2003 British Grand Prix

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2003 British Grand Prix
Race 11 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship
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Silverstone Circuit 2003.png
Silverstone Circuit in its 2003 configuration
Race details
Date20 July 2003
Official name LVI Foster's British Grand Prix
Location Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, England
Course Permanent Road Facility
Course length 5.141 km (3.194 miles)
Distance 60 laps, 308.355 km (191.603 miles)
Weather Sunny at start, cloudy later, Air: 24 °C (75 °F), Track 29 °C (84 °F) [1]
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:21.209
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Ferrari
Time 1:22.236 on lap 38
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Williams-BMW
Third McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders
  • 2003 British Grand Prix

The 2003 British Grand Prix (formally the LVI Foster's British Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 20 July 2003 at the Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Northamptonshire, England. It was the eleventh round of the 2003 Formula One season. The 60-lap race was won by Rubens Barrichello driving for Ferrari after starting from pole position. Juan Pablo Montoya finished second in a Williams car, and Kimi Räikkönen third driving for McLaren.

Contents

Jarno Trulli, driving for Renault, started alongside Barrichello on the front row and led the first eleven laps of the race, until a track invasion by a later-to-be-defrocked priest, who ran along Hangar straight, running opposite to the 170 mph (280 km/h) train of cars, wearing a saffron kilt and waving religious banners. [2] As a result, the vast majority of cars pitted under safety car conditions, which led to the Toyota drivers Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis, who had elected not to pit, leading the field until Räikkönen assumed the lead on lap 30 when Da Matta pitted.

Race report

The race began with Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello on pole, alongside Renault's Jarno Trulli. Kimi Räikkönen of McLaren-Mercedes started from third, while world champion and championship leader Michael Schumacher started from fifth. Barrichello made a poor start, allowing both Trulli and Räikkönen past on an incident-free first lap. Ralf and Michael Schumacher retained their starting positions of fourth and fifth. On the sixth lap, the headrest of David Coulthard dislodged while traversing the first corner (Copse), forcing him to pit for a replacement under safety regulations, and causing a safety car period to allow marshals to clear the track. Upon the resumption of green flag racing, Barrichello closed the gap to Räikkönen before passing him on lap 11. On the following lap, a man invaded the circuit and another safety car period was necessitated. As it was close to the period when the drivers would be making their scheduled pit stops, the vast majority of cars decided to pit under the safety car. The second placed cars from the respective teams were forced to queue up in the pit lane waiting for service, causing them to drop many places. Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Juan Pablo Montoya were all outside of the top ten. Of the leading contenders, Trulli was in fourth place while both Räikkönen and Ralf Schumacher had jumped Barrichello when in the pits. [3] [4]

The Toyotas of Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis  – who had opted not to pit – were leading, while Coulthard was in third, having not required a pit stop after his earlier unscheduled headrest replacement. Räikkönen passed Trulli immediately after the restart before clearing team-mate Coulthard on the same lap. Barrichello then passed a slowing Ralf Schumacher on the 17th lap while Räikkönen also passed Panis before chasing down the leading da Matta. Ralf Schumacher was forced to pit after encountering difficulties, while at the same time Michael Schumacher was unable to pass Alonso. By the 26th lap Barrichello was still trying to pass Trulli, and the two leaders continued to extend their lead. Barrichello and Montoya eventually passed Trulli by the end of the 27th lap, before Panis fell victim to both on the 29th. Da Matta eventually ceded the lead after pitting on the 30th lap to Räikkönen. Barrichello then set the fastest lap after being cleared of traffic, taking the lead after Räikkönen pitted for the second time. Barrichello continued to cut the advantage, but Räikkönen regained the lead with a reduced margin following the Brazilian's second stop. After closing in, Barrichello passed Räikkönen after pressuring him into a mistake. Michael Schumacher eventually passed Trulli on the 46th lap, but an unforced error by Räikkönen allowed Montoya to seize second position. In the closing phase of the race, Coulthard passed both da Matta and Trulli to earn fifth place. [3] [4]

Track invasion

Horan runs onto the track into the path of Antonio Pizzonia's Jaguar R4. Caption on this television screenshot indicates deployment of safety car as a result. Silverstone horan.jpg
Horan runs onto the track into the path of Antônio Pizzonia's Jaguar R4. Caption on this television screenshot indicates deployment of safety car as a result.

On the 11th lap, as the procession of cars exited the Becketts corner onto the Hangar straight, Neil Horan cleared the fence wearing a kilt, waving banners with statements "Read the bible" and "The Bible is always right", [5] and ran towards the sequence of cars, forcing several cars to swerve to avoid him. He eventually returned to the grass runoff area at the side of the track after the cars had passed for the lap, and was tackled by a track marshal. He was later charged with aggravated trespass and pleaded guilty in a Northampton court, [6] stating that he took the open gate as a sign from God, although the prosecution contended that his act was premeditated as he had already prepared the banners prior to attending the Grand Prix. He was later jailed for two months. [5] Although the incident was broadcast to a worldwide audience, it was not shown live in the UK, as the British broadcaster ITV had cut away to a commercial break just as it occurred.

