The Iceman Waiteth

This is my (Backmarker's) timeline in which I try and describe how Formula One might have looked had Enrique Bernoldi got the Sauber drive for 2001, instead of Kimi Räikkönen.

Driver changes for the 2003 season
At the top three teams there were no changes in their driver line-ups, though after a disappointing season, David Coulthard was supposedly on his last chance at McLaren. At Renault, Jenson Button was dropped to make room for Fernando Alonso, who had spent 2002 testing for the French team. As a result, Button moved to BAR, to team up with David Richards, who was a fan of the young British driver. Button's team-mate had been expected to be Jacques Villeneuve, but the Canadian instead signed a deal to drive in CART in 2003, citing disillusionment with Formula One. His seat was filled by the Honda-backed Takuma Sato, who had been destined to spend the year testing. At Jordan Giancarlo Fisichella was joined by Felipe Massa, whose Petrobras and Ford do Brasil money helped him secure the seat. Eddie Irvine was effectively forced out at Jaguar, and replaced by Australian Mark Webber, who had impressed in his debut year. Minardi had an all-new line-up in Justin Wilson and Jos Verstappen, while Toyota also dropped both their drivers, hiring Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta in their stead. Allan McNish became a test driver at Renault, while Mika Salo would crop up in endurance racing.

Australia
Like at the previous two Australian grands prix, Michael Schumacher was on pole for the season opener, with Nick Heidfeld second. In the new BAR Jenson Button was an impressive fifth. Cristiano da Matta had a less impressive debut, qualifying his Toyota nineteenth.

The race was won convincingly by Michael Schumacher, with Rubens Barrichello managing to pass and hold off Nick Heidfeld to take second place. It was a difficult start to the season for Williams, with both Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher suffering engine failures. Jenson Button managed to gain a place, and finished fourth. Also, there were debut points for Felipe Massa, who finished fifth. This was the first race in which points were awarded down to eighth, with Giancarlo Fisichella taking the final point-scoring position.

Malaysia
At Sepang the advantage was with the Michelin-shod cars, with Nick Heidfeld taking pole, just thousandths of a second ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya. Michael Schumacher seemingly suffered problems, and was only able to qualify tenth.

A blistering start saw Nick Heidfeld set himself up to take the win, finishing ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya. Rubens Barrichello was the best-placed Ferrari in third, with Michael Schumacher only able to drag himself up to sixth. Olivier Panis secured Toyota's first points as a constructor, finishing eighth.

Brazil
The top three positions for the Brazilian Grand Prix were exactly the same as they had been at Sepang: Nick Heidfeld first, Juan Pablo Montoya second, and David Coulthard third. Rubens Barrichello was down in eighth, behind Jenson Button and Heinz-Harald Frentzen. With the Bridgestone tyres not being the best at Interlagos, Kimi Räikkönen had a disappointing qualifying session and found himself in eighteenth.

Rain played havoc during the race, with Nick Heidfeld and Ralf Schumacher both spinning out of the lead. When it rains, it's never wise to bet against Michael Schumacher, and the world champion cam home first, ahead of Rubens Barrichello. Juan Pablo Montoya was able to take third ahead of David Coulthard. There were more points for Felipe Massa, who was fifth, and Mark Webber scored his first points for Jaguar, finishing sixth.

San Marino
In qualifying the Ferraris were separated by David Coulthard, with Michael Schumacher taking pole. Ralf Schumacher was only able to qualify seventh, behind Jenson Button. Jos Verstappen's return to the Formula One grid continued in poor fashion, with the Dutchman last on the grid for the third race in a row.

Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello started well, and at one stage looked set to take a one-two victory for Ferrari. The pit-stops, however, saw David Coulthard emerge in second, and he proceeded to catch and then pass Michael Schumacher in stunning fashion just laps before the end. Nick Heidfeld came home fourth, with Jenson Button fifth. Fernando Alonso scored his first point in Formula One, finishing eighth.

