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The Ferrari F2004 is a championship-winning Formula One racecar, designed by Rory Byrne, Ross Brawn and Aldo Costa for the 2004 Formula One season. Heavily based on the previous season's F2003-GA, the F2004 continued the run of success the team had enjoyed since 1999, winning the team's 6th straight Constructors' Championship and 5th straight Drivers' Championship in 2004. The car was based on the same design principles pioneered in the F2002, honed and modified even further. For instance 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 be kinder to its tyres, a major problem in the F2003-GA. 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 car was as successful as the equally dominant F2002, winning 15 out of 18 races, and scoring 12 pole positions including many lap records which still stand to this day. Michael Schumacher gained a record breaking seventh world championship and Ferrari were clear winners in the constructors' championship. After the 2004 season the car was developed further as a testbed for 2005 and 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. In all, the car scored 272 championship points in its career, but its championship in 2004 also marked the end of Ferrari's Constructors Championship winning streak, beginning with the 1999 Formula One season. The F2004 was used as the basis for the 2008 "Powered by Ferrari" A1 Grand Prix car. |
