2004 Formula One World Championship
The 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 58th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 55th FIA Formula One World Championship, which was contested over eighteen races which ran from 7 March to 24 October 2004.
The championship was dominated by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, with Schumacher winning the Drivers' Championship for the seventh time. Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello finished the championship in second with Jenson Button coming in third for BAR. Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship for a record 14th time ahead of BAR and Renault.
In this championship, several records were broken. Michael Schumacher won 13 races, breaking his record of 11 race wins in one season from. He also broke the record for most consecutive World Drivers' title and Ferrari broke the record for most consecutive Constructors' titles.
Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship.† All engines were 3.0 litre, V10 configuration.
Four of the ten teams, Ferrari, Renault, Jaguar, and Toyota, were subsidiaries of major car companies. However, BAR was a division of British American Tobacco. Williams and McLaren, both privately-owned teams, had engine supply agreements with BMW and Mercedes-Benz respectively, and Honda produced engines for BAR.
The other three teams, Jordan, Sauber and Minardi, were also privately owned but received little substantial sponsorship and consequently tended to end up toward the back of the grid. Sauber received Ferrari engines badged under the Petronas name and received sponsorship from the Malaysian oil and gas company.
Driver changes
- The 2004 season featured several driver line-up changes prior to the season, and more changes during the season proper. Minardi, Jordan, and Sauber started 2004 with completely new driver line-ups.
- At BAR, following Jacques Villeneuve's departure from the team before the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix, former test driver Takuma Sato was permanently given the second race seat alongside Jenson Button; after serving in a temporary capacity during 2003, Anthony Davidson became the permanent test driver replacing Takuma Sato.
- At Minardi, Nicolas Kiesa was unable to keep his seat and was released. Jos Verstappen left Minardi as a result of sponsorship problems and an unwillingness to spend another year competing with other backmarkers in the non-competitive team. Gianmaria Bruni, who had performed a limited amount of testing in 2003, was signed to a full-time drive. Zsolt Baumgartner was confirmed as the second full-time driver after the Hungarian government provided sponsorship; Baumgartner had performed replacement duties at Jordan in 2003 after Ralph Firman suffered injuries from a crash in Hungary. Completing the all-new line-up, Bas Leinders and Tiago Monteiro were signed as test drivers for 2004. Leinders was signed from the ranks of the World Series by Nissan, while Monteiro was signed from the American Fittipaldi Champ Car team.
- Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Sauber mutually parted ways at the end of 2003. Frentzen then moved out of F1 and joined fellow ex-F1 drivers Mika Häkkinen and Jean Alesi in the DTM. Nick Heidfeld was also released by Sauber, and appeared to have no drive for 2004. However several successful test drives at Jordan landed him a seat there. Fisichella left Jordan after 2003 having signed a drive for Sauber. This meant that Heidfeld and Fisichella effectively swapped seats. Sauber's other new driver was Felipe Massa, who left his test position at Ferrari and returned to the team where he had raced in 2002. As Sauber used Ferrari engines in 2003, Massa took considerable knowledge of Ferrari components with him.
- Choosing not to extend Justin Wilson's contract, Jaguar signed Christian Klien to partner Mark Webber in the R5. Wilson turned down a test drive and departed Jaguar to join the Mi-Jack Conquest Racing team in Champ Car racing in America. Björn Wirdheim was signed as their Friday test driver. The other Friday test drivers are Franck Montagny, who was rewarded for a championship year in the World Series by Nissan with a permanent test drive at Renault, Ryan Briscoe, who joined Ricardo Zonta as a test driver at Toyota, and Pedro de la Rosa, who returned to F1 as a test driver for McLaren.
Mid-season changes
- Giorgio Pantano was replaced by Timo Glock at the. Pantano left Jordan after the, with Glock replacing him again for the remainder of the season.
- After Ralf Schumacher was injured during the, Marc Gené replaced him at the French and British Grands Prix. Antônio Pizzonia then replaced him from the to the. Schumacher returned for the.
- Cristiano da Matta was replaced by test driver Ricardo Zonta from the onward. Zonta was dropped by Toyota for the before replacing Olivier Panis at the, who stepped down from his race seat.
