2004 Formula One season

2004 FIA Formula One World Championship season Previous: 2003 Next: 2005 Index: Races by country | Races by season

Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen at the 2004 British Grand Prix

The 2004 Formula One season was the 55th FIA Formula One World Championship season, running from March 7 to October 24 2004. The season was dominated by Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. Also notable were the success of BAR and Renault, as well as the poor performance of Williams and McLaren.

For the fifth and sixth seasons Ferrari won both drivers and constructors titles respectively. Michael Schumacher dominated the beginning of the year by winning a record 12 races in the first 13, eventually winning a record 13 races in a season, beating his previous record in 2002, and also easily cruising to a record seventh and his final drivers' championship. Rubens Barrichello came in a solid second place, winning two of the last four races. Jenson Button, though failing to win a grand prix, finished third, securing ten podium finishes and one pole position. Along with Japanese team mate Takuma Sato, BAR impressed by finishing second behind Ferrari.

Four of the ten teams were subsidiaries of major car companies (Ferrari, Renault, Jaguar, and Toyota) and one was a division of a tobacco company (BAR). Williams and McLaren, both privately owned teams, had engine-production agreements with major car companies, BMW and Mercedes-Benz respectively, and Honda produced engines for BAR. The final 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 was privately owned, but received Ferrari engines badged under the Petronas name, and also received sponsorship from Petronas.

This season saw the Minardi team score their first points since 2002, where Zsolt Baumgartner finished a lucky 8th at the 2004 United States Grand Prix.

The 2004 Canadian Grand Prix was a very dramatic race. First, Timo Glock replaced Giorgio Pantano in this race, due to personal circumstances for Pantano. Then, Williams and Toyota were excluded from the race due to an irregularity in the brake ducts. That meant the Jordan team was the main beneficiary of the disqualifications, with Nick Heidfeld and Timo Glock scoring points. Especially, Timo Glock scored 2 points on his F1 debut. Then came right before the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix, Giorgio Pantano was dropped by the Jordan team and the Timo Glock replaced him at the last 3 races.

Ralf Schumacher had a tough season. He suffered a massive accident during the 2004 United States Grand Prix and was out of action for 6 races. Marc Gené and Antônio Pizzonia replaced him during his absence.

Jarno Trulli's relationship with the Renault team turned sour after his first victory at the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix. He did not complete the season and left the team after the 2004 Italian Grand Prix, where that race was also Pantano's last race for the Jordan team as well. Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve replaced Jarno Trulli for the final 3 races. He missed 2004 Chinese Grand Prix, but he returned in the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix and 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.

Cristiano da Matta's string of disappointing results during the season led to his replacement by test driver Ricardo Zonta from Hungary onwards except the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix. Da Matta did not race for Toyota again and in 2005 he returned to Champ Car racing claiming that F1 was not competitive enough.

This was Olivier Panis's last season as he decided to retire from the race seat after 2004 Japanese Grand Prix. But he stayed with the Toyota team, as the test driver.

This was Jaguar team's and the engine manufacturer Ford's final season in F1 as they announced that they would pull out of Formula One at the end of the season.

This season saw all teams had scored at least one World Championship point.

From the 2004 season onward, all teams who did not finish in the top four of the previous year's World Constructors Championship were allowed to run a third car on the Friday practice before a grand prix for testing purposes. Other teams have test drivers as well, though they are not allowed to compete in Friday practice. Sauber chose not to run its third driver in practice because of the added expense.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	No	Driver	No	Third driver	Test driver(s)
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F2004	Ferrari 053 3.0 V10	B	1	Michael Schumacher		n/a	Luca Badoer Luciano Burti
					2	Rubens Barrichello
BMW WilliamsF1 Team	Williams	FW26	BMW P84 3.0 V10	M	3	Juan Pablo Montoya		n/a	Antônio Pizzonia Marc Gené
					4	Ralf Schumacher
						Marc Gené1
						Antônio Pizzonia2
West McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-19 MP4-19B	Mercedes FO 110Q 3.0 V10	M	5	David Coulthard		n/a	Alexander Wurz Pedro de la Rosa
					6	Kimi Räikkönen
Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	Renault	R24	Renault RS24 3.0 V10	M	7	Jarno Trulli		n/a	Franck Montagny
						Jacques Villeneuve3
					8	Fernando Alonso
Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR	006	Honda RA004E 3.0 V10	M	9	Jenson Button	35	Anthony Davidson	Anthony Davidson
					10	Takuma Sato
Sauber Petronas	Sauber	C23	Petronas 04A 3.0 V10	B	11	Giancarlo Fisichella		n/a	Neel Jani
					12	Felipe Massa
Jaguar Racing	Jaguar	R5	Cosworth CR-6 3.0 V10	M	14	Mark Webber	37	Björn Wirdheim	Björn Wirdheim
					15	Christian Klien
Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF104 TF104B	Toyota RVX-04 3.0 V10	M	16	Cristiano da Matta4	38	Ricardo Zonta Ryan Briscoe	Ryan Briscoe
						Jarno Trulli5
					16/17	Ricardo Zonta6
					17	Olivier Panis7
Jordan Ford	Jordan	EJ14	Ford RS2 3.0 V10	B	18	Nick Heidfeld	39	Timo Glock Robert Doornbos8	Robert Doornbos
					19	Giorgio Pantano9
						Timo Glock10
Minardi Cosworth	Minardi	PS04B	Cosworth CR-3 3.0 V10	B	20	Gianmaria Bruni	40	Bas Leinders	Bas Leinders Tiago Monteiro
					21	Zsolt Baumgartner

