The start of the French Grand Prix would see Alonso leading from MS, Trulli, Button, and Coulthard in fifth. Juan Pablo was in sixth followed by Raikkonen and Sato. For Toyota's Olivier Panis his race start would see him get away slowly and would end up been last. At the end of the first lap Alonso was leading by 0.8 seconds, with a lap time of 1m:16.380. The existing lap record was previously set by Juan Pablo a 1m:15.572.

Michael would continue to keep Alonso under pressure as they started lap three. Alonso was 1.1 seconds ahead of Michael. For Marc Gene these early laps would see him drop from eighth on the grid to eleventh. Panis was back in eighteenth. Alonso would set a fastest lap, a time of 1m:16.146.

Lap six and Gene was been attacked by Da Matta while at the front Raikkonen was closing in onto Juan Pablo. Alonso would set a fastest lap again with a 1m:16.077. He would improve on that with a 1m:16.054 the next lap. Now it was Michael's turn with a 1m:15.950 as they start lap eight. Trulli in third was 5.9 seconds behind his team-mate. Juan Pablo was 11.9 seconds behind the leader. Michael would lower the fastest lap to 1m:15.761 with the gap to Alonso just 0.9 seconds. Michael was certainly looking for a way past the Renault in front.

But the fight between the pair would end when Michael was to pit stopping for 7.4 seconds. Gene, Da Matta and Raikkonen would also pit. Michael would be in eighth behind Webber. Also stopping were Coulthard and Barrichello. Lap thirteen and Trulli would pit from second, joined by Montoya. Lap fourteen and Alonso and Button would make their stops.

it would be a 7.6 second stop for Alonso, .2 slower than Schumacher. He comes out ahead of Sato and Michael though Sato had yet to pit. Sato would pit from third followed by Webber. On his return to the circuit Sato's engine would fail again. His sixth Honda engine blow up this season. So the top eight after seventeen laps was Alonso, Schumacher, Trulli, Button, Coulthard, Montoya Barrichello and Massa. The Sauber's and the Jordan of Nick Heidfeld were
yet to pit.

Montoya was to spin on the circuit, but was able to recover and was now behind Massa and Raikkonen. Alonso would extend his lead over Michael, 3.7 seconds after nineteen laps. Juan Pablo was down in ninth with Webber close behind him. Raikkonen would pass Massa for seventh. Lap twenty one and Fisichella would make the first of what would be a two stop strategy. Massa would also pit while Juan Pablo was to complain to his pit that he was having troubles with his car. Marc Gene was in tenth. It hardly looked like the team was going to come away with any great number of points.

Lap twenty four and the gap from Michael to Alonso was now just 2.1 seconds. The following lap and it was down to 1.5 seconds. Michael was pushing very hard, or was there a problem with the Renault. The next lap and it was now only 0.9 seconds. Juan Pablo was having a difficult time having to run wide through the tarmac run off in the 180 degree corner. Panis would go one lap down while Toyota team-mate Da Matta was in twelfth.

Lap twenty eight and Raikkonen would pit in an early second stop. Third placed Trulli was 9.2 seconds behind the leaders, with Button only 1.7 seconds behind Trulli. Lap thirty and Michael would pit joined by Coulthard. David would have a slow stop, 8.8 seconds. The following lap and Button would stop from third. Da Matta would pit from twelfth.

Trulli would stop from second, with Rubens following him in. Michael would shatter the circuit record with a 1m:15.479 as he pushed hard. He would follow this with a 1m:15.377. Juan Pablo would pit. Alonso would also stop, a quick stop of 6.2 seconds. But Michael was able to take the lead in the race. lap thirty three and Webber, in sixth, and Gene would make their seconds stops.

Baumgartner would spin his Minardi and retire with his car stuck in the gravel. At the front Alonso was 2.3 seconds behind the Ferrari as he set his best lap of the race so far a 1m:15.551. Neither Sauber or Heidfeld had made their next pit stop. A fight for third was developing with Trulli 1.8 seconds ahead of Button while Barrichello was only 1.9 seconds behind Button. Lap thirty seven and Michael would extend his lead out to 3.0 seconds. Juan Pablo was in eighth while Gene was in tenth.

Lap thirty eight and Fisichella would pit from twelfth. Oliver Panis would have a trip through the gravel in what was turning out to be a disaster of a race for him. Button and Barrichello would close in on Trulli. Michael would pit, 6.2 seconds, returning in second position. Lap forty five and Alonso was 10.5 seconds ahead of Michael. The Spaniard would shake his fist at Massa as the Sauber driver made things difficult for him when he tried to pass. The McLaren's were running in sixth and seventh, Coulthard leading Raikkonen.

Lap forty six and Alonso would pit handing the lead to Michael. Michael's lead would be 11.5 seconds over Alonso. But with his early third stop did Michael have enough fuel to finish the race. Alonso was definitely fuelled to the end of the race. Lap forty nine and Coulthard would pit with Raikkonen stopping the previous lap. Michael would extend his lead to 12.2 seconds. Trulli would pit seeing Button move into third.

Montoya would pit from sixth on lap fifty. Rubens would stop on lap fifty one, 7.2 seconds. Button would pit the next lap returning behind Trulli and Barrichello. Button would nearly stall his car when trying to get away. Fisichella would pit on lap fifty three. So Trulli, Barrichello, and Button would continue their fight. Lap fifty five and Michael's lead was now out to 17.6 seconds. He was getting close to a lead that would allow him another stop. Gene would make his third stop. Juan Pablo and Marc were again in eighth and tenth positions.

Michael would again pull out further time on Alonso, 20.3 seconds. Trulli was a further 23.9 seconds behind Alonso in third with Rubens right behind the Renault in fourth. Lap fifty nine and Michael would make his final stop and he would pull it off with a very quick stop returning in first position. His lead would be 7.3 seconds.

Lap sixty one and Michael's lead would be 9.4 seconds. The third place battle was continuing with Trulli still leading Barrichello and Button. Coulthard and Raikkonen were down in sixth and seventh. Lap sixty five and Alonso had not been able to close the gap to Michael. It was obvious that Alonso had eased off settling for second place. Barrichello was trying to find a way past Trulli but had failed to do so.

With two laps to go Michael would easily lead the race with Alonso in a comfortable second. Trulli was still able to keep his third position from Barrichello and Button. So with the final lap Michael was able to win the 2004 French Grand Prix, nine wins from ten starts. Alonso was second from Barrichello, Trulli, Button, Coulthard, Raikkonen and scoring a single point for BMW WilliamsF1 Juan Pablo Montoya.

Pos Driver Team-Engine Time

1. M. Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h30.18.133
2. Alonso Renault (M) + 8.329
3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 31.622
4. Trulli Renault (M) + 32.082
5. Button BAR-Honda (M) + 32.484
6. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) + 35.520
7. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) + 36.230
8. Montoya WilliamsF1-BMW (M) + 43.419
9. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) + 52.394
10. Gene WilliamsF1-BMW (M) + 58.175
11. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) + 1 lap
12. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) + 1 lap
13. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) + 1 lap
14. da Matta Toyota (M) + 1 lap
15. Panis Toyota (M) + 2 laps
16. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) + 2 laps
17. Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) + 3 laps
18. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) + 4 laps

Fastest Lap: M.Schumacher, 1:15.377

Not Classified/Retirements:

Driver Team On Lap
Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 32
Sato BAR-Honda (M) 16