- Jarno Trulli's relationship with the Renault team deteriorated after his first victory at the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix. He left the team after the 2004 Italian Grand Prix, which was also Pantano's last race for the Jordan team. Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve replaced Jarno Trulli at Renault for the final three races. Trulli missed the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix, but he returned in the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix and the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix with the Toyota team. That meant the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix was Jarno Trulli's first race with the new team.
Team changes
- As part of a global restructuring and cost-cutting exercise, Ford announced during the season that they would not be entering into the F1 championship in 2005 via their Jaguar team. They also announced that their Cosworth motor and engineering divisions were being sold. The Jaguar team was eventually bought by Red Bull and effectively continued to compete as Red Bull Racing in 2005.
Rule changes
Season calendar
The 2004 Formula One calendar featured two new events: the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Chinese Grand Prix, held at two newly built circuits in Sakhir and Shanghai. The season featured the most races outside Europe to that point; eight Grands Prix were held in the Americas, Asia, and Oceania. The Brazilian Grand Prix moved from its traditional early season slot to become the season finale, whereas the United States Grand Prix moved from its previous date in late September to late June as a back-to-back race with the Canadian Grand Prix.The only exit was the Austrian Grand Prix, after seven years of racing at the A1-Ring, the modified circuit old Österreichring. The grandstands and pit buildings were demolished during the year, rendering the track unusable for any motorsport category. The circuit eventually reopened in 2011 as the Red Bull Ring and was later reinstated to the F1 calendar in 2014.
Season report
The season started in Australia at Albert Park where Michael Schumacher led a Ferrari 1–2. He followed that up with another victory at Sepang and led another Ferrari 1–2 at Bahrain. Jenson Button scored his maiden pole in San Marino but Michael Schumacher beat him to the line. Thereafter Schumacher dominated the Spanish Grand Prix as well. In Monaco Jarno Trulli won from pole after surviving intense pressure from Jenson Button in a race that saw Michael Schumacher crash out. Schumacher won the European GP at the Nurburgring.At the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix, Timo Glock replaced Giorgio Pantano, for financial reasons. Williams and Toyota were excluded from the race due to an irregularity in the brake ducts. That meant the Jordan and McLaren teams were the main beneficiaries of the disqualifications, with Jordan's Nick Heidfeld and Glock both scoring points, Glock in his debut Formula One race. The United States Grand Prix had a high attrition rate that saw only eight cars cross the finish line in a race dominated by accidents and saw Ralf Schumacher make a massive accident. This race, won by Schumacher, also saw the Minardi team score their first points since, with Zsolt Baumgartner finishing 8th.
In France, Schumacher beat Fernando Alonso with a strategic move. In Britain he overpowered polesitter, Kimi Räikkönen, to take his 10th win of the season. In Germany, he won after his main opponent, Kimi Räikkönen, suffered a rear wing failure after setting faster laps than Schumacher. Cristiano da Matta's string of disappointing results during the season led to his replacement by test driver Ricardo Zonta from the Hungarian onward although he would drive again for the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix. Schumacher led another Ferrari 1–2 in Hungary to secure Ferrari the Constructors' trophy.
The Belgian GP also included accidents and safety car periods. Kimi Räikkönen eventually won the race from a low 10th place on the grid. Michael Schumacher finished second and thus secured himself the world title.
In a rain-affected Italian GP, Barrichello led a Ferrari 1–2 in front of the loyal Tifosi. Immediately before the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix, Giorgio Pantano was dropped by the Jordan team and Timo Glock replaced him for the last three races.
The Chinese GP was also won by Barrichello. Button and Räikkönen finished less than 2 seconds behind. Michael Schumacher could only make it to 12th place due to starting from the pit lane.
The Japanese GP weekend was somewhat spoiled by a typhoon that caused widespread damage to parts of Japan and which saw the postponement of qualifying to the morning of race day. Michael Schumacher took his 13th win in a race that saw the rain die down. The Brazilian GP was won by Juan Pablo Montoya on his last outing for the Williams team, scoring their last victory until the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix. In the end, Schumacher was on top with 148 points followed by Barrichello with 114 points. Ferrari led the Constructors' Championship with 262 points.
Results and standings
Grands Prix
Scoring system
Points were awarded to the top eight classified finishers.World Drivers' Championship standings
Notes:- – Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
World Constructors' Championship standings
- – Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
- Official FIA classifications for the 2004 Constructors' Championship listed the constructors as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, Lucky Strike BAR Honda, Mild Seven Renault F1 Team, etc.