Points scoring finish for WilliamsF1 in Hungary

The start of the Hungarian Grand Prix would see an all Ferrari front row, with the BAR air of Button and Sato behind on row two. But the start would see Alonso move into third at the start and look at challenge Barrichello for second. Juan Pablo would also make a good start and move into fourth from his sixth grid position. At the end of the first lap the top eight were Michael Schumacher, Barrichello, Alonso, Montoya, Button, Sato, Trulli and Raikkonen. Takuma Sato was to make a poor start and was down to eighth position after the first lap.

At the front the Ferrari's were already pulling away from their rivals, with Michael setting a fastest lap with a time of 1m:20.128. Lap three and he would set another, a 1m:19.19.921. By the end of lap four Michael's lead was out to 2.7 seconds such was his pace. Lap seven and another fastest lap from Michael, a 1m:19.678. He was making the rest of the field look very ordinary.

2003 winner Fernando Alonso was 8.6 seconds behind the leader. Again Michael would show his dominance by setting another fastest lap on lap nine, 1m:19.506, followed by another the next lap, a 1m:19.412. Michael's pace compared to the others was stunning. Alonso and Fisichella would pit the same lap. Barrichello would be in the next lap, 7.1 seconds. He would be joined by Juan Pablo, Button, Trulli, and Coulthard. It would be Michael's turn the following lap, 6.9 seconds. He would be joined by Sato.

For McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen his race would end after his pit stop when he was to retire in his pit with a technical failure, engine related. Sato would have a difficult time trying to pass Nick Heidfeld who was in ninth position. The Jordan driver would pit allowing Takuma past. With only Mark Webber left to make a pit the top eight were Michael Schumacher, Barrichello, Alonso, Webber, Montoya, Button, Trulli and Sato. Webber would pit from fifth allowing Pizzonia into the points behind Sato.

The Ferrari team their pit would go into a flurry of activity as they tried to sort a problem with their refuelling rig prior to the next pit stops. With Michael making a shorter stop by two tenths of a second it was thought that he may have not been able to get all the fuel allocated to him. The mechanics would continue their investigations as the race continued. Sauber's Felipe Massa would retire in the pits. Takuma Sato was closing in on sixth place Jarno Trulli.

Toyota's Ricardo Zonta would pit from fourteenth. He was having a difficult first race with the team after been spun at the first corner by a Jordan on the opening lap. Lap twenty seven and it would be another fastest lap Michael, a 1:19.324. The following lap and Sato would pit. Lap twenty nine and Michael would pull out another fastest lap, a 1:19.071. With Alonso pitting from third it would signal another run of stops. Montoya would pit from third, joined by Button from fifth. Next in would be Barrichello from second position. Michael would make his second stop the next lap, 7.8 seconds. Ricardo Zonta would slow out on the circuit retiring from the race on lap thirty three. At the front the gap back to Alonso was now 41.3 seconds on lap thirty six.

Sato was coming under attack from Pizzonia for sixth position. By lap forty Michael had lapped the field up to ninth place Fisichella, such was his total dominance of the race. Trulli would make his third stop, allowing Michael to pass him. Fisichella would move into eighth position. For Trulli his race would end as he would stop his car on the front straight with what looked like an engine failure. With just twenty three laps of the race left Pizzonia would be attacking Sato, been only 1.6 seconds behind the BAR driver. Webber would pit from tenth.

The next round of pitstops would see Sato pit from sixth, followed by Button from fifth. Barrichello would make his final stop, with Michael and Pizzonia coming in. For Antonio his stop would not see him come out in front of Sato, who was able to just in front of him at the first corner. There were now just seventeen laps remaining in the race. In his attempt to challenge the BAR of Sato Pizzonia would push too hard going off the track at Turn seven. He would recover but lose time to Sato. He would be some 2.8 seconds behind the BAR.

As the final laps counted down Michael would continue his domination of the race, lapping everyone up to sixth placed Button. Ten laps left and things were looking very good for Ferrari in securing the 2004 Constructors championship, their fourteenth. With Two laps to go the Ferrari mechanics were seen preparing a pit board sign saying "World Number 1".

So the final lap would see Michael cross the finish line to secure his twelfth race victory of 2004. Barrichello would finish in second with Alonso in third. Juan Pablo would finish in fourth while Antonio would score another two pints in seventh.

Pos Driver Team-Engine Time

1. M. Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h35:26.131
2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 4.694
3. Alonso Renault (M) + 44.599
4. Montoya WilliamsF1-BMW (M) + 1:02.613
5. Button BAR-Honda (M) + 1:07.439
6. Sato BAR-Honda (M) + 1 lap
7. Pizzonia WilliamsF1-BMW (M) + 1 lap
8. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) + 1 lap
9. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) + 1 lap
10. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) + 1 lap
11. Panis Toyota (M) + 1 lap
12. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) + 2 laps
13. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) + 2 laps
14. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) + 4 laps
15. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) + 5 laps

Fastest Lap: M. Schumacher, 1:19.071

Not Classified/Retirements:

Driver Team On Lap
Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) 49
Trulli Renault (M) 42
Zonta Toyota (M) 32
Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 22
Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 14