Ferrari            

This was, without a doubt, Ferrari's year. From the outset, their new car was phenomenally quick, and without suspending development two thirds of the way through the season, they should probably have won more races.

The core of the team has been together for years, and is working incredibly smoothly. Every season, they are making a step forward in every arena with the racing package, whilst continuing to improve the process of racing. Whilst the rest of the paddock is trying to identify Ferrari's edge, the team are busy evolving a new one.

This was not a perfect season. Monaco was never looking like Ferrari's race, even before the incident in the tunnel; similarly, losing to McLaren in Spa was on merit. The wins in Canada and France came from some great strategy, rather than pure pace. Apparently, even with such a dominant package, there are areas that can be improved upon.

Being so dominant, it is no surprise that the FIA used Ferrari to test their proposed changes to slow the cars down. This prompted complaints from other teams – specifically McLaren – of favouritism as it offered the team an "unfair" insight into the directions the sport is expected to head. However, dominance does have its downsides: in Brazil, all the teams except Ferrari got together in order to thrash out a 'cost cutting' contract that was a thinly veiled attack on one of the team's biggest assets, near unlimited testing.

Which is probably the biggest compliment any team could face.

BAR            

From the outset, BAR were very fast in pre-season testing. Onlookers speculated that this was a result of light running to bring new sponsors on board, but the other teams started paying attention pretty quickly. The car was undoubtedly showing itself to be significantly quicker, now that they were not hampered with Bridgestone tyres designed specifically for Ferrari's requirements.

The season did have some blights. Takuma Sato went through engines at a ferocious rate, and the whole fiasco over Jenson Button's intended departure for Williams was a very public PR nightmare. And the race officials banned an FTT like device the team were testing on their front suspension, though an appeal later ironed out that wrinkle.

Apart from that, however, it was as close to a model season as a team can get without actually winning anything. Honda has confirmed an extension to remain with the outfit until 2007. Scoring eleven podiums and second in the Championship was a huge coup for the most improved team of the year.

Although a race win continues to prove elusive, this is now a team that people watch, rather than just an expensive embarrassment. The synergy between the chassis and engine has improved considerably over past seasons, as Honda have become more involved throughout the organisation, and are finally delivering on the promise their name implies. Button has driven consistently well, whilst Sato's bravery on the track has verged on the foolhardy, but entertaining.

If there is a question mark over the year, it is that whilst McLaren and Williams improved to the point where they could challenge for race wins, BAR's in season development has kept them fighting for podium finishes and best of the rest status all season: there question now is, will they be able to make enough ground over the off season to challenge for wins in 2005?

Renault            

With a completely new engine slated for this year, the general opinion was that Renault would struggle to maintain their form of 2003. Yet, the pundits were proven wrong when, in the off-season, the team's testing pace was unabated – and in races, their ability to make the absolute best of Michelin's option tyres gave them a strategic advantage that was to last some time.

After a solid start to the season, resulting in numerous double-points finishes, the positive attitude of the team reached an all time high in Monaco, where Jarno Trulli took his maiden win on pure merit. However, it seems that the car's scope for in-season development was not up to that of rivals, who all made considerable performance steps around the mid-point.

With Renault's performance coming off the boil, Trulli decided his future lay elsewhere, and felt frozen out by the team after announcing he would be moving on. The pursuit of performance led to reduced reliability, which eventually yielded second place in the Championship to BAR. The team's announcement of Giancarlo Fisichella to replace Trulli in 2005 did little to improve things, and when Trulli departed, Jacques Villeneuve's arrival did little to improve the fortunes of the team: in hindsight, they may have done better to blood their test driver instead.

However, with three more podiums and two fewer retirements than last season, there is no denying that Renault have improved noticeably over their 2003 showing: they have delivered on the start of year promise to deliver on third place overalls.

Williams            

After their strong performance in 2003, Williams entered the off-season as hot favourites to take the fight to Ferrari this year. The radical new nose that offered a good step forward should have been decisive, and despite announcing Montoya's pending departure, the driver line-up was recognised as one of the strongest in the sport.

How different it turned out. Despite making excellent ground on their 2003 performance, seeing good initial tests, the new car simply wasn't as fast as Renault, BAR of Ferrari's efforts. Indeed, by the time the circus had made it to Spain, Williams was writing off Ferrari as out of reach for the year – the best they could hope to do was close the performance gap. Something radical had to be done... and never one to shirk, Patrick Head and Frank Williams proceeded to do just that.

