Watch – 2004 Bahrain GP: Michael Schumacher and Ferrari dominant in the desert. Michael and Rubens kept their lead and sealed a convincing 1-2 victory for Ferrari.

Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello led a dominant Scuderia Ferrari 1-2 in the first ever Bahrain GP, which was held on 4 April 2004 at the Bahrain International Circuit, after securing a front row lockout for the Maranello team.

Bahrain was the third race of the championships that for the first time in history had 18 races, but new track brought no change at the top.

Michael Schumacher convincingly won his third pole position in three race in 2004 (1: 30.139), which was 58th in his career), 0.391 seconds ahead of his team mate Barrichello, 0.442 in front of Montoya in Williams and 0.494 in front of his brother Ralf in second Williams. Fifth and sixth at the start were BAR Honda drivers Sato and Button with about seven tenths of a second behind dominant Schumacher.

Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello kept their lead and sealed a convincing 1-2 victory for Ferrari, 26 seconds ahead of Button while Schumacher also set the fastest lap of the race (1:30.252), which was only one tenth of a second slower than his pole position lap. Even after 14 years, it is still the fastest lap in the race on this track.

2004 Bahrain GP Highlights