2004 French Grand Prix

2004 French Grand Prix
Race 10 of 18 in the 2004 Formula One World Championship ←  Previous race Next race  →
Race details
Date	4 July 2004
Official name	Formula 1 Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France 2004
Location	Magny-Cours, France
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.411 [1] km (2.741 miles)
Distance	70 laps, 308.586 [1] km (191.746 miles)
Weather	Sunny, 28°C [2]
Pole position
Driver	Fernando Alonso	Renault
Time	1:13.698
Fastest lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:15.377 on lap 32 (lap record)
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Second	Fernando Alonso	Renault
Third	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2004 French Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France 2004) ^[3] was a Formula One motor race that took place on 4 July 2004 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Nevers, France. It was the tenth round of the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Famously, championship leader Michael Schumacher employed a four-stop strategy to beat Renault's Fernando Alonso and Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello.

Background

The event was held at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Nevers for the fourteenth time in the circuit's history across the weekend of 2-4 July. The Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 2004 Formula One World Championship and the 54th running of the French Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship. ^[4]

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 80 points, 16 points ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello in second, and 36 ahead of BAR's Jenson Button in third. ^[5] Ferrari, with 142 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Renault with 66 and BAR-Honda with 58 points. ^[5]

Driver changes

Williams reserve driver Marc Gené replaced Ralf Schumacher, following the German's back injury at the previous round. He would also drive in the next Grand Prix. ^[6]

Practice

Four free practice sessions were held for the event. On Friday it rained, but the first session was unsurprisingly topped by the Ferraris of Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher. The second session, however, saw Toyota's Cristiano da Matta on top, six tenths ahead of Jarno Trulli in the Renault, with Schumacher down in fifth. ^{[2] [7]}

On Saturday, the sky was clear and Michael Schumacher topped the third session, ahead of David Coulthard in the McLaren. ^[8] The German dropped down to third place in the fourth and final session, behind Coulthard's teammate Kimi Räikkönen and BAR's Jenson Button. ^[9]

Friday drivers

Björn Wirdheim driving for Jaguar

The bottom 6 teams in the 2003 Constructors' Championship were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.

Constructor	Nat	Driver
BAR-Honda		Anthony Davidson
Sauber-Petronas	N/A	N/A
Jaguar-Cosworth		Björn Wirdheim
Toyota		Ricardo Zonta
Jordan-Ford		Timo Glock
Minardi-Cosworth		Bas Leinders

Qualifying

Qualifying on Saturday consisted of two sessions. In the first session, drivers went out one by one in the order in which they classified at the previous race. Each driver was allowed to set one lap time. The result determined the running order in the second session: the fastest driver in the first session was allowed to go last in the second session, which usually provided the benefit of a cleaner track. In the second session, drivers were again allowed to set one lap time, which determined the order on the grid for the race on Sunday, with the fastest driver scoring pole position. ^[10]

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1 Time	Q2 Time	Gap
1	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:13.750	1:13.698	—
2	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:13.541	1:13.971	+0.273
3	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:13.649	1:13.987	+0.289
4	9	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	1:13.772	1:13.995	+0.297
5	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	1:13.949	1:14.070	+0.372
6	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:13.377	1:14.172	+0.474
7	10	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	1:14.130	1:14.240	+0.542
8	4	Marc Gené	Williams-BMW	1:14.133	1:14.275	+0.577
9	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:13.736	1:14.346	+0.648
10	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	No time 1	1:14.478	+0.780
11	16	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	1:14.245	1:14.553	+0.855
12	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:15.332	1:14.798	+1.100
13	15	Christian Klien	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:15.205	1:15.065	+1.367
14	17	Olivier Panis	Toyota	1:14.540	1:15.130	+1.432
15	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sauber-Petronas	1:15.793	1:16.177	+2.479
16	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	1:14.627	1:16.200	+2.502
17	18	Nick Heidfeld	Jordan-Ford	1:16.366	1:16.807	+3.109
18	19	Giorgio Pantano	Jordan-Ford	1:15.913	1:17.462	+3.764
19	20	Gianmaria Bruni	Minardi-Cosworth	1:18.070	1:17.913	+4.215
20	21	Zsolt Baumgartner	Minardi-Cosworth	1:18.108	1:18.247	+4.549
Source: [11]

Notes

• ^1 – Rubens Barrichello was left without a time in Q1 due to a hydraulic problem.