A reshuffle as the new wind tunnel came on line promoted Sam Michael to Technical Director, stepping into Patrick Head's day-to-day shoes. Head moved back from the limelight, allowing him to put more into the development away from the track. Serious work went into establishing why the car was not on Ferrari's pace and improving the car to match.

Early season speculation that Ralf Schumacher could not come to terms for renewing his contract – alleging he overplayed his hand – proved well founded when his move to Toyota was announced. It prompted the announcement of Mark Webber for next season.

Overall, the team did not have a good year. After a poor start, performances were just starting to look up when Ralf Schumacher's accident at the US Grand Prix left them running inexperienced racers Marc Gene and Antonio Pizzonia in his place; then, on the occasions where the car went well, reliability was an issue. Or they were disqualified. And the signing of Jenson Button was overturned by the Contract Recognition Board. And their BMW partner is threatening to leave the sport if the FIA force the use of V8 engines.

Nevertheless, the depth of the outfit was felt: they finished this difficult year with a win, strengthening their technical relationship with BMW, and clearly showing the determination that has made them one of the most successful teams the sport has seen.

McLaren            

Consider the way the team had finished the 2003 season, Bernie Ecclestone's pre-season backing for Kimi Raikkonen to take the title seemed like a very respectable bet. However, in the event, the new car proved to be a significant disappointment – clearly off the pace of Renault and BAR, let alone the dominant Ferrari. It was slower than expected, unreliable from the outset, and decidedly short on power.

It is a big credit to the team that they decided early on that this car was simply too far off the pace for them to improve it during the season, so a significantly revised chassis was designed and released by mid-season, providing a base that offered some chance to compete at the front. This revised car gave Raikkonen a win, though a couple of retirements from strong positions demonstrated that McLaren's traditional Achilles heel was still an issue. Indeed, 12 non-finishes is simply not good enough with the current points system, which emphasises a need for reliability.

Even before the season started, David Coulthard was considering his options for 2005, speculating that a seat at Williams or Toyota would be a good result: it was known from the end of last year that Juan Pablo Montoya would be taking his place. Perhaps revealing this plan so early was short-sighted: the Scot never really performed to his potential this year, failing to take a single podium over the year.

McLaren are taking away one very important positive facet from this year, and that is the way they turned the season around. Revising the car from a beast that was barely competitive in the mid-field to a genuine race winner was no mean feat, and proof that the team are still worthy of 'big four' status, even when they finish fifth overall: with Raikkonen and Montoya aboard for 2005, optimism rides high for the future.

Sauber            

Sauber have had a solid season, with a reliable, performant car that allowed them to score regularly.

Their pre-season was not without its mishaps – Felipe Massa was involved in a serious pre-season crash – but with the experienced Fisichella on board, and a brand new wind tunnel at Hinwil, they not only made a good start to the season but were able to develop the car strongly as it progressed. Furthermore, with Ferrari dominating, Bridgestone were able to put more effort into helping Sauber get the most out of their tyres, too, resolving the early season issue with getting enough heat into them for qualifying.

Despite a reputation as puppets of Ferrari, there can be little doubt that Sauber have shown the way for the privateer teams this season – frequently upstaging their better funded, manufacturer-backed rivals. The team have continued to build their sponsorship base, and have delivered.

Looking to the future, there were rumours in July that Sauber were in talks with Michelin about a change for 2005. These died out when Bridgestone improved their efforts, but it turns out that the decision had been made: in order to better compete with their mid-field rivals next season, the Swiss outfit will be on the same rubber.

Politically, this would have been seen as a means for Ferrari to gain access to the French tyre manufacturer's data, if it wasn't for the small affairs of the cost-cutting proposal at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where they opposed Ferrari, and the decision to build their own gearbox next season, in the name of design integrity. It seems Sauber are eager to demonstrate that they are independent of their engine supplier. And by signing Villeneuve, whether or not the '97 World Champion performs, Sauber have declared their intent continue moving the team forward.

Jaguar            

After Webber's strong performance in 2003, the Jaguar management spent much of the off-season fending off rumours that they would not be able to keep the driver beyond the end of the year. Speculation held that there was a performance clause that the Ford owned outfit were unlikely to hit, which would release the Australian early.

The debut of their new car did not do much to improve things. The midfield competition had clearly moved forward faster, and the leading teams looked likely to dominate the points: the car could thrash out a fast lap, as demonstrated by a front row qualifying performance in but only by compromising the tyres over a race distance. Perhaps it is not a surprise that designer Malcolm Oastler announced his retirement at the start of the season.

