WilliamsF1 European GP Disaster

For the BMW WilliamsF1 team the 2004 European Grand Prix could be only be described as a disaster with Ralf been hit by Juan Pablo at Turn one and spinning off into retirement while Juan Pablo would struggle the whole race and could only manage to finish in eighth to give the team a single point from the race.

McLaren's David Coulthard would start the race from the back of the grid after changing engines. With the start Michael Schumacher would lead into the first corner from Sato, Trulli, and Raikkonen. But for Ralf his race would start badly with him going into the gravel at Turn one. He would be joined by Toyota's Cristiano Da Matta.

It was Juan Pablo who had hit Ralf and broken his front wing. Juan Pablo would lock his brakes to avoid Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello going into the first corner. As a result his front left wheel made contact with Ralf's rear right, spinning Ralf. Ralf would go off into the gravel after being hit again by the Toyota of Cristiano da Matta.

Not a great start for the WilliamsF1 team as Ralf would retire while Juan Pablo would pit for a new nose returning in last position. Trulli would drop down to seventh after having a coming together with Sato who was now fourth. Raikkonen was now second with Alonso in third. David Coulthard would be up to ninth from twentieth.

Lap three and Michael Schumacher has set the fastest lap so far with a 1m:30.112, a second faster than anyone else. The next lap and he would set a time of 1m:29.745, but it was believed that he was running very light. By lap five Michael was an amazing 11.5 seconds ahead of Raikkonen. Kimi was to have Alonso all over the back of the McLaren as it was obvious that Kimi was holding up the Renault driver. Michael's lead would continue to grow rapidly, 14.1 seconds by lap seven, 17.0 seconds by lap eight. Michael's pace was incredible.

But it was that Michael was running very light as on lap nine he would pull into his pits, with an 8.3 second stop he returned just behind Trulli. In the lead was now Raikkonen with Sato second. But on the following lap Kimi would also pit joined by Trulli. The following lap Alonso would pit but for Kimi it would go wrong when his car would start to smoke heavily and he would retire out on the track. At the front it would be Sato leading from Barrichello. Michael would be in third just 4.4 seconds behind the leader. He was looking very strong even in the early stages of the race. Button would pit followed by Sato on lap twelve.

Rubens would be leading and there was every likelihood that he was on a different strategy to Michael. It was a Ferrari one-two at the front. Coulthard was an amazing fourth, but had yet to make his first stop. Klein was in sixth.

Lap fifteen and Alonso would run wide at Turn four and drop to eleventh. Rubens would pit, stopping for 9.4 seconds seeming to indicate that he was on a two stop strategy. Michael would be back in the lead with Sato second 14.1 seconds behind. Button was in fifth with Webber sixth. In seventh and eighth were Fisichella and Trulli.

At the front the situation would stabilise with Michael leading Sato and Rubens in third followed by Coulthard. Juan Pablo would be in twelfth but was some 1.5 seconds slower than Michael. Webber would pit on lap nineteen, joined by Massa. Coulthard was the only driver yet to stop, but he would do so on lap twenty one. Fisichella would be the last driver to pit.

Lap twenty there and Button would be closing in on Rubens as Juan Pablo pits from tenth. He would return just a head of Michael and he would be quickly passed to go a whole lap down. Far from the result I would imagine the team was expecting to see with one driver retired and the other running but lapped by the leader. Lap twenty five would see Fisichella make his first stop. Panis would also pit and come out only to be lapped by the leader. Juan Pablo would also pass the
Toyota driver.

Button would pit from fourth, while on lap twenty seven Sato would make his second stop. For the McLaren team their race would end with Coulthard's retirement with an engine failure. Both McLaren and WilliamsF1 have had shocking races. Coulthard would say: "Maybe it's not so bad starting last after ending the first lap in ninth where I have started most of the races this season. Taking the inside line was a good decision. The engine failure is disappointing but we re hopeful that the new car will be better."

