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.
The championship was dominated by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, with Schumacher winning
the Drivers' Championship for the seventh and last 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 2002. He also broke the record for most consecutive
World Drivers' titles (5) and Ferrari broke the record for most consecutive Constructors' titles (6).

Driver changes[edit]
 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[edit]
  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.
Team changes[edit]
 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 continued to
compete under the Red Bull Racing name in 2005.