2004 Formula One Season

The 2004 Formula One season was the 55th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship, which was contested over an eighteen event series which ran from 7 March to 24 October 2004. The championship was dominated by Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro with the German driver winning the Drivers Championship for the fifth consecutive year and the Italian constructor winning the Constructors Championship for the sixth straight season. Also notable were the success of BAR and Renault, and the relatively poor performance of Williams and McLaren.

Michael Schumacher won 12 of the first 13 races and eventually scored 13 race victories, breaking his own record of 11 race wins in a season, set in 2002. He also won a record seventh Drivers' Championship with his teammate Rubens Barrichello winning two of the last four races and finishing second in the title. Jenson Button, though failing to win a grand prix, secured ten podium finishes and one pole position to finish third in the Drivers Championship. Along with Japanese team mate Takuma Sato, Button delivered BAR an impressive second place in the Constructors Championship behind Ferrari.

Four of the ten teams, Ferrari, Renault, Jaguar, and Toyota, were subsidiaries of major car companies and one, BAR, was a division of a tobacco company. Williams and McLaren, both privately owned teams, had engine supply agreements with major car companies, 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 also received sponsorship from the Malaysian oil and gas company.

This season saw the Minardi team score their first points since 2002, with Zsolt Baumgartner finishing 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 both scoring points, Glock in his debut Formula One race. Immediately before the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix, Giorgio Pantano was dropped by the Jordan team and Timo Glock replaced him for the last 3 races.

Ralf Schumacher had a difficult 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 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 3 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.

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. However he stayed with the Toyota team, as the test driver.

2004 was the final season for Jaguar Racing and engine manufacturer Ford, as they both withdrew from Formula One at the end of the year.

This season saw all ten teams score at least one World Championship point.

From the 2004 season onward, all teams which had not finished in the top four in the previous year's Constructors Championship were allowed to run a third car in the Friday practice session before each grand prix, for testing purposes. Other teams were also permitted to have test drivers, although they were not allowed to compete in Friday practice. Sauber chose not to run its third driver in these sessions because of the added expense.