Schumi wins 11th GP of 2004
A dominant Michael Schumacher drove rather simply to the win, after he took the lead from pole position. The closest contender was Kimi Raikkonen, who came dangerously close to Schumacher just before his rear wing broke off. The Finn spun into the tire wall and saw his race ended. Button and Alonso complete the podium.
After the abandon of Kimi Raikkonen after just 15 laps, the leading Ferrari could control the race without ever being threatened by a competitor. Jenson Button took the lead during a few laps, but only because his first pitstop was planned a little later.
Jenson Button drove an excellent race, finishing 2nd and profiting from a problem on Alonso's Renault. Starting from 13nd on the grid because of an engine change, Button cruised to the front of the field in what he says was the best drive of his F1 career.
Third in the row was Alonso, who was several times during the race in close combat with Button, but eventually had to let the Briton go. Immediately after he lost his position he suffered what seemed to be a temporal suspension problem. When the problem fixed itself, he was already 14 seconds down on Button, and had to hold off David Coulthard.
Further down the point finishers were Juan Pablo Montoya on 5th, Webber with a decent drive and profiting from a new aero package on 6th. Antonio Pizzonia managed what what Gene could not do in 2 races and grabbed 2 points, followed by Takuma Sato who finished 8th.
Rubens Barrichello was not in form during the whole weekend, and seemed to finish 9th until he suffered a tire puncture in the last lap, dropping him a further 3 places.
Final standings are:
1. 1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1h23'54"848 215.852 Km/h
2. 9 BUTTON BAR Honda M + 0'08"388 215.493 Km/h
3. 8 ALONSO Renault M + 0'16"351 215.153 Km/h
4. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M + 0'19"231 215.031 Km/h
5. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M + 0'23"055 214.868 Km/h
6. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M + 0'41"108 214.104 Km/h
7. 04 PIZZONIA Williams BMW M + 0'41"956 214.068 Km/h
8. 10 SATO BAR Honda M + 0'46"842 213.862 Km/h
9. 11 FISICHELLA Sauber Petronas B + 1'07"102 213.013 Km/h
10. 15 KLIEN Jaguar Cosworth M + 1'08"578 212.952 Km/h
11. 7 TRULLI Renault M + 1'10"258 212.881 Km/h
12. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B + 1'13"252 212.757 Km/h
13. 12 MASSA Sauber Petronas B 1 lap(s)
14. 17 PANIS Toyota M 1 lap(s)
15. 19 PANTANO Jordan Ford B 3 lap(s)
16. 21 BAUMGARTNER Minardi Cosworth B 4 lap(s)
17. 20 BRUNI Minardi Cosworth B 4 lap(s)
18. 18 HEIDFELD Jordan Ford B 24 lap(s)
19. 16 DA MATTA Toyota M 28 lap(s)
20. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 53 lap(s)