Spain
Nick Heidfeld was on pole for the third time in 2003, with Rubens Barrichello second. Jenson Button qualified third, ahead of Michael Schumacher. Takuma Sato also qualified well, and would start from fifth. Williams had a poor qualifying session, only able to secure eighth and ninth on the grid.

Nick Heidfeld's hopes for a win were undone by the gearbox in his McLaren failing, with David Coulthard suffering the exact same complaint. Rubens Barrichello took the win, with Jenson Button third. Jarno Trulli produced a stunning drive from thirteenth on the grid to take second place, and could have taken the win if the race had lasted another five laps. Michael Schumacher was fourth, while Takuma Sato finished fifth.

Austria
There was another pole for McLaren at the A1-Ring, but this time it was David Coulthard, with his team-mate Nick Heidfeld alongside him on the front row. Juan Pablo Montoya was fourth, with Michael Schumacher fifth.

A clash with Ralf Schumacher put David Coulthard out of the race, leaving the Scot frustrated yet again, and visibly angry with Schumacher. The shock of the race was Jenson Button, who, with a combination of luck and good pit strategy, managed to come from ninth on the grid to win the race. He was joined on the podium by Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Räikkönen, who also had a good race. Michael Schumacher finished fifth, after Rubens Barrichello moved aside to let the German through from sixth place.

Monaco
At the scene of his first victory in Formula One Nick Heidfeld took pole, with team-mate David Coulthard second. An excellent qualifying session saw Heinz-Harald Frentzen qualify third ahead of Michael Schumacher, with team-mate Mark Webber in an impressive fifth. Juan-Pablo Montoya had a less enjoyable time qualifying, and would start from twelfth.

What emerged was a race long battle between Michael Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld, eventually resulting in a victory for the McLaren driver. Having started thirteenth, there was only hope within the Jordan garage that Giancarlo Fisichella would score points, yet the Italian stormed to third. Heinz-Harald Frentzen also had an impressive race, finishing fourth.

Canada
At the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Nick Heidfeld gained his fifth pole position of the season, with Michael Schumacher third behind Rubens Barrichello. Jenson Button was seventh, but David Coulthard was unable to match his team-mate's qualifying performance and was in twelfth. Enrique Bernoldi was the driver keeping the Minardis off the back of the grid.

Nick Heidfeld might have won, but a collision with Fernando Alonso when exiting the pits put the pair out of the race. As a result Michael Schumacher was able to take the win without trouble. Ralf Schumacher had his best result of the year, finishing second, ahead of Rubens Barrichello. From twelfth David Coulthard was able to come through to take fifth.

Europe
McLaren's run of pole positions continued, with David Coulthard taking pole this time, with Nick Heidfeld fourth, behind Michael Schumacher. The surprise of qualifying was that Heinz-Harald Frentzen managed to qualify second, far ahead of his team-mate who was only tenth.

David Coulthard led from start to finish in order to take the win, with Michael Schumacher finishing second. Having started second, Heinz-Harald Frentzen also finished on the podium, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella. Nick Heidfeld managed to get points, but sixth would not have been what he had wanted, given his title dream.

France
Nick Heidfeld was once again on pole, lining up ahead of team-mate David Coulthard. Michael Schumacher had a disappointing session, qualifying fifth behind Juan Pablo Montoya and Mark Webber. Fernando Alonso had a good qualifying session, and would start from sixth on the grid.

Stunningly, Fernando Alonso produced a fantastic drive to take the race win, leading home Mark Webber. Michael Schumacher completed the podium in third. Nick Heidfeld was disappointed that he could only translate pole into fourth, but he had a better race than David Coulthard, who failed to finish.

Great Britain
The British Grand Prix weekend started most promisingly for McLaren, the team being able to take first and second on the grid, with Nick Heidfeld pipping David Coulthard to pole. Michael Schumacher was positioned just behind them on the grid, ahead off his younger brother. There was good reason for Takuma Sato to be hopeful of a point-scoring weekend, as the Japanese driver out-qualified his team-mate Jenson Button, starting from eighth.