The incident prompted comparisons to the events at the 1977 South African Grand Prix, where volunteer track marshal, Frederick Jansen van Vuuren, ran across the main straight to aid a car and was hit at 170 mph by Tom Pryce, who could not see him until it was too late because of the steep crest on the straight. Both Van Vuuren and Pryce were killed by the impact. A similar incident occurred at the 2000 German Grand Prix (coincidentally won by Barrichello) when a disgruntled ex-Mercedes employee walked along part of the circuit in protest before being arrested. This caused a safety car, which eliminated the lead of Mika Häkkinen, driving for McLaren-Mercedes. Unlike the German protester, Horan ran directly down the middle of the track, and intentionally towards oncoming cars and lurching towards some of them. Stephen Green, the marshal who handled Horan, was later awarded the BARC Browning Medal for "outstanding bravery in tackling a track invader during the 2003 British Grand Prix at Silverstone", the second recipient after David Purley 30 years previously. [7]

The race led to fears that Formula One bosses Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone, who had been highly critical of the media and corporate facilities of Silverstone, would use the incident to drop the race from the Formula One calendar, with Ecclestone saying: "It wasn't necessary – the race was exciting enough without it. But the security wasn't good enough." Drivers and team officials defended the circuit, with Montoya stating: "This was one of the best races of the year, even with the spectator. It was so much fun today." Sauber boss Peter Sauber stated: "When a man sets himself on fire in the street in Paris, no one blames Paris". McLaren-Mercedes boss Ron Dennis said: "There is no way you can prevent it happening." [8]

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1 TimeQ2 TimeGap
12 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Ferrari No time1:21.209
27 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Renault 1:19.9631:21.381+0.172
36 Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.0651:21.695+0.486
44 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:19.7881:21.727+0.518
51 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:19.4741:21.867+0.658
621 Flag of Brazil.svg Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:20.7651:22.081+0.872
73 Flag of Colombia.svg Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:19.7491:22.214+1.005
88 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso Renault 1:19.9071:22.404+1.195
916 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:21.0841:22.591+1.382
1015 Flag of Brazil.svg Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 1:20.8771:22.634+1.425
1114 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:20.1711:22.647+1.438
125 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.9681:22.811+1.602
1320 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Toyota 1:19.9591:23.042+1.833
1410 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 1:21.3631:23.187+1.978
1511 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 1:21.5001:23.574+2.365
169 Flag of Germany.svg Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:21.2111:23.844+2.635
1712 Flag of Ireland.svg Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 1:22.3351:24.385+3.176
1818 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth No time1:25.468+4.259
1919 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 1:23.4181:25.759+4.550
2017 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:20.569No time
Sources: [9] [10] [11]

Race

Rubens Barrichello won the race for Scuderia Ferrari. Barrichello 2003 British GP.jpg
Rubens Barrichello won the race for Scuderia Ferrari.
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
12 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 601:28:37.554110
23 Flag of Colombia.svg Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 60+5.46278
36 Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 60+10.65636
41 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 60+25.64855
55 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 60+36.827124
67 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Renault 60+43.06723
721 Flag of Brazil.svg Cristiano da Matta Toyota 60+45.08562
817 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jenson Button BAR-Honda 60+45.478201
94 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 60+58.0324 
1016 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 60+1:03.5699 
1120 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Toyota 60+1:05.20713 
1210 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 60+1:05.56414 
1312 Flag of Ireland.svg Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 59+1 Lap17 
1414 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 59+1 Lap11 
1519 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 58+2 Laps19 
1618 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 58+2 Laps18 
179 Flag of Germany.svg Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 58+2 Laps16 
Ret8 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso Renault 52Gearbox8 
Ret11 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 44Suspension15 
Ret15 Flag of Brazil.svg Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 32Engine10 
Source: [12]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. F1 Racing . August 2003.
  2. Legard, Jonathan (20 July 2003). "A very British curse". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
  3. 1 2 Benson, Andrew (20 July 2003). "Silverstone joy for Barrichello". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
  4. 1 2 "Lapwatch: British GP". BBC Sport. 20 July 2003. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
  5. 1 2 "The new seekers". BBC Sport. 5 November 2003. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
  6. "Ex-priest admits Grand Prix invasion". BBC Sport. 11 August 2003. Retrieved 26 August 2006. 
  7. "The BARC Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  8. Benson, Andrew (20 July 2003). "Ex-priest admits Grand Prix invasion". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
  9. "2003 Foster's British Grand Prix – Qualifying 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  10. "2003 Foster's British Grand Prix – Qualifying 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  11. "2003 British Grand Prix Classification Grid". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  12. "2003 British Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  13. 1 2 "Britain 2003 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
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