2004 Season

Driver changes

At BAR, Takuma Sato takes the permanent second race seat alongside Jenson Button following Jacques Villeneuve’s mid-2003 departure; Anthony Davidson becomes the team’s permanent test driver, replacing Sato. Minardi begins the season with an entirely new driver lineup: Nicolas Kiesa is released, Jos Verstappen has departed following sponsorship problems and an unwillingness to compete with backmarkers again, and Gianmaria Bruni and Zsolt Baumgartner are signed as full-time race drivers. Baumgartner’s place was confirmed after the Hungarian government provided sponsorship; Bas Leinders and Tiago Monteiro join as test drivers.

At Sauber, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Nick Heidfeld have both departed — Frentzen joins Mika Häkkinen and Jean Alesi in the DTM. Giancarlo Fisichella joins Sauber from Jordan, and Felipe Massa returns to the team after his stint as a Ferrari test driver, bringing considerable knowledge of Ferrari components with him. Nick Heidfeld moves from Sauber to Jordan, meaning Heidfeld and Fisichella effectively swap seats. At Jaguar, Justin Wilson is released in favour of Christian Klien, who partners Mark Webber in the R5; Wilson joins Mi-Jack Conquest Racing in Champ Car. Björn Wirdheim joins as Jaguar’s Friday test driver.

Several teams use the expanded Friday practice allowance for additional drivers: Franck Montagny takes a permanent test role at Renault following a championship year in the World Series by Nissan; Ryan Briscoe joins Ricardo Zonta as test driver at Toyota; and Pedro de la Rosa returns to Formula One as a McLaren test driver.

Calendar

The 2004 calendar grows to 18 races and introduces two new venues: the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sakhir circuit — Formula One’s first visit to the Arab world since the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix — and the Chinese Grand Prix at the new Shanghai International Circuit. These additions make 2004 the most internationally spread calendar to that point, with eight Grands Prix held outside Europe.

The Austrian Grand Prix is dropped after seven years at the A1-Ring; the circuit’s grandstands and pit buildings are being demolished this year, rendering it unavailable for motorsport. The Brazilian Grand Prix moves from its traditional early-season slot to become the season finale. The United States Grand Prix moves from late September to late June, forming a back-to-back North American doubleheader with the Canadian Grand Prix.

Regulation changes

Teams that finished outside the top four in the 2003 Constructors’ Championship may enter a third car in Friday free practice for testing purposes. The session is open to Jordan, Sauber, Jaguar, Minardi, and Toyota; Sauber has chosen not to use the allowance due to the added expense.

Qualifying moves entirely to Saturday and is split into two sessions. In the first, each driver completes one fast lap, starting in the order they finished the previous race. The result determines the running order for the second session, which takes place immediately after in reverse order; session two sets the final grid. The Sunday morning warm-up is abolished.

Two driver aids are banned for 2004: fully automatic gearboxes and launch control, both permitted since 2001. Traction control remains legal. A new engine-life rule requires each power unit to last the full race weekend; replacing an engine incurs a ten-place grid penalty. The pit lane speed limit rises from 80 km/h to 100 km/h.