2003 Formula One season

2003 FIA Formula One World Championship season
Previous: 2002 Next: 2004
Index: Races by country | Races by season

The 2003 Formula One season was the 54th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2003 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 9, 2003 and ended on October 12 after sixteen races. World Championship titles were awarded for Drivers and Constructors.

The 2003 season saw the introduction of new regulations intended to increase F1's excitement and to help alleviate the financial difficulties of the smaller teams. One-lap qualifying was introduced as a way for smaller teams to get more television exposure. Optional Friday testing at Grand Prix events was introduced in exchange for fewer miles on stand-alone test days. This was intended to give smaller teams a cheaper alternative to these test days, which were to be banned in 2004. Only one type of wet weather tyre was allowed to be used in wet weather races. The point scoring systems for both the Constructors and Drivers titles were changed from 10, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 for the first six finishers at each round to 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 for the first eight finishers in an attempt to make the title contests closer.

While Ferrari's Michael Schumacher had won the 2002 championship by 67 points from his team-mate Rubens Barrichello, the 2003 season was much closer. For a great part of the 2003 season, several drivers from several teams had mathematical chances of winning the world championship. Eight different drivers won a Grand Prix, amongst them three first time winners. Kimi Räikkönen, driving for McLaren-Mercedes, and Juan Pablo Montoya, driving for BMW Williams, both had a chance of claiming the 2003 championship until late in the season, with Räikkönen still mathematically in contention at the final race, the Japanese Grand Prix. Räikkönen lost the championship to Schumacher by two points, although he won only one race to Schumacher's six. Ferrari's defence of the constructor's title was challenged throughout the year by Williams and McLaren, one of the few seasons where there were three front running teams.

Notable races include the chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix which was hampered by monsoon conditions, and the British Grand Prix where the track was invaded by the now-defrocked priest Neil Horan, who ran onto the Hangar straight, running towards the 250 km/h train of cars, wearing a green kilt and waving religious banners.

After failing to complete the 2002 season due to financial difficulties, the Arrows team had their application for admission to the 2003 championship rejected by the FIA prior to the season start date. No reason was publicly given by the FIA and Arrows subsequently folded after 25 years in Formula One.

Contents

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2003 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine † Tyre No Driver Rounds Test driver(s)
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2002
F2003-GA		 Ferrari 051
Ferrari 052		 B 1 Michael Schumacher All Luca Badoer
Felipe Massa
2 Rubens Barrichello All
BMW.WilliamsF1 Team Williams FW25 BMW P83 M 3 Juan Pablo Montoya All Antônio Pizzonia 1
Marc Gené 2
Ricardo Sperafico
Olivier Beretta
4 Ralf Schumacher 1–13, 15–16
Marc Gené 14
West McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-17D Mercedes FO110M
Mercedes FO110P		 M 5 David Coulthard All Alexander Wurz
6 Kimi Räikkönen All
Mild Seven Renault F1 Team Renault R23
R23B		 Renault RS23 M 7 Jarno Trulli All Allan McNish
Franck Montagny [1]
8 Fernando Alonso All
Sauber Petronas Sauber C22 Petronas 03A B 9 Nick Heidfeld All Neel Jani
10 Heinz-Harald Frentzen All
Jordan Ford Jordan EJ13 Ford RS1 B 11 Giancarlo Fisichella All Zsolt Baumgartner
Björn Wirdheim
Satoshi Motoyama
12 Ralph Firman 3
 1–12, 15–16
Zsolt Baumgartner 13–14
Jaguar Racing Jaguar R4 Cosworth CR-5 M 14 Mark Webber All Andre Lotterer
15 Antônio Pizzonia 1–11
Justin Wilson 4
 12–16
Lucky Strike BAR Honda BAR 005 Honda RA003E B 16 Jacques Villeneuve 5
 1–15 Takuma Sato
Anthony Davidson
Takuma Sato 16
17 Jenson Button All
Minardi Cosworth
Trust Minardi Cosworth		 Minardi PS03 Cosworth CR-3 B 18 Justin Wilson 1–11 Nicolas Kiesa
Matteo Bobbi
Gianmaria Bruni
Nicolas Kiesa 6
 12–16
19 Jos Verstappen All
Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF103 Toyota RVX-03 M 20 Olivier Panis All Ricardo Zonta
21 Cristiano da Matta All

† All engines were 3.0 litre, V10 configuration.

Driver changes

Felipe Massa left his Sauber drive to assume the duties of test driver for Ferrari. Jenson Button left Renault to take Panis' seat at BAR. Fernando Alonso moved up from the Renault test driving slot to a full time drive, replacing Jenson Button. Heinz-Harald Frentzen joined Sauber to take over from Massa. Frentzen had driven for the Arrows team for part of the 2002 season, but left after the German Grand Prix. The Arrows team folded several days later without contesting another Grand Prix. Takuma Sato left the Jordan team to take the place of several others (Anthony Davidson, Darren Manning, Ryo Fukuda and Patrick Lemarié) as the sole test driver for BAR, being replaced by new driver Ralph Firman.

Team changes

Toyota announced midway through the 2002 season that both drivers (Mika Salo and Allan McNish) would be replaced. Olivier Panis joined from BAR and Cristiano da Matta signed from the Newman Haas team in the CART series. After being replaced at Toyota, Allan McNish signed with Renault as a test driver. Jaguar replaced both Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa. Their new drivers were Mark Webber and Antônio Pizzonia. At Minardi, Webber's vacated seat was filled by Justin Wilson. Alex Yoong's Minardi contract from 2002 was not renewed and he was replaced in that team by Jos Verstappen.

Formula One 2003 race schedule

Round Race Date Location
1 Australian Grand Prix 9 March Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne
2 Malaysian Grand Prix 23 March Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur
3 Brazilian Grand Prix 6 April Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo
4 San Marino Grand Prix 20 April Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola
5 Spanish Grand Prix 4 May Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona
6 Austrian Grand Prix 18 May A1-Ring, Spielberg
7 Monaco Grand Prix 1 June Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo
8 Canadian Grand Prix 15 June Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal
9 European Grand Prix 29 June Nürburgring
10 French Grand Prix 6 July Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours
11 British Grand Prix 20 July Silverstone Circuit
12 German Grand Prix 3 August Hockenheimring
13 Hungarian Grand Prix 24 August Hungaroring, Budapest
14 Italian Grand Prix 14 September Autodromo Nazionale Monza
15 United States Grand Prix 28 September Indianapolis Motor Speedway
16 Japanese Grand Prix 12 October Suzuka Circuit

Results and standings

Grands Prix

Rd. Grand Prix Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning Driver Constructor Report
1 Australian Grand Prix Michael Schumacher Kimi Räikkönen David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes Report
2 Malaysian Grand Prix Fernando Alonso Michael Schumacher Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes Report
3 Brazilian Grand Prix Rubens Barrichello Rubens Barrichello Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford Report
4 San Marino Grand Prix Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Ferrari Report
5 Spanish Grand Prix Michael Schumacher Rubens Barrichello Michael Schumacher Ferrari Report
6 Austrian Grand Prix Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Ferrari Report
7 Monaco Grand Prix Ralf Schumacher Kimi Räikkönen Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW Report
8 Canadian Grand Prix Ralf Schumacher Fernando Alonso Michael Schumacher Ferrari Report
9 European Grand Prix Kimi Räikkönen Kimi Räikkönen Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW Report
10 French Grand Prix Ralf Schumacher Juan Pablo Montoya Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW Report
11 British Grand Prix Rubens Barrichello Rubens Barrichello Rubens Barrichello Ferrari Report
12 German Grand Prix Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW Report
13 Hungarian Grand Prix Fernando Alonso Juan Pablo Montoya Fernando Alonso Renault Report
14 Italian Grand Prix Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Ferrari Report
15 United States Grand Prix Kimi Räikkönen Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Ferrari Report
16 Japanese Grand Prix Rubens Barrichello Ralf Schumacher Rubens Barrichello Ferrari Report

Drivers

Pos Driver AUS
 MAL
 BRA
 SMR
 ESP
 AUT
 MON
 CAN
 EUR
 FRA
 GBR
 GER
 HUN
 ITA
 USA
 JPN
 Points
1 Michael Schumacher 4 6 Ret 1 1 1 3 1 5 3 4 7 8 1 1 8 93
2 Kimi Räikkönen 3 1 2 2 Ret 2 2 6 Ret 4 3 Ret 2 4 2 2 91
3 Juan Pablo Montoya 2 12 Ret 7 4 Ret 1 3 2 2 2 1 3 2 6 Ret 82
4 Rubens Barrichello Ret 2 Ret 3 3 3 8 5 3 7 1 Ret Ret 3 Ret 1 65
5 Ralf Schumacher 8 4 7 4 5 6 4 2 1 1 9 Ret 4 Ret 12 58
6 Fernando Alonso 7 3 3 6 2 Ret 5 4 4 Ret Ret 4 1 8 Ret Ret 55
7 David Coulthard 1 Ret 4 5 Ret 5 7 Ret 15† 5 5 2 5 Ret Ret 3 51
8 Jarno Trulli 5 5 8 13 Ret 8 6 Ret Ret Ret 6 3 7 Ret 4 5 33
9 Jenson Button 10 7 Ret 8 9 4 DNS Ret 7 Ret 8 8 10 Ret Ret 4 17
10 Mark Webber Ret Ret 9† Ret 7 7 Ret 7 6 6 14 11† 6 7 Ret 11 17
11 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 6 9 5 11 Ret DNS Ret Ret 9 12 12 Ret Ret 13† 3 Ret 13
12 Giancarlo Fisichella 12† Ret 1 15† Ret Ret 10 Ret 12 Ret Ret 13† Ret 10 7 Ret 12
13 Cristiano da Matta Ret 11 10 12 6 10 9 11† Ret 11 7 6 11 Ret 9 7 10
14 Nick Heidfeld Ret 8 Ret 10 10 Ret 11 Ret 8 13 17 10 9 9 5 9 6
15 Olivier Panis Ret Ret Ret 9 Ret Ret 13 8 Ret 8 11 5 Ret Ret Ret 10 6
16 Jacques Villeneuve 9 Ret 6 Ret Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret 9 10 9 Ret 6 Ret 6
17 Marc Gené 5 4
18 Takuma Sato 6 3
19 Ralph Firman Ret 10 Ret Ret 8 11 12 Ret 11 15 13 Ret Ret 14 1
20 Justin Wilson Ret Ret Ret Ret 11 13 Ret Ret 13 14 16 Ret Ret Ret 8 13 1
21 Antônio Pizzonia 13† Ret Ret 14 Ret 9 Ret 10† 10 10 Ret 0
22 Jos Verstappen 11 13 Ret Ret 12 Ret Ret 9 14 16 15 Ret 12 Ret 10 15 0
23 Nicolas Kiesa 12 13 12 11 16 0
24 Zsolt Baumgartner Ret 11 0
Pos Driver AUS
 MAL
 BRA
 SMR
 ESP
 AUT
 MON
 CAN
 EUR
 FRA
 GBR
 GER
 HUN
 ITA
 USA
 JPN
 Points
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Light blue Practiced only (PO)
Friday test driver (TD)
(from 2003 onwards)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Excluded (EX)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest lap

† Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Constructors

Pos Constructor Car
no.		 AUS
 MAL
 BRA
 SMR
 ESP
 AUT
 MON
 CAN
 EUR
 FRA
 GBR
 GER
 HUN
 ITA
 USA
 JPN
 Points
1 Ferrari 1 4 6 Ret 1 1 1 3 1 5 3 4 7 8 1 1 8 158
2 Ret 2 Ret 3 3 3 8 5 3 7 1 Ret Ret 3 Ret 1
2 Williams-BMW 3 2 12 Ret 7 4 Ret 1 3 2 2 2 1 3 2 6 Ret 144
4 8 4 7 4 5 6 4 2 1 1 9 Ret 4 5 Ret 12
3 McLaren-Mercedes 5 1 Ret 4 5 Ret 5 7 Ret 15 5 5 2 5 Ret Ret 3 142
6 3 1 2 2 Ret 2 2 6 Ret 4 3 Ret 2 4 2 2
4 Renault 7 5 5 8 13 Ret 8 6 Ret Ret Ret 6 3 7 Ret 4 5 88
8 7 3 3 6 2 Ret 5 4 4 Ret Ret 4 1 8 Ret Ret
5 BAR-Honda 16 9 Ret 6 Ret Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret 9 10 9 Ret 6 Ret 6 26
17 10 7 Ret 8 9 4 DNS Ret 7 Ret 8 8 10 Ret Ret 4
6 Sauber-Petronas 9 Ret 8 Ret 10 10 Ret 11 Ret 8 13 17 10 9 9 5 9 19
10 6 9 5 11 Ret DNS Ret Ret 9 12 12 Ret Ret 13 3 Ret
7 Jaguar-Cosworth 14 Ret Ret 9 Ret 7 7 Ret 7 6 6 14 11 6 7 Ret 11 18
15 13 Ret Ret 14 Ret 9 Ret 10 10 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 13
8 Toyota 20 Ret Ret Ret 9 Ret Ret 13 8 Ret 8 11 5 Ret Ret Ret 10 16
21 Ret 11 10 12 6 10 9 11 Ret 11 7 6 11 Ret 9 7
9 Jordan-Ford 11 12 Ret 1 15 Ret Ret 10 Ret 12 Ret Ret 13 Ret 10 7 Ret 13
12 Ret 10 Ret Ret 8 11 12 Ret 11 15 13 Ret Ret 11 Ret 14
10 Minardi-Cosworth 18 Ret Ret Ret Ret 11 13 Ret Ret 13 14 16 12 13 12 11 16 0
19 11 13 Ret Ret 12 Ret Ret 9 14 16 15 Ret 12 Ret 10 15
Pos Constructor Car
no.		 AUS
 MAL
 BRA
 SMR
 ESP
 AUT
 MON
 CAN
 EUR
 FRA
 GBR
 GER
 HUN
 ITA
 USA
 JPN
 Points

Notes

  1. Pizzonia was offered a test driving role at Jaguar but turned it down, and would later resurface as a test driver at BMW-Williams.
  2. Williams driver Marc Gené replaced Ralf Schumacher, in Italy.
  3. Ralph Firman suffered injuries as a result of a crash during practice in Hungary. He was replaced by Zsolt Baumgartner for two races before returning to finish the season in the EJ13.
  4. Having started the season driving for Minardi, Justin Wilson later joined the Jaguar team and filled in for the under-performing Antônio Pizzonia for the last 5 races of the season.
  5. Denmark's Nicolas Kiesa took over Wilson's vacated seat in the Minardi.
  6. After a string of disappointing results in 2003, Jacques Villeneuve was replaced at BAR by test driver Takuma Sato for the Japanese GP. Villeneuve would later drive for Renault in 2004 as a replacement driver, and sign a multi-year contract at Sauber for 2005 (though he was replaced in 2006).
  7. Renault took part in the Friday testing session. People thought it was odd because not only were they a manufacturer, they would also get less testing miles. However, Mike Gascoyne the technical director for Renault in 2003 said that not only did Renault save money, Renault also got MORE testing mileage out of their cars.

External links

See also

References

  1. ^ Anointed test driver for one race in 2003