2003 French Grand Prix

2003 French Grand Prix
Race 10 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship ←  Previous race Next race  →
Race details
Date	6 July 2003
Official name	Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France 2003
Location	Magny-Cours, France
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.411 [1] km (2.741 miles)
Distance	70 laps, 308.586 [1] km (191.746 miles)
Weather	Cloudy, Air: 26 °C (79 °F), Track 35 °C (95 °F)
Attendance	101,537
Pole position
Driver	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW
Time	1:15.019
Fastest lap
Driver	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW
Time	1:15.512 on lap 36
Podium
First	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW
Second	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW
Third	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2003 French Grand Prix (officially known as the Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France 2003) ^[2] was a Formula One motor race that took place on 6 July 2003 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. It was the tenth round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship.

Ralf Schumacher of BMW Williams took pole position for the race and went on to take the race win. His teammate Juan Pablo Montoya finished second and his brother Michael Schumacher, driving for Ferrari, was third.

This was Ralf's second consecutive victory but it would turn out to be his last in Formula One. As of 2025, this is also the last 1–2 finish for Williams.

Background

The event was held at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Magny-Cours, France for the 13th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 4-6 July 2003. The Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship and the 53rd running of the French Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship. ^{[3] [4]}

Circuit changes

The Lycée section of the circuit was modified ahead of the 2003 event.

Earlier in the year, the circuit was upgraded. Château d'Eau a sharper right hand corner and the Lycée section were completely modified, now featuring a sharp right hand turn after the back straight, which then leads to a difficult final chicane next to the pit entrance. The pit lane was significantly shortened as a result of the upgrades. ^[5]

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 58 points, seven points ahead of Kimi Räikkönen in second and fifteen ahead of his brother Ralf Schumacher in third. ^[6] Ferrari, with 95 points, led the Constructors' Championship from BMW Williams and McLaren, who were second and third with 82 and 76, respectively. ^[6]

Practice

Three free practice sessions were held for the event. ^{[7] [8]} Jaguar driver Mark Webber set the fastest time in the first session, more than a second quicker than Ralf Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, in second and third places respectively. ^{[9] [10]} The second session was topped by Alonso in the Renault ahead of Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher. ^{[11] [12]} Finally, the Williamses of Ralf Schumacher and Juan-Pablo Montoya led the third practice session, ahead of David Coulthard in third. ^{[13] [14]}

Qualifying

Jos Verstappen set the fastest time in Friday qualifying.

Qualiyfing consisted of two one-hour sessions, one on Friday and one on Saturday afternoon. The first session's running order was determined by the Drivers' Championship standings, with the leading driver going first. Each driver was allowed to set one lap time. The result determined the running order in the second session: the fastest driver in the first session was allowed to go last in the second session, which usually provided the benefit of a cleaner track. Drivers were again allowed to set one lap time, which determined the order on the grid for the race on Sunday, with the fastest driver scoring pole position. ^{[7] [15]}

Qualifying report

Courtesy of a drying track, Jos Verstappen ended up quickest in the first qualifying session, almost three seconds ahead of anyone else. This was the only time a Minardi topped the timesheets at a race weekend. ^{[16] [17]} His teammate Justin Wilson had set the second-fastest time but it was deleted after scrutineering found his car was 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) underweight. ^[18]

Normal service resumed in second qualifying on a dry track, in which Williams teammates Ralf Schumacher and Juan-Pablo Montoya clinched the first row on the grid. It was Schumacher's third pole position in four races. ^[19]

Qualifying classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1 Time	Q2 Time	Gap
1	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	1:29.327	1:15.019
2	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:28.988	1:15.136	+0.117
3	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:27.929	1:15.480	+0.461
4	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:29.120	1:15.533	+0.514
5	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:28.937	1:15.628	+0.609
6	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	1:29.024	1:15.967	+0.948
7	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:29.455	1:16.087	+1.068
8	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:27.095	1:16.166	+1.147
9	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:25.178	1:16.308	+1.289
10	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	1:24.175	1:16.345	+1.326
11	15	Antônio Pizzonia	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:24.642	1:16.965	+1.946
12	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	1:24.651	1:16.990	+1.971
13	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	1:26.975	1:17.068	+2.049
14	17	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	1:30.371	1:17.077	+2.058
15	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	1:24.042	1:17.445	+2.426
16	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	1:26.151	1:17.562	+2.543
17	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	1:28.502	1:18.431	+3.412
18	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan-Ford	1:23.496	1:18.514	+3.495
19	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	1:20.817	1:18.709	+3.690
20	18	Justin Wilson	Minardi-Cosworth	1:20.968 1	1:19.619	+4.600
Sources: [20] [21] [22]

Notes

• ^1 – Justin Wilson drove a time of 1:20.968 but his time was removed because his car was underweight. ^[18]

