2003 Formula One season

2003 FIA Formula One World Championship season
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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.

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
					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

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish, inc. non-classified finish Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Light blue Practiced only (PO) Friday test driver (TD) - 2003-2007 only Blank Did not practice (DNP) Injured or ill (Inj) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest lap

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

• Drivers Championship points were awarded on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first eight finishers in each race.

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

• Constructors Championship points were awarded on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first eight finishers in each race.

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

• formula1.com – 2003 official driver standings
• formula1.com – 2003 official team standings
• 2003 Formula One image gallery Retrieved from www.motorsport.com on 13 October 2009
• 2003 Formula One Technical Regulations Retrieved from web.archive.org on 13 October 2009

References

This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 2003 Formula One season. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.