Ferrari F2004

Design

The car was based on the same design principles pioneered in the F2002 but taken a step further. The periscope exhausts were smaller and mounted closer to the car's centre line, the rear wing was enlarged and the rear suspension redesigned to reduce tyre wear, a major problem in the F2003-GA, of which the F2004 was based and revised. The engine was designed to last a full weekend in accordance with the FIA's technical regulations for the season. As a result, the gearbox also had to be redesigned to be more resilient. The rear end aerodynamics were improved and the car featured a shorter wheelbase. Launch control and fully-automatic gearboxes were also banned for 2004, meaning the driver had to start using the paddle-shifters, and find the effective bite point and release the clutch manually again. These electronic driver aids had been used by the team for the previous three seasons, starting from the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix. The F2004 debuted with a 1–2 at the 2004 Australian Grand Prix.

Performance

The F2004 was first unveiled on 26 January 2004. On 30 January, the team led by Jean Todt could not believe the results of its test at Fiorano, where Schumacher drove 115 laps and set a record time of 56 seconds. Todt reportedly told Brawn to tell him what was going on because the car was so fast, to which Brawn replied that Todt did not have to worry because it was fully compliant with the regulations. The car was as successful as the equally dominant F2002, winning 15 out of 18 races and scoring 12 pole positions including many lap records. Schumacher won 13 races (including 7 in a row), setting a single-season record (Sebastian Vettel equalled this number with the Red Bull RB9 in ), which lasted until 2022 when Max Verstappen won 15 races with the Red Bull RB18, and gained a record breaking seventh World Championship (since equalled by Lewis Hamilton in ), while Ferrari was a clear winner in the Constructors' Championship. The F2004 was also extremely reliable, retiring from just two races and both of these were via collisions. Schumacher notably won the 2004 French Grand Prix by beating Alonso's Renault R24B after an innovative four stop pit strategy.

After the 2004 season, the car was developed further as a testbed for . A revised version, the F2004M, was used in the first two races. Despite a podium finish in the 2005 Australian Grand Prix, the car was retired to make way for its successor, the F2005, at the 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix. Although Byrne expressed his belief that the F2005 would surpass the F2004 and be the "best ever Ferrari Formula One car", praising Costa, who succeeded him as overseer of design and development, it proved to be a disappointing season, with only a win at the controversial 2005 United States Grand Prix. This was in large part because the FIA, in an attempt to end Ferrari's dominance and provide more competition after the dominant season with the F2004, mandated a rule change banning pit stops and requiring Formula One tyres to last a full race. In all, the F2004 scored 272 championship points in its career (also including the 10 points achieved in the first two races of 2005). Its championship in 2004 marked the end of Ferrari's Constructors' Championship winning streak that began in 1999; this would not be repeated until Mercedes' run in the 2010s and 2020s, when Mercedes equalled and later broke this and other records first set by the F2004. The F2004 was used as the basis for the 2008 "Powered by Ferrari" A1 Grand Prix car.

Livery

The livery was similar to the previous season with numerous retained sponsors including Vodafone and Olympus Corporation. Ferrari used the Marlboro logos, except at the Canadian, French, British, and United States Grands Prix due to anti-tobacco legislation.

Legacy

The F2004 proved to be one of the most dominant and outright fastest cars in Formula One history. In 2014, at the dawn of the turbo-hybrid era, motorsports journalist and Autosport columnist Dieter Rencken cited the F2004 as "the fastest car in F1 history". The F2004 set many new lap records on different type of tracks, including Albert Park, Nürburgring, Gilles Villeneuve, Magny-Cours, Hungaroring, Monza, and Shanghai, and kept the fastest race laps of Albert Park, Monza, and Shanghai even through the and seasons.

As of 2025, the fastest race laps set by the F2004 at the old Albert Park version, Magny-Cours, and Shanghai remain the lap records, and Monza's fastest qualifying and race laps were only beaten by the Mercedes W11 in 2020 and by the McLaren MCL39 in , showing the competitiveness of the F2004 against modern cars some twenty years younger. Schumacher's son Mick drove the car at the 2019 German Grand Prix, honouring 15 years since his father's final world championship. He also drove the car around the track before the start of the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix to celebrate Ferrari's 1000th Grand Prix.

Other

The F2004 was featured in Formula One 04, the official Formula One video game, after Sony Computer Entertainment acquired the exclusive licence, which it had previously shared with Electronic Arts. Alongside the F2007, it was featured in the F1 2017, F1 2018, F1 2019, and F1 2020 games developed under exclusive licence by Codemasters. The F2004 was also featured in Assetto Corsa as part of the Ferrari 70th Anniversary Pack.

In 2026, the F2004 was featured by LEGO in a set including a minifigure of Michael Schumacher.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position, results in italics indicate fastest lap)

• 10 points scored with the F2004M

Influence

A1GP Powered by Ferrari car

| Turbo/NA = naturally-aspirated 600–650 bhp (in PowerBoost mode)

The car was officially revealed in Southern England, and driven for the first time by John Watson in an inaugural event in May 2008. Michelin supplied the tyres for the new car. The car was developed and tested over more than 5600 km at Mugello Circuit, Fiorano Circuit, Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Circuito Guadix, Silverstone Circuit, Donington Park, Circuit Paul Ricard, and Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. Andrea Bertolini was the main test driver, but testing was carried out by Marc Gené, Patrick Friesacher, Jonny Kane, and Danny Watts during the sessions at Silverstone.

On 22 July 2008, information regarding the then-new "Powered by Ferrari" A1GP car was revealed. On 2–3 August 2008, the first press and public presentation of this car was held on the TT Circuit Assen with former A1 Team Netherlands driver Renger van der Zande. Two weeks later, the car was presented in Rotterdam during the Bavaria City Racing Festival. The A1 Team Netherlands car was driven by Carlo van Dam.

Pre-season tests of the new "Powered by Ferrari" car took place on consecutive weekends in September at Donington Park, Mugello, and Snetterton. It was only used for the 2008–2009 season as the series was cancelled for the next season. Each car is equipped with a unique PowerBoost system, a mechanism to provide short bursts of increased power to create additional overtaking opportunities and action throughout the race. By changing the engine's parameters, the system can give the driver additional power over a limited time during each race to take the car from the base 540 bhp to its maximum power of 600 bhp. The PowerBoost is driver-activated by a button mounted on the steering wheel. While the number of PowerBoost uses remain unchanged from Zytek era (4 times in Sprint races and 8 times in Feature races), a new rule for the season allowed drivers to use it for the entirety of a single lap during qualifying sessions.

|File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - Germany.jpg|Team Germany car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - Switzerland.jpg|Team Switzerland car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - Indonesia.jpg|Team Indonesia car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - Portugal.jpg|Team Portugal car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - Australia.jpg|Team Australia car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - Mexico.jpg|Team Mexico car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - New Zealand 2.jpg|Team New Zealand car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - Brazil.jpg|Team Brazil car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - India.jpg|Team India car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - The Netherlands.jpg|Team The Netherlands car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - Great Britain.jpg|Team Great Britain car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - South Africa.jpg|Team South Africa car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - Portugal 2.jpg|Team Portugal car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - China.jpg|Team China car |File:A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - Team United States.jpg|Team United States car |File:A1-Mon-Kyalami-01.jpg|Team Monaco car |File:Fairuz Fauzy A1GP.jpg|Team Malaysia car |File:Adam Carroll A1GP.jpg|Team Ireland car

References

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