At the start David Coulthard and Nick Heidfeld both got good starts, with the pair going wheel-to-wheel into turn 1, with Coulthard eventually having to back off to avoid crashing into his team-mate. The pair were untouchable all race, and the win could have gone either way. Coulthard finished his pit-stops first, and while Heidfeld left the pits just ahead of the Scot, Heidfeld's fuel-laden car made easy prey for Coulthard's McLaren. Heidfeld was noticeably disgruntled after the race that McLaren allowed Coulthard to pass him. Third for Michael Schumacher was probably as good as he could have hoped for given the quality that McLaren demonstrated, finishing ahead of Rubens Barrichello. Takuma Sato did score points, finishing sixth, close behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen who was fifth.

Germany
In front of his home crowd Michael Schumacher emerged from qualifying as the fastest driver, mere thousandths of a second ahead of Nick Heidfeld. Rubens Barrichello was only fifth, behind both McLarens and Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams.

The race was won by Michael Schumacher, who always had just enough to keep Nick Heidfeld behind him. Finishing third meant that David Coulthard was now out of the title race, with only Heidfeld and Rubens Barrichello able to prevent Michael Schumacher from securing a record sixth drivers' championship.

Hungary
Coming into the race Michael Schumacher knew that out-scoring his rivals by six points or more would secure him the title. Qualifying, however, did not show much promise for the world champion, as he was fourth, behind the German trio of Nick Heidfeld, Ralf Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Rubens Barrichello, however, faced a fight to keep his title hopes alive, as the Brazilian would start from twelfth on the grid.

Nick Heidfeld seemed almost asleep off the line, with Ralf Schumacher leaping past the McLaren, which was left fighting Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Before the race was over, Frentzen had passed Heidfeld, who once again failed to convert pole position into a victory, having to make do with a podium finish. One consolation was that he was able to keep Michael Schumacher behind him, to keep the title race alive going into the Italian Grand Prix; also, as Rubens Barrichello was only able to finish eleventh, Heidfeld further tightened his hold on second in the drivers' championship.

Italy
If Michael Schumacher wanted to secure the drivers' championship in front of the Tifosi all he needed to do was ensure that Nick Heidfeld didn't outscore him by four or more points. While 'Quick Nick' managed to make it onto pole, Michael Schumacher was third, behind Juan Pablo Montoya.

For the first time since Monaco, Nick Heidfeld was able to convert pole to victory. There were nail biting moments at the end of the race, however, as Michael Schumacher inexorably closed in on third-placed Giancarlo Fisichella. While it looked like Schumacher would pass the Italian, Schumacher ended up locking his brakes and running wide, allowing Fisichella to finish third, and keeping the title race mathematically alive.

USA
In qualifying at Indianapolis it was Rubens Barrichello who triumphed, taking his first pole of the season, with Michael Schumacher second. Nick Heidfeld was third, just ahead of the surprise package Takuma Sato.

Midway through the race Rubens Barrichello pulled aside to let Michael Schumacher take the lead. It may well have stayed that way, but when Nick Heidfeld retired with an engine failure, Schumacher knew that he was world champion, and so pulled aside to let his team-mate take the win. David Coulthard was third, while Takuma Sato converted his fourth place in qualifying into sixth in the race.

Japan
For the tenth time in a disappointing season, Nick Heidfeld was on pole, with team-mate David Coulthard alongside him. Michael Schumacher would start from third, with Juan Pablo Montoya fourth.

A dull race saw the top three finish the race exactly as they had started, with Nick Heidfeld first, David Coulthard second, and Michael Schumacher third. Jenson Button came from seventh on the grid to take fourth, while team-mate Takuma Sato agonisingly missed out on taking his ninth points finish in a row when his car ailed on the last lap, with Juan Pablo Montoya able to catch and pass the Japanese driver for eighth place.

Other Series
In International Formula 3000 Björn Wirdheim handily won over Giorgio Pantano.

British Formula Three saw a close title race, with Alan van der Merwe only just losing out to Nelsinho Piquet, son of the three-time Formula One world champion.