Race

The race was held on 6 July 2003 and was run for 70 laps. ^{[23] [4]}

Race report

At the start, the Williamses of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya kept their places in front, while Kimi Räikkönen managed to get by Michael Schumacher for third position. The German was also challenged by the second McLaren of David Coulthard but stood his ground. His teammate Rubens Barrichello was running eighth at the end of the first lap when he spun his Ferrari coming out of the newly designed final corner. ^{[24] [25]}

Ralf Schumacher took full advantage of running in clear air and stretched his lead to four seconds in ten laps. After the first round of pit stops, this was up to seven seconds. Coulthard had stopped earlier than his rivals and managed to jump Michael Schumacher. There were little changes in position up to and including the second round of pit stops. Afterwards, however, both the Renaults suddenly retired. Fernando Alonso's engine expired in a big cloud of smoke on lap 43 and Jarno Trulli pulled off with engine failure three laps later. ^{[24] [25]}

During the third round of stops, Ralf Schumacher was held up by backmarkers, but still rejoined ahead of his teammate and then steadily extended his lead to up to ten seconds at the finish. Coulthard left his box when the fuel hose was still attached to his McLaren. He left no one injured but lost a lot of time. This left third place open to Michael Schumacher, who passed Räikkönen when the Finn was suffering from issues with his rear brakes. ^{[24] [25]}

Race classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	70	1:30:49.213	1	10
2	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	70	+13.813	2	8
3	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	70	+19.568	3	6
4	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+38.047	4	5
5	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+40.289	5	4
6	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	70	+1:06.380	9	3
7	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	69	+1 lap	8	2
8	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	69	+1 lap	10	1
9	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	69	+1 lap	12
10	15	Antônio Pizzonia	Jaguar-Cosworth	69	+1 lap	11
11	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	69	+1 lap	13
12	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	68	+2 laps	16
13	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	68	+2 laps	15
14	18	Justin Wilson	Minardi-Cosworth	67	+3 laps	20
15	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan-Ford	67	+3 laps	18
16	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	66	+4 laps	19
Ret	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	45	Engine	6
Ret	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	43	Engine	7
Ret	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	42	Engine	17
Ret	17	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	21	Out of fuel	14
Source: [26]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings +/– Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher 64 2 Kimi Räikkönen 56 3 Ralf Schumacher 53 4 Juan Pablo Montoya 47 1 5 Rubens Barrichello 39 Source: [27]

Constructors' Championship standings +/– Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 103 2 Williams-BMW 100 3 McLaren-Mercedes 85 4 Renault 52 5 BAR-Honda 13 Source: [27]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. "Grand Prix de France". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 2010-09-15. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
2. "France". Formula1.com. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
3. "Grands Prix France". StatsF1. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
4. "2003 French Grand Prix". MotorsportMagazine. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
5. "Magny-Cours". RacingCircuits.Info. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
6. Jones, Bruce (2004). "Final Tables 2003". The Official ITV Sport Guide: 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship . Carlton Books. pp. 100–101. ISBN   1-84442-811-7 – via Internet Archive.
7. Domenjoz, Luc, ed. (2003). "Sporting regulations". Formula 1 Yearbook 2003–04 . Bath, Somerset: Parragon. pp. 220–221. ISBN   978-1-4054-2089-1 – via Internet Archive.
8. "2003 French Grand Prix - Results and Reports". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
9. "2003 French Grand Prix - Friday Practice Session Results". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
10. "MOBIL 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2003 - PRACTICE 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
11. "2003 French Grand Prix - First Saturday Practice Session Results". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
12. "MOBIL 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2003 - PRACTICE 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
13. "2003 French Grand Prix - Second Saturday Practice Session Results". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
14. "MOBIL 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2003 - PRACTICE 3". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
15. "Deciding the grid - A history of F1 qualifying formats". formula1.com. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
16. "MOBIL 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2003 - QUALIFYING 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
17. "Provisional pole for Verstappen in French GP qualifying". Motorsport.com. 15 May 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
18. "Wilson Stripped of Qualifying Time". AtlasF1. 4 July 2003. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
19. "Qualifying: Another pole for Ralf". Autosport . 5 July 2003. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
20. "2003 Mobil 1 Grand Prix of France – Qualifying 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
21. "2003 Mobil 1 Grand Prix of France – Qualifying 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
22. "2003 French Grand Prix Classification Grid". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
23. "10. France 2003". StatsF1. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
24. Elizalde, Pablo (9 July 2003). "The 2003 French GP Review". AtlasF1.com. Spain. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
25. Petric, Darjan (6 July 2022). "2003 French GP – Dream week for Ralf, last Williams 1-2". MaxF1. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
26. "2003 French Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
27. "France 2003 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.

External links

• Comments on 2003 French GP

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