F1 2004 Season Preview
By Jamie Makin
March 6 2004
With the 2003 season now behind us, it is time to look forward to the 2004 season. Sauber will have an all-new driver lineup, and the FIA have made substantial changes to the calendar and regulations
2004 Sauber Drivers:
Giancarlo Fisichella (#11)
Felipe Massa (#12)
Neel Jani (Test Driver)
For more information on Sauber's 2004 drivers, click here.
2004 Launch:
Sauber's new 2004 contender, the C23, was unveiled on Monday, January 12 at Red Bull's Hangar-7 in Salzburg, Austria.
For more information on the launch of the Sauber C23, visit these links:
2004 Grid:
| TEAM | CAR # | DRIVER | CAR # | DRIVER |
| Ferrari | 1 | Michael Schumacher | 2 | Rubens Barrichello |
| Williams BMW | 3 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 4 | Ralf Schumacher |
| McLaren Mercedes | 5 | David Coulthard | 6 | Kimi Raikkonen |
| Renault | 7 | Jarno Trulli | 8 | Fernando Alonso |
| BAR Honda | 9 | Jenson Button | 10 | Takuma Sato |
| Sauber Petronas | 11 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 12 | Felipe Massa |
| Jaguar | 14 | Mark Webber | 15 | Christian Klien |
| Toyota | 16 | Christiano da Matta | 17 | Olivier Panis |
| Jordan Ford | 18 | Nick Heidfeld | 19 | Giorgio Pantano |
| Minardi Cosworth | 20 | Gianmaria Bruni | 21 | Zsolt Baumgartner |
2004 Formula One Calendar:
| ROUND | DATE | GP | CIRCUIT |
| 1 | 7/3/04 | Australia | Melbourne |
| 2 | 21/3/04 | Malaysia | Sepang |
| 3 | 4/4/04 | Bahrain | Bahrain |
| 4 | 25/4/04 | San Marino | Imola |
| 5 | 9/5/04 | Spain | Barcelona |
| 6 | 23/5/04 | Monaco | Monte Carlo |
| 7 | 30/5/04 | Europe | Nurburgring |
| 8 | 13/6/04 | Canada | Montreal |
| 9 | 20/6/04 | United States | Indianapolis |
| 10 | 4/7/04 | *France | Magny-Cours |
| 11 | 11/7/04 | Britain | Silverstone |
| 12 | 25/7/04 | Germany | Hockenheim |
| 13 | 15/8/04 | Hungary | Budapest |
| 14 | 29/8/04 | Belgium | Spa-Francorchamps |
| 15 | 12/9/04 | Italy | Monza |
| 16 | 26/9/04 | China | Shanghai |
| 17 | 10/10/04 | Japan | Suzuka |
| 18 | 24/10/04 | Brazil | Interlagos |
* NOTE: France is provisional pending funding and team approval for an 18th race.
For more information regarding the 2004 calendar click here.
2004 Rule Changes:
- Each driver has to make one engine last the entire race weekend, which totals approximately 800 km. If he switches to the spare car for any reason, his race car engine must be transferred to the spare car. A driver who changes engines will lose ten grid-positions from his qualifying result.
- Automatic gearboxes are now banned. Cars must be equipped with semi-automatic gearboxes, where a driver upshifts and downshifts with paddles mounted behind the steering wheel.
- Launch control is banned. Traction control will still be allowed. There are some concerns among teams that this rule will be difficult to police.
- Rear wings will be limited to a maximum of two horizontal elements. Rear wing end plates must be extended an additional 100 mm towards the rear of the car. Engine covers must be extended as well. The goal is to cut downforce on the rear of the car, thus reducing cornering speeds. A fringe benefit of this rule is that teams now have more room for sponsor logos on the rear of the cars.
- "Heathrow Agreement" testing, where teams could opt to limit private testing in exchange for two additional hours on the track Friday of race weekends, has been abolished. Private testing during the season will be limited to 48 days, with an unlimited amount of days available after the season ends.
- During Friday practice sessions, team ranked 5th through 10th place in the constructors' standings may run a third car with a third driver. The third driver must not have participated in more than six grand prix's during the last two years. The third car may run in a different livery if the team chooses.
- Friday Qualifying has been eliminated. There will now be two qualifying sessions of one lap each on Saturday. In the first session the drivers will run in the order they finished the previous race. Cars may be worked on and fuel added after this session. Drivers will run the second session in reverse order of the results of the first session. Cars must run with race fuel and tyres and will be impounded in parc ferme conditions after this session. There will be about half an hour between sessions in which to work on the cars, so teams must prepare their race setup quickly. Slower drivers are likely to have the least amount of time for work on their cars.
- There will be no more drive-through penalties for racing accidents. The stewards will review the incident after the race giving the teams and drivers a chance to present their side of the story. If a driver is still deemed at-fault in an incident, he will receive points against his license. Three incidents could lead to a one race suspension for the offending driver. Details of this system are still being worked out by the FIA.