In spite of a relatively serious challenge from Mclaren's Kimi Raikkonen... Michael and Ferrari dominates... yet again...
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Schumacher Takes 80th F1 Win at British GP
Sunday July 11th, 2004
By Gary Emmerson
World Champion Michael Schumacher used a two-stop strategy to claim only his third victory in the British Grand Prix as he entered double figures with his 10th win of the season at Silverstone.
German Schumacher picked up his 10th win from 11 races this year as the pace of Ferrari's car allowed him to make just two stops and still hold off the attentions of McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen and score his 80th career win.
Schumacher started the race with a heavier fuel load than his rivals but used a clear track, when left in the lead, to build up a significant lead before making his first pit-stop and it proved enough to hand him victory.
Raikkonen, using McLaren's new MP4-19B, had stormed into the lead from pole position but he was beaten by Schumacher's speed and strategy as Rubens Barrichello secured the final place on the podium in third for Ferrari.
BAR-Honda's Jenson Button, who had hoped to claim his maiden Grand Prix victory in his home race, could only finish fourth ahead of Williams-BMW's Juan Pablo Montoya with Sauber's Giancarlo Fisichella an impressive sixth after starting from the back.
David Coulthard, a former winner at Silverstone, was seventh for McLaren while Mark Webber came home eighth to collect a point for Jaguar in the team's home race.
Raikkonen made a flying stop to lead from Barrichello, Button and Schumacher while further back Montoya ran wide and enjoyed a scrap with Sato for sixth place. The McLaren driver was 3.5 seconds ahead after the opening lap.
Barrichello was the first to stop before both Raikkonen and Button pitted on the same lap, but the Finn emerged behind Sato and was held up until a brave overtaking move into Copse before the BAR driver made his first stop.
As a result Schumacher was able to use a clear circuit to post several quick lap times and when he finally made his first stop he came out marginally ahead of Raikkonen, with Barrichello remaining ahead of Button.
Toyota's Olivier Panis was the first retirement when he drove off the track after his fire extinguisher had gone off in the cockpit of his car, while Zsolt Baumgartner pulled his smoking Minardi onto the grass.
Baumgartner's Gianmaria Bruni was then involved in an incident when he attempted to leave his pit-box before his car had been fully refuelled and dragged team personnel along.
Schumacher continued to hold the lead of the race after he made a long second stop, but his advantage was effectively nullified when Jarno Trulli was involved in a major accident on the exit of Bridge.
Italian Trulli lost control of his Renault and collided with the tyre barriers before barrel-rolling in the gravel and coming to a halt as the safety car was deployed with debris littered across the track.
Raikkonen and Barrichello both opted to make their third stops immediately to take advantage of the safety car period as the race was left as a 16-lap fight for victory. Raikkonen hounded Schumacher at the re-start after passing backmarkers Christian Klien and Cristiano Da Matta.
Trulli's fellow Italian Giorgio Pantano then retired from the Jordan team's home race when he put a wheel on the grass and was sent spinning into the gravel trap. |
