2004 Australian Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 18 in the 2004 Formula One season | |||
 |
|||
| Date | 7 March 2004 | ||
| Official name | LXIX Foster's Australian Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia | ||
| Course | Temporary street circuit | ||
| Course length | 5.303 km (3.295 mi) | ||
| Distance | 58 laps, 307.574 km (191.118 mi) | ||
| Weather | Dry & cloudy Air Temp 20 °C (68 °F) |
||
| Attendance | 121,500 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1:24.408 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Michael Schumacher
|
Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:24.125 on lap 29 (lap record) | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | Renault | ||
|
|
|||
The 2004 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 7 March 2004 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. Michael Schumacher won the race for Ferrari from pole position in very dominant fashion, with his team-mate Rubens Barrichello finishing behind him in second. This one-two finish gave Ferrari a strong 9 point lead in the constructors' standings after just one race. Williams, Renault and BAR each had both cars finish in the points, while McLaren, a team that had enjoyed success in years preceding this, only managed one point, with David Coulthard finishing a lapped 8th.
Qualifying resulted in a Ferrari one-two, with Juan Pablo Montoya third on the grid for Williams. Gianmaria Bruni, Christian Klien and Olivier Panis all failed to set a qualifying time.
At the start, Alonso was up and away and ahead of Button and looking for a way to deal with Montoya while Jarno Trulli went from ninth on the grid to be fifth out of the first corner. He was aided in his task by Montoya, who went howling down to Turn 1, braked just a hint too late and Montoya was jumped by the Renault of Fernando Alonso as he tried to stay ahead of the surging Alonso. He went off and Alonso had to put some wheels on the grass to avoid a disaster. Montoya went back to seventh. That condemned the Colombian to an afternoon stuck in traffic and put paid to any challenge there might have been for Alonso. Behind all this there were a few wheels off the grass as others sorted themselves out (notably both Saubers) while Takuma Sato bumped the rear end of Trulli's Renault, slightly (but significantly) damaging both cars.
...
Wikipedia