Schumacher Ties Mansell for Season Opening Wins
By Ferrari Press Release (9/5/2004)
May 9 2004
Not so long ago, you would be hard pressed to know that a grand prix was taking place at the Catalunya circuit, as the Spanish people preferred their motor sport either on the dirt roads of a rally stage or on two wheels.
But the Alonso affect here can be compared to the Schumacher affect in Germany when Michael Schumacher began his winning ways. A record 110,000 crowd is expected for today’s race, with most of the partisan crowd cheering for Renault’s Fernando Alonso. Already, at eight in the morning, they were pouring into the track. But why? Rule changes introduced last year meant the end of the warm-up. This 30 minute final free practice session was always an interesting hors d’oeuvre for the afternoon main course and prompted plenty of speculation about possible race strategy. While F1 is a sport, it is also a spectacle and indeed, yesterday, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone held an impromptu press conference after announcing that Barcelona has now extended its contract to host the Spanish GP until 2011. Ecclestone admitted that the weekend programme needed to be looked at to improve the show and suggested that a change to qualifying for example might even be introduced later this season.
None of this is of interest today to Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro as engineers and mechanics put the finishing touches to the F2004. Weather conditions are perfect with just a few clouds in an otherwise blue sky. Yesterday afternoon, the team invited Michael Schumacher into the garage for a surprise celebration. A cake was brought in and the message was self-explanatory: "Michael Schumacher, 200 Grands Prix, Thanks and well done, Spain 2004."
Michael Schumacher (Driver):
"Five straight wins, 200 grands prix, 75 wins: so many nice numbers have come together and I am proud of it, but now I am just looking forward to the next race. It was a very interesting start, but not what I expected. I did think about trying to close the door a bit on Trulli, but I did not feel that was fair and let him do what he was doing. Then, a couple of times, I did think about passing him but it was too tight, so I opted to wait for the pit stops and let the strategy do the work. Then, after an exhaust developed a crack. Ross Brawn came on the radio and told me there was nothing much to do about it. Of course, I tried to look after the car, but in fact I could not slow too much as that would have made the problem worse. It became very tiring mentally, but I managed to bring it home. Reliability has always been a strong point and the team did a magnificent job; really exceptional. The next race in Monaco is very prestigious, so of course I would like to win it, but I am not thinking in terms of taking a record with six wins in a row."
Rubens Barrichello (Driver):
"I had a great race, after a difficult start. Now it is obvious I was on a two stop strategy, it explains why I was happy to be fifth in qualifying with such a heavy fuel load. Even so, I was able to keep up a good pace in the early stages. We expected BAR to be quick so there were two options on Saturday: try and get pole or try something else. I was so frustrated with being stuck in traffic in the San Marino GP that I decided to gamble. Given the result, I can be pleased with the way it worked out. I might have had a chance of getting ahead of Michael if Trulli had held him up a bit longer. Even so, my chances were looking good, but after the first pit stop, my car was a bit more difficult to drive with the heavy fuel load, but the Bridgestone tyres were phenomenal today and I was still able to put in good lap times."
Ross Brawn (Technical Director):
"After eleven laps, we realised we had a cracked exhaust on Michael’s car, which got progressively worse every lap. The broken exhaust in itself was not a problem in performance terms but it was starting to damage the bodywork on the left hand side and in fact there was a bit of a fire there at the second pit stop. He had to take it a bit easy from then on. I really didn’t think he would finish as the problem happened so early in the race. However, our strategy with Rubens also worked well and if Michael had retired, we would have seen Rubens take the win for us."
Jean Todt (General Director):
"There could be no better way to celebrate Michael’s 200th Grand Prix! A fantastic one-two, the third this season, although we only believed it after both cars crossed the line. Michael had a problem with the left exhaust from lap 11 onwards for reasons we have not yet identified. You need a bit of luck in Formula 1 and this time it came our way. Our drivers were on different strategies and both of them did the job. This one-two is the result of the work of a fantastic team, of an exceptional car and engine and it is also down to superlative Bridgestone tyres. I am also happy for Sauber, as Fisichella brought home two valuable points. My abiding memory of this day will be that of a team that goes after wins with never ending will and determination. Ferrari is like a religion whose principal belief is in striving for excellence and this team that has now been together for such a long time knows how to interpret that belief in the best way possible. I am very happy for everyone in the Ferrari Maserati Group and the Fiat Group, as well as for our technical and commercial partners and all our fans all over the world. We cannot yet say the championship is over. There are still thirteen races to go and they will be closely contested. But we can guarantee that we will keep pushing right to the very end."