F1 but Jaguar actually care: 2004

This was finally the year where Jaguar won the drivers championship, after a titanic struggle with Ferrari just like in '02. This was the closest F1 championship fight in history, with Montoya beating Michael Schumacher on countback (3 2nd place finishes to Michael's 2). Juan Pablo Montoya headed the charge, as expected, getting a podium in Australia behind the dominant Ferrari's but took the win and an early championship lead in Malaysia after Ferrari faulted. But a retirement in Bahrain and difficult races in San Marino and Spain saw him trail Michael Schumacher by 21 points. However, a collision for Schumacher in Monaco and the win for Montoya re-ignited his championship challenge, and two second place finishes in Nurburgring and Canada and then three wins in a row at the United States, France and Great Britain saw him re-take the lead in the drivers championship, 5 points ahead of Schumacher and 16 ahead of Barrichello. Schumacher then bounced back with a win at his home race at the Hockenheimring, but only managed 4th in Hungary whilst Montoya was 2nd. Montoya then won at Spa after an intense fight with Schumacher, getting the championshp lead by a solitary point, and he retained it on countback by finishing 4th in Italy. But a crushing display at the Shanghai Circuit saw Schumacher take the championship lead once again, whilst Montoya struggled to 5th. But then, as it so often does in Formula One, the championship was turned upside down when both Schumacher and Montoya retired in Japan, and Barrichello's victory saw him leapfrog Montoya into 2nd and only 1 point behind Michael Schumacher. It looked all over for Jaguar in Brazil, as Barrichello stormed to pole position at his home race and, although he looked beaten by Montoya in the race, 2nd would do for him as Schuamacher had to fight back after only qualifying 13th. But Rubens' bad luck at Interlagos continued, his engine letting him down 27 laps into the race, leaving Montoya in the lead. But Schumacher only needed 4th to win, but he had to pass Webber, who was just to fast and defended brilliantly. Webber was the clear second driver in 2004, failing to win a race but got 7 podiums, 5 of them 2nd places and generally had worse reliability. Jaguar didn't win the constructors championship, but his performances were crucial for Montoya winning the championship.

For 2005, Montoya would seek a new challenge at McLaren, as Jaguar would hire the dependable Ralf Schumacher as they would seek to defend their drivers title and get a second constructors title in 2005.