Driver changes

The 2004 season featured several driver line-up changes prior to the season, and more changes during the season proper. Three teams (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 the Italian team as a result of sponsorship problems, and an unwillingness to spend another year competing with other backmarkers in the uncompetitive team, and 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 lineup 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 Montiero was signed from the American Fittipaldi Champ Car team.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Sauber mutually parted company at the end of 2003, and Frentzen 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 up 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, was rewarded for a championship year in the World Series by Nissan with a permanent test drive at Renault, Ryan Briscoe joined Ricardo Zonta as a test driver at Toyota, and Pedro de la Rosa returned to F1 as a test driver for McLaren.

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.

Results and standings

The 2004 Formula One calendar featured two new events, in Bahrain and China, with two newly-built circuits in Sakhir and Shanghai. The only exit is the Austrian Grand Prix, after seven years raced in A1-Ring, the modified circuit old Osterreichring. The grandstands and pit buildings were demolished during this year, rendering the track unusable for any motorsport category. In later 2004 and early 2005, there were intense discussions whether the owner, Red Bull, would find another use for the site or even bring back motor sports. However, as of January 2005, this seems more unlikely than ever, as Dietrich Mateschitz publicly announced that he had no intention to waste money on a deficitary circuit.

Grands Prix

Round	Race	Location	Date	Winning Driver	Constructor	Report
1	Australian Grand Prix	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit	March 7	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
2	Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit	March 21	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
3	Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit	April 4	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
4	San Marino Grand Prix	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari	April 25	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
5	Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya	May 9	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
6	Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco	May 23	Jarno Trulli	Renault	Report
7	European Grand Prix	Nürburgring	May 30	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
8	Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	June 13	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
9	United States Grand Prix	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	June 20	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
10	French Grand Prix	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	July 4	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
11	British Grand Prix	Silverstone	July 11	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
12	German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring	July 25	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
13	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring	August 15	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
14	Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	August 29	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
15	Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	September 12	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	Report
16	Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit	September 26	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	Report
17	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka Circuit	October 10	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
18	Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace	October 24	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	Report

