McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen almost snatched the world drivers' title off Michael Schumacher but the German maestro held on for a record-breaking sixth crown.

With the famous name of Juan Manuel Fangio removed from the record books, some thought Schumacher might take this as a sign to announce his retirement.

But over the winter, he has announced he will be just as committed this year to make it seven world titles.

He will again receive sturdy support from Rubens Barrichello and the pair are very pleased with the development of the new F2004.

Technical chief Ross Brawn called it 'the best Ferrari we have produced so far'.

He added: "One of the reasons we are able to progress each year is stability.

"It is a stability that bonds the Team during difficult periods, such as in 2003.

"But it also a stability that allows us to grow from within."

With McLaren, Williams and Renault all proving last year, they could rival Ferrari given the right conditions, all eyes will be on the scarlet car to see if its recent domination of the sport remains intact.

Ferrari factfile (at start of 2004 season)
2003 World Championship: First (158 points)
2002 World Championship: First (221 points)
2001 World Championship: First (179 points)
First Grand Prix: 1950 Monaco (World Championship)
First Grand Prix Victory: 1951 Great Britain (World Championship)
Most recent Grand Prix victory: 2003 Japan Grand Prix
Total Grand Prix entered: 686
Total points scored: 3988
Constructors' World Championships: 12 - 1961, 1964, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1983, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
Driver's World Championships: 12 - 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
Best Results: Victories 164, Second 184, Third 167, Fourth 124, Fifth 85, Sixth 69
Pole Positions: 155
Fastest race laps: 164

The team was founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, using Alfa Romeos in the early days. Ferrari produced their own cars for the 1948 Monza race. The Prancing Horse is the famous racing car symbol of all time.

WILLIAMS

2004 car: Williams FW26
Engine: BMW V10
Fuel: Petrobras
Tyres: Michelin
Team Sponsors: HP Invent, Allianz, Accenture, Fed Ex, Budweiser, Reuters
Managing Director: Sir Frank Williams
Technical Director: Patrick Head
Chief Designer: Gavin Fisher
Drivers: Juan Pablo Montoya, Ralf Schumacher
Test Drivers: Marc Gene, Antonio Pizzonia

Having spent previous seasons becalmed, Williams are again throwing down the challenge to win the constructors' championship.

They overtook McLaren in 2002 to finish second in the race and pushed the all-conquering Ferrari all the way last season before just failing in the red-hot climax to the season.

In fact, only a controversial penalty on Juan Pablo Montoya in the penultimate race prevented them making it an even closer finish leaving Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren to take the battle to the bitter end.

But with only a 14-point gap at the top by the end of 2003, all seems set for another brilliant three-way battle this time around.

Both Montoya and Ralf Schumacher bagged two wins apiece last season and retain their seats but both will have to build upon a purple patch in mid-season when they won four out of six races between Monaco and Germany.

A sluggish start stopped the team being closer to the pace before their high summer surge and with plenty of work done on the new FW26, hopes are high for a return to the very top.

Chief Designer, Gavin Fisher, explaining the new design, said: "You cannot stand still or relax your development pace for a single minute in Formula One.

"That said, it will be immediately evident to onlookers that a high degree of innovative design has gone into the FW26.

"Not so much an iteration, but a step change, and as such, the second carried out by the WilliamsF1 design team in as many seasons."

Williams Renault factfile (at start of 2004 season)
2003 World Championship: Second (144 points)
2002 World Championship: Second (92 points)
2001 World Championship: Third (80 points)
First Grand Prix: 1978 Argentina
First Grand Prix Victory: 1979 Great Britain
Most recent Grand Prix victory: 2003 German Grand Prix
Total Grand Prix entered: 454
Total points scored: 2358.5
Constructors' World Championships: 9 - 1980, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997
Driver's World Championships: 7 - 1980, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997
Best Results: Victories 112, Second 102, Third 68, Fourth 64, Fifth 54, Sixth 32
Pole Positions: 113
Fastest race laps: 117

Frank Williams, a one-time racer with some success in F3, set up and drove in his own F2 team.

Williams first ventured into F1 in a private Brabham, gaining eighth in the world championship in 1969. He went on to set up Williams Grand Prix Engineering in 1977.

His first driver was Patrick Neve in a March. Since then the team have won six double championships and won over 100 Grands Prix.

