so poorly and Kimi didn't retire so that there could've been more of a battle for the win.

[aks]

it was a disappointing race for me. Räikkönen crashed, and Barrichello came 12th!! Räikkönen crashing was the worse part :twisted: , but before this race Barrichello was the only driver to have made the podium every race. his run is now ruined, that really sux for him. :(

[mindgam3]

It was a particuarly easy race for schumacher after kimi crashed, if he hadnt I think kimi would've been in with a good chance of a win considering th pace and determination he had shown.

Good race for the brits, especially for button. I agree with ITV - driver of the race. Coulthard could've clinched 3rd but slowed off the pace on the last few laps.

Webber n alonso also had great races - especially as webber finished ahead of pizzonia after all the disputing between jaguar and williams.

Avergae race for montoya, could've done better considering he started from 2nd.

But as sammareo says, if kimi hadnt have had the rear wing failure and button hadn't got knocked back 10 places, to me they would've been in with a great chance of a win and i dont think we would've seen a shumi 1st. All ifs n buts tho....

Great race overall ;)

[aks]

one thing good to see is that the McLaren's are back and as competitive as ever. as long as Räikkönen doesn't have to retire Schumacher has his work cut out for him, the rest of the season is gonna be good

[he7lius]

I think Mclaren and BAR wasted a very good opportunity to beet the Ferrari's.
The good news is that it seems they are starting to get very very close to them and they might take them in Hungary where traction is vital.

I think Renault is also starting to look good but as ever very inconsistent
Cant' wait for the next race. :D :D

[sau_mathur]

What a drive by Jenson Button...!!!!! U can say what u want that maybe he cud have won it if he hadnt had that engine change, hence the 10 places drop. But Schumi won again...most consistent.!!! Good on him..!!

how awesome was raikkonen's crash..!!!! i was watching the race and i was like..WHOA the bloody thing just tore off like a piece of rag!!! hectic..!!

but yeah..regarding the halting of tech dev by ferrari, im a little scared of that..!@!! cos bloody mclaren and bar are developing and getting better (getting to a ferrari level) so i reckon they shud do some more engine/aero testing to make their cars even faster.