- 2004 Australian Grand Prix
Infobox Grand Prix race report
Type = F1
Country = Australia
Grand Prix = Australian
Official name = 2004 Formula 1 Foster's Australian Grand Prix
Date = March 7
Year = 2004
Race_No = 1
Season_No = 18
Location =Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit ,Melbourne ,Australia
Course = Temporary street racing facility
Course_mi = 2.842
Course_km = 4.574
Distance_laps = 58
Distance_mi = 3.295
Distance_km = 5.303
Weather = Dry & cloudy
Pole_Driver =Michael Schumacher
Pole_Team =Scuderia Ferrari
Pole_Time = 1:24.408
Pole_Country = Germany
Fast_Driver = Michael Schumacher
Fast_Team = Ferrari
Fast_Time = 1:24.125
Fast_L
Fast_Country = Germany
First_Driver =Michael Schumacher
First_Team = Ferrari
First_Country = Germany
Second_Driver =Rubens Barrichello
Second_Team = Ferrari
Second_Country= Brazil
Third_Driver =Fernando Alonso
Third_Team = Renault
Third_Country = SpainThe 2004 Australian Grand Prix was aFormula One race held onMarch 7 ,2004 at theMelbourne Grand Prix Circuit .Michael Schumacher won the race for Ferrari from pole position in a very dominant fashion, with his team-mateRubens Barrichello finishing behind him in second. This one-two finish gave Ferrari a strong 9 point lead in the constructors' standings after just one race. Williams, Renault and BAR gathered points together, whileMcLaren , a team that had enjoyed success in years preceding this only managed one point, withDavid Coulthard finishing a lapped 8th. [" [http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=147267&FS=F1 "McLaren knows its weaknesses"] " Motorsport.com Retrieved 28 December 2007]__TOC__
Report
Qualifying resulted in a Ferrari one-two, with
Juan Pablo Montoya 3rd on the grid for Williams.Gianmaria Bruni ,Christian Klien andOlivier Panis all failed to set a qualifying time. [" [http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=147070&FS=F1 "2004 Australian Grand Prix starting grid"] " Motorsport.com Retrieved 28 December 2007]The race proved that Ferrari once again had a dominant car, with
Michael Schumacher winning from team-mateRubens Barrichello , while the rest of the field was over 20 seconds behind. Schumacher led every one of the 58 race laps. [" [http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=147155&FS=F1 "Dominant Australian GP win for Schumacher"] " Motorsport.com Retrieved 28 December 2007] At the start, Montoya was jumped by the Renault ofFernando Alonso . Montoya attempted to regain the place by going around the outside of the Spaniard into the first turn, but outbraked himself and ran wide. This dropped him behind his team-mateRalf Schumacher , who'd qualified 8th. Despite repassing Ralf Schumacher on-track, the Colombian ended up behind him again by the race's end in 5th place.Fernando Alonso gave Renault a podium with 3rd place, while
Jenson Button got BAR off the mark with 6th.Jarno Trulli finished 7th in the Renault and was the first lapped runner.McLaren seemed to be less competitive than in recent years, withKimi Räikkönen becoming the first retirement of the year, dropping out with an engine problem, and withDavid Coulthard picking up just 1 point in 8th place. They had only qualified in the mid-field, with Räikkönen and Coulthard 10th and 12th respectively. [" [http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=147267&FS=F1 "McLaren knows its weaknesses"] " Motorsport.com Retrieved 28 December 2007]Sauber 'sGiancarlo Fisichella had a long battle for position in the midfield with Jordan'sNick Heidfeld . Fisichello passed Heidfeld, who later dropped out of the race with a transmission failure.Other retirements were
Zsolt Baumgartner (Minardi ),Mark Webber (Jaguar) andFelipe Massa (Sauber ). Mark Webber qualified in 6th place, and was running in the race with the Williams and BAR teams, but he suffered a transmission failure on lap 29. Felipe Massa survived a full 360 degree-spin before pulling off with a blown engine.Classification
Notes
* Lap Leaders: Michael Schumacher 58 (1-58)
* First Race:Giorgio Pantano ,Gianmaria Bruni ,Christian Klien
* This was the Ferrari team's first 1-2 since the2002 Japanese Grand Prix .F1 race report
Name_of_race =Australian Grand Prix
Year_of_race = 2004
Previous_race_in_season =2003 Japanese Grand Prix
Next_race_in_season =2004 Malaysian Grand Prix
Previous_year's_race =2003 Australian Grand Prix
Next_year's_race =2005 Australian Grand Prix References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.