McLAREN



2004 car: McLaren MP4-19
Engine: Mercedes FO110M V10
Fuel: Mobil Unleaded
Tyres: Michelin
Team Sponsors: SAP, Warsteiner, Hugo Boss, Schuco
Managing Director: Ron Dennis
Technical Director: Adrian Newey
Chief Designer: Mike Coughlan
Drivers: Kimi Raikkonen, David Coulthard
Test Drivers: Alexander Wurz, Pedro de la Rosa

The McLaren team are upbeat for the coming season as they start in Australia with the new MP4-19 ready to fly.

They delayed introducing the new model, which should have made its Grand Prix debut during the summer, to give them more time for development.

Drivers Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard are very pleased with the new set-up and testing pilot Alexander Wurz has been setting record times in Jerez during the winter.

McLaren also shook up the F1 headlines last year when they announced they had an agreement to take Juan Pablo Montoya from Williams for the start of the 2005 season.

That appears to put the pressure firmly on Coulthard this season who could be looking at his final season with the Woking-baded team.

Raikkonen improved dramatically last year to push Michael Schumacher all the way to the final race before losing out on the world championship.

But Coulthard's eighth season in the 'Silver Machine' was another disappointment despite winning the opening GP in Australia yet again.

McLaren factfile (at start of 2003 season)
2003 World Championship: Third (142 points)
2002 World Championship: Second (102 points)
2001 World Championship: Second (152 points)
First Grand Prix: 1966 Monaco
First Grand Prix Victory: 1968 Belgium
Most recent Grand Prix victory: 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix
Total Grand Prix entered: 543
Total points scored: 2836.5
Constructors' World Championships: 8 - 1975, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998
Driver's World Championships: 11 - 1974, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998, 1999
Best Results: Victories 136, Second 109, Third 102, Fourth 101, Fifth 66, Sixth 68
Pole Positions: 112
Fastest race laps: 110

The team was founded by Bruce McLaren, who gave them a first grand prix victory in 1968.

Following his death a year later the company re-organised and under the guidance of Ron Dennis, it has grown into a formidable force

RENAULT

2004 car: Mild Seven Renault R24
Engine: Renault RS24 V10
Fuel: Elf
Tyres: Michelin
Team Sponsors: Mild Seven, Hanjin, Mode, Guru
Managing Director: Flavio Briatore, Jean-Jacques His
Technical Director: Rob White
Chief Designer: Pat Symonds
Drivers: Jarno Trulli, Fernando Alonso
Test Drivers: Franck Montagny

Though they still trailed the big three of Ferrari, McLaren and Williams, renault's performance in 2003 suggests they could be a real threat to the power base this season.

They amassed a superb 88 points highlighted by Fernando Alonso's brilliant debut victory in Hungary.

The hardest thing for the team this winter has been keeping the talented team of Alonso and Jaron Trulli together.

Alonso may well take Juan Pablo Montoya's place at Williams in 2005 but the prospect of winning the title with Renault may yet dissuade him.

That's the masterplan according to chief executive Flavio Briatore.

The flamboyant chief executive said at the launch of the new car in Palermo.

"In 2003 we were close to McLaren and Williams, and I want to start the season as close as possible - to Williams, McLaren and Ferrari. We must try all we can to win."

Briatore added: "We are taking big steps forward and hitting our targets.

"When I arrived at the team my aim was to be able to compete for the title in 2005. We will be ready."

Briatore confidence is backed up by chief engineer Pat Symonds, who said the R24 was "the best car in my career."

He added: "Our sights are set high, but we have the means to achieve them."

Renault Factfile (at start of 2004 season)
2003 World Championship: Fourth (88 points)
2002 World Championship: Fourth (23 points)
2001 World Championship: Eighth (10 Points)
First Grand Prix: 1981 Italy (Toleman), 1986 Brazil (Benetton)
First Grand Prix Victory: 1986 Mexico
Most recent Grand Prix victory: 2003 Hungary
Total Grand Prix entered: 455
Total points scored: 977.5
Constructors' World Championships: 1 - 1995
Driver's World Championships: 2 - 1994, 1995
Best Results: Victories 28, Second 32, Third 43, Fourth 48, Fifth 51, Sixth 37
Pole Positions: 19
Fastest race laps: 39

SAUBER



2004 car: Sauber C23
Engine: Petronas V10 - SPE 04A
Fuel: Primax
Tyres: Bridgestone
Team Sponsors: Red Bull, Petronas, Credit Suisse
Managing Director: Peter Sauber
Technical Director: Willy Rampf
Chief Designer: Jacky Eeckelaert
Drivers: Giancarlo Fisichella, Felipe Massa
Test Drivers: Neel Jani

Sauber took a step backwards last season as they found life in the mid-division of F1 harder than ever.

Though they collected a record 19 points, the new scoring system meant they dropped to sixth after two seasons in fifth spot.