Franck Montagny regained his 2003 World Series by Nissan title, with Heikki Kovalainen second.

In American open-wheelers, Michel Jourdain, Jr. was the surprise winner for Team Rahal. Returnee Jacques Villeneuve had a disappointing year and finished fifteenth overall. Scott Dixon was champion in the IndyCar Series, with second-placed Gil de Ferran winning the Indy 500.

Driver changes for the 2004 season
Once again, the top teams kept their driver line-ups from the previous season. The biggest news was probably Heinz-Harald Frentzen's retirement from Formula One, the German driver opting to join DTM. His replacement at Jaguar was Finnish driver Kimi Räikkönen, who had impressed in his first season of Formula One before having a disappointing 2004 season. At Sauber Enrique Bernoldi was retained thanks to his experience, while Red Bull, now a major shareholder in Sauber, exerted their influence to get Patrick Friesacher into the second seat. The only other team to make changes was Minardi, which dropped both Jos Verstappen and Justin Wilson, hiring rich Italian drivers Giorgio Pantano and Gianmaria Bruni in their place.

Australia
For the first time since 2000, Michael Schumacher was not on pole at the Australian Grand Prix, with his brother succeeding in taking pole instead. Juan Pablo Montoya was second, with Michael Schumacher best of the non-Williams drivers in third. David Coulthard was fourth, while Nick Heidfeld was a disappointing eighth. In his first race for Jaguar, Kimi Räikkönen would start from sixth. The Minardis also qualified well, with Gianmaria Bruni and Giorgio Pantano starting from fourteenth and fifteenth respectively.

At the start Michael Schumacher got the jump on the Williams, going from third to first within the first two turns. As he pulled away, the Wiliams cars subsequently coming under pressure from Rubens Barrichello. After the pit stops Gincarlo Fisichella was running third, and when an electrical failure took Juan Pablo Montoya out of the race, the Jordan driver inherited second. David Coulthard finished third, while Ralf Schumacher was fifth. There were debut points for both Patrick Friesacher and Giorgio Pantano, who finished seventh and eighth.

Malaysia
In Malaysia it seemed as though normal order had been resumed, as Michael Schumacher qualified on pole. The German was joined on the front row of the grid by Rubens Barrichello, with the McLarens of Nick Heidfeld and David Coulthard lining up one row behind the Ferraris. Felipe Massa was an impressive fifth on the grid, ahead of Ralf Schumacher. Juan Pablo Montoya seemingly did not have the right set up in qualifying, and was down in eleventh.

The race would may well have been a one-two finish for Ferrari, had separate incidents not seen them retire. With light rain falling at the start, Michael Schumacher momentarily lost control of his car, taking his back end into the front end of Nick Heidfeld's car, irreparably damaging his suspension and forcing Heidfeld to stop to change his nose. Rubens Barrichello, meanwhile, was undone by an uncharacteristic engine failure in his Ferrari. The incident with Michael Schumacher earlier in the race may have affected Heidfeld more than was first apparent, as forty laps in his McLaren came to a halt. The race was won by Ralf Schumacher, with Jenson Button taking second, and Juan Pablo Montoya third. Kimi Räikkönen scored his first points for Jaguar in fourth, and Cristiano da Matta scored his first ever point, finishing eighth, behind team-mate Olivier Panis.

Bahrain
For the first time, Formula One came to Bahrain, with one change being made to the grid from the previous race. Illness forced Giancarlo Fisichella to sit out the grand prix, being replaced by Zsolt Baumgartner, who would become the first Hungarian to compete in a grand prix. Juan Pablo Montoya was fastest in qualifying, with Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher second and third respectively. Felipe Massa was impressive, putting his Jordan fourth on the grid, ahead of Ralf Schumacher. In his first ever race, Zsolt Baumgartner also had a decent session, and would start ninth.

