Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello gave Ferrari their sixth 1-2 victory in the first nine races of the 2004 F1 season and Takuma Sato finished on the podium for the first and only time in F1, but the race will be remembered for the big crash for Ralf Schumacher after Michelin tyre failure.
Schumacher celebrated in eight of the first nine races of the season, with DNF in Monaco, and in qualifying Barrichello made a little surprise by winning his first pole position of the season (he later won three more in Italy, China and Brazil). Michael’s gap was 0.177 seconds.
Behind the Ferrari in the first row there were two BAR Honda drivers Sato and Button and two Williams drivers Montoya and Ralf while Kimi Raikkonen was in competitive seventh after the disastrous start of the season for McLaren.
Barrichello kept the lead in front of Schumacher, but a safety car came out on after a start collision involving five drivers, four of whom retired.
Start of the 2004 USA GP (Photo: Ferrari)At a resumed start, Schumacher overtook Barrichello and won the race, though the Brazilian came close to him in the final stage of the race.
Takuma Sato finished third and won his first and only podium in Formula 1, Jarno Trulli was fourth for Renault, Olivier Panis fifth for Toyota and McLaren drivers Raikkonen and Coulthard were sixth and seventh.
The last point was won by Hungarian Zsolt Baumgatner in Minardi as the last finisher.
Michelin didn’t learn the lesson
The race was definitely marked by the failures of Michelin tyres that were announcing what would happen to the US GP in 2005. First victim was Fernando Alonso in Renault who had a failure at the end of the main straight while just moments later Ralf Schumacher crashed into the wall at the final corner after another Michelin blowout.
Despite walking away from the accident, Ralf missed the next six races and returned in the Chinese GP.
STARTING GRID
| 1 | 2 | R.Barrichello | Ferrari | 1:10.223 | – |
| 2 | 1 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:10.400 | 0.177 |
| 3 | 10 | Takuma Sato | BAR/Honda | 1:10.601 | 0.378 |
| 4 | 9 | Jenson Button | BAR/Honda | 1:10.820 | 0.597 |
| 5 | 3 | J.P.Montoya | Williams/BMW | 1:11.062 | 0.839 |
| 6 | 4 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/BMW | 1:11.106 | 0.883 |
| 7 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:11.137 | 0.914 |
| 8 | 17 | Olivier Panis | Toyota | 1:11.167 | 0.944 |
| 9 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:11.185 | 0.962 |
| 10 | 14 | Mark Webber | Jaguar/Cosworth | 1:11.286 | 1.063 |
| 11 | 16 | C.da Matta | Toyota | 1:11.691 | 1.468 |
| 12 | 5 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:12.026 | 1.803 |
| 13 | 15 | Christian Klien | Jaguar/Cosworth | 1:12.170 | 1.947 |
| 14 | 11 | G.Fisichella | Sauber/Petronas | 1:12.470 | 2.247 |
| 15 | 12 | Felipe Massa | Sauber/Petronas | 1:12.721 | 2.498 |
| 16 | 18 | Nick Heidfeld | Jordan/Ford | 1:13.147 | 2.924 |
| 17 | 19 | Giorgio Pantano | Jordan/Ford | 1:13.375 | 3.152 |
| 18 | 20 | Gianmaria Bruni | Minardi/Cosworth | 1:14.010 | 3.787 |
| 19 | 21 | Z.Baumgartner | Minardi/Cosworth | 1:14.812 | 4.589 |
| 20 | 7 | Jarno Trulli | Renault | – | – |
RACE RESULTS
| 1 | 1 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 73 | 1:40:29.914 | |
| 2 | 2 | R.Barrichello | Ferrari | 73 | 1:40:32.864 | 2.950 |
| 3 | 10 | Takuma Sato | BAR/Honda | 73 | 1:40:51.950 | 22.036 |
| 4 | 7 | Jarno Trulli | Renault | 73 | 1:41:04.458 | 34.544 |
| 5 | 17 | Olivier Panis | Toyota | 73 | 1:41:07.448 | 37.534 |
| 6 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren/Mercedes | 72 | 1:40:57.710 | 1 Lap |
| 7 | 5 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 72 | 1:41:24.532 | 1 Lap |
| 8 | 21 | Z.Baumgartner | Minardi/Cosworth | 70 | 1:40:44.850 | 3 Laps |
| 9 | 11 | G.Fisichella | Sauber/Petronas | 65 | 1:34:00.119 | Hydraulics |
| (6) | 14 | Mark Webber | Jaguar/Cosworth | 60 | 1:26:06.270 | Oil leak |
| (5) | 3 | J.P.Montoya | Williams/BMW | 57 | 1:21:43.514 | Disqualified |
| (11) | 18 | Nick Heidfeld | Jordan/Ford | 43 | 1:05:42.905 | Engine |
| (12) | 9 | Jenson Button | BAR/Honda | 26 | 44:11.192 | Gearbox |
| (12) | 16 | C.da Matta | Toyota | 17 | 31:45.019 | Gearbox |
| (6) | 4 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/BMW | 9 | 14:43.278 | Accident |
| (3) | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 8 | 13:27.097 | Accident |
| 15 | Christian Klien | Jaguar/Cosworth | 0 | Collision | ||
| 12 | Felipe Massa | Sauber/Petronas | 0 | Collision | ||
| 19 | Giorgio Pantano | Jordan/Ford | 0 | Collision | ||
| 20 | Gianmaria Bruni | Minardi/Cosworth | 0 | Collision | ||
Fastest lap: Rubens Barrichello – 1:10.399 (lap 7)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 9/18 RACES
| 1 | Michael Schumacher | 80 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | – | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 2 | Rubens Barrichello | 62 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 3 | Jenson Button | 44 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 6 | – |
| 4 | Jarno Trulli | 41 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 5 | – | 5 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | 25 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | – | 4 | – | – |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 24 | 4 | 8 | – | 6 | – | 5 | 1 | – | – |
| 7 | Takuma Sato | 14 | – | – | 4 | – | 4 | – | – | – | 6 |
| 8 | Ralf Schumacher | 12 | 5 | – | 2 | 2 | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 9 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 10 | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | 3 | 5 | – |
| 10 | David Coulthard | 9 | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 2 |
| 11 | Kimi Räikkönen | 8 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 4 | 3 |
| 12 | Felipe Massa | 5 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 4 | – | – | – |
| 13 | Olivier Panis | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 4 |
| 14 | Cristiano da Matta | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | – |
| 15 | Nick Heidfeld | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| 16 | Mark Webber | 3 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 2 | – | – |
| 17 | Timo Glock | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | |
| 18 | Zsolt Baumgartner | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| 19 | Christian Klien | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 20 | Giorgio Pantano | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 21 | Gianmaria Bruni | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | Ferrari | 142 | 18 | 15 | 18 | 13 | 18 | 6 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2 | Renault | 66 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 9 | – | 5 |
| 3 | BAR/Honda | 58 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 4 | Williams/BMW | 36 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 | – | – |
| 5 | McLaren/Mercedes | 17 | 1 | 3 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 7 | 5 |
| 6 | Sauber/Petronas | 15 | – | 1 | – | – | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | – |
| 7 | Toyota | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | – | – | 4 |
| 8 | Jordan/Ford | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | 3 | – |
| 9 | Jaguar/Cosworth | 3 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 2 | – | – |
| 10 | Minardi/Cosworth | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 |
