Schumacher Takes Record 11th Win in Germany
Sunday July 25th, 2004
By Will Gray
Michael Schumacher equalled his own record of 11 wins in a Formula One season as his domination of the 2004 campaign continued with victory in his home German Grand Prix at Hockenheim on Sunday.
Ferrari driver Schumacher scored only his third win in his home race after taking the lead from the start and coasting to the 81st victory of his career and his 11th from 12 Grands Prix this season.
He took the lead at the start and then benefited from the retirement of McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who suffered rear wing failure when challenging Schumacher, to come home 8.3 seconds ahead of BAR-Honda's Jenson Button.
Briton Button started from 13th on the grid but used strategy to equal his best result with second place despite driving one-handed for the majority of his last stint due to a problem with his visor.
Renault's Fernando Alonso held off the attentions of McLaren driver David Coulthard to take the final place on the podium, with Juan Pablo Montoya finishing in fifth place for Williams-BMW.
Mark Webber collected three points for Jaguar with sixth places, Antonio Pizzonia, deputising for injured Williams-BMW driver Ralf Schumacher, ended seventh and Takuma Sato claimed the final point in eighth for BAR-Honda.
Toyota's Olivier Panis stalled on the grid at the start of the race and then his car rolled to a halt at the beginning of the second formation lap, with the Frenchman eventually beginning the race from the pit-lane.
Schumacher made a good start from pole but Montoya, second on the grid, was slow getting away and drop to seventh behind Alonso, Raikkonen, Trulli, Coulthard and Barrichello.
But Barrichello lost his front wing when running into the back of Coulthard and was forced to pit at the end of the first lap for repairs, with Raikkonen passing Alonso for second place behind Schumacher.
Alonso was the first of the frontrunners to pit on lap 10 and Schumacher came in one lap later only to lose time after a slight delay with one of the wheels. Raikkonen stopped on lap 12 and emerged just behind the championship leader.
But Raikkonen's race was soon over when he suffered a high-speed accident as his rear wing snapped off heading into turn one and he was sent spinning into the tyre barriers at around 190mph.
The partisan German crowd, largely supporting Schumacher, celebrated his exit as an angry Raikkonen threw his steering wheel back into the car.
Montoya made a mistake when running in fourth place and allowed Button through after the BAR-Honda driver had made up ground staying out five laps longer than his rivals.
Schumacher opened up a 15-second lead at the front before stopping for the second time on lap 28, while Button pitted from the lead six laps later and moved into third at the expense of McLaren's Coulthard.
Button and Alonso enjoyed a titanic battle for second place before the Englishman dropped back, while Toyota's Cristiano Da Matta became the second retirement of the afternoon after a puncture sent him spinning off track.
Schumacher made his final stop on lap 47 and Alonso followed him in, and the Spaniard held onto his second place as Button emerged marginally behind him after pitting on lap 50.
But Button pulled off a move and grabbed second place with 14 laps remaining, but he was unable to make any serious inroads into Schumacher's lead as the German claimed a record-equalling victory. |
