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25px Flag of Hungary  2003 Hungarian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 13 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One season
The Hungaroring after being modified in 2003.
The Hungaroring after being modified in 2003.
Date August 24, 2003
Official name XIX Magyar Nagydíj
Location Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary
Course Permanent racing facility
4.381 km (2.722 mi)
Distance 70 laps, 306.67 km (190.54 mi)
Weather Warm, dry and sunny, 28°C
Pole position
Driver 25px Spain Fernando Alonso Renault
Time 1:21.688
Fastest lap
Driver 25px Flag of Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW
Time 1:22.095 on lap 37
Podium
First 25px Spain Fernando Alonso Renault
Second 25px Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
Third 25px Flag of Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW

The 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on August 24, 2003 at the Hungaroring. It was won by Renault's Fernando Alonso from pole, becoming at the time the youngest ever driver to win a Grand Prix, beating the previous record of Bruce McLaren.[1] This record lasted for over five years until it was beaten by Sebastian Vettel on September 14, 2008 in the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.

It was the first to be held under the newly revamped Hungaroring, with the main straight lengthened and the first hairpin tightened, as well as further alterations near the latter stages of the lap in order to encourage more overtaking.

Practice[]

During practice Jordan driver Ralph Firman suffered a horrendous crash when his rear wing failed, causing his car to swap ends immediately and collide backwards into the crash barriers with such force that he was knocked unconscious and had to sit out the race. He was replaced by local driver Zsolt Baumgartner making his Formula One debut at his home Grand Prix.

Race report[]

Alonso, starting from pole on the clean side of the track, made a clean start and lead into the first corner, while the two Williams of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, who had started second and fourth respectively on the dirty line had difficulty getting away and were down to around tenth place by the first corner, being compounded by Schumacher's spin at the second corner.

The McLaren-Mercedes of Kimi Räikkönen managed to climb to third on the opening lap from his grid position of seventh. With Mark Webber struggling in second place, Alonso managed to gain 7s in the first three laps and 21s in the first 13 laps before being forced to pit for fuel. Webber, who had also light-fueled to a gain a high qualifying position, also pitted. Alonso reentered the track in second place, just behind Räikkönen, while Webber dropped much further down the field. At the end of the 16th lap, Räikkönen, Barrichello and Montoya all pitted, allowing Alonso to resume his lead.

On lap 17 Jacques Villeneuve's BAR came to a halt with a hydraulic failure before Michael Schumacher pitted, and was passed by Montoya while in the pits, who had been able to do a quicker lap while not being held up by Schumacher. On the following lap, David Coulthard, the last of the front-runners, who had been in front of both Schumacher and Montoya, pitted for a very long fuel stop, re-entering behind both. On lap 19, the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello suffered a left rear suspension failure, sending him straight on at the first corner hairpin, into the wall. The race stewards decided against deploying the safety car, preserving Alonso's 24s lead over Räikkönen, who rejoined ahead of Webber and proceeded to pull away from the Australian.

Alonso's teammate Jarno Trulli led a train of Montoya, Michael and Ralf Schumacher in a train of cars battling for fourth place, when Ralf overtook his brother on the 28th lap. Alonso and Webber were again the first to have a second fuel stop, on lap 30 and 31 respectively but this time Alonso had enough of a lead to re-enter the track ahead of Räikkönen while Webber dropped to ninth after his stop.

Sauber and Renault entering pits at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix

Sauber and Renault entering the pits.

Trulli pitted on the next lap, allowing the faster Williams duo of Montoya and Ralf Schumacher the clear air to set fast laps required to jump him, after Räikkönen rejoined after his pit stop behind them, therefore not causing any impedance. Ralf Schumacher immediately pitted on the next lap and rejoined ahead of Trulli but behind Webber who set a fast lap. Montoya set the fastest lap of the race on the next lap, and pitted on the next, exiting in front of Webber as well as Ralf Schumacher and with a clear track in front of him, became the fastest driver on the circuit. On lap 38 Michael Schumacher was in third place, with Coulthard in fourth, followed by Montoya, Webber, Ralf Schumacher and Trulli. Michael Schumacher then pitted, rejoining close behind Trulli, while Webber attempted to hold off Ralf Schumacher.

