2004 United States Grand Prix

2004 United States Grand Prix
Race 9 of 18 in the 2004 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	June 20, 2004
Official name	XXXIII Foster's United States Grand Prix
Location	Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis, Indiana
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.195 km (2.606 miles)
Distance	73 laps, 306.016 km (190.238 miles)
Weather	Fine
Pole position
Driver	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Time	1:10.223
Fastest lap
Driver	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Time	1:10.399 on lap 7
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Second	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Third	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda

Fernando Alonso before the race. He was unable to finish the race, due to a tyre-related problem.

The McLaren mechanics push Kimi Räikkönen's MP4-19 into the garage during qualifying.

Fernando Alonso during free practice.

Coulthard catching Fisichella rapidly.

Zsolt Baumgartner became the first Hungarian driver in Formula One to score a point.

The 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 the concrete wall at speeds of up to 180 mph (290 km/h), Schumacher suffered a fractured spine. Michael Schumacher admitted 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 the only podium finish of his career when placed third. The race also saw the first ever point scored by a Hungarian driver in Formula One, with Zsolt Baumgartner finishing eighth.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:10.223	—
2	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:10.400	+0.177
3	10	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	1:10.601	+0.378
4	9	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	1:10.820	+0.597
5	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:11.062	+0.839
6	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	1:11.106	+0.883
7	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:11.137	+0.914
8	17	Olivier Panis	Toyota	1:11.167	+0.944
9	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:11.185	+0.962
10	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:11.286	+1.063
11	16	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	1:11.691	+1.468
12	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:12.026	+1.803
13	15	Christian Klien	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:12.170	+1.947
14	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sauber-Petronas	1:12.470	+2.247
15	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	1:12.721	+2.498
16	18	Nick Heidfeld	Jordan-Ford	1:13.147	+2.924
17	19	Giorgio Pantano	Jordan-Ford	1:13.375	+3.152
18	20	Gianmaria Bruni	Minardi-Cosworth	1:14.010	+3.787
19	21	Zsolt Baumgartner	Minardi-Cosworth	1:14.812	+4.589
20	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	no time	no time

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	73	1:40:29.914	2	10
2	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	73	+2.950	1	8
3	10	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	73	+22.036	3	6
4	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	73	+34.544	20	5
5	17	Olivier Panis	Toyota	73	+37.534	8	4
6	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	72	+1 Lap	7	3
7	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	72	+1 Lap	12	2
8	21	Zsolt Baumgartner	Minardi-Cosworth	70	+3 Laps	19	1
9	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sauber-Petronas	65	Hydraulics	14
Ret	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	60	Engine	10
Ret	18	Nick Heidfeld	Jordan-Ford	40	Engine	16
Ret	9	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	26	Gearbox	4
Ret	16	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	17	Collision Damage/Gearbox	11
Ret	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	9	Tyre/Accident	6
Ret	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	8	Tyre	9
Ret	15	Christian Klien	Jaguar-Cosworth	0	Collision	13
Ret	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	0	Collision	15
Ret	19	Giorgio Pantano	Jordan-Ford	0	Collision	17
Ret	20	Gianmaria Bruni	Minardi-Cosworth	0	Collision	18
DSQ	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	57	Disqualified	5

Notes

• Lap Leaders: Rubens Barrichello 14 (1–5, 42–50) and Michael Schumacher 59 (6–41 and 51–73).
• First podium: Takuma Sato.
• First and only points: Zsolt Baumgartner.
• Juan Pablo Montoya was black-flagged on lap 57 for joining the race in his spare car, having not made it back in time to change to it within the time that the regulations allow after his race car had failed on the parade lap.
• 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 due to spinal fractures.
• This is also the first points finish for the Minardi team since the 2002 Australian Grand Prix, where Mark Webber finished 5th.
• This is the last time the Minardi team would score points in a Grand Prix with a full grid. They scored points in the following United States Grand Prix where only 6 cars started.
• 150th Grand Prix: Olivier Panis

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Michael Schumacher	80
2	Rubens Barrichello	62
3	Jenson Button	44
4	Jarno Trulli	41
5	Fernando Alonso	25

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Ferrari	142
2	Renault	66
3	BAR-Honda	58
4	Williams-BMW	36
5	McLaren-Mercedes	17

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.