The Sakhir circuit did not produce a classic first race, with the grand prix tending to be processional. Juan Pablo Montoya finished as he started, in first, with Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello swapping positions to finish second and third respectively. Felipe Massa converted fourth on the grid into a fourth place finish, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen's Jaguar. Nick Heidfeld scored his first points of the season, finishing sixth. Zsolt Baumgartner's first grand prix was by no means a disgrace, and the Hungarian finished outside the points in tenth.

San Marino
After very average performances in the first three races of the season, there was relief for McLaren when the team returned to the top when Formula One returned to Europe, with Nick Heidfeld on pole and David Coulthard second. The Williams of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya were on the second row, while Michael Schumacher was back in sixth behind Jenson Button.

In a race with plenty of fighting among the top positions, Nick Heidfeld emerged victorious, taking his first win of the season. Juan Pablo Montoya was second, taking him to the top of the drivers' championship standings, while Jenson Button was third. Michael Schumacher had to settle for fourth, ahead of David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello who were fifth and sixth respectively.

Spain
There was déjà vu in Spain, with Nick Heidfeld on pole and David Coulthard second. The Williams were once again on the second row of the grid, though this time the order was reversed, with Juan Pablo Montoya third and Ralf Schumacher fourth. Takuma Sato had a good qualifying session, and would start the grand prix from fifth, ahead of his team-mate Jenson Button. Michael Schumacher would start from seventh, while team-mate Rubens Barrichello was down in eleventh.

In the race, Nick Heidfeld led pretty much from start to finish to take a second consecutive win. Juan Pablo Montoya's retirement saw Ralf Schumacher come through to take second, with David Coulthard finishing third. Michael Schumacher suffered a retirement, with sixth place for Rubens Barrichello bringing Ferrari their only points of the weekend. Takuma Sato finished fifth, behind team-mate Jenson Button who was fourth.

Monaco
At Formula One's prestige event, Ralf Schumacher took a surprise pole, just pipping Juan Pablo Montoya to first on the grid. Nick Heidfeld would start from third, ahead of Rubens Barrichello. Michael Schumacher's poor European campain continued, qualifying only seventh for the grand prix.

Things went from bad to worse for the reigning world champion when he collided with David Coulthard on the second lap when trying to execute a pass on the Scot. There were shades of Spa 1998 when the two squared up to each other on the side of the track, continuing the argument all the way back to the pits. The race itself was largely decided on pit strategy, and McLaren got their's right, with Nick Heidfeld taking yet another win. Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya were second and third respectively. Renault scored their first point of the season when Fernando Alonso finished in eighth place.

Europe
At the Nürburgring the Ferraris seemed to have the best pace, but i was Juan Pablo Montoya who managed to put the best lap together to take pole position. The Colombian driver was nearly half a second faster than Michael Schumacher, with Rubens Barrichello third. Ralf Schumacher was fourth, ahead of the McLarens of Nick Heidfeld and David Coulthard. Takuma Sato was the best of the rest in seventh, three positions ahead of team-mate Jenson Button.

When the lights went out at the start of the grand prix, Juan Pablo Montoya and Michael Schumacher shot away from the rest of the grid, and had quite the battle between them, with Schumacher ahead after the first stops, and Montoya ahead after the second. While pushing for the win, Michael Schumacher's engine gave out, and the German retired. Rubens Barrichello thus inherited second, with a very impressive third for Takuma Sato. There were also retirements from Nick Heidfeld and Ralf Schumacher. Kimi Räikkönen was fifth, and there was a further point for Patrick Friesacher, who was eighth.

Canada
McLaren returned to the front of the grid at Canada, with Nick Heidfeld qualifying first and David Coulthard second. Jenson Button was third, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya who took fourth. Yet again Ferrari had a torrid time of qualification, with Rubens Barrichello sixth and Michael Schumacher eighth.

Nick Heidfeld's race lasted only a few laps before he fell victim to the 'Wall of Champions'. David Coulthard thus inherited the lead, and subsequently the win. Juan Pablo Montoya was able to take second, while Jenson Button finished third. Michael Schumacher improved to finish fourth, ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello who was fifth. There were points for Renault as Fernando Alonso took sixth.

