Everybody in the paddock agreed after qualifying: the session had been a lottery. As it turned out, the Renault team had the winning ticket, with both their drivers using the right tyres at the right time before the heavens opened to make it impossible for everyone else to fight for the top spot. Despite that, qualifying highlighted Bridgestone's superiority in the wet, in a session which left everyone wondering what their real pace would be on Sunday's race.

The Grid

1. Jarno Trulli
First Qualifying: 1:58.606; Second Qualifying: 1:56.232

That Trulli got it right and the rest didn't was the main reason for his second pole position of the 2004 season. There should be no demerit to the Italian driver's performance, because other drivers went out at the right moment too, but this time Trulli was very lucky and even the Italian himself admitted so later. The Renault driver went out with Michelin's intermediates and he was fortunate enough to complete his flying lap when the track was wet but the rain was yet to come.

2. Michael Schumacher
First Qualifying: 1:53.755; Second Qualifying: 1:56.304

That he managed to finish less than a tenth of a second behind Trulli's time says a lot about Schumacher's ability in the wet, and more so about the performance of the Bridgestone tyres. After being easily the quickest in pre-qualifying, Schumacher had to come out when the track was at its worst. He used extreme weather tyres and despite the heavy rain he still managed to beat Trulli's time in the first two splits. Accelerating out of the Bus Stop, however, proved too big a burden and the German missed out on pole.

3. Fernando Alonso
First Qualifying: 1:58.242; Second Qualifying: 1:56.686

Like his Renault teammate Trulli, Alonso was lucky enough to complete his flying lap just moments before the heavy rain began to hit the track. Although it began to rain as the Spaniard started his lap, the track was not wet enough to be a serious problem for his intermediate tyres and he could set a competitive time. Alonso admitted he did not feel too confident with the intermediates, which he had hardly tested after only 15 minutes of Saturday practice.

4. David Coulthard
First Qualifying: 1:56.994; Second Qualifying: 1:57.990

Coulthard was the last of the lucky men who could complete their laps before the heavy rain began. The Scot went out with intermediates and despite beginning to rain at the start of his flying lap, he still managed to escape the heavier downpour. Despite a few scares the McLaren driver was fast enough to place himself in a strong position for the race, although that would be a different affair for him.

5. Giancarlo Fisichella
First Qualifying: 1:56.068; Second Qualifying: 1:58.040

Despite his best qualifying performance of the season, Fisichella felt he had been hard done by the weather, and claimed he could have been higher had he not had been forced to use extreme weather tyres for his lap. The Sauber looked strong all weekend and on Bridgestone tyres it is probable he could have made the second row of the grid if not for the heavy rain. In the end he had to settle for fifth, which was still a great result for the Swiss squad.

6. Rubens Barrichello
First Qualifying: 1:54.913; Second Qualifying: 1:58.175

The Brazilian, like teammate Schumacher, also looked very strong during his flying lap despite the heavier rain. He too was forced to use the extreme Bridgestone tyres and despite that he managed the best second split on his flying lap. Barrichello, however, overshot the entry of the Bus Stop chicane and lost a lot of time which relegated him at least three positions.

7. Mark Webber
First Qualifying: 1:59.437; Second Qualifying: 1:58.729

On a wet track the Australian's skills made up for the lack of pace from his car and Webber managed to stay on the top of the timesheets for several minutes after a very quick lap. Webber opted to go out on full wets and he seemed pretty happy with his decision at the end of the session. A gap of over 2.5 seconds to his teammate Klien was evidence of the Australian's performance.

8. Felipe Massa
First Qualifying: 1:56.057; Second Qualifying: 1:59.008

Like teammate Fisichella, Massa was too fast for his own good in the pre-qualifying session. Setting the fourth fastest time meant he was one of the last men to go out in the grid-deciding session, and by then the track was already very wet. He too had to use extreme weather tyres and, the track being wetter, he was unable to match the pace of his teammate. Gives the circumnstances he was still pleased with the result and confident of Sauber's race pace in the dry.

9. Olivier Panis
First Qualifying: 2:01.472; Second Qualifying: 1:59.552

Panis had to thank his car's poor balance in pre-qualifying for his strong showing in the second hour. His lack of pace in the opening session meant the French Toyota driver was the third man on track and, with the track still not flooded, his poor time paid off in the grid-deciding session. Panis, like most of the early runners, had opted for full wets for his flying lap.