With the Cosworth engines powering the car looking woefully underpowered, the team never looked likely to make any gains in the Championships. Whilst reliability improved, the team were rarely fast enough to score points, so they had a dismal season. Even with the promise of a much improved car for the mid-season, the outfit were unable to maintain the in-season development needed to move up the order.

In the event, off-season speculation proved correct, with Webber announcing his move to Williams at the season mid-point when Jaguar missed their performance goals. Ford also decided they had had enough, coming to the conclusion that continued disappointment was not a good marketing ploy – they have offered the team for sale, along with Cosworth.

The team have been struggling to keep their major sponsors for some time, making it a tall order to see through a change of hands in order to be on the grid next year: the management has spent most of the second half of the year trying to make the team as attractive as possible to prospective buyers… if they fail, Ford will shut the team down.

Toyota            

When Toyota's new car arrived looking very much like its predecessor, there was immediate media speculation that not a lot would be different about the impending season … and that speculation proved correct. Their claims of improved reliability were well founded, despite a pre-season crash that saw Olivier Panis in hospital, but there was little else to shout about this year.

The team were operating on a reduced budget, with a new headlining designer: Mike Gascoyne had just joined from Renault and was expected to make things better in short order. Perhaps fortunately for him, Gustav Brunner's car was initially disappointing; whilst considerably better than its predecessor, the team were struggling compared with their rivals. Gascoyne was able to make some impression as the year wore in.

The politics within the team became a little more exciting as it became clear that at least one of their drivers would not be re-signed for the next year. When Ralf Schumacher was finally announced, the team worked out a deal with Panis to keep him on as a test driver: his skill and experience in developing cars is well respected. Considering the relatively poor season, it is little surprise that well before the end the team had written it off and was looking only towards 2005. Accordingly, it made sense to drop Cristiano da Matta and give the test drivers a chance to show their capabilities.

Despite a lack of results, the team carry a solid reputation, particularly for their engine, though it seems to have lost ground through the season. Whilst the capital input from the Toyota company has been cut, the team are in the process of building a respectable portfolio of sponsors and besides, are still exceptionally well funded. They are continuing to learn lessons and are hiring and restructuring as they go (witness the dropping of engine expert Krever and team manager Pasquali mid season); the company is busy putting in place the components that could, and arguably should, lead to a solid step forward over the next couple of seasons.

Jordan            

The Jordan team have struggled with a significant lack of budget all year. The car they raced, whilst largely new, was not as big a step forward on last season's as the team hoped, nor was it any more reliable, particularly as its evil handling was not a good way to improve the finishing statistics.

In order to ensure the budget to finish the season, Jordan compromised on their driver line-up, breaking off pre-season talks with Jos Verstappen in order to fill one of the race seats and the testing drive with paying drivers. This proved to be a commercial necessity, as the Cosworth engines did not come cheap. That Cosworth are reneging on the contract to supply for a second year has provided a significant distraction at the end of the year, too. And when Giorgio Pantano's cash dried up, so did his seat, with test driver Timo Glock filling in very capably in his absence.

With their view firmly set on ensuring they can compete in 2005, Jordan are writing off the last season as another lost to treading water, as they look for the backing to raise their game enough to bring the fight back to the manufacturer-backed outfits.

Minardi            

According to the record book, this has to be considered one of the best seasons in Minardi record – certainly the best of the current, manufacturer-backed era, as they scored a point, even if that came by being the last car to finish, three laps down, at the US Grand Prix. Nevertheless, the team of enthusiasts have completed another season, and scored another point.

The politics of Formula One have certainly been livelier with Paul Stoddart involved. The enigmatic owner has been a vocal advocate of change to reduce costs and improve competition. Even though his bluster has failed to make a significant impression on the majority of the other owners, whose are largely protecting their own interests, he has provided the public with an interesting viewpoint on the internal workings of the teams.

The tightest of budgets has restricted the team to running an old car with almost no testing and an obsolete engine. Sponsors continue to be elusive and difficult to keep, with speculation over the departure of those the team did raise dogging them all season: Wilux arrived and departed in short order. Nevertheless, the team did make it to the grid for the whole year – and despite no hope of sufficient budget to be competitive, and the prospect of running their 2001 engines, they are set to do so again next.

The death of Sporting Director John Walton was the low point of their season, ahead of the British Grand Prix.

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