2004 United States Grand Prix

Infobox Grand Prix race report
Type = F1
Grand Prix = United States
Official name = XXXIII Foster's United States Grand Prix
date= June 20


Year = 2004
Race_No = 9
Season_No = 18
Location = Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis, Indiana
Course = Permanent racing facility
Course_mi = 2.606
Course_km = 4.195
Distance_laps = 73
Distance_mi = 190.238
Distance_km = 306.016
Weather = Fine
Pole_Driver = Rubens Barrichello
Pole_Country = Brazil
Pole_Team = Ferrari
Pole_Time = 1:10.223
Fast_Driver = Rubens Barrichello
Fast_Country = Brazil
Fast_Team = Ferrari
Fast_Time = 1:10.399
Fast_L

First_Driver = Michael Schumacher
First_Country = Germany
First_Team = Ferrari
Second_Driver = Rubens Barrichello
Second_Team = Ferrari
Second_Country= Brazil
Third_Driver = Takuma Sato
Third_Country = Japan
Third_Team = BAR-HondaThe 2004 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on June 20, 2004 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana.

There was a pile-up at the start of the race in turn 1, which caused Christian Klien, Felipe Massa, Giorgio Pantano, and Gianmaria Bruni to crash out and retire from the race.

A few laps later, a rear tyre on Ralf Schumacher's Williams failed, pitching his car into a brick wall at speeds of up to 180mph, Schumacher suffered a fractured spine. Michael Schumacher reportedly said after the race that he considered retiring from the race to see to his brother. The Safety Car was deployed to clear up the wreckage left by the Williams car and so that the medical teams could get to Ralf.

The two Ferrari drivers led the entire race. Michael Schumacher finished first, Barrichello placed second and Takuma Sato collected his first podium finish of his career when placing third. The race also saw the first ever point scored by a Hungarian driver in Formula One, with Zsolt Baumgartner finishing eighth.

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Classification

Notes

* Lap Leaders: Rubens Barrichello 14 (1-5, 42-50) and Michael Schumacher 59 (6-41 and 51-73)
* First podium: Takuma Sato.
* First points: Zsolt Baumgartner.
* Juan Pablo Montoya was black-flagged for joining the race in his spare car, having elected to change to it later than the regulations allow.
* Juan Pablo Montoya started this race from the pit lane.
* Ralf Schumacher was involved in a serious accident and he was out of action for 6 races.
* This is also the first points finish for the Minardi team since the 2002 Australian Grand Prix, where Mark Webber finished 5th.

F1 race report
Name_of_race = United States Grand Prix
Year_of_race = 2004
Previous_race_in_season = 2004 Canadian Grand Prix
Next_race_in_season = 2004 French Grand Prix
Previous_year's_race = 2003 United States Grand Prix
Next_year's_race = 2005 United States Grand Prix