Drivers

Pos Driver AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA CHN JPN BRA Pts 1 M. Schumacher (Ferrari) 1 1 1 1 1 Ret 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 12 1 7 148 2 Barrichello (Ferrari) 2 4 2 6 2 3 2 2 2 3 3 12 2 3 1 1 Ret 3 114 3 Button (B.A.R.) 6 3 3 2 8 2 3 3 Ret 5 4 2 5 Ret 3 2 3 Ret 85 4 Alonso (Renault) 3 7 6 4 4 Ret 5 Ret Ret 2 10 3 3 Ret Ret 4 5 4 59 5 Montoya (Williams) 5 2 13 3 Ret 4 8 DSQ DSQ 8 5 5 4 Ret 5 5 7 1 58 6 Trulli (Renault/Toyota) 7 5 4 5 3 1 4 Ret 4 4 Ret 11 Ret 9 10 11 12 46 7 Räikkönen (McLaren) Ret Ret Ret 8 11 Ret Ret 5 6 7 2 Ret Ret 1 Ret 3 6 2 45 8 Sato (B.A.R.) 9 15 5 16 5 Ret Ret Ret 3 Ret 11 8 6 Ret 4 6 4 6 34 9 R. Schumacher (Williams) 4 Ret 7 7 6 10 Ret DSQ Ret Inj Ret 2 5 24 10 Coulthard (McLaren) 8 6 Ret 12 10 Ret Ret 6 7 6 7 4 9 7 6 9 Ret 11 24 11 Fisichella (Sauber) 10 11 11 9 7 Ret 6 4 9 12 6 9 8 5 8 7 8 9 22 12 Massa (Sauber) Ret 8 12 10 9 5 9 Ret Ret 13 9 13 Ret 4 12 8 9 8 12 13 Webber (Jaguar) Ret Ret 8 13 12 Ret 7 Ret Ret 9 8 6 10 Ret 9 10 Ret Ret 7 14 Panis (Toyota) 13 12 9 11 Ret 8 11 DSQ 5 15 Ret 14 11 8 Ret 14 14 6 15 Pizzonia (Williams) 7 7 Ret 7 6 16 Klien (Jaguar) 11 10 14 14 Ret Ret 12 9 Ret 11 14 10 13 6 13 Ret 12 14 3 17 da Matta (Toyota) 12 9 10 Ret 13 6 Ret DSQ Ret 14 13 Ret 3 18 Heidfeld (Jordan) Ret Ret 15 Ret Ret 7 10 8 Ret 16 15 Ret 12 11 14 13 13 Ret 3 19 Glock (Jordan) 7 15 15 15 2 20 Baumgartner (Minardi) Ret 16 Ret 15 Ret 9 15 10 8 Ret Ret 16 15 Ret 15 16 Ret 16 1 21 Villeneuve (Renault) 11 10 10 0 22 Zonta (Toyota) Ret 10 11 Ret 13 0 23 Gené (Williams) 10 12 0 24 Pantano (Jordan) 14 13 16 Ret Ret Ret 13 Ret 17 Ret 15 Ret Ret Ret 0 25 Bruni (Minardi) NC 14 17 Ret Ret Ret 14 Ret Ret 18 16 17 14 Ret Ret Ret 16 17 0 Pos Driver AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA CHN JPN BRA Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Finished, in points Blue Finished, no points Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate Blank Injured (INJ) Blank Excluded (EX)

Pos	Driver	Constructor(s)	Starts	Wins	Podiums	Poles	F.Laps	Points
1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	18	13	15	8	10	148
2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	18	2	14	4	4	114
3	Jenson Button	BAR Honda	18	0	10	1	0	85
4	Fernando Alonso	Renault	18	0	4	1	0	59
5	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	18	1	3	0	2	58
6	Jarno Trulli	Renault Toyota	17	1	2	2	0	46
7	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	18	1	4	1	2	45
8	Takuma Sato	BAR Honda	18	0	1	0	0	34
9	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	12	0	1	1	0	24
10	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	18	0	0	0	0	24
11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sauber Petronas	18	0	0	0	0	22
12	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	18	0	0	0	0	12
13	Mark Webber	Jaguar Cosworth	18	0	0	0	0	7
14	Olivier Panis	Toyota	17	0	0	0	0	6
15	Antônio Pizzonia	Williams BMW	4	0	0	0	0	6
16	Christian Klien	Jaguar Cosworth	18	0	0	0	0	3
17	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	12	0	0	0	0	3
18	Nick Heidfeld	Jordan Ford	18	0	0	0	0	3
19	Timo Glock	Jordan Ford	4	0	0	0	0	2
20	Zsolt Baumgartner	Minardi Cosworth	18	0	0	0	0	1
21	Jacques Villeneuve	Renault	3	0	0	0	0	0
22	Ricardo Zonta	Toyota	5	0	0	0	0	0
23	Marc Gené	Williams BMW	2	0	0	0	0	0
24	Giorgio Pantano	Jordan Ford	14	0	0	0	0	0
25	Gianmaria Bruni	Minardi Cosworth	18	0	0	0	0	0

