Another season of Ferrari domination caused the FIA to threaten extreme regulation changes, although the constructors themselves were still unhappy with proposed costly restructuring.

McLaren and Williams could only muster a single win each against the might of Maranello. Schumacher was so dominant that he could afford to gift a race to his team mate Barrichello in Austria. Ferrari had clearly misjudged the mood of the spectators from across the globe, aghast with such a cavalier approach to racing.

Another heavyweight car manufacturer entered the sport with Toyota involved for the first time, but on the downside, the Prost team failed to make the start of the season and Arrows joined them in extinction by mid-term. Worryingly the Minardi, Jordan and Sauber teams were also under varying degrees of financial pressure.

Bubbling under the racing was still the threat of a breakaway series with the major manufacturers still unhappy with their share of revenue offered by Bernie Ecclestone.