This caused a major upheaval at the team during the winter as drivers Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Nick Heidfeld were jettisoned in favour of Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa.

They have been testing the new C23 from early Janaury and are pleased with the results.

Technical director Willi Rampf said: "The 2003 season soon made us realise where our weakness was.

"Owing to the fact that our new wind tunnel will not be operational until after the roll-out of the C23, we had to find another way of designing a good car with optimum pre-requisites for further development during the course of the season."

Fisichella has built a solid reputation in grabbing world championship points, often in uncompetitive cars.

And Massa, who had an exciting reputation from F3000 before his error-prone debut in F1 two years ago, has returned to the Swiss-based team.

He has matured after spending a season piling on the testing laps with Ferrari at Maranello and is expected to make a greater impact this time.

Sauber factfile (at start of 2004 season)
2003 World Championship: Sixth (19 points)
2002 World Championship: Fifth (11 points)
2001 World Championship: Fifth(21 points)
First Grand Prix: 1993 South Africa (fifth place)
First Grand Prix Victory: 0
Most recent Grand Prix victory: 0
Total Grand Prix entered: 163
Total points scored: 127
Constructors' World Championships: 0 (Best Fifth 2001, 2002, 2003)
Driver's World Championships: 0
Best Results: Victories 0, Second 0, Third 5, Fourth 12, Fifth 14, Sixth 32
Pole Positions: 0
Fastest race laps: 0

Initially Sauber fashioned a big reputation in the World Sportscar Championship, particularly with the title-winning "Silver Arrow" Mercedes. It was no surprise that this efficient team should graduate into Grand Prix and finish seventh overall in the Constructors' World Championship

JORDAN



2004 car: EJ14
Engine: Ford Cosworth V10
Fuel: Total
Tyres: Bridgestone
Team Sponsors: Benson and Hedges, Puma, Tiget Telematics, Gametrac, Liqui Moly
Managing Director: Eddie Jordan
Technical Director: James Robinson
Chief Designer: John McQuilliam
Drivers: Nick Heidfeld, Giorgio Pantano

A traumatic and up-and-down year for Jordan, who combined serious financial problems with their first victory in four years.

Inspired by the charismatic Eddie Jordan, the Silverstone-based team needed all the owner's charm to get them through a difficult season.

After two solid sixth places in the championship in 2001 and 2002, Jordan dropped to ninth beating only minnows Minardi home last season as the EJ13 suffered constant reliability problems.

It took until Monaco before they got both drivers to the finish in a race and it only happened twice in the rest of the year.

But despite that they were able to celebrate in Brazil when atrocious weather turned the race into a lottery and Kimi Raikkonen was declared the winner with Fisichella second and most of the top drivers having skidded off.

But five days later, a timing error confirmed that the Italian had indeed won the race to give the Jordan only their fourth GP win in more than a decade.

Changes were made in the winter with Fisichella decamping to Sauber and Nick Heidfeld coming in the other direction.

After the launch of the EJ14, Jordan said: "I’m happy to say that the EJ14 is a step forward from last year’s car.

"It has been a team effort with our experts from each field contributing their part.

"We’ve seen the biggest improvement in aerodynamics that we have ever seen from one year’s car to another.

"Time will tell whether that means we will catch up with the guys who were ahead of us last year."

Jordan factfile (at start of 2004 season)
2003 World Championship: Ninth (13 points)
2002 World Championship: Sixth (9 points)
2001 World Championship: Sixth (17 Points)
First Grand Prix: 1991 USA
First Grand Prix Victory: 1998 Belgium
Most recent Grand Prix victory: 2003 Brazil
Total Grand Prix entered: 213
Total points scored: 263
Constructors' World Championships: 0 (Best - third 1999)
Best Results: Victories 4, Second 4, Third 8, Fourth 30, Fifth 22, Sixth 29
Pole Positions: 1
Fastest race laps: 2

Team boss Eddie Jordan was himself a racing driver, who turned to management and then set up his own team. He took the British F3 crown and then moved through International F3000 and into Formula One

JAGUAR RACING



2004 car: Jaguar R5
Engine: Ford Cosworth V10 CR-6
Fuel: Castrol Racing Fuel
Tyres: Michelin
Team Sponsors: HSBC, Beck's, AT&T, UGS PLM Solutions, DuPont
Managing Director: David Pitchforth
Technical Director: Tony Purnell
Chief Designer: Malcolm Oastler
Drivers: Mark Webber, Christian Klien

After turmoil behind the scenes over the previous two seasons, Jaguar go into the 2004 season with more stability.