10. Kimi Raikkonen
First Qualifying: 1:55.371; Second Qualifying: 1:59.635

The McLaren driver showed his speed at Spa on Friday, when he set the quickest time of the day. Although in other races that was not significant, in Belgium it was very reflective of Raikkonen's pace throughout the weekend. Unfortunately for him, he was too quick in the opening session and was one of the last men to go out in the second. Michelin's extreme weather tyres did not prove as effective as Ferrari's Bridgestones and the Finn had to settle for a disappointing 10th. A mistake at the Bus Stop did not help either.

11. Juan Pablo Montoya
First Qualifying: 1:56.842; Second Qualifying: 1:59.681

It was not a good weekend for Montoya, again. With the track drying out after Alonso's and Coulthard's runs, the Williams team decided to send him out on intermediates. That proved to be a mistake quite early, as the track began to get very wet on his warm-up lap. With that in mind, there was little the Colombian could do to set a competitive time. Even so, he felt confident the Williams would perform strongly in dry conditions.

12. Jenson Button
First Qualifying: 1:58.837; Second Qualifying: 2:00.237

Button suffered from a similar problem as Montoya as he also used the wrong tyres. BAR opted for extreme weather rubber when the track was beginning to dry up and the tyres were cooked before the end of his flying lap. Although the Briton was quickest in the first split, the rest of the lap proved to be a struggle. With the Renaults up in the timesheets and after a promising Friday, the result was very disappointing for Button.

13. Christian Klien
First Qualifying: 1:59.997; Second Qualifying: 2:01.246

Things were pretty hard for Klien on Saturday. The Austrian rookie, who had never driven at Spa in a Formula One car, faced qualifying having completed only eight laps in the wet on Saturday after the first practice session was cancelled and the second was cut short to 15 minutes. With that in mind, Klien's task was not made any easier and he was never close to teammate Webber.

14. Antonio Pizzonia
First Qualifying: 1:59.100; Second Qualifying: 2:01.447

Despite driving an F1 car for the first time at Spa on Friday, the Brazilian was strong all weekend and even managed to outpace his Williams teammate Montoya in the opening practice sessions. Saturday, however, was a different matter and as if having only 15 minutes of practice was not bad enough, Pizzonia crashed during the quarter hour and completed just four laps before qualifying. Although his mechanics managed to repair his race car before the sessions, Pizzonia was unable to shine.

15. Takuma Sato
First Qualifying: 1:58.929; Second Qualifying: 2:01.813

Like Button, Sato went out for his qualifying lap on extreme weather tyres when the track was not wet enough for them. Although he too started the lap by setting the quickest first split, by the second part of his run the rubber was overheated and the Japanese driver had no grip. There was little he could do to improve the situation and BAR had to lick their wounds after their mistake.

16. Nick Heidfeld
First Qualifying: 2:00.166; Second Qualifying: 2:02.645

Despite the field-equalling rain, Heidfeld had no opportunity to show his worth and had to settle with his usual low position. The Bridgestone rubber did not prove an advantage for the Jordan driver, who completed his lap when the track was not that wet. Although he expected to do better, the German suffered from very low grip during his run and he never had a chance of getting close to the cars in front.

17. Gianmaria Bruni
First Qualifying: 2:03.226; Second Qualifying: 2:02.651

The Minardis looked relatively stronger than usual at Spa and didn't need their rivals to break down to escape the final row of the grid, which is as good as it can get for the Formula One minnows. Bruni, driving at Spa for the first time in a Formula One car, put on a decent performance which almost saw him outqualify Heidfeld. That despite having crashed heavily in the morning's practice session after having completed only four laps.

18. Zsolt Baumgartner
First Qualifying: 2:01.195; Second Qualifying: 2:03.303

Baumgartner too was closer to the Jordans during most of the weekend and Minardi were encouraged by their drivers' performances. Despite a couple of errors during his flying lap, the Hungarian driver managed to avoid the last row on merit and by over half a second.

19. Giorgio Pantano
First Qualifying: 1:59.442; Second Qualifying: 2:03.833

Losing out to the Minardis was certainly not what Pantano was hoping for on Saturday, especially after no visible problems in his Jordan. The Italian rookie said his car had changed completely from one second to the other, and that reflected on his laptime: he was over four seconds quicker in pre-qualifying despite the track being slightly wetter. All in all, he had little to write home about.

