On this day in 2004, Michael Schumacher won his six consecutive race in the season after he started from the pole position at his home race at Hockenheim.
Michael won in Hockenheim for the 11th time in the first 12 races of the season (lost only in Monaco where Trulli won in Renault), the day after winning his seventh pole position of the season. Raikkonen in a McLaren was only a second behind Schumacher and set the fastest lap of the race when his rear wing failed in lap 13 in the first corner.
Button came from the 13th place to the second after a great fight with Fernando Alonso in Renault who finished third. Raikkonen’s 10th lap (1:13.780) was the fastest in the whole race and still the fastest race lap at this circuit.
Schumacher also made his jubilee 100th start from the first row but also the 50th consecutive race without mechanical failure (the last one he experienced was in Hockenheim in 2001 when he retired due to engine failure on a spare car).
Start of the 2004 German GP – Photo: Ferrari“What a weekend after yesterday’s pole position and today’s victory! I am extremely happy and have no words to describe this, I feel the emotions of the audience and have heard them when I crossed the line despite the engine noise,” Schumacher said.
“It was a tough race, I was under the pressure from Kimi, then Jenson and Fernando. I was able to keep the gap bur nor really extend it.”
“How do I feel abut 50 straight races without a mechanical failure? It is self-explanatory, it is wonderful and a result not just of the reliability but the fact that everything in the team is spot on.”
STARTING GRID
| 1 | 1 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:13.306 | – |
| 2 | 3 | J.P.Montoya | Williams/BMW | 1:13.668 | 0.362 |
| 3 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:13.690 | 0.384 |
| 4 | 5 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:13.821 | 0.515 |
| 5 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:13.874 | 0.568 |
| 6 | 7 | Jarno Trulli | Renault | 1:14.134 | 0.828 |
| 7 | 2 | R.Barrichello | Ferrari | 1:14.278 | 0.972 |
| 8 | 10 | Takuma Sato | BAR/Honda | 1:14.287 | 0.981 |
| 9 | 17 | Olivier Panis | Toyota | 1:14.368 | 1.062 |
| 10 | 4 | Antônio Pizzonia | Williams/BMW | 1:14.556 | 1.250 |
| 11 | 14 | Mark Webber | Jaguar/Cosworth | 1:14.802 | 1.496 |
| 12 | 15 | Christian Klien | Jaguar/Cosworth | 1:15.011 | 1.705 |
| 13 | 9 | Jenson Button | BAR/Honda | 1:13.674 | 0.368 |
| 14 | 11 | G.Fisichella | Sauber/Petronas | 1:15.395 | 2.089 |
| 15 | 16 | C.da Matta | Toyota | 1:15.454 | 2.148 |
| 16 | 12 | Felipe Massa | Sauber/Petronas | 1:15.616 | 2.310 |
| 17 | 19 | Giorgio Pantano | Jordan/Ford | 1:16.192 | 2.886 |
| 18 | 18 | Nick Heidfeld | Jordan/Ford | 1:16.310 | 3.004 |
| 19 | 20 | Gianmaria Bruni | Minardi/Cosworth | 1:18.055 | 4.749 |
| 20 | 21 | Z.Baumgartner | Minardi/Cosworth | 1:18.400 | 5.094 |
RACE RESULTS
| 1 | 1 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 66 | 1:23:54.848 | |
| 2 | 9 | Jenson Button | BAR/Honda | 66 | 1:24:03.236 | 8.388 |
| 3 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 66 | 1:24:11.199 | 16.351 |
| 4 | 5 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 66 | 1:24:14.079 | 19.231 |
| 5 | 3 | J.P.Montoya | Williams/BMW | 66 | 1:24:17.903 | 23.055 |
| 6 | 14 | Mark Webber | Jaguar/Cosworth | 66 | 1:24:35.956 | 41.108 |
| 7 | 4 | Antônio Pizzonia | Williams/BMW | 66 | 1:24:36.804 | 41.956 |
| 8 | 10 | Takuma Sato | BAR/Honda | 66 | 1:24:41.690 | 46.842 |
| 9 | 11 | G.Fisichella | Sauber/Petronas | 66 | 1:25:01.950 | 1:07.102 |
| 10 | 15 | Christian Klien | Jaguar/Cosworth | 66 | 1:25:03.426 | 1:08.578 |
| 11 | 7 | Jarno Trulli | Renault | 66 | 1:25:05.106 | 1:10.258 |
| 12 | 2 | R.Barrichello | Ferrari | 66 | 1:25:08.100 | 1:13.252 |
| 13 | 12 | Felipe Massa | Sauber/Petronas | 65 | 1:24:15.001 | 1 lap |
| 14 | 17 | Olivier Panis | Toyota | 65 | 1:24:29.351 | 1 lap |
| 15 | 19 | Giorgio Pantano | Jordan/Ford | 63 | 1:23:58.555 | 3 laps |
| 16 | 21 | Z.Baumgartner | Minardi/Cosworth | 62 | 1:24:07.080 | 4 laps |
| 17 | 20 | Gianmaria Bruni | Minardi/Cosworth | 62 | 1:25:09.155 | 4 laps |
| (16) | 18 | Nick Heidfeld | Jordan/Ford | 42 | 56:45.429 | Retired |
| (12) | 16 | C.da Matta | Toyota | 38 | 49:13.705 | Tyre |
| (3) | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren/Mercedes | 13 | 16:35.279 | Wing |
Fastest lap: Kimi Raikkonen – 1:13.780 (lap 10)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 12/18 RACES
| 1 | Michael Schumacher | 110 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | – | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 2 | Rubens Barrichello | 74 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | – |
| 3 | Jenson Button | 61 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 6 | – | 4 | 5 | 8 |
| 4 | Jarno Trulli | 46 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 5 | – | 5 | 5 | – | – |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | 39 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | – | 4 | – | – | 8 | – | 6 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 33 | 4 | 8 | – | 6 | – | 5 | 1 | – | – | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| 7 | David Coulthard | 19 | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 8 | Kimi Räikkönen | 18 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 4 | 3 | 2 | 8 | – |
| 9 | Takuma Sato | 15 | – | – | 4 | – | 4 | – | – | – | 6 | – | – | 1 |
| 10 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 13 | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | 3 | 5 | – | – | 3 | – |
| 11 | Ralf Schumacher | 12 | 5 | – | 2 | 2 | 3 | – | – | – | – | |||
| 12 | Mark Webber | 7 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | 1 | 3 |
| 13 | Felipe Massa | 5 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 14 | Olivier Panis | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 4 | – | – | – |
| 15 | Cristiano da Matta | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 16 | Nick Heidfeld | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| 17 | Timo Glock | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | |
| 18 | Antônio Pizzonia | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 19 | Zsolt Baumgartner | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| 20 | Christian Klien | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 21 | Marc Gené | 0 | – | – | ||||||||||
| 22 | Giorgio Pantano | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 23 | Gianmaria Bruni | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | Ferrari | 184 | 18 | 15 | 18 | 13 | 18 | 6 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 10 |
| 2 | Renault | 85 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 9 | – | 5 | 13 | – | 6 |
| 3 | BAR/Honda | 76 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 4 | Williams/BMW | 47 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 | – | – | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 5 | McLaren/Mercedes | 37 | 1 | 3 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 7 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 5 |
| 6 | Sauber/Petronas | 18 | – | 1 | – | – | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | – | – | 3 | – |
| 7 | Toyota | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | – | – | 4 | – | – | – |
| 8 | Jaguar/Cosworth | 7 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | Jordan/Ford | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 10 | Minardi/Cosworth | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
