The F2005's chassis was designed by Rory Byrne, Ignazio Lunetta, Aldo Costa, Marco Fainello, John Iley, and Marco de Luca. Ross Brawn served as Technical Director and played a vital role in leading production, while Paolo Martinelli headed engine development with assistance from Giles Simon on engine design and development and Mattia Binotto on engine operations.
At the car's launch, Brawn described the F2005 as an evolution of previous cars with design ideas adapted to the 2005 regulations. The original plan called for the car to debut in Spain, but it was pressed into service earlier at Bahrain once it became clear that Renault and McLaren had developed superior cars with better pace.
Two interlocking factors undermined the F2005's competitiveness. The most significant was a new regulation requiring races to be completed without tyre changes. This placed Ferrari at a serious disadvantage: the Bridgestone tyres supplied exclusively to Ferrari degraded more rapidly under race distance than the Michelin rubber used by Renault, McLaren, Toyota, Williams, BAR, Red Bull Racing, and Sauber. Brawn also acknowledged that the car had aerodynamic shortcomings and a bulky gearbox. Ferrari's engine and gearbox layout prevented the team from opening the diffuser as much as rivals, limiting downforce from the central diffuser region — an area that new aero rules for 2005 had specifically opened up to gain more load.
The F2005 was unreliable at its debut in Bahrain. Schumacher qualified on the front row but retired with hydraulic failure a few laps into the race; Barrichello completed only four timed laps across the entire weekend before finishing ninth.
Ferrari's sole victory of the season came at the United States Grand Prix, a race reduced to six starters after Michelin declared their tyres unsafe for the banked Turn 13 at Indianapolis. Ferrari, Jordan, and Minardi — all running Bridgestone tyres — were the only teams to start. Schumacher won, the only race win he or Ferrari would record all season.
The two most competitive appearances against a full field came at the San Marino and Hungarian Grands Prix. At Imola, Schumacher qualified thirteenth after a qualifying mistake but found Bridgestone's rubber at its most competitive; he surged through the field to press eventual winner Fernando Alonso, unable to find a way past. At the Hungaroring, Schumacher started from pole — nearly a second clear of Juan Pablo Montoya in second — and led the race before being beaten by McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who benefited from a superior pit stop strategy despite the no-tyre-change regulations placing fuel strategy as the main variable.
For the remainder of the season Ferrari rarely threatened the front. Schumacher finished with 62 points and Rubens Barrichello with 38 — both drivers' worst championship positions in several years. Ferrari finished third in the Constructors' Championship, and Barrichello departed at the end of the year for the Honda team, replaced by Felipe Massa for 2006.
The F2005 appeared during the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, driven by Luca Badoer, who performed donuts and participated in a pit stop demonstration by the Ferrari crew. This made the F2005 the only Formula One car ever to appear during an Olympic opening or closing ceremony.
Ferrari used Marlboro logos throughout the season except at the Canadian, United States, French, British, Turkish, Italian, and Belgian Grands Prix. At the Bahrain Grand Prix, the car ran a black-tipped nose cone in mourning for the death of Pope John Paul II.
The F2005 was the last Ferrari Formula One car powered by a naturally aspirated V10 engine, as regulations mandated a switch to 2.4-litre V8 units for 2006. The season exposed the extent to which Ferrari's late-era dominance had rested on a combination of car, tyre, and driver factors in combination; when Bridgestone's rubber fell behind Michelin's in race-distance performance, neither the chassis nor driver advantages could compensate. The campaign accelerated Ferrari's rethinking of its tyre supply arrangements, and the team returned to winning ways with the 248 F1 in 2006.
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