2003 Australian Grand Prix

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2003 Australian Grand Prix
Race 1 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship
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Albert Lake Park Street Circuit in Melbourne, Australia.svg
Race details
Date9 March 2003
Official name 2003 Foster's Australian Grand Prix
Location Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia
Course Temporary street circuit
Course length 5.303 km (3.295 miles)
Distance 58 laps, 307.574 km (191.118 miles)
Weather Damp at beginning, dry later, cloudy, mild
Attendance 118,000 [1]
Pole position
Driver
 Ferrari
Time 1:27.173
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:27.724 on lap 32 [2]
Podium
First
 McLaren-Mercedes
Second
 Williams-BMW
Third
 McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders
  • 2003 Australian Grand Prix

The 2003 Australian Grand Prix (formally the 2003 Foster's Australian Grand Prix) [3] was a Formula One motor race held on 9 March 2003 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. The race was won by McLaren driver David Coulthard, who took the 13th and final race victory of his Formula One career.

Contents

Report

Background

There was a lot of speculation about how the new set of rules that debuted in this race would affect Ferrari, which were the ones to cause the changes after their dominant 2002 season.

Qualifying

Qualifying was an all Ferrari affair, with Schumacher edging out Barrichello. Montoya took third, with Frentzen, Panis and Villeneuve putting in good performances for 4th, 5th and 6th. The McLarens had poor qualifying, with Coulthard in 11th, and Räikkönen making a mistake, and ending up 15th.

Race

It rained heavily before the race, and the track started in half-wet conditions. Räikkönen stopped for dry tyres at the end of the formation lap. Montoya and Panis also started on dry tyres, while the Ferraris, Saubers and BARs were on wet tyres. Barrichello jumped the start, and received a drive-through penalty. Schumacher led at the end of lap 1, with Barrichello in close company. Montoya was 6 seconds behind in third, followed by Frentzen and Villeneuve. Panis struggled on dry tyres, with the Renaults, Ralf Schumacher and Coulthard climbing quickly.

However, the track dried quickly and abnormal tire wear soon occurred on the two Ferraris. After two laps Coulthard, who started on wet tyres, returned to the pits to replace them with dry ones. Barrichello took his penalty, and on his in-lap, lost traction on a quickly drying track, crashing at Turn Five on lap five, followed by rookie Ralph Firman, who had climbed to eighth by lap seven on his dry Bridgestones.

Meanwhile Räikkönen quickly recovered from the back, while Coulthard, on dry tyres, set the fastest lap of the race. Despite this, Ferrari chose not to immediately call Schumacher back to the pits. Da Matta’s debut also came to a premature end when he spun into the gravel at turn 3. Schumacher dropped to eighth, pitting for dry tyres, with the leaders pitting just before a safety car to clear the stranded cars. Mark Webber's Jaguar had climbed to sixth, but his rear suspension broke just after the restart and he stopped in an awkward place, prompting a second appearance of the safety car.

Montoya, Trulli and Ralf Schumacher took advantage of the interruption to refuel, but the German driver lost a lot of time due to a spin and restarted at the back of the group. The safety car returned to the pits at the end of lap 20, with Räikkönen in the lead threatened by Michael Schumacher, who was in turn followed by Coulthard, Villeneuve, Button, Montoya, Panis and Frentzen. On lap 25 Villeneuve, who was having problems with the radio, entered the pits together with his teammate Button, causing a lot of confusion in the team garage and causing the Englishman to lose almost twenty seconds. Meanwhile Michael Schumacher unsuccessfully attacked Räikkönen. Unable to pass him, the German driver returned to the pits on lap 29, imitated three laps later by the McLaren drivers. Montoya then moved on to lead, followed by Räikkönen, Schumacher, Coulthard, Trulli and Alonso. Räikkönen had his turn leading the race until he received a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Räikkönen served the penalty on lap 39, returning to the track behind the two Renaults. When Montoya refueled for the last time on lap 42, Michael Schumacher found himself in the lead.

The German driver, however, damaged the flow diverters of his Ferrari by driving too violently over a curb. Some pieces of the damaged aerodynamic appendages broke off and slipped under the body. The race direction then displayed the black-orange flag to the German, which indicates the obligation to return to the pits within three laps for repairs. Schumacher, who still had to make another pit stop, was therefore forced to do so during the 46th lap. He missed out on the podium for the first time since the 2001 Italian Grand Prix and ending Ferrari's 53 consecutive podium finishes. It was the first time since the 1999 European Grand Prix that neither of the Ferraris finished on the podium. When Williams seemed to have the first victory of the year in their pocket, Montoya spun after entering the first corner too fast, with eight laps from the end and without any pressure from his rivals.[ citation needed ] Montoya returned to the track, but lost first place to Coulthard, who won what turned out to be his last race victory. [4] Montoya was visibly frustrated on the podium.

This was the first time that Michelin tires have dominated the podium since the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix. It was the first time since the 1998 Italian Grand Prix that no Bridgestone-shod cars finished in the podium positions.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1 TimeQ2 TimeGapGrid
11 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:27.1031:27.1731
22 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:26.3721:27.418+0.2452
33 Flag of Colombia.svg Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:27.4501:28.101+0.9283
410 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 1:27.5631:28.274+1.1014
520 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Toyota 1:27.3521:28.288+1.1155
616 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:26.8321:28.420+1.2476
79 Flag of Germany.svg Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:27.5101:28.464+1.2917
817 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:27.1591:28.682+1.5098
94 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:28.2661:28.830+1.6579
108 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso Renault 1:27.2551:28.928+1.75510
115 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.2421:29.105+1.93211
127 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Renault 1:27.4111:29.136+1.96312
1311 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 1:27.6331:29.344+2.17113
1414 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:27.6751:29.367+2.19414
156 Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.5511:29.470+2.29715
1621 Flag of Brazil.svg Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:27.4781:29.538+2.36516
1712 Flag of Ireland.svg Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 1:29.9771:31.242+4.06917
1815 Flag of Brazil.svg Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 1:30.0921:31.723+4.55018
1919 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 1:30.053No Time 1 19
2018 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 1:30.479No Time 1 20
Source: [5]
Notes

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
15 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 581:34:42.1241110
23 Flag of Colombia.svg Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 58+8.67538
36 Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 58+9.192PL 1 6
41 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 58+9.48215
57 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Renault 58+38.801124
610 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 58+43.92843
78 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso Renault 58+45.074102
84 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 58+45.74591
916 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 58+1:05.5366 
1017 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jenson Button BAR-Honda 58+1:05.9748 
1119 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 57+1 LapPL 1  
1211 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 52Gearbox13 
1315 Flag of Brazil.svg Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 52Suspension18 
Ret20 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Toyota 31Fuel pressure5 
Ret9 Flag of Germany.svg Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 20Suspension7 
Ret18 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 16Radiator20 
Ret14 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 15Suspension14 
Ret21 Flag of Brazil.svg Cristiano da Matta Toyota 7Spun off16 
Ret12 Flag of Ireland.svg Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 6Accident17 
Ret2 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 5Accident2 
Source: [7]
Notes

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. ↑ F1 Racing . April 2003.
  2. ↑ "2003 Australian Grand Prix - Race". Manipe F1. Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  3. ↑ "Australia". Formula1.com. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  4. ↑ Elson, James (29 March 2023). "F1's greatest opening race? Coulthard's '03 Australian GP win". Motor Sport magazine . Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  5. ↑ "Australia 2003". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  6. ↑ "Stoddart Hoping Ambitious Gamble Pays Off". Autosport.com. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "2003 Australian Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Australia 2003 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
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