Throughout the 2004 Formula 1 season, Ferrari’s F2004 proved the car to beat and Michael Schumacher’s career-defining dominance was in full flow. The German surged to 13 wins to better the points total from his record-breaking 2002 campaign—a year in which he finished on the podium in every race and had previously described as “perfect”. Schumacher’s tilt towards the Drivers’ Championship was never in doubt, finishing some 34 points ahead of Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who had his own similar-size gap ahead of 3rd-placed Jenson Button in the BAR-Honda.

With Schumacher and Barrichello in fine form, the Scuderia’s charge towards the Constructors’ Championship was surely a formality. Indeed, it was clinched in the 2004 Hungariam Grand Prix, with five races still to run before that season’s curtain call in Brazil. Schumacher started on pole and won with the fastest lap in Hungary, while Barrichello was next home for a Ferrari 1-2. The 3rd-placed Fernando Alonso did not cross the finish line until some 40 seconds afterwards. The Constructors’ crown was Ferrari’s sixth in a row and typified an era of relentless dominance. After the team’s heroics at the Hungaroring, Schumacher wrote his name into folklore in the next race in Belgium by winning his seventh and final Drivers’ Championship.

To this day, the F2004 is fondly recalled by Ferrari tifosi as the car that culminated the team’s firm hold of F1 in the early-to-mid 2000s. In 2023, almost 20 years since the memorable race in Budapest, Ferrari announced plans to honour the Championship-winning moment with a special-edition car. The 296 GTB Assetto Fiorano ‘Hungaroring Edition’ is a limited-production celebration of Scuderia Ferrari’s achievements, styled by the Ferrari Atelier for a dedicated livery inspired by the F2004.

The exterior of the 296 GTB is finished in Rosso Formula 1 paired with the application of Bianco King around the front bumper, rear of the car, cockpit roof, and lower flanks. This distinctive colour combination is a clear link to the F2004, perhaps only lacking the Formula 1 car’s memorable application of prominent sponsor decals, though the race number “1” on the bonnet is a nod to Schumacher’s 2004 campaign.

There is more than meets the eye to this specification. Based on the race-orientated 296 GTB Assetto Fiorano, the Ferrari has been configured for the track—complete with special GT racing-derived Multimatic shock absorbers, carbon fibre wheels, and a circuit-optimised carbon-fibre high-downforce front splitter. Ferrari-badged four-point safety harnesses have been fitted to the driver and passenger seat, with the Hungaroring track outline and Hungarian flag stitched on both headrests. Just five examples of the ‘Hungaroring Edition’ were made, with each car pledged to loyal Ferrari clients in Hungary by the time it was announced by the Maranello factory.

The 296 GTB upon which the Assetto Fiorano is based is, in typical Ferrari fashion, no slouch. The 3.0-litre twin-turbo V-6 engine is paired with a dual-rotor electric motor for a combined output of 819 horsepower. This is channelled through an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. The example offered here was delivered to its first owner in Hungary in July 2024, where it was used sparingly; the car was serviced by a Ferrari workshop on 3 October 2025 and the odometer then read only 297 kilometres. In December that year, the consigning owner purchased this 296 GTB. The odometer reads just 341 kilometres at the time of cataloguing. The car is accompanied by its books, manuals, charging cable, and car cover.

A fitting tribute to the Scuderia’s astonishing superiority on the racetrack, the 296 GTB Assetto Fiorano ‘Hungaroring Edition’ is a must-have for any Ferrari collector or enthusiast, and with only five produced, it is an opportunity not to be missed.