Australian Grand Prix 2004 - Race Schedule and Countdown

Michael Schumacher launched Ferrari's 2004 campaign with an utterly dominant victory at the Australian Grand Prix, controlling the season opener from pole position to establish the pattern that would define the year. The German was untouchable in the new F2004 chassis, leading every lap as Rubens Barrichello completed a commanding Ferrari one-two finish in Melbourne. Fernando Alonso salvaged third for Renault, but the Spaniard finished over 30 seconds behind the scarlet cars - an ominous gap that signaled Ferrari's revolutionary new machine had raised the performance bar to unprecedented heights.

The race demonstrated the F2004's overwhelming superiority across all performance metrics. Schumacher's pole time shattered the previous benchmark, while his fastest race lap underlined Ferrari's advantage in both qualifying trim and race pace. Barrichello ran unchallenged in second throughout, the two Ferraris operating in a different performance dimension from their rivals. The result marked Ferrari's sixth consecutive Australian GP victory and Schumacher's first of what would become a record-breaking thirteen wins in the season.

The Australian Grand Prix served notice that 2004 would witness Ferrari dominance on an unprecedented scale. BAR-Honda showed promising pace with Jenson Button running fourth before mechanical issues intervened, hinting at their emergence as best-of-the-rest challengers. McLaren, Williams and Renault all struggled to match Ferrari's pace, their engineers already contemplating the development race ahead. For Schumacher and Ferrari, Melbourne represented the perfect start to a campaign that would rewrite Formula 1's record books.