2004 Formula One World Championship (Alt)

This is a fictional account of an alternative version of the 2004 F1 season. For the real 2004 season, see the 2004 Formula One World Championship

The **2004 FIA Formula One World Championship** was the 58th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It was the 55th FIA Formula One World Championship, and was contested over eighteen races from 7 March to 24 October 2004.

## 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.

### Driver changes

**Takuma Sato -> BAR.** 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.

Nick Heidfeld was 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 Arrows team, replacing Frentzen. 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 Canadian Grand Prix. Pantano left Jordan after the Italian Grand Prix, with Glock replacing him again for the remainder of the season.
* After Ralf Schumacher was injured during the United States Grand Prix, Marc Gené replaced him at the French and British Grands Prix. Antônio Pizzonia then replaced him from the German Grand Prix to the Italian Grand Prix. Schumacher returned for the Chinese Grand Prix.
* Cristiano da Matta was replaced by test driver Ricardo Zonta from the Hungarian Grand Prix onward. Zonta was dropped by Toyota for the Japanese Grand Prix before replacing Olivier Panis at the Brazilian Grand Prix, who stepped down from his race seat and retired from the sport.
* 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.

## Rule changes

From the 2004 season onward, all the teams that did not finish 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. While other teams were permitted to have test drivers, they were not allowed to compete in the Friday practice. Sauber chose not to run its third driver in these sessions because of the added expense.

The 2004 season also saw a change in technical regulations, including the banning of two electronic driver aid systems, namely fully-automatic gearboxes and launch control, both of which had been used for the past three seasons, marking the first time since the beginning of 2001 (pre-Spanish Grand Prix) that cars competed without using these systems. However, the use of traction control was still permitted by the FIA, and continued to be allowed for use over the next three seasons, until it was officially banned for the 2008 season.

## 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.

## Results and standings

### Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top eight classified finishers.