Race

Race report

Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher kept their positions at the start, while Jarno Trulli took advantage of a slow-starting David Coulthard and managed to pass Jenson Button to take third position. Schumacher kept with Alonso as they traded fastest laps, until the German pitted on the end of lap 11. The leading Renault managed to continue three more laps and, after his stop, had grown his lead to three seconds. ^{[2] [12]}

Schumacher stopped for a second time on lap 28 and then set a series of fastest laps, which led to Alonso falling behind him after his stop four laps later. Another stop by the Ferrari on lap 42 was a sign of low fuel levels, which explained his superior pace. After Alonso made his third and final stop on lap 45, he rejoined in second place but never managed to match Schumacher's lap times. The gap had opened up to over 20 seconds by lap 57, when the World Champion pitted for a fourth time and returned to the track, still seven seconds ahead of his nearest rival. Schumacher scored his ninth win of the season. ^[2]

Behind the leading duo, David Coulthard had started third but trouble with the fuel hose on his second stop, dropped him down to eighth, which became sixth at the finish. Jenson Button had started fourth but nearly stalled his engine at the third stop. This left Rubens Barrichello and Jarno Trulli fighting over third place, with the Brazilian getting the upper hand with an audacious overtaking manoeuvre just two corners from the finish line. ^[2]

Race classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	70	1:30:18.133	2	10
2	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	70	+8.329	1	8
3	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	70	+31.622	10	6
4	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	70	+32.082	5	5
5	9	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	70	+32.482	4	4
6	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+35.520	3	3
7	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+36.230	9	2
8	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	70	+43.419	6	1
9	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	70	+52.394	12
10	4	Marc Gené	Williams-BMW	70	+58.166	8
11	15	Christian Klien	Jaguar-Cosworth	69	+1 lap	13
12	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sauber-Petronas	69	+1 lap	15
13	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	69	+1 lap	16
14	16	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	69	+1 lap	11
15	17	Olivier Panis	Toyota	68	+2 laps	14
16	18	Nick Heidfeld	Jordan-Ford	68	+2 laps	17
17	19	Giorgio Pantano	Jordan-Ford	67	+3 laps	18
18	20	Gianmaria Bruni	Minardi-Cosworth	65	Gearbox	19
Ret	21	Zsolt Baumgartner	Minardi-Cosworth	31	Spin	20
Ret	10	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	15	Engine	7
Source: [13]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher 90 2 Rubens Barrichello 68 3 Jenson Button 48 4 Jarno Trulli 46 5 Fernando Alonso 33 Source: [14]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 158 2 Renault 79 3 BAR-Honda 62 4 Williams-BMW 37 5 McLaren-Mercedes 22 Source: [14]

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

See also

• 2004 Magny-Cours F3000 round

References

1. "Grand Prix de France". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 2010-09-15. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
2. Keeble, Tom (7 July 2004). "The 2004 French GP Review". AtlasF1.com. USA. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
3. "FORMULA 1 Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France 2004 - Race". Formula1.com. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
4. "Grands Prix France". StatsF1. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
5. Jones, Bruce (2005). "Final Results 2004". The Official ITV Sport Guide: Grand Prix 2005 . London, England: Carlton Books. pp. 102–103. ISBN   1-84442-578-9 – via Internet Archive.
6. "Gene for Magny-Cours, Webber for the rest of the year?". GrandPrix.com. 30 June 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
7. "FORMULA 1 ™ MOBIL 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2004 - PRACTICE 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
8. "Practice 3: Schu sets pace". Autosport . 3 July 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
9. "Practice 4: McLaren hits back". Autosport . 3 July 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
10. "Deciding the grid - A history of F1 qualifying formats". formula1.com. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
11. "2004 French Grand Prix - Saturday Qualifying Results". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
12. Hughes, Mark (2 April 2020). "France 2004: How Ferrari stole victory from Renault with a secret 4-stop plan". Formula1.com. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
13. "2004 French Grand Prix - Race Results". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
14. "France 2004 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.

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