page_title: 2004 Monaco Grand Prix
section_title: Practice and qualifying
hierarchical_section_title: 2004 Monaco Grand Prix / Report / Practice and qualifying
caption_attribution_description: Schumacher at 2004 Monaco Grand Prix
context_page_description: The 2004 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 23 May 2004, at the Circuit de Monaco; contested over 77 laps, it was the sixth race of the 2004 Formula One season. The race was won by the Renault driver Jarno Trulli; this was his only victory in Formula One. The BAR driver, Jenson Button finished in second position, one second behind Trulli. Rubens Barrichello took the third and final podium spot for Ferrari.
  In fine conditions Trulli beat Button to the first corner off the grid, and the fast starting Takuma Sato beat Kimi Räikkönen and Michael Schumacher to fourth place before retiring at the end of the second lap. On lap three the safety car was deployed due to a collision between David Coulthard and Giancarlo Fisichella, with the race resuming on lap seven. The two Renault drivers, Trulli and Fernando Alonso remained close together at the front of the race until the pit stops which briefly saw Michael Schumacher lead the race. Alonso retired after crashing trying to lap Ralf Schumacher, and a second safety car period ensued.
context_section_description: Four practice sessions were held before the qualifying session, two on the Thursday before the race, and two on Saturday morning before the qualifying session. The driver's championship leader, the Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher, was fastest in all four practice sessions, and in the final session set a record lap time for the Monaco circuit, of 1:14.014. Schumacher's record time was set in response to a fast lap time from Jarno Trulli. The Jaguar driver Mark Webber suffered an engine failure in the final practice session, and for changing his engine suffered an automatic 10 place grid penalty for the subsequent qualifying session, a penalty also suffered by Ralf Schumacher, for an engine failure in the first practice session.
  The Bridgestone tyres used by Schumacher were inferior to the Michelin tyres used by the Renault, BAR and Williams teams at the Monaco weekend. In the weeks before the Monaco race Bridgestone had worked with the Ferrari team on tyres that could perform a fast single lap during qualifying and the opening laps of the race. Schumacher had set his fast practice times on soft tyres, but after his tyres had struggled on a slippery track, Schumacher and the other Bridgestone teams returned to hard tyres.
caption: Michael Schumacher during free practice
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