JULY 25, 2004

NEW: Race incidents from Hockenheim

RACE INCIDENTS from Hockenheim

At the end of the parade lap, Olivier Panis stalled his engine and as the new rules being discussed were never actually agreed, the original process was used again with the Toyota driver being sent to the back of the grid and the race being reduced to 66 laps. As the field went off on the second parade lap Panis stalled again and was pushed into the pitlane.

Lap 1: At the start Juan Pablo Montoya got away slowly and the order in the first corner was Michael Schumacher leading a fast-starting Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Jarno Trulli, David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello. Montoya was next ahead of Mark Webber. Down at the hairpin Barrichello ran into the back of Coulthard and removed his front wing, which bounced into Montoya's path. This enabled Webber to get ahead of the Williams driver. At the end of the lap therefore Schumacher was a second ahead of Alonso with Raikkonen third, Trulli fourth, Coulthard fifth and Webber sixth. Then came Montoya, Antonio Pizzonia, Takuma Sato and Christian Klien. Barrichello headed into the pits for repairs.

Lap 2: Schumacher set the fastest lap to increase his lead to two seconds while Raikkonen was able to force his way ahead of Alonso at the hairpin to take second place. Further back Jenson Button began to move up, passing Cristiano da Matta for 11th position. At the tail of the field Panis overtook Gianmaria Bruni to take 18th place.

Lap 3: Another fastest lap from Schumacher increased his lead to 2.2 seconds. Down at the back of the field Panis passed Zsolt Baumgartner for 17th place.

Lap 4: Raikkonen set the fastest lap and closed the gap to Schumacher to 2.1secs. Montoya passed Webber to take sixth position, while further back Button overtook Klien for 10th.

Lap 5: Schumacher set the fastest lap of the race and pulled away from Raikkonen again.

Lap 6: Schumacher increased his lead by a second. At the tail of the field Barrichello caught and overtook Bruni for 19th place.

Lap 7: The order had stabilized but in the midfield Panis was able to pass Nick Heidfeld's Jordan for 16th.

Lap 9: Alonso became the first man to pit and was followed into pit lane by Pizzonia. At the back Barrichello overtook Baumgartner for 18th place.

Lap 10: Schumacher pitted and the lead went to Raikkonen. Also stopping was third-placed Trulli, Montoya, Sato and da Matta.

Lap 11: Raikkonen and Montoya both stopped and Webber went into the lead with Button behind him. At the back Panis stopped and fell from 15th to 17th.

Lap 12: Webber pitted and Button moved into the lead. Further back Giorgio Pantano limped into the pits with a puncture.

Lap 13: Klien pitted from fourth and fell back down the order. Button continued to stay out with Schumacher behind him and Raikkonen third, Alonso up to fourth, Coulthard fifth and Trulli sixth.

Lap 14: At the start of the lap Raikkonen suffered a rear wing failure at the first corner and spun into the barriers at high speed. Button pitted and Schumacher went back into the lead

Lap 15: As the order began to settle down, Webber passed Giancarlo Fisichella, who was still to stop for the first time, for seventh position.

Lap 16: Schumacher had a 10 second lead with Alonso second, Coulthard third, Montoya fourth, Button fifth and Trulli sixth under pressure from Webber. Further back Barrichello overtook da Matta for 14th place.

Lap 17: In the midfield Pizzonia ran wide coming into the stadium and fell behind Sato. Behind them Barrichello gained another place when he overtook Heidfeld for 13th.

Lap 18: Heidfeld was the first of the two-stop runners to pit. He dropped from 14th to 16th.

Lap 19: Schumacher's lead had increased to 13.5s. Sato passed Felipe Massa for ninth, the Sauber still to stop for the first time.

Lap 21: Montoya ran wide and lost ground, being overtaken for fourth place by Button. Fisichella was up to eighth place but pitted and dropped back to 15th.

Lap 22: Da Matta's Toyota stopped for the second time, dropping from 13th to 15th.

Lap 23: Massa and Barrichello both stopped for the first time. Felipe dropped from 10th to 13th, while Rubens dropped from 12th to 14th.

Lap 26: Sato passed Trulli at the hairpin and Webber took advantage of the situation to push Trulli down to eighth position.

Lap 27: Schumacher's lead was up to 15secs but behind him the battles were intense with Sato and Webber having a big scrap for seventh place. The next round of pit stops began with Montoya and Sato stopping.

Lap 28: Schumacher stopped again allowing Alonso to lead with Button second. Further back Trulli and Pizzonia were also pit callers. The Renault team changed Jarno's front wing.

Lap 29: Alonso pitted and Button went into the lead with Schumacher second. Fernando rejoined in third ahead of Coulthard. Fourth-placed Webber went into the pits and fell back to eighth. Panis also stopped and dropped from eighth to 15th.

Lap 30: Button led and pulled away from Schumacher while Alonso was unable to make an impression on the two men ahead of him. Further back Pizzonia and Barrichello overtook Massa to move to 10th and 11th.

Lap 31: Fifth-placed Klien stopped and fell back to 10th place. Sato spun and so Webber moved up to seventh position.

Lap 34: Button lead had increased to over five seconds before he stopped. The BAR pit stop was just too slow to get Jenson out ahead of Alonso. Michael Schumacher went back into the lead, 13 second ahead of Alonso. Further back da Matta overtook Massa for 12th place.

Lap 36: Button and Alonso went side by side through several corners but Fernando was able to hold off the BAR driver.

Lap 38: The order had stabilized for a while with all eyes on the fight for second position. Further back Massa fell behind Trulli in 14th position. Heidfeld had a second stop but here was a problem and Nick returned to the pits a lap later.

Lap 39: Da Matta had a puncture and spun into retirement.

Lap 43: Barrichello overtook Klien to move up to 10th place. Further back Heidfeld slowed right down and drove into the pits to retire.

Lap 44: Fisichella had his second and final stop.

Lap 45: Webber was the first three-stop racer to call into the pits. He was followed in by Trulli. Massa (on a two stop strategy) also pitted.

Lap 46: Pizzonia and Barrichello both pitted.

Lap 47: Schumacher, Alonso and Coulthard all stopped, leading Button in the lead with Michael rejoining behind him. Montoya was briefly up to third.

Lap 48: Montoya stopped, followed into pitlane by Sato, Klien and Panis. The only major runner needing to stop again was Button.

Lap 49: Fisichella was overtaken for eighth place by Barrichello.

Lap 50: Button finished off the pit stops and dropped back behind Alonso once again. The battle for second was rejoined.

Lap 52: Alonso had a problem with his car and Button was able to go ahead. The Renault fell back quickly. The order was Schumacher 10 secs clear of Button with Alonso third, coming under pressure from Coulthard. There was a gap back to Montoya and then came Webber, Sato and Pizzonia scrapping over sixth position. Button has a problem with his visor and had to drive half the lap with one hand holding the visor on as the wind was lifting his helmet up and making it difficult to breath.

Lap 57: Panis stopped for a fourth time.

Lap 59: Panis showed the potential of the Toyota by setting the fourth fastest lap of the race.

Lap 60: Pizzonia passed Sato for seventh place and began to attack Webber for sixth.

Lap 62: Barrichello had a moment and went off, losing time but not a position.

Lap 66: Schumacher took the chequered flag ahead of Button, Alonso, Coulthard, Montoya, Webber, Pizzonia and Sato. Ninth placed Barrichello had a puncture on the last lap and was overtaken by Fisichella, Klien and Trulli. The Ferrari finished 12th, crawling across the finish line.