After the high-profile arrival and departures of Bobby Rahal and Niki Lauda, new managing director David Pitchforth gets time from the owners at Ford to build upon a solid 2003.

"We’ve had the same management structure in place for a season now and I believe that having stability and a good team structure is the key to being successful," said Pitchforth on launch day.

"Everybody involved with the team both in Milton Keynes and Northampton have done a fantastic job of getting the car finished on schedule.

"Unlike previous Jaguar Racing F1 cars, the new R5 was finished by the middle of December 2003. But it didn’t actually turn a wheel until mid-January, which gave us a whole month to test the systems before it ever went out on the circuit."

That should be good news for drivers Webber and new boy Klien who replaces the rather unlucky Justin Wilson.

Wilson had taken over from Antonio Pizzonia just before the German Grand Prix but failed to match the pace of team-mate Webber whose three sixth places were the highlights of the season.

Last season Jaguar had to wait until San Marino to get one car to the end of the race.

So, having got the R5 ready ahead of schedule, Jaguar will be looking for Aussie Webber to provide the grit to lead the team closer to the top six teams.

Jaguar factfile (at start of 2004 season)
2003 World Championship: Seventh (18 points)
2002 World Championship: Seventh (8 points)
2001 World Championship: Seventh (10 points)
First Grand Prix: Melbourne 2000
First Grand Prix Victory: None
Most recent Grand Prix victory: None
Total Grand Prix entered: 67
Total points scored: 42
Constructors' World Championships: 0
Driver's World Championships: 0
Best Results: Victories 0, Second 0, Third 2, Fourth 2, Fifth 2, Sixth 6
Pole Positions: 1
Fastest race laps: 0

Jaguar has a long and distinguished motorsport tradition.

The company has been involved in motorsport since it was founded in 1922.

Seven times it has won the world's toughest endurance race at Le Mans, been World Sports Car Champions three times and in 1956 won both Le Mans and the Monte Carlo Rally in the same year.

It entered the F1 scene in 1998 when it bought out the Stewart Racing team and draws on the expertise of financial muscle of the giant Ford corporation, its parent company

BRITISH AMERICAN RACING



2004 car: BAR Honda 006
Engine: V10 RA003E
Fuel: Elf
Tyres: Michelin
Team Sponsors: BAT (Lucky Strike), Honda, Intercond, Brunotti Europe
Managing Director: Dave Richards
Technical Director: Geoffrey Willis
Drivers: Jenson Button, Takuma Sato
Test Drivers: Anthony Davidson

BAR made significant strides forward last season but only at the expense of a major overhaul of the team.

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve's prickly relationship eventually ended just before the final GP of the season when the Canadian walked out after it was made clear he would not be offered a new deal for 2004.

Villeneuve, who had been out of sorts since the sacking of former team boss and his own manager Craig Pollock a year earlier, had been comsistently outperformed in practice and on the track by a rejuvenated Jenson Button.

When Takuma Sato filled his shoes for that final race at Suzuka, the Japanese ace drove superbly for sixth place.

For this season, the new chassis is stiffer and has a lower centre of gravity.

But the biggest single new development is the gearbox which features a full carbon-composite maincase together with narrow lightweight gear ratios.

Honda has also produced a new engine to meet the challenge of the single-engine rule introduced for the first time this season.

Speaking at the launch of the new car, Team Principal David Richards is now setting his sights on making BAR a top three team.

"We are now a position to provide a consistent challenge to the top three teams.

"Our relationship with Honda has developed immeasurably to the point where we now have a totally integrated engineering team."

BAR Factfile (at start of 2004 season)
2003 World Championship: Fifth (26 points)
2002 World Championship: Eighth (7 points)
2001 World Championship: Sixth (17 Points)
First Grand Prix: 1999 Australia
First Grand Prix Victory: None
Most recent Grand Prix victory: None
Total Grand Prix entered: 82
Total points scored: 69
Constructors' World Championships: None
Driver's World Championships: None
Best Results: Victories 0, Second 0, Third 4, Fourth 6, Fifth 3, Sixth 9
Pole Positions: 0
Fastest race laps: 0

MINARDI



2004 car: Minardi PS04B
Engine: Cosworth CR-3 V10
Fuel: Elf
Tyres: Bridgestone
Team Sponsors: European Aviation, Superfund, Wilux, Allegrini
Managing Director: Paul Stoddart
Technical Director: Gabriele Tredozi
Chief Designer: Gabriele Tredozi
Drivers: Gianmaria Bruni, Zsolt Baumgartner
Test Drivers: Sergei Zlobin, Matteo Bobbi

It was a hand-to-mouth existence for the Minardi team again in 2003 but to their immense credit, they came through the season and emerged buoyant and hopeful for the new season.