20. Ricardo Zonta
First Qualifying: No Time; Second Qualifying: 2:03.895

The Brazilian had a torrid qualifying day, triggered by a mistake during his pre-qualifying lap. Zonta touched one of the circuit's white lines and was sent spinning into the gravel. With only a few minutes between his two runs, his mechanics had to work very fast to repair the Toyota for the grid-deciding session. Unfortunately for Zonta, there was not enough time and the car was sent out with a significant number of components missing, which made his life very hard during his flying lap.

The Race

Although the weather at the Ardennes is usually unpredictable, the start of the race took place without a real threat of rain despite a somewhat cloudy sky. As usual, the La Source corner provided plenty of entertainment once the red lights extinguished.

Despite the best of efforts from Schumacher, Alonso immediately jumped ahead of the Ferrari driver as both Trulli and the Spaniard arrived at the first corner on top. Despite the short run before La Source, Schumacher had time to also lose out to Coulthard, who moved into third ahead of the German. Those four where pretty much the only drivers to escape trouble at the start, while behind Schumacher chaos began.

The first incident took place between Barrichello and Webber after the Jaguar driver left his braking too late and ran into the back of the Ferrari. Webber lost his front wing which stayed in the middle of the track and everybody was going by. On the outside, meanwhile, Massa and Raikkonen also made contact, which prompted Button to hit the Sauber's rear end, the Briton also losing his front wing.

Webber lost a couple of places as he headed toward Eau Rouge without a front wing, not an ideal prospect. At the exit of the corner, Webber went too wide and Sato hit him, the BAR being sent into a spin that caused ever more chaos as the rest of the field tried to avoid him. Bruni braked hard to escape a collision, but the Italian driver was hit from behind by his teammate Baumgartner, sending him into a spin into the tyre barriers. The Minardi stopped on track and Pantano was unable to avoid him, crashing into it.

The Safety Car was deployed immediately and after the mayhem, Trulli led from Alonso, Coulthard, Schumacher, Raikkonen, Montoya, Fisichella and Pizzonia, while Barrichello, Button, Massa, Panis, Heidfeld and Baumgartner headed for the pits to repair their cars. Barrichello and Massa came off worst and both had to return on the following lap to replace their rear wings.

The race was restarted on lap five, and with Schumacher struggling to get his tyres up to optimal temperature, he was an easy prey for Raikkonen, who passed him quickly after the restart. Montoya too was faster than the German and, coming into the Bus Stop, the Williams driver pulled a sensational manoeuver first around the outside and then down the inside of the chicane to emerge ahead of the Ferrari.

Raikkonen continued with his charge by overtaking Coulthard on the following lap, the Finn setting his sights on Alonso, who was right behind Trulli and looked faster than the Italian. Trulli was the first of the top runners to make his first scheduled stop, on lap 10, rejoining the race in ninth place. That allowed Alonso to run in clean air, but the Spaniard's joy was short-lived after he spun twice due to an oil leak in his car. The second left him out of the race and gave Raikkonen the lead.

For the Finn's teammate, however, things were not going great as Coulthard became the first victim of a tyre problem. The Scot lost the rear left and had to drive slowly until he made it to the pits, dropping to the back of the field. Raikkonen made his first stop right after the Scot left, and the Finn was followed by Montoya, leaving Schumacher on top.

The Ferrari driver pitted on lap 16 and managed to jump in front of Montoya. Pizzonia, who was still to pit, led the race from Raikkonen and Button, also still to stop. Trulli, struggling with his car's handling, had dropped down to fourth place. Zonta had managed to climb to sixth and was followed by Massa and Montoya, who was stuck behind after the Brazilian had emerged ahead in a wheel to wheel battle at Eau Rouge.

That marked the beginning of Montoya's problems, as only minutes later the Colombian would try to pass Trulli on the same spot he had passed Schumacher. This time, however, the move didn't work out as Trulli closed the door and the pair touched. The Renault was launched into the air and into a spin, while Montoya could continue after losing a position to Pizzonia. Trulli rejoined the race in eighth place but his pace continued to be very poor.

Button was one of the last men to stop for fuel and tyres on lap 21, the Briton returning to the track in seventh place behind Fisichella and ahead of Zonta. Barrichello, who had moved up to fifth place, also came into the pits for fuel and dropped down to 10th place with half the race gone.

Up in front, Raikkonen led Schumacher by over 12 seconds and the German never looked capable of running significantly quicker than his McLaren rival. Pizzonia was running in third some 25 seconds behind, while Montoya had caught his teammate after his incident with Trulli but did not seem to be trying to overtake the Brazilian.

