15/08/2004
NEWS STORY
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Although Michael Schumacher cannot wrap up the drivers' championship today, he and teammate Rubens Barrichello can give Ferrari its sixth consecutive constructors' championship.
Michael starts from pole position alongside Rubens, who believes that second on the grid - at this track in particular - is the worst possible qualifying position.
Behind an all-red front row, we have an all-white second row, with Takuma Sato and Jenson Button. Starting from row three we have 2003 winner Fernando Alonso who has Antonio Pizzonia alongside.
The atmosphere ahead of today's race is somewhat muted. Overtaking is extremely difficult here, though not impossible, however, with eleven wins under his belt already this season, most are predicting that today's result is a foregone conclusion.
Then again, we have the question of strategy, not to mention the run to the first corner, which could well see some fireworks, what with Sato starting behind the two Ferraris.
All will become clear soon enough.
As the field prepares to set off on the warm up lap, the air temperature is 25 degrees C, while the track temperature is 41 degrees.
The field heads away on the warm up lap, but Barrichello remains stationary, finally getting away a few moments later. Gianmaria Bruni also has a problem, but he too finally gets away. Baumgartner starts from the pitlane.
A superb start by Alonso who pulls across the track and gets ahead of the BARs, meanwhile further back Zonta is hit by a Jordan and spins round but manages to continue. There are problems also for Pizzonia who drops several places, as does Sato.
At the end of the first lap Schumacher leads Barrichello by 1.1s with Alonso third ahead of Montoya. Button is fifth ahead of Trulli, Raikkonen and Sato.
At the end of lap two Schumacher's lead is up to 1.6s, the gap between the next few drivers is about the same, though Trulli is all over Button.
Michael posts a new fastest lap, and lap record, on lap 3, as he stretches his lead to 2.5s Elsewhere, Massa is up to seventeenth, and closing in on Pantano. Further back, Klien is all over Heidfeld as they fight for thirteenth.
Barrichello turns up the heat, going quickest in sector three, but Michael hits back, going quickest in the first two sectors. With six laps completed, Schumacher has a 7s advantage of third-placed Alonso.
Massa gets by Pantano and sets off after Panis who is on Klien's tail. Meanwhile Michael posts a new fastest lap, 1:19.678, which puts him 3.6s ahead of his teammate.
Zonta is all over Pantano, the Brazilian making up for the time lost at the start of the race. Sato has closed up on Raikkonen, who is hard on the heels of Fisichella.
At the end of lap 10, as Schumacher posts a new fastest lap, Alonso pits, as does Fisichella. The Spaniard is stationary for 7s and the Italian 7.6s.
Meanwhile Raikkonen is slowing as Barrichello pits, as do Button, Montoya, Trulli and Coulthard. The Finn is lapping 7s a lap slower than Michael.
At the end of lap 11, Schumacher pits, 6.9s later he's heading back down the pitlane. He rejoins the race still leading, with Barrichello second ahead of Pizzonia, Sato having pitted.
Raikkonen pits, as do Massa and Panis, the McLaren leaves the pits but appears to be on its last legs.
Sato, running tenth, is all over Heidfeld, who has yet to stop. Meanwhile Raikkonen drives back into his garage to become the first retirement of the day. Pizzonia finally makes his pit stop, rejoining in ninth. The fact that he was obviously running heavy, puts his qualifying performance fully in perspective. Great stuff.
At the end of lap 15, the first of the Jaguars pits, it's Christian Klien.
Out front, Schumacher leads Barrichello by 6.6s with Alonso a further 13s behind ahead of Montoya, Webber, who pits, Button, Trulli and Sato.
The Ferrari crew appear to have found a problem with the refuelling equipment, and it looks as though one of the red cars is going to come back in. Further back Pantano and Klien are having a great scrap for sixteenth.
It appears that following Barrichello's stop the team notice a fuel leak, they are now unsure how much fuel the Brazilian took on board.
Behind the leading four - Michael, Barrichello, Alonso and Montoya - Button, Trulli and Sato are covered by around four seconds. Elsewhere Massa stops for a new nose, it's the Brazilian's second stop. It's understood that he had brakes problem.
Webber is all over Coulthard for tenth, another 'difficult' day for the Woking team. Elsewhere, Massa makes his third stop of the day. This time he doesn't return to the track, game over.