But they failed to pick up a point despite a new system with scoring down to eighth that was to help the lesser teams garner much-needed publicity.

Lack of pace and reliability hampered the efforts of Paul Stoddart and his team but they have two new drivers and a positive impression of the new car from winter testing sessions.

They started 2003 with a mixture of youthful Justin Wilson and experienced Jos Vestappen.

The Dutchman did nurse the car around on many occasions while Wilson showed enough promise in the one-lap qulaifying routine to be offered a seat in the Jaguar midway through the season.

That left Minardi ending the season with Nicolas Kiesa partnering Verstappen and for 2004, they have gone with two relatively unknown pilots in Gianmaria Bruni and Zsolt Baumgartner from the lower echelons though Hungarian Baumagartner did impress for a while in his home GP when stepping in for injured Ralph Firman in the Jordan.

It will be another mighty challenge this season with the aim to secure some valuable world championship points at last.

Stoddart said: "European Minardi has every reason to feel pleased.

"Collectively, the team has got through a lot of work and collected a considerable amount of useful data, all of which will help with finalising our 2004 car."

Minardi Factfile (at start of 2004 season)
2003 World Championship: Tenth (0 points)
2002 World Championship: Ninth equal (2 points)
2001 World Championship: No points.
First Grand Prix: 1985 Brazil
Highest Grand Prix Finish: Fourth - 1991 San Marino, Portugal, 1993 South Africa
Total Grand Prix entered: 286
Total points scored: 25
Constructors' World Championships: 0 ( Best Seventh - 1991)
Best Results: Victories 0, Second 0, Third 0, Fourth 3, Fifth 6, Sixth 8
Pole Positions: 0
Fastest race laps: 0

Giancarlo Minardi originally set up the team and then sold half his holding to a consortium which included former Benetton chief Flavio Briatore.

Australian entrepreneur Paul Stoddart took over the team in 2000 to make his debut in Formula One after a successful spell in Formula 3000.

TOYOTA



2004 car: Toyota TF104
Engine: Toyota RVX-04 V-10
Fuel: Esso
Tyres: Michelin
Team Sponsors: Panasonic, Denso, EMC
Managing Director: Ange Pasquali
Technical Director: Luca Marmorini, Mike Gascoyne
Chief Designer: Gustav Brunner
Drivers: Cristiano da Matta, Olivier Panis
Test Drivers: Ryan Briscoe, Ricardo Zonta

After a difficult first season in F1 back in 2002, Toyota will be looking for continuity to help their progress after another mixed season in 2003.

They did improve from just two points in 2002 to 16 last season and also improved from ninth to eighth.

New boy Cristiano Da Matta was consistent around 10th spot and only failed to finish three out of the 16 GPs.

But team-mate Olivier Panis again under-performed and suffered plenty of car trouble.

The Frenchman did record the team's highest finish with a fifth at Hockenheim and Da Matta just behind.

So for this year, they have kept faith with their drivers and looked to improve the car.

Under Chief Designer Gustav Brunner and his team, the TF104 is an evolutionary redesign of its TF103 predecessor and will play an integral role in the team's aim of closing the gap to Formula 1's leading teams in 2004.

"We have adopted similar principles for the TF104 race car to the ones we followed when producing the TF103," Brunner explained.

"Using Toyota's philosophy of continuous improvement, the fundamental concept was again that of evolution not a revolution.

Toyota factfile (at start of 2004 season)
2003 World Championship: Eighth (18 points)
2002 World Championship: Ninth (2 points)
First Grand Prix: Melbourne 2002
First Grand Prix Victory: None
Most recent Grand Prix victory: None
Total Grand Prix entered: 33
Total points scored: 18
Constructors' World Championships: 0
Driver's World Championships: 0
Best Results: Victories 0, Second 0, Third 0, Fourth 0, Fifth 1, Sixth 4
Pole Positions: 0
Fastest race laps: 0

Toyota had a distinguished history in motor racing before they decided back in 1999 to take the ultimate step and fund their own Formula One team.

They had won several World Rally Championships in the 1980s and 90s as well as putting in strong performances in sportscar races including the Le Mans 24-hour where driver Allan McNish set a lap record in 1998.

Having been given the green light from the F1 authorities, work started feverishly with the new millennium on developing a car to be ready for the 2002 season.

A European-based centre in created in Cologne and a chassis and V-10 engine were tested by the end of the year