Raikkonen made his second and final stop on lap 29, returning behind Schumacher. The Finn's advantage, however, would vanish seconds later, when Button's rear right tyre exploded as he was lapping Baumgartner at the top of the hill. The BAR swerved to the right and hit the Minardi at some 300 km/h. Luckily both men escaped unhurt, but the Safety Car had to be deployed for the second time.

Schumacher, as well as most of the men who had not made their second stop yet, seized the opportunity and pitted while the SC was on track. The World Champion returned just behind the Finn, with Pizzonia still in third ahead of Montoya. The young Brazilian's dream of a podium, however, came on an abrupt end when he lost his gearbox when the Safety Car was still on track.

When the race was about to get under way again, Raikkonen slowed down as much as possible to make Schumacher struggle to get his tyres warmed up. The move seemed to work and the German was unable to get close to the Finn as the race was restarted. Despite running on Michelins, Montoya could not get close enough to Schumacher and the German managed to open a comfortable gap.

Barrichello followed in fourth, with Zonta continuing with his strong performance in fifth place, ahead of Massa, Fisichella, and Klien. Coulthard was still working his way into the point-scoring positions, first passing Panis for ninth and then setting his sights on Klien. In the end, and with seven laps remaining, the Scot moved into the top eight, not after passing Klien but after Montoya's rear right tyre also exploded.

The Colombian, the third victim of the same problem, limped back to the pits, but his Williams had sustained too much damage to continue and so Montoya's day was over. And so was Coulthard's just moments later, when the Scot crashed into the back of Klien's Jaguar as he tried to pass him at the exit of Eau Rouge. The McLaren driver lost his front wing and went off track, touching the barriers but managing to drive back to the pits.

For the third time, the Safety Car was sent out and the race looked set for a thrilling finish. The race was restarted with just three laps to go, and despite the best of his efforts Schumacher could do nothing to get within striking distance of Raikkonen.

There was enough time for more drama, however, as Zonta's race came to an end with an engine failure. Ironically, and tragically for the Brazilian after his strong showing, it was Toyota's first engine blow-up of the season.

Zonta's retirement left only nine cars on track, with Trulli the only man outside the points after being passed by Coulthard. The Scot also moved ahead of Panis and despite all the dramas of his race, he managed to score two points with his seventh place behind Klien, who despite the incident with the Scot continued in the race and scored his first points by finishing sixth.

Raikkonen's lead never looked in danger as Schumacher settled for title-winning second place, the Finn taking his first win since last year's Malaysian Grand Prix. "We have had a difficult season and when we got the 19B out we got some speed but we have still been struggling to finish. Now we have finally got what we deserved," said Raikkonen after the race. "Hopefully we can keep it up and challenge next year for the title."

Schumacher, meanwhile, celebrated his seventh title but had to concede Ferrari were not up to Raikkonen's speed this time. By the World Champion's standards, however, the day had been below par.

"I would have preferred to clinch the title with a win, but today we simply weren't strong enough at crucial moments," he said.

Race Results

Pos  Driver        Team-Engine                Time        
 1.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  1h32:35.274
 2.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari          (B)  +     3.131
 3.  Barrichello   Ferrari          (B)  +     4.371
 4.  Massa         Sauber-Petronas  (B)  +    12.504
 5.  Fisichella    Sauber-Petronas  (B)  +    14.144
 6.  Klien         Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)  +    14.705
 7.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  +    17.970
 8.  Panis         Toyota           (M)  +    18.693
 9.  Trulli        Renault          (M)  +    22.115
10.  Zonta         Toyota           (M)  +    3 laps
11.  Heidfeld      Jordan-Ford      (B)  +    4 laps

Fastest Lap: Raikkonen, 1:45.108

Not Classified/Retirements:

Driver        Team                  On Lap
Montoya       Williams-BMW     (M)    38
Pizzonia      Williams-BMW     (M)    32
Button        BAR-Honda        (M)    30
Baumgartner   Minardi-Cosworth (B)    29
Alonso        Renault          (M)    14
Webber        Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)    1
Sato          BAR-Honda        (M)    1
Bruni         Minardi-Cosworth (B)    1
Pantano       Jordan-Ford      (B)    1