USA
At Indianapolis Ferrari were relieved that they returned to the sharp end of the grid in qualifying, with Michael Schumacher only just being out-qualified by Rubens Barrichello. Juan Pablo Montoya ensured that he kept the pressure on the Ferraris though, as the Colombian driver qualified third. Nick Heidfeld was only able to manage seventh, behind Jenson Button's BAR.

Off the grid Michael Schumacher passed Rubens Barrichello to lead into turn one. Barrichello's job then became to hold off Juan Pablo Montoya while Michael Schumacher built up his lead. Had it not been for a puncture laps before the end, Barrichello might have finished second, but instead Montoya brought his Williams home for second place, with Jenson Button third. There was yet another retirement for Nick Heidfeld, but David Coulthard was able to manage a fifth place finish, behind the Jordan of Giancarlo Fisichella. After an appalling run of seven retirements, Mark Webber finished a race for only the second time, taking sixth place.

France
Toyota announced that at the French Grand Prix Cristiano da Matta would not race, as the Brazilian driver was suffering from a cold, though many were suspicious that his lack of results had seen him dropped by the team. His replacement, for this race at least, was to be Ricardo Zonta.

Qualifying was a duel between the Williams and the McLarens, with Juan Pablo Montoya emerging with pole, Nick Heidfeld second, and Ralf Schumacher third. Michael Schumacher was fourth, ahead of David Coulthard, while Rubens Barrichello was seventh, behind Takuma Sato. Ricardo Zonta did not embarrass himself by any measure, outqualifying his team-mate Olivier Panis.

An electrical issue saw Juan Pablo Montoya retire from the race, and as a result it was Nick Heidfeld who took the win, and his first finish since winning the Monaco Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher finished second, cutting Juan Pablo Montoya's lead in the drivers' championship to ten points. Ralf Schumacher completed the podium, finishing third. There was a surprise point for Ricardo Zonta, who finished eighth in his first grand prix for Toyota.

Great Britain
Despite the rumours, Cristiano da Matta was back in the Toyota in Great Britain, and promptly qualified last on the grid. Pole was taken by Juan Pablo Montoya, with a surprising second place for David Coulthard. Nick Heidfeld was third, ahead of Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher, who were fourth and fifth respectively.

While Juan Pablo Montoya started well enough, it was McLaren who made best use of the pit-stops and emerged ahead of the Williams. Nick Heidfeld was catching David Coulthard, and looked set to pass before his Mercedes engine blew, ending his race. Juan Pablo Montoya thus took second, with Michael Schumacher a close third. Cristiano da Matta's race did not even last ten laps, as the Brazilian span off.

Germany
Back in Germany for the second time in 2004, and once again it was a Williams on pole, though this time it was Ralf Schumacher at his home grand prix, ahead of fellow German Nick Heidfeld. Championship leader Juan Pablo Montoya would start third, with David Coulthard fourth ahead of Michael Schumacher. For the second race running Cristiano da Matta was last in qualifying.

Ralf Schumacher started poorly, and was passed off the grid by Nick Heidfeld and Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya then proceeded to catch and pass Heidfeld, putting the Colombian in charge of the race. After the leaders had pitted, Rubens Barrichello managed to work his way into contention for a podium finish, and the Brazilian would ultimately finish second, splitting the Williams with Montoya taking the win. Nick Heidfeld finished fourth, only his second finish in a race which he did not win in 2004, while Michael Schumacher was only able to finish sixth, having to make an unscheduled stop thanks to a puncture on his front right tyre.

Hungary
There were two driver changes before the Hungarian Grand Prix. Unsurprisingly, Cristiano da Matta's Formula One career was brought to an end, his replacement being Ricardo Zonta, who had done well in his previous outing for the team in France. Giorgio Pantano also brought his season to an end, unable to afford to keep driving for Minardi. In his place Minardi gave a seat to test driver and World Series by Nissan front-runner, Tiago Monteiro.

