The chassis was designed by Rory Byrne, Ignazio Lunetta, Aldo Costa, Marco Fainello, John Iley and James Allison with Ross Brawn playing a vital role in leading the production of the car as the team's Technical Director and Paolo Martinelli assisted by Giles Simon leading the engine design and operations.

The car also brought a close to Ferrari's and Michael Schumacher's five-year domination of the sport, leaving the door open for Renault and Fernando Alonso.

[7] 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.

Michael Schumacher won 13 races, setting a single-season record (Sebastian Vettel equaled this number in 2013) which lasted until 2022 when Max Verstappen won 15 races, and gained a record breaking seventh World Championship (since equaled by Lewis Hamilton in 2020), while Ferrari was a clear winner in the Constructors' Championship.

Michael Schumacher's son Mick drove the car at the 2019 German Grand Prix, honouring 15 years since his father's final world championship.