OCTOBER 10, 2004

Race incidents from Suzuka

Zsolt Baumgartner started from the pitlane after his off in the pre-qualifying session

* Lap 1: At the start of the race Michael Schumacher went into the lead from his brother Ralf, while Mark Webber was slow away and was beaten into the corner by Jenson Button, who also overtook Takuma Sato. Webber dropped to sixth place, behind Jarno Trulli. David Coulthard, Jacques Villeneuve, Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso completed the top 10 at the end of the lap. The big loser in the midfield was Olivier Panis who dropped from 10th on the grid to 14th, being overtaken by Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Juan Pablo Montoya and Rubens Barrichello. At the end of the lap Michael was second of Ralf.

* Lap 2: Michael set the fastest lap and moved to 1.6s ahead of Ralf. The only change of position was Panis passing Barrichello for 13th place.

* Lap 3: The lead went up to 1.8s while the two BAR-Hondas were left behind with Takuma Sato stuck behind Button. Fisichella overtook Villeneuve to take eighth place. Further back Felipe Massa passed Timo Glock for 17th.

* Lap 4: Michael took another half a second off Ralf. Down at the back Massa passed Christian Klien for 16th.

* Lap 5: As Michael continued to pull away the order was unchanged at the front but in the midfield Barrichello retook 13th place from Panis.

* Lap 6: Massa passed Nick Heidfeld for 15th place.

* Lap 7: Michael's lead was up to 3.7s and Ralf was well clear of the BARs. Sato moved ahead of Button, who was struggling with the handling of his car. Takuma was clearly running a different strategy. Further back Alonso passed Villeneuve for ninth place. Further back Massa was still the man on the move, overtaking Panis for 14th.

* Lap 8: Michael began to pull away from Ralf. Further back in the field Montoya overtook Raikkonen for 11th position.

* Lap 9: Ralf Schumacher headed for the pits, the first man to stop. He dropped from second place to ninth. Further back Panis also stopped and he fell from 15th to 18th.

* Lap 10: Coulthard overtook Webber for fifth place

* Lap 11: Webber pitted and dropped back from sixth to 12th. Montoya, Massa, Glock and Bruni all stopped.

* Lap 12: Michael set the fastest lap of the race while his rivals were heading into pitlane. Sato, Trulli, Fisichella, Barrichello and Heidfeld all stopped.

* Lap 13: Schumacher's lead is up to more than 20s when he went into pitlane. This enabled him to come out still in the lead. Behind him Button was second with Coulthard third, Alonso fourth, Ralf fifth and Sato sixth.

* Lap 14: Alonso was the first of the two-stop runners to go into the pits. He dropped from fourth to eighth. Raikkonen also stopped and fell back from eighth to 14th.

* Lap 15: Button, Coulthard and Villeneuve all stopped, which allowed Ralf back to second place. Sato was third with Button fourth, Coulthard fifth and Alonso sixth.

* Lap 16: As the order worked itself out Michael Schumacher was 16s ahead of Ralf. There was a gap of six seconds back to Sato with Button fourth, Coulthard fifth and Alonso sixth. Trulli was next up. Klien was running eighth, dropping down to 17th place. Further back Fisichella made a mistake, allowing Webber, Montoya and Barrichello ahead. Further back Heidfeld overtook Panis for 16th.

* Lap 18: Montoya passed Webber at the first corner and by the end of the lap the Australian was in the pits with a problem of his seat overheating.

* Lap 20: Michael was 20s ahead of his brother. Further back Panis had his second pit stop and dropped from 15th to 17th. Webber returned to the pits and retired.

* Lap 21: The gap between the Schumacher brothers stabilized with Sato dropping away slowly behind them. Button was next, pushing hard to make the most of his two-stop strategy while Coulthard and Alonso followed along behind. Trulli and Montoya were fighting hard for seventh place. Montoya dived inside Jarno but the Italian retook the place going around the outside of the Colombian.

* Lap 22: Barrichello joined the Trulli-Montoya fight and was able to get ahead of Montoya when the Colombian tried to pass the Toyota and overshot. Barrichello immediately challenged Trulli for seventh.

* Lap 23: Barrichello passed Trulli at Turn One. Behind them Fisichella overtook Montoya for ninth place.

* Lap 24: Ralf was the first major runner to stop for the second time. He fell back behind Sato, Button and Coulthard. Down at the back Massa was on the move again, passing Villeneuve for 12th place. At the tail of the field Timo Glock stopped out on the track but rejoined and headed for the pits. He re-emerged in 17th place.

* Lap 25: Trulli pitted again but fell from eighth place to 14th.

* Lap 26: Michael and Sato both stopped for a second time. Michael came out in the lead but Sato dropped behind Button, Coulthard, Ralf and Alonso. Massa also stopped and dropped from 11th to 14th. Heidfeld had his second stop and rejoined 15th.

* Lap 27: Fisichella's second stop dropped him from ninth to 11th.

* Lap 28: Barrichello and Montoya both pitted. Rubens fell to eighth behind Raikkonen, while Montoya was 10th behind Villeneuve Kimi and Villeneuve. Further back Massa overtook Klien for 13th place.

* Lap 30: Barrichello set the fastest lap of the race as he closed up on seventh-placed Raikkonen.

* Lap 32: The two-stop runners began to come in again with third-placed Coulthard dropping back to sixth place behind Ralf, Alonso and Sato.

* Lap 33: Alonso stopped and fell from fourth to eighth, being passed by Sato, Coulthard, Raikkonen and Barrichello. Further back Klien had his second stop and dropped to 15th behind Heidfeld.

* Lap 34: Villeneuve had his second stop but this dropped him back from 11th to 13th.

* Lap 35: Button stopped and was overtaken by Ralf and Sato but both men would have to stop again. Also stopping down at the back was Panis, the first man to have his third stop.

* Lap 36: Glock spun, but Michael Schumacher able to avoid the Jordan. Raikkonen had his second stop and dropped from seventh to 10th.

* Lap 38: Barrichello and Coulthard collided at the chicane, while fighting over fifth place. Both men pitted but neither continued.Massa had his third stop and was 10th thanks to the accident. Trulli also rushed in for his third stop but he was still only 11th.

* Lap 39: Michael and Ralf both pitted for the last time. Michael was still in the lead but Sato was second, but still needed to pit. Also stopping was Heidfeld in the midfield. He rejoined in 12th.

* Lap 41: Sato, Montoya and Fisichella all stopped for the last time. Ralf moved to second with Button third. Sato was fourth. Alonso was fifth. Raikkonen was next with Montoya seventh. Fisichella was eighth with Villeneuve ninth with Massa on his tail. At the back of the field Baumgartner spun out.

* Lap 49: The order was set but Massa had been fighting Villeneuve for ninth for several laps until finally he took around the outside at Turn One.

* Lap 53: Michael Schumacher won his 13th victory of the year with Ralf second and Button third. Sato was fourth with Alonso fifth and Raikkonen sixth. Montoya crossed the line seventh just ahead of Fisichella while Massa was ninth, having unlapped himself. He stopped the car soon after crossing the line, turning off the engine on the instructions of the team. Villeneuve was 10th and a lap behind. Trulli was a disappointed 11th.