Constructors

Pos Constructor Car no. AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA CHN JPN BRA Pts 1 Ferrari 1 1 1 1 1 1 Ret 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 12 1 7 262 2 2 4 2 6 2 3 2 2 2 3 3 12 2 3 1 1 Ret 3 2 BAR 9 6 3 3 2 8 2 3 3 Ret 5 4 2 5 Ret 3 2 3 Ret 119 10 9 15 5 16 5 Ret Ret Ret 3 Ret 11 8 6 Ret 4 6 4 6 3 Renault 7 7 5 4 5 3 1 4 Ret 4 4 Ret 11 Ret 9 10 11 10 10 105 8 3 7 6 4 4 Ret 5 Ret Ret 2 10 3 3 Ret Ret 4 5 4 4 Williams 3 5 2 13 3 Ret 4 8 DSQ DSQ 8 5 5 4 Ret 5 5 7 1 88 4 4 Ret 7 7 6 10 Ret DSQ Ret 10 12 7 7 Ret 7 Ret 2 5 5 McLaren 5 8 6 Ret 12 10 Ret Ret 6 7 6 7 4 9 7 6 9 Ret 11 69 6 Ret Ret Ret 8 11 Ret Ret 5 6 7 2 Ret Ret 1 Ret 3 6 2 6 Sauber 11 10 11 11 9 7 Ret 6 4 9 12 6 9 8 5 8 7 8 9 34 12 Ret 8 12 10 9 5 9 Ret Ret 13 9 13 Ret 4 12 8 9 8 7 Jaguar 14 Ret Ret 8 13 12 Ret 7 Ret Ret 9 8 6 10 Ret 9 10 Ret Ret 10 15 11 10 14 14 Ret Ret 12 9 Ret 11 14 10 13 6 13 Ret 12 14 8 Toyota 16 12 9 10 Ret 13 6 Ret DSQ Ret 14 13 Ret Ret 10 11 Ret 11 12 9 17 13 12 9 11 Ret 8 11 DSQ 5 15 Ret 14 11 8 Ret 14 14 13 9 Jordan 18 Ret Ret 15 Ret Ret 7 10 8 Ret 16 15 Ret 12 11 14 13 13 Ret 5 19 14 13 16 Ret Ret Ret 13 7 Ret 17 Ret 15 Ret Ret Ret 15 15 15 10 Minardi 20 NC 14 17 Ret Ret Ret 14 Ret Ret 18 16 17 14 Ret Ret Ret 16 17 1 21 Ret 16 Ret 15 Ret 9 15 10 8 Ret Ret 16 15 Ret 15 16 Ret 16 Pos Constructor Car no. AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA CHN JPN BRA Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Finished, in points Blue Finished, no points Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate Blank Injured (INJ) Blank Excluded (EX)

Pos	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	Starts	Wins	Podiums	Poles	F.Laps	Points
1	Ferrari	F2004	Ferrari	B	18	15	29	12	14	262
2	BAR	006	Honda	M	18	0	11	1	0	119
3	Renault	R24	Renault	M	18	1	6	3	0	105
4	Williams	FW26	BMW	M	18	1	4	1	2	88
5	McLaren	MP4-19 MP4-19B	Mercedes	M	18	1	4	1	2	69
6	Sauber	C23	Petronas	B	18	0	0	0	0	34
7	Jaguar	R5	Cosworth	M	18	0	0	0	0	10
8	Toyota	TF104 TF104B	Toyota	M	18	0	0	0	0	9
9	Jordan	EJ14	Cosworth	B	18	0	0	0	0	5
10	Minardi	PS04B	Cosworth	B	18	0	0	0	0	1

Notes

• Williams driver Marc Gené replaced Ralf Schumacher, injured at 2004 United States Grand Prix, in France and Great Britain.
• After being unceremoniously dumped from a Jaguar full time drive half way through the previous season, Antônio Pizzonia reverted to his testing role with Williams which he had in 2002. Pizzonia replaced Ralf Schumacher from German to Italy.
• Jacques Villeneuve replaced Trulli at Renault for the final three races in China, Japan and Brazil.
• Cristiano da Matta's string of disappointing results during the season led to his replacement by test driver Ricardo Zonta from Hungary onwards. Da Matta did not race for Toyota again and in 2005 he returned to Champ Car racing claiming that F1 was not competitive enough.
• Jarno Trulli's relationship with Renault, and Team Principal Flavio Briatore in particular, soured markedly after it was made clear that he would not be retained after 2004. After agreeing to terms with Toyota for 2005, Trulli and Renault agreed to part ways after the 2004 Italian Grand Prix and 14 races disputed. This allowed Trulli to drive for Toyota for the final three races of 2004 and Ricardo Zonta therefore found himself demoted to test driver once again.
• Ricardo Zonta replaces Da Matta in Hungary, Belgium, Italy, China and Brazil.
• Toyota driver Olivier Panis indicated during the season that he was not interested in driving full time for Toyota due to personal reasons. He did express interest in working as a test driver and was consequently signed by Toyota on that basis at the end of the season. Panis raced at Sunday with three different team-mates: da Matta from Australia to Germany, Zonta in Hungary and China, and finally Trulli in Japan.
• Robert Doornbos was hired as a replacement test driver for Glock's position at Jordan.
• Jordan driver Giorgio Pantano raced from Australia to Italy. After this race Pantano and Jordan parted ways after poor results and sponsorship problems created issues.
• Timo Glock was contracted to finish the year in the Jordan having already performed testing duties with the team that year. He was a third driver on Friday in Canada and also the race driver on Sunday, replaced Pantano at the last three races.