Button has an advantage of 1.1s over Trulli, while teammate Sato is all over the Renault driver. Meanwhile Barrichello goes quickest in the first sector. The Klien/Pantano battle continues, while Panis is all over Heidfeld.
The Coulthard/Webber issue is decided when Webber spins. The Australian is able to continue but he's lost around 12s.
Up front, Michael posts a new fastest lap, the German lapping the Hungaroring in 1:19.324.
Sato pits at the end of lap 29 as Michael posts a new fastest lap, a staggering 1:19.071. Alonso pits losing third to Montoya but staying ahead of Button.
At the end of lap 30, Montoya pits, as does Button, while Button has a problem with one of his front wheels during his stop.
Barrichello pits - using Schumacher's fuel rig - he's stationary for 7.6s. Trulli also pits.
Next time around it's Michael that pits, he's stationary for 7.8s, rejoining still in the lead. Webber and Panis also pit.
Schumacher now leads Barrichello by 8.5s, with Alonso a further 27.5s behind, ahead of Pizzonia - who has yet to stop - Montoya, Button, Sato and Trulli. At the end of the next lap, Pizzonia pits, as does Pantano. Meanwhile Zonta stops in the first sector.
At the end of lap 36, Schumacher has a 31.5s advantage of third-placed Alonso. Montoya is a further 11.7s behind, with Button fifth ahead of Sato, Pizzonia and Trulli. Pizzonia is all over Sato.
Both Renault drivers are suffering handling problems, both complaining of 'graining' on their tyres, however Alonso appears to be dealing with it better than his Italian teammate.
At the end of lap 42, Trulli pits, his third stop of the day, and well ahead of schedule. He returns to the track but pulls off track again shortly afterwards - indeed at the start of the pitlane. Is the Italian sending a message to his employers?
The race has now settled into a 'groove' though we still have another round of pit stops. The only real battle involves Sato and Pizzonia, who are separated by 1.8s as they scrap for sixth.
At the end of lap 47. Webber pits, the Australian was running tenth. Next time around Sato pits, the Japanese driver is stationary for 8.7s.
At the end of lap 49, it's Button that pits, while Barrichello stops a lap later. The Brazilian is stationary for 7.3s. Pantano also stops.
At the end of lap 51, Schumacher and Pizzonia pit, the German is back on track 7.5s later. Meanwhile, Pantano pulls off track, the fifth retirement of the day. Alonso pits, as do Fisichella and Bruni. Next time around, Montoya stops, which allows Alonso back into third. Coulthard, running eighth, stops a lap later.
The only remaining battle involves Sato and Pizzonia, who are scrapping for sixth. In his exuberance, the Brazilian goes very, very wide, losing vital time.
Out front, Schumacher now leads his Ferrari teammate by 18.4s, with Alonso a further 32.9s behind. No doubt Michael would like to lap the Spaniard, 'pay back' for last year, but that seems highly unlikely. Then again, this is Schumacher we're talking about.
Montoya is running third, 11s behind Alonso, with Button a further 6s behind, followed by Sato, Pizzonia, Fisichella, Coulthard and Webber. Panis is eleventh, ahead of Heidfeld, Klien, Bruni and Baumgartner.
Schumacher reels off the laps, he has a 12.9s advantage over his teammate and, more importantly, 36.4s over Alonso. Montoya continues in fourth, with a 7.2s lead over Button, who is followed by Sato, Pizzonia and Fisichella. Coulthard is 3.29s behind the Sauber, the last of the point scorers.
As Michael begins his last lap, his crew hold out a pit sign, 'World Number 1', together they have the constructors' championship for a sixth successive season.
He takes the chequered flag ahead of Barrichello, job done. Alonso takes third ahead of Montoya, Button, Sato, Pizzonia and Fisichella.
Ferrari takes its fourteenth constructors' championship, its sixth with the German, while Schumacher extends his world championship lead to 38 points over Barrichello, the only man who can possibly stop him taking his seventh title.
At Friday's press conference, Eddie Jordan echoed the sentiments recently expressed by Bernie Ecclestone. "We had better pray that Michael retires sooner rather than later!" said the Irishman. Surely Michael's retirement would make his rivals' wins more than a little hollow. It is up to his, and Ferrari's, rivals to take the task in hand and beat them.