The Renault's of Trulli and Alonso were fourth and fifth. Michael would pit on lap twenty eight, 8.2 seconds, and gets out ahead of Rubens. Juan Pablo was fighting with Klein for tenth, finally passing him going into Turn one. Lap thirty and Michael was leading by 5.9 seconds from Rubens, but Rubens had yet to make another stop. In third was Sato in a fine drive from the Japanese driver. Alonso would be the first Renault to make his second stop, under seven seconds.

With half distance in the race it was looking very much like another Ferrari domination. Lap thirty three and Juan Pablo would be in ninth but with 24 seconds to eighth he would have to hope for a retirement in front of him. Michael was 8.1 seconds in front of Rubens with Sato third but slowly closing in onto Rubens. BAR team-mate Button was in fourth, with Trulli and Alonso fifth and sixth.

Lap thirty seven and Rubens would pit rejoining just ahead of Button. Webber would pit from eighth seeing Juan Pablo move into the points. Lap forty and Michael was leading Sato by 18.8 seconds with Rubens a further 18.5 behind the BAR. In fourth Button was losing time to Rubens. Lap forty two and Juan Pablo would pit for the third time. Sato would be pushing hard trying to open up a big enough gap to Rubens prior to his next pit stop. Panis would pit from eleventh.

Lap forty four and Sato would pit, 7.3 seconds, coming out just behind Rubens. Sato would pass Rubens going into Turn one, while team-mate Button would also pit. But in his move on Rubens Sato was to damage his front wing seeing him having to pit again to have his nose replaced. Button was now in third while for Sato his race had gone all wrong. Sato would return in sixth place. Lap forty eight and it would be a Ferrari one-two with Button in third. For Sato his race would end on lap forty nine where, in a repeat of Monaco, he would retire with flames coming from his car with another engine failure.

Button would be closing quickly on Rubens but there was a 13.0 second gap between the pair. But with ten laps remaining it was unlikely that he would catch the Ferrari. lap fifty three and the gap was 10.6 seconds. Juan Pablo was running in eighth but over 25 seconds behind seventh placed Webber. In sixth was Fisichella.

Lap fifty seven and Michael was to have extended his lead to over twenty seconds. But the drivers in points scoring positions looked to be fairly stable as the laps counted down to the finish. So as Michael completed his final lap and crossed the finish line it would be a Ferrari one-two for the European Grand Prix. Button would finish third, Trulli fourth, Alonso fifth, Fisichella sixth, Webber seventh, and Juan Pablo in eighth.

P. No Driver Team - Engine Tyres Gaps/Laps Average Stops

1. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1h32'35"101 2001.598 Km/h 3
2. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B + 0'17"989 1995.137 Km/h 2
3. 9 BUTTON BAR Honda M + 0'22"533 1993.512 Km/h 3
4. 7 TRULLI Renault M + 0'53"673 1982.444 Km/h 3
5. 8 ALONSO Renault M + 1'00"987 1979.862 Km/h 3
6. 11 FISICHELLA Sauber Petronas B + 1'13"448 1975.479 Km/h 2
7. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M + 1'16"206 1974.511 Km/h 2
8. 3 MONTOYA WilliamsF1 BMW M 1 lap(s) 3
9. 12 MASSA Sauber Petronas B 1 lap(s) 2
10. 18 HEIDFELD Jordan Ford B 1 lap(s) 3
11. 17 PANIS Toyota M 1 lap(s) 3
12. 15 KLIEN Jaguar Cosworth M 1 lap(s) 2
13. 19 PANTANO Jordan Ford B 2 lap(s) 4
14. 20 BRUNI Minardi Cosworth B 3 lap(s) 3
15. 21 BAUMGARTNER Minardi Cosworth B 3 lap(s) 3
16. 10 SATO BAR Honda M 13 lap(s) 4
17. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 35 lap(s) 1
18. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 51 lap(s) 1
19. 4 R. SCHUMACHER WilliamsF1 BMW M 60 lap(s) 0
20. 16 DA MATTA Toyota M 60 lap(s) 0