The 2004 German Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland 2004) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 25 July 2004 at the Hockenheimring in Germany. It was the twelfth round of the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Michael Schumacher of Scuderia Ferrari took pole position for the race and went on to take the race win ahead of Jenson Button of BAR and Fernando Alonso of Renault. This was the final Grand Prix for Brazilian driver Cristiano da Matta, and the final time Williams used the 'Walrus nose' on its FW26 racing car.
Background
The Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Germany hosted a Formula One Grand Prix for the 28th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 23–25 July. The Grand Prix was the twelfth round of the 2004 Formula One World Championship and the 52nd running of the German Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship.
Championship standings before the race
Going into the weekend, Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 100 points, built up of 10 victories in 11 races. He was 26 points ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello in second, and 47 ahead of Jenson Button in third. Ferrari, with 174 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Renault and BAR-Honda, who were second and third with 79 and 67 points, respectively.
Practice
Four free practice sessions were held for the event. The first session on Friday was topped by BAR's third driver Anthony Davidson, followed by Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari and Kimi Räikkönen for McLaren. The latter two reached the top of the standings in the second session.
On Saturday, Schumacher again set the quickest time in the third practice session, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya for Williams and teammate Rubens Barrichello. Montoya was second again in the fourth and final session, this time headed by BAR's Jenson Button.
Friday drivers
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.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%"
|-
! Constructor !! Nat !! Driver
|-
| BAR-Honda
|
| Anthony Davidson
|-
| Sauber-Petronas
|
| -
|-
| 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.
Michael Schumacher scored his sixth pole position of the season, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and Jenson Button, to make his 100th start from the front row. Button was demoted 10 places on the grid for replacing the engine after Friday's second practice, so Kimi Räikkönen moved up to the third slot. Toyota brought a new car, the TF104B, but were still working on perfecting their aerodynamic set-up, as demonstrated by their tenth and fifteenth positions. Antônio Pizzonia's first qualifying in a Williams was met with mixed reviews: his time in the first qualifying session would have put him second on the grid, but when it mattered in the second session, he failed to reach higher than eleventh place.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 85%;"
|-
! Pos
! No
! Driver
! Constructor
!Q1 Time
! Q2 Time
! Gap
! Grid
|-
! 1
| 1
| Michael Schumacher
| Ferrari
|1:14.042
| 1:13.306
|
| 1
|-
! 2
| 3
| Juan Pablo Montoya
| Williams-BMW
|1:13.391
| 1:13.668
| +0.362
| 2
|-
! 3
| 9
| Jenson Button
| BAR-Honda
|1:13.535
| 1:13.674
| +0.368
| 13
|-
! 4
| 6
| Kimi Räikkönen
| McLaren-Mercedes
|1:13.842
| 1:13.690
| +0.384
| 3
|-
! 5
| 5
| David Coulthard
| McLaren-Mercedes
|1:13.640
| 1:13.821
| +0.515
| 4
|-
! 6
| 8
| Fernando Alonso
| Renault
|1:13.582
| 1:13.874
| +0.568
| 5
|-
! 7
| 7
| Jarno Trulli
| Renault
|1:13.737
| 1:14.134
| +0.828
| 6
|-
! 8
| 2
| Rubens Barrichello
| Ferrari
|1:14.111
| 1:14.278
| +0.972
| 7
|-
! 9
| 10
| Takuma Sato
| BAR-Honda
|1:14.465
| 1:14.287
| +0.981
| 8
|-
! 10
| 17
| Olivier Panis
| Toyota
|1:13.641
| 1:14.368
| +1.062
| 9
|-
! 11
| 4
| Antônio Pizzonia
| Williams-BMW
|1:13.422
| 1:14.556
| +1.250
| 10
|-
! 12
| 14
| Mark Webber
| Jaguar-Cosworth
|1:15.093
| 1:14.802
| +1.496
| 11
|-
! 13
| 15
| Christian Klien
| Jaguar-Cosworth
|1:15.090
| 1:15.011
| +1.705
| 12
|-
! 14
| 11
| Giancarlo Fisichella
| Sauber-Petronas
|1:13.914
| 1:15.395
| +2.089
| 14
|-
! 15
| 16
| Cristiano da Matta
| Toyota
|1:15.119
| 1:15.454
| +2.148
| 15
|-
! 16
| 12
| Felipe Massa
| Sauber-Petronas
|1:13.899
| 1:15.616
| +2.310
| 16
|-
! 17
| 19
| Giorgio Pantano
| Jordan-Ford
|1:16.167
| 1:16.192
| +2.886
| 17
|-
! 18
| 18
| Nick Heidfeld
| Jordan-Ford
|1:16.538
| 1:16.310
| +3.004
| 18
|-
! 19
| 20
| Gianmaria Bruni
| Minardi-Cosworth
|1:17.283
| 1:18.055
| +4.749
| 19
|-
! 20
| 21
| Zsolt Baumgartner
| Minardi-Cosworth
|1:17.515
| 1:18.400
| +5.094
| 20
|-
! colspan="8" |
|}
;Notes
- – Jenson Button received a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change.
Race
The race was held on 25 July 2004 and was due to run for 67 laps, but when Olivier Panis stalled his engine on the grid and the first start had to be aborted, the race was shortened to 66 laps.
Race report
thumb|[[Kimi Räikkönen's accident on lap 13]]
thumb|Fans celebrating on track during the podium ceremony
At the start, Michael Schumacher held the lead, but second-starting Juan Pablo Montoya dropped down to eighth place. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso shot up from fifth to second, which meant Kimi Räikkönen went on where he started, in third position. When the field arrived at the hairpin for the first time, Rubens Barrichello tried to pass David Coulthard for fifth place, but left his braking too late, locked his rear wheels and crashed into the back of the McLaren. The Scot continued without losing time, but the Brazilian lost his front wing and was forced to pit, dropping to the back of the field. Alonso was passed by Räikkönen at the hairpin on lap 2, while Montoya began his recovery by overtaking Mark Webber into the same corner mere moments later.
|}
;Notes
- – Olivier Panis started the race from the pitlane.
|}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"
|-
! Pos
! Constructor
! Points
|-
| 1
| Ferrari
| align="right"| 184
|-
| 2
| Renault
| align="right"| 85
|-
| 3
| BAR-Honda
| align="right"| 76
|-
| 4
| Williams-BMW
| align="right"| 47
|-
| 5
| McLaren-Mercedes
| align="right"| 37
|-
!colspan=4|Source: