2004 Belgian Grand Prix

The 2004 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One held on August 29, 2004 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It was at this race that Michael Schumacher won his seventh world championship despite Kimi Räikkönen taking his and McLaren's first race win of the season, from tenth place on the grid. Going into the race, Michael Schumacher only needed two points more than his teammate Rubens Barrichello to win the championship.

Mark Webber triggered a pile-up at the start, eliminating four cars and damaging several others, although he did admit to his mistake later. The race saw Christian Klien score his first championship points, and Olivier Panis his last. For most of the race the Michelin-shod cars were faster, however the final result had four Bridgestone cars in the top five. Pole-setter Jarno Trulli lost pace throughout the race due to damage to the floor of the car, both Williams cars broke down, and David Coulthard was involved in several incidents in something of a repeat of the notorious 1998 race. Schumacher in the end took second to wrap up his 7th and final World Championship.

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Classification

Notes

• Lap Leaders: Jarno Trulli 9 (1-9), Fernando Alonso 2 (10-11), Kimi Räikkönen 29 (12-13, 17-29, 31-44), Juan Pablo Montoya 1 (14), Michael Schumacher 2 (15, 30) and Antonio Pizzonia 1 (16)
• Kimi Räikkönen's only victory of the season.
• Ricardo Zonta was on course for a points finish, but his engine failed during the closing stages of the race.
• There was a first lap pile-up which caused several drivers to retire.

External links

• Comments of 2004 Belgium GP (The race)