After a long first stop, third-placed Coulthard was the last to pit on lap 43, again with a long stop, indicating that he has switched to a two-stop strategy and rejoined between Trulli and Michael Schumacher. On lap 46, Ralf Schumacher finally passed Webber for fourth place, but was too far behind third-placed Montoya who had not been held up by Webber. The third round of pit stops saw no change in the order, aside from Coulthard who moved up to fifth behind Ralf Schumacher as a result of not having to pit. Alonso eventually lapped Schumacher, while Montoya spun in the latter stages of the race and had to fend off his teammate in the final laps. Alonso ended with a comfortable 16.8s lead over the second-placed Räikkönen.[2]

In the process, reigning world champion and the championship leader Michael Schumacher was lapped by the Spaniard, and only managed to salvage one point for an eighth place finish. The second and third place finishers Räikkönen and Montoya respectively cut his championship lead over his two rivals to just two and one point respectively.[1]

Reaction[]

After the race, Alonso described the win as "..a dream come true. I am 22 years old and I have my first victory. I hope I have a long career with lots more victories".[3] Jean Todt, the Ferrari team's manager, referred to their performance as "disappointing".[4]


Classification[]

Qualifying[]

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap
1 8 25px Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 1:22.953 1:21.688
2 4 25px Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:22.413 1:21.944 +0.256
3 14 25px Australia Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:22.625 1:22.027 +0.339
4 3 25px Flag of Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:23.305 1:22.180 +0.492
5 2 25px Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:22.892 1:22.180 +0.492
6 7 25px Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 1:22.358 1:22.610 +0.922
7 6 25px Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.695 1:22.742 +1.054
8 1 25px Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:23.430 1:22.755 +1.067
9 5 25px UK David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.786 1:23.060 +1.372
10 20 25px France Olivier Panis Toyota 1:22.986 1:23.369 +1.681
11 9 25px Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:23.482 1:23.621 +1.933
12 15 25px UK Justin Wilson Jaguar-Cosworth 1:24.343 1:23.660 +1.972
13 11 25px Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 1:24.725 1:23.726 +2.038
14 17 25px UK Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:24.313 1:23.847 +2.159
15 21 25px Brazil Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:55.138 1:23.982 +2.294
16 16 25px Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:24.333 1:24.100 +2.412
17 10 25px Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 1:23.660 1:24.569 +2.881
18 19 25px Netherlands Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 1:26.052 1:26.423 +4.735
19 12 25px Flag of Hungary Zsolt Baumgartner Jordan-Ford no time 1:26.678 +4.990
20 18 25px Flag of Denmark Nicolas Kiesa Minardi-Cosworth 1:27.023 1:28.907 +7.219

Race[]

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 8 25px Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 70 1:39:01.460 1 10
2 6 25px Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 70 +16.768 7 8
3 3 25px Flag of Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 70 +34.537 4 6
4 4 25px Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 70 +35.620 2 5
5 5 25px UK David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 70 +56.535 9 4
6 14 25px Australia Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 70 +1:12.643 3 3
7 7 25px Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 69 +1 Lap 6 2
8 1 25px Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 69 +1 Lap 8 1
9 9 25px Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 69 +1 Lap 11  
10 17 25px UK Jenson Button BAR-Honda 69 +1 Lap 14  
11 21 25px Brazil Cristiano da Matta Toyota 68 +2 Laps 15  
12 19 25px Netherlands Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 67 +3 Laps 18  
13 18 25px Flag of Denmark Nicolas Kiesa Minardi-Cosworth 66 +4 Laps 20  
Ret 10 25px Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 47 Out of fuel 17  
Ret 15 25px UK Justin Wilson Jaguar-Cosworth 42 Engine 12  
Ret 12 25px Flag of Hungary Zsolt Baumgartner Jordan-Ford 34 Engine 19  
Ret 20 25px France Olivier Panis Toyota 33 Gearbox 10  
Ret 11 25px Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 28 Engine 13  
Ret 2 25px Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 19 Suspension 5  
Ret 16 25px Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 14 Hydraulics 16  

Lap leaders[]

Standings after the race[]

  • Bold text indicates who still has a mathematical chance of becoming World Champion.
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 25px Germany Michael Schumacher 72
2 25px Flag of Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya 71
3 25px Finland Kimi Räikkönen 70
4 25px Germany Ralf Schumacher 58
5 25px Spain Fernando Alonso 54
Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 25px UK Williams-BMW 129
2 25px Italy Ferrari 121
3 25px UK McLaren-Mercedes 115
4 25px France Renault 78
5 25px UK BAR-Honda 15
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References[]



Previous race:
2003 German Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
2003 season
Next race:
2003 Italian Grand Prix
Previous race:
2002 Hungarian Grand Prix
Hungarian Grand Prix Next race:
2004 Hungarian Grand Prix
Smallwikipedialogo.png This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix. 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.


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