By Ferrari Press Release
May 30 2004

After missing the prize in Monaco, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello got Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro back on track with a convincing one-two finish in the European Grand Prix. Six wins from seven races is the impressive tally for Schumacher and Ferrari so far this year and having started from his 60th pole this was the reigning champion’s 76th F1 win and number 173 for the team.

Michael and Rubens chose different strategies: the German adopted the most popular route, going for three, while the Brazilian started with a heavier fuel load and pitted only twice. Schumacher got away cleanly in the lead, chased by Trulli and Sato, whose close battle allowed Raikkonen to get past both of them. Michael’s cause was very much helped by the Finn, whose slow pace held up faster pursuers, allowing him to build a 17 second lead in just seven laps.

On the opening lap, Montoya had hit his BMW-Williams team-mate, Ralf Schumacher, eliminating the German from the race and having to pit himself. Thus the order behind Michael was Raikkonen, Alonso, Sato, Barrichello, Button, Trulli, Panis, Coulthard and Heidfeld. Schumacher made his first stop on lap 8, rejoining seventh, while Raikkonen led from Alonso. Raikkonen pitted on 9, but had an engine failure one lap later. On lap 11, Sato led from Barrichello with Michael going third as Button refuelled. One lap later, Rubens led as Sato pitted, with the Brazilian finally refuelling on lap 15. On lap 28, Schumacher and Trulli both made second stops and by this stage Michael had a big enough advantage not to lose the lead. Rubens made his final stop on lap 38, allowing Sato back into second, although the Japanese driver had one more visit to make to the pits, which he did on lap 44, along with Schumacher and Trulli. As Sato approached the end of the pit lane, Barrichello went by on the track to definitively seal second spot. But on lap 46, Sato tried an optimistic move on the Ferrari man, going into the first corner, colliding with Barrichello. The Ferrari lost part of its barge board but was not seriously damaged, while the BAR-Honda had to pit for a new nose, only to suffer an engine failure two laps later. Michael was now comfortably controlling the race, but Button in third was closing slowly on Barrichello, so the team told Rubens on the radio to up the pace slightly, which he did to finish 4.5 seconds ahead of the Englishman, who thus made his fifth visit to the podium this year.

Michael Schumacher (Driver):

"I dedicate this result to Umberto Agnelli who was a great supporter of our team over the years. As was obvious, I had run quite light on fuel in qualifying. I had a good start and was immediately able to build up a lead as Raikkonen in second was holding up the others. It was fantastic to see how I could pull away and that gave me the edge I needed and I was confident that our strategy would work. I had some problems with traffic, particularly with Mark (Webber) when he came out of the pit lane and I just saw him in time flying towards me and I opened the door. Otherwise he would have crashed into me. We are looking very strong, but generally it was not a clean race and we were helped today because others had difficulties."

Rubens Barrichello (Driver):

"Yesterday, we felt Michael was a bit quicker, so rather than aiming to try and get second place on the grid and start on the dirty side, the team offered me another option and I liked it. Running two stops almost worked as I went from seventh to second, but it was not good enough to take first place. I had a good start and took the first corner cleanly with Jenson (Button) but I think I might have touched a Renault. I had to push quite hard when I was in traffic and that was hurting the tyres a bit. I think Sato’s move was a bit amateur. Luckily I just saw his nose and moved over. After the incident, I lost part of my bargeboard and it was lucky the race was in its final stages as it affected the handling. It took me a couple of laps to assess what the car was doing and then the team told me to push again as Jenson was closing."

Ross Brawn (Technical Director):

"Occasionally it can be difficult to judge how the tyres will develop in the race, so having our drivers on two different strategies allowed the team to cover both bases. This choice paid off in Barcelona and it did again here. Rubens drove perfectly, even though in some stages of the race he was unable to push as hard as he wanted as the tyres did not perform quite as we had expected. Michael was amazing and his opening laps were astonishing! Once again, all I can say is that this year he is incredibly motivated. After the frustration of Monaco, Michael wanted to win again as soon as possible to be certain we were not going into a dip."

Jean Todt (General Director):

"On the eve of the race we had hoped to get a one-two finish to dedicate it to the memory of Umberto Agnelli and we are happy to have succeeded. Mr. Agnelli was usually the first to ring to congratulate us after a win, the last time being in Barcelona. So this one is for him. Michael drove some fantastic opening laps, building up a big enough lead to control the race after the first pit stop. Rubens who was on a different strategy to his team-mate, had to fight hard all race long, managing to take a great second place. The one-two is the result of a perfect day for the drivers, cars, tyres and team."

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