2003 Austrian Grand Prix
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The 2003 Austrian Grand Prix (formally known as A1 Grand Prix von Österreich 2003) was a
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
motor race held on 18 May 2003 at the A1-Ring. It was the sixth round of the
2003 Formula One season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
and the 27th
Austrian Grand Prix The Austrian Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Österreich) is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned motor racing event that was held in , –, –, and then returned to the Formula One calendar in . History The A ...
. The 69-lap race was won by
Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
driving a
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
car after starting from
pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
.
Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...
finished second driving for
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
with
Rubens Barrichello Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toy ...
third in the other Ferrari. It was the last Austrian Grand Prix to be held until it returned to the renamed
Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later sh ...
in
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
.


Background

The Grand Prix was contested by ten teams with two drivers each. The teams (also known as constructors) were
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
, Williams,
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
,
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
,
Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...
,
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
,
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
,
BAR Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...
,
Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal followin ...
and
Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
. It was announced in January 2003 that the Austrian Grand Prix would be dropped from the Formula One calendar in 2004, three years before the contract for the race was due to expire. This was because an exit clause was enabled in response to the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
pushing forward a ban on tobacco advertising to 1 October 2005. Before the race, McLaren driver
Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...
led the Drivers' Championship with 32 points, ahead of
Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
(28) and
Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...
(25).
Rubens Barrichello Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toy ...
was fourth with 20 points, while
David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...
was a close fifth with 19 points. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren was leading with 51 points, three points ahead of their rival Ferrari. Renault (34 points) and Williams (32 points) contended for fourth place and Jordan was fifth with 11 points.


Qualifying

Qualifying was interesting, as there was no knowledge of what the weather would be for the race, making tyre and fuel strategy critical.
Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
qualified on pole despite a huge slide on his best qualifying lap. Championship leader
Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...
qualified second, and was given special dispensation from the
FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...
to change his cracked valve, without incurring the usual penalty for changing an engine.


Qualifying classification


Race

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...
chose to start from the pitlane in the spare car, and Mark Webber chose to start from the pitlane in his regular car. This meant Webber could not change tyres or add fuel until the race started, whereas Alonso could. His Jaguar broke this rule, and so Webber received a 10-second stop/go penalty.
Cristiano da Matta Cristiano Monteiro da Matta (born 19 September 1973) is a Brazilian former professional racing driver. He won the CART Championship in 2002, and drove in Formula One with the Toyota team from 2003 to 2004. Career biography Origins and early car ...
had a faulty launch control, which caused 2 aborted starts, reducing the race to 69 laps. On the third (and final) formation lap,
Heinz-Harald Frentzen Heinz-Harald Frentzen (born 18 May 1967) is a German former racing driver. He competed in multiple disciplines including Sportscars, Formula One and DTM. He had his most success in Formula One, entering over 150 Grands Prix and winning three. ...
's Sauber did not start, and he did not have time to set up the team car. At the start,
Jos Verstappen Johannes Franciscus Verstappen (; born 4 March 1972) is a former (Formula One) racing driver. Verstappen was the German Formula Three champion and Masters of Formula Three winner in 1993. In Formula 1, Verstappen raced for seven different t ...
's launch control broke, and he retired. This caused the safety car to be deployed. Michael eventually led Montoya and Räikkönen when the green flag came out at the end of lap 4. The field remained relatively stable for the next several laps. After 11 laps, it started to rain lightly, although it was not enough to force cars into the pits. Moments later,
Jarno Trulli Jarno Trulli (; born 13 July 1974) is an Italian racing driver. He regularly competed in Formula One from 1997 to 2011, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault, Toyota, Lotus Racing and Team Lotus. His best result in the World Drivers' Cham ...
's Renault spun at turn one and he rejoined without problems. On lap 23, Michael pitted and there was a problem with his fuel filler, possibly caused by the fact that the team had used it to fill up
Rubens Barrichello Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toy ...
's car, which had a very slow first stop. Some of the fuel that actually did come out of the nozzle hit the bodywork on the sidepods, causing a small fire. The fire was extinguished quickly, and Michael continued in the race, losing about 12 seconds and was now running in third position. On lap 32, everything turned into Michael's favour. Räikkönen was having engine-related performance problems, and this allowed Schumacher to catch and eventually pass him. On the straight between turns two and three, leader
Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver. He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech S ...
's engine blew up. He made it back to the garage, and Michael was back in the lead. Alonso was on a good run despite starting from the pit lane, and was running in the top five when he spun off course at turn one, on what turned out to be his own oil caused by a blown engine in his Renault. Michael eventually set the fastest lap of the day, at an average speed of 227.894 km/h. After the second round of stops, Barrichello closed up on second-place Räikkönen, but was unable to pass him due to some good defensive moves by Kimi, despite his car being clearly faster. Michael eventually went on to win the race, his third successive of the season.
Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super GT ...
finished fourth for BAR despite being disappointed in qualifying, and
David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...
's race was uneventful in fifth place.
Ralf Schumacher Ralf Schumacher (born 30 June 1975) is a German former racing driver. He is the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, and the pair are the only siblings to each win Formula One races. Schumacher began kart ...
was sixth, Webber finished a brilliant seventh despite his penalties, and Trulli was eighth for the final point. Despite causing the aborted starts earlier in the day, da Matta finished the race, a lap down in tenth position.


Race classification


Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.


References


External links

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Austrian Grand Prix The Austrian Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Österreich) is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned motor racing event that was held in , –, –, and then returned to the Formula One calendar in . History The A ...
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
Austrian Grand Prix
Austrian Grand Prix The Austrian Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Österreich) is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned motor racing event that was held in , –, –, and then returned to the Formula One calendar in . History The A ...