Michael Schumacher was on pole, with a good qualifying session for Ferrari which saw Rubens Barrichello qualify second. Juan Pablo Montoya kept the pressure on the Ferraris by qualifying third, just ahead of team-mate Ralf Schumacher. Nick Heidfeld was sixth, and Felipe Massa was an impressive seventh. Ricardo Zonta was out-qualified by his team-mate, but still a respectable fifteenth, while Tiago Monteiro occupied the back row of the grid, qualifying nineteenth and only kept off the back of the grid by Enrique Bernoldi, who suffered a problem during qualifying.

Michael Schumacher made victory at the Hungaroring look easy, and with it cut Juan Pablo Montoya's championship lead, the Colombian only able to finish fifth. Nick Heidfeld was second, with Ralf Schumacher the best of the Williams in third. Felipe Massa was a very impressive fourth. Both Ricardo Zonta and Tiago Monteiro finished the race, with Zonta eleventh and Monteiro thirteenth.

Belgium
At Spa-Francochamps Nick Heidfeld was fastest in qualifying, trailed closely by Juan Pablo Montoya. David Coulthard was third, ahead of Takuma Sato's BAR. Michael Schumacher was down in eighth, and looked set to struggle. For the second in 2004, Ricardo Zonta out-qualified his team-mate, while Tiago Monteiro out-qualified Gianmaria Bruni for the first time.

Nick Heidfeld's race was cut short by a fuel-pump issue that saw the German retire, giving Juan Pablo Montoya the win. Ralf Schumacher was second, with the race being Williams' first one-two finish since the Italian Grand Prix in 2002. Jenson Button completed the podium, finishing ahead of fellow Brit David Coulthard. Michael Schumacher was only able to finish eighth, and the German's chances of retaining his world championship were seemingly disappearing before his eyes.

Italy
At Monza the tifosi were relatively subdued, though there spirits were raised by the brilliant qualifying performance of Michael Schumacher, who took pole with over half a second over Juan Pablo Montoya. Ralf Schumacher was third, with Rubens Barrichello one place behind. Giancarlo Fisichella was sixth, while Nick Heidfeld was only able to qualify ninth in his McLaren.

What should have been a race victory for a peerless Michael Schumacher in front of a jubilant home crowd, instead turned into an embarrassment for Ferrari. A fuel pump problem cost the German driver valuable time, and while trying to cut through the field Schumacher collided with an over-bold Felipe Massa. With his main rival out of the race, Juan Pablo Montoya coasted home to victory, and a near-unassailable lead in the championship, with only Ralf Schumacher mathematically able to pass him. Ralf Schumacher's title hopes were not helped by the fact that he was only able to finish third, having lost second to the impressive Giancarlo Fisichella.

China
Another new market was introduced to the Formula One calendar in 2004, China. At the Shanghai International Circuit Michael Schumacher took pole, with Juan Pablo Montoya second, knowing that two points would secure him the title. Ralf Schumacher, the only other title hopeful, was fourth on the grid, behind Nick Heidfeld.

Michael Schumacher took a stunning win, leading start-to-finish. The German driver was left ruing that the Ferrari had not been reliable enough to let him perform like that every race, and put up a stronger title defence. Predictably, Juan Pablo Montoya took second, and with it the title, being congratulated on the podium by Michael Schumacher. Third was Rubens Barrichello. Ralf Schumacher's title bid only lasted as long as his BMW engine, forcing him to retire on lap thirty-four.

Japan
At Suzuka it was Ralf Schumacher who qualified on pole, with his team-mate, and newly crowned world champion, Juan Pablo Montoya second. In front of an enthusiastic home crowd Takuma Sato was third, with Brits David Coulthard and Jenson Button behind him in fourth and fifth respectively. Michael Schumacher was only eighth, and would start behind his own team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

Ralf Schumacher won the race in style, and with his brother Michael Schumacher retiring, he was able to move up to second in the world championship. There was a double podium for BAR, as Jenson Button and Takuma Sato finished second and third respectively. There were also the first points of the season for Enrique Bernoldi, as the Sauber driver took a seventh place finish.

