Schumacher claims pole and win in one day

The 2004 Japanese Grand Prix, which took place on this date 12 years ago, was a special event in that both the qualifying session and the race were run on the same day (Sunday 10 October) after Saturday’s sessions were cancelled due to Typhoon Ma-on.

This did not trouble Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher though. The German legend, who had secured a record seventh title earlier this season at Spa, claimed a dominant pole position, nearly half a second ahead of his brother Ralf, before cruising to his 13th win of the season, a record that would be matched nine years later by Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.