After Michael Schumacher secured his seventh overall world title—and a fifth consecutive one with Ferrari—in 2004, his winning streak faltered the following year. However, Ross Brawn believes this decline wasn’t due to a drop in performance, but rather a shift in the regulations.
“I think the highlight of my time at Ferrari was the 2004 car,” Brawn said opposite Formula1.com. The British engineer, who joined Scuderia as head of technology at the end of 1996, described the F2004 as having “everything just right.”
“What I loved about Ferrari was that every year was better than the last – in terms of the team, the cars we built and the way everything worked. Every year we refined it and every year we made things a little better,” he explained.
“That culminated, in my opinion, with the 2004 car, which was the best ever,” Brawn stated. In fact, Schumacher won twelve of the first thirteen races of the season with the F2004, ultimately clinching the world title.
“After that we were disadvantaged by the change in the tire rules,” Brawn said, adding, “I think we had just become too successful and had to be stopped somehow.” In 2005, “Schumi” secured only one more race win and was no longer a contender for the World Championship.
How a Tire Rule Change Slowed Schumacher and Ferrari
The new regulations for the 2005 season prohibited tire changes during a race. This proved to be a significant setback for Ferrari’s tire partner, Bridgestone, allowing the two Michelin teams, Renault and McLaren, to battle for the world championship title.
Brawn is convinced that Schumacher and Ferrari “could not have been stopped in any other way” at that time. “Everything just worked so well for us,” he explained. The now 71-year-old doesn’t harbor any resentment over the rule change.
“Having sat on the other side of the fence since then, I can relate to Bernie [Ecclestone] and Max [Mosley]’s frustration and understand the organizers,” said Brawn, who later served as sports director of Formula 1 between 2017 and 2022.
He now recognizes that Ferrari was deliberately slowed down to create a more competitive and engaging spectacle for fans, believing the Scuderia would have continued to dominate without the regulatory shift.
- Ross Brawn attributes the end of Michael Schumacher’s dominance to a 2005 tire rule change.
- The 2004 Ferrari F2004 is considered by Brawn to be the best Formula 1 car ever built.
- The rule change disadvantaged Bridgestone, Ferrari’s tire supplier, and allowed Renault and McLaren to compete for the championship.
- Brawn now understands the reasoning behind the rule change, acknowledging the need for a more competitive series.
What was the primary reason for the shift in Formula 1 dominance in 2005? The change in tire regulations, prohibiting in-race tire changes, significantly hampered Ferrari and their tire partner, Bridgestone, opening the door for other teams to challenge for the championship.