World Championship Standing, Round 14:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  M.Schumacher 128 *      1.  Ferrari          216 *
 2.  Barrichello   88        2.  Renault           91
 3.  Button        65        3.  BAR-Honda         83
 4.  Trulli        46        4.  Williams-BMW      54
 5.  Alonso        45        5.  McLaren-Mercedes  49
 6.  Montoya       38        6.  Sauber-Petronas   28
 7.  Raikkonen     28        7.  Jaguar-Cosworth   10
 8.  Coulthard     21        8.  Toyota             9
 9.  Sato          18        9.  Jordan-Ford        5
10.  Fisichella    18       10.  Minardi-Cosworth   1
11.  R.Schumacher  12       
12.  Massa         10       
13.  Webber         7       
14.  Panis          6       
15.  Pizzonia       4       
16.  da Matta       3       
17.  Heidfeld       3       
18.  Klien          3       
19.  Glock          2       
20.  Baumgartner    1      
      

Fastest Race Laps

Pos  Driver        Team                  Lap  Time              
 1.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  42   1:45.108        
 2.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari          (B)  28   1:45.503 + 0.395
 3.  Barrichello   Ferrari          (B)  43   1:45.666 + 0.558
 4.  Alonso        Renault          (M)   9   1:45.870 + 0.762
 5.  Trulli        Renault          (M)   9   1:45.898 + 0.790
 6.  Montoya       Williams-BMW     (M)  36   1:46.547 + 1.439
 7.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  11   1:46.579 + 1.471
 8.  Pizzonia      Williams-BMW     (M)  26   1:46.740 + 1.632
 9.  Fisichella    Sauber-Petronas  (B)  11   1:46.758 + 1.650
10.  Button        BAR-Honda        (M)  26   1:47.151 + 2.043
11.  Klien         Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)  11   1:47.509 + 2.401
12.  Zonta         Toyota           (M)  26   1:47.576 + 2.468
13.  Massa         Sauber-Petronas  (B)  29   1:47.624 + 2.516
14.  Panis         Toyota           (M)  29   1:47.765 + 2.657
15.  Heidfeld      Jordan-Ford      (B)  40   1:50.471 + 5.363
16.  Baumgartner   Minardi-Cosworth (B)  25   1:51.031 + 5.923

Pitstop Times

Pos  Driver        Team                  Time      Lap
 1.  Heidfeld      Jordan-Ford      (B)   31.609   18
 2.  Massa         Sauber-Petronas  (B)   32.002   30
 3.  Heidfeld      Jordan-Ford      (B)   32.296   29
 4.  Zonta         Toyota           (M)   32.373   30
 5.  Klien         Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)   32.402    9
 6.  Pizzonia      Williams-BMW     (M)   32.495   30
 7.  Panis         Toyota           (M)   32.541   30
 8.  Zonta         Toyota           (M)   32.556   16
 9.  Klien         Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)   32.557   20
10.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari          (B)   32.582   30
11.  Massa         Sauber-Petronas  (B)   32.630   19
12.  Klien         Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)   32.696   29
13.  Button        BAR-Honda        (M)   32.701   21
14.  Panis         Toyota           (M)   32.769   19
15.  Montoya       Williams-BMW     (M)   32.868   15
16.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari          (B)   32.971   16
17.  Trulli        Renault          (M)   33.009   10
18.  Panis         Toyota           (M)   33.287    1
19.  Barrichello   Ferrari          (B)   33.423    1
20.  Pizzonia      Williams-BMW     (M)   33.627   17
21.  Montoya       Williams-BMW     (M)   33.713   29
22.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes (M)   33.816   29
23.  Fisichella    Sauber-Petronas  (B)   33.885   14
24.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes (M)   34.302   13
25.  Baumgartner   Minardi-Cosworth (B)   34.325   16
26.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes (M)   34.458   29
27.  Trulli        Renault          (M)   34.734   22
28.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes (M)   35.212   12
29.  Button        BAR-Honda        (M)   35.343    1
30.  Baumgartner   Minardi-Cosworth (B)   35.584    1
31.  Barrichello   Ferrari          (B)   36.181   23
32.  Heidfeld      Jordan-Ford      (B)   36.952    1
33.  Heidfeld      Jordan-Ford      (B)   37.085   16
34.  Massa         Sauber-Petronas  (B)   37.441    1
35.  Fisichella    Sauber-Petronas  (B)   38.562   26
36.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes (M)   41.524   39
37.  Massa         Sauber-Petronas  (B)  117.323    2
38.  Barrichello   Ferrari          (B)  166.531    2
39.  Heidfeld      Jordan-Ford      (B)  286.457   35