Brazil
And so to the last race of the season. Once again, it was an all-Williams front row, with Ralf Schumacher on pole. David Coulthard would start from third, with Michael Schumacher next in fourth. Nick Heidfeld was down in seventh, off the pace of the front-runners.

Ralf Schumacher took the win, with Juan Pablo Montoya putting in the team effort to ensure that the other drivers were unable to challenge the German. Third went to David Coulthard.

Other Series
The International Formula 3000 Championship was won with ease by Red Bull-backed Vitantonio Liuzzi, with fellow Italian Enrico Toccacelo second.

Adam Carroll became British Formula Three champion, beating James Rossiter to the title by a narrow margin. Alan van der Merwe, runner-up in 2003, was third.

Heikki Kovalainen was a clear winner in World Series by Nissan, with Tristan Gommendy only narrowly beating Tiago Monteiro, whose season was ended by his move to Formula One, to second place.

In the Champ Car World Series, reigning champion Michel Jourdain, Jr. did not move to the Indy Racing League with Team Rahal, and instead moved to a new team, RuSPORT. Sébastien Bourdais was the champion, beating Bruno Junqueira into second place. Tony Kanaan won the Indy Racing League, while Dan Wheldon took the win at the Indy 500.

Driver changes for the 2005 season
The biggest driver change for 2005 came at Williams; while Ralf Schumacher wanted to stay with the team, and Williams wanted to keep him, the team was not willing to match Schumacher's valuation of himself. As a result, Ralf Schumacher moved to Toyota, who were willing to pay the two-times world championship runner-up for his services. His replacement at Williams was to be Kimi Räikkönen; while BMW had preferred Nick Heidfeld, the various negotiating parties were unable to come to a deal. At Toyota Ralf Schumacher was joined by Giancarlo Fisichella, the Japanese team being impressed by his showing in 2004. At Renault, Jarno Trulli found himself sacked by the irascible Flavio Briatore, who brought in another of his drivers, Mark Webber, into the team. At the end of the season Ford announced that they were withdrawing from the sport, and thus selling Jaguar. A number of rumoured buyers were floated, including a possible return from March, but in the end the team was bought by Brand Synergy, a marketing company fronted by former world champion Nigel Mansell. As a result the team was renamed Mansell Grand Prix, their drivers being Tiago Monteiro and Björn Wirdheim, both of whom brought a small amount of sponsorship to the team. There was anther name disappearing from the grid, as Red Bull completed their purchase of Sauber. Peter Sauber retained a one per cent share of the team, but Helmut Marko was put in place as the new team principal, having previously run the Red Bull Junior Team in International Formula 3000. Having been unimpressed by the performance of both the Red Bull-backed drivers in Formula One in 2004, Marko dropped both Enrique Bernoldi and Patrick Friesacher. Olivier Panis was brought in to develop the car, while he was joined by the reigning International Formula 3000 champion, Vitantonio Liuzzi. Minardi took in Zsolt Baumgartner, and Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan.

Australia
At the first race of the season it looked as though McLaren had the car to beat, with Nick Heidfeld taking pole and David Coulthard second. Both Ferraris were on the second row, with Michael Schumacher third. Behind them were the Williams, with world champion Juan Pablo Montoya just ahead of Kimi Räikkönen. Both new teams clearly had some work to do: the Mansells qualified fifteenth and sixteenth, while problems saw the Red Bulls struggle, taking eighteenth and twentieth on the grid.

In a race with only one retirement (that of Olivier Panis), Nick Heidfeld pulled out a lead over the rest of the field, allowing him to take a relatively easy win. David Coulthard had looked set for a podium finish, having been overtaken by Michael Schumacher over the course of the pit-stops, but in the dying laps of the race Fernando Alonso caught and passed the Scot for third. Mark Webber also finished in the points in his first race for Renault, finishing eighth. As reigning champions, Williams were somewhat disappointed with their result, with Juan Pablo Montoya finishing seventh behind Kimi Räikkönen.