2003 Italian Grand Prix

2003 Italian Grand Prix
Race 14 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship ←  Previous race Next race  →
Race details
Date	September 14, 2003
Official name	Gran Premio Vodafone d'Italia 2003
Location	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.793 km (3.600 miles)
Distance	53 laps, 306.720 km (190.587 miles)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:20.963
Fastest lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:21.832 on lap 14
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Second	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW
Third	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2003 Italian Grand Prix (officially known as the Gran Premio Vodafone d'Italia 2003) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 14 September 2003 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy. ^[1] It was the fourteenth round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship. Michael Schumacher took pole position for the race in the Ferrari and went on to take the race win, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya for Williams and Rubens Barrichello in the other Ferrari.

Background

The event was held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza for the 53rd time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 12-14 September. The Grand Prix was the fourteenth round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship and the 54th running of the Italian Grand Prix as part of the Formula One World Championship. ^{[2] [3]}

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 72 points, 1 point ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya in second and 2 ahead of Kimi Räikkönen in third. ^[4] Williams, with 129 points, led the Constructors' Championship for the first time since their title in 1997, from Ferrari and McLaren, who were second and third with 121 and 115 points, respectively. ^[4]

Practice

Like in Hungary, Zsolt Baumgartner stood in for Ralph Firman at Jordan

Three free practice sessions were held for the event. ^{[5] [6]} Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello set the fastest time in the first session, ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher and McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen, in second and third places respectively. ^{[7] [8]} In the second session, Schumacher was ahead of Barrichello, and David Coulthard was the McLaren in third. ^{[9] [10]} Juan Pablo Montoya led the third practice session in his Williams, ahead of Michael Schumacher and stand-in teammate Marc Gené. ^{[11] [12]}

Friday drivers

Three teams in the 2003 Constructors' Championship had the right to run a third car on Friday's additional testing. These drivers did not compete in qualifying or the race. ^[5]

Constructor	Nat	Driver
Renault		Allan McNish
Jordan-Ford		-
Minardi-Cosworth		Gianmaria Bruni

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. ^{[5] [13]}

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1 Time	Q2 Time	Diff.
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:21.268	1:20.963
2	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:20.656	1:21.014	+0.051
3	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:20.784	1:21.242	+0.279
4	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:21.966	1:21.466	+0.503
5	4	Marc Gené	Williams-BMW	- 1	1:21.834	+0.871
6	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	1:22.034	1:21.944	+0.981
7	17	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	1:22.495	1:22.301	+1.338
8	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:23.154	1:22.471	+1.508
9	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	1:22.372	1:22.488	+1.525
10	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	1:22.858	1:22.717	+1.754
11	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:21.966	1:22.754	+1.791
12	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	1:21.829	1:22.914	+1.951
13	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	1:24.179	1:22.992	+2.029
14	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	1:22.203	1:23.216	+2.253
15	15	Justin Wilson	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:23.609	1:23.484	+2.521
16	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	1:22.547	1:23.803	+2.840
17	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	No Time 2	1:25.078	+4.115
18	12	Zsolt Baumgartner	Jordan-Ford	1:24.872	1:25.881	+4.918
19	18	Nicolas Kiesa	Minardi-Cosworth	1:26.299	1:26.778	+5.815
20	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:22.103	1:40.405 3	+19.442
	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	No time 4	- 1
Sources: [14] [15] [16]

Notes

• ^1 - Earlier in September, Ralf Schumacher had crashed during a private test session at Monza. He was cleared by Formula One's race doctor Sid Watkins and participated in Friday testing and qualifying, but together with his team, the German decided to step back and let third driver Marc Gené stand in, ahead of the sessions on Saturday. ^{[17] [18] [19] [20]}
• ^2 – Jos Verstappen did not set a time in Q1 due to engine problems. ^[21]
• ^3 - Fernando Alonso spun coming out of the first corner due to a problem with his traction control. ^[21]
• ^4 - Ralf Schumacher initially set a lap time in Q1 (1:21.965), but his time was removed after cutting the second chicane on his flying lap. ^{[19] [22]}

Race

The race was held on 13 September 2003 and was run for 53 laps. ^{[2] [23]}

Race report

At the start, Michael Schumacher almost braked too late for the first chicane but was just able to make the first corner and hold on to his lead, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and sixth-starting Jarno Trulli. The other Renault of Fernando Alonso hit the back of Justin Wilson, who had stalled on the grid. He lost his front wing but was able to continue after making a pit stop. Montoya got alongside Schumacher at the second chicane, but he lost out and came under pressure from Trulli. The Renault, however, suddenly lost hydraulic pressure and the Italian was out of the race before the first lap was over. ^[21]

Montoya was ever close to Schumacher but never enough to launch an attack. When the German rejoined after his second pit stop, however, he saw a Williams going passed. The Ferrari team, as well as the TV commentators, thought Schumacher had lost the lead, until they realised that it was Marc Gené who still had to pit. In the second half of the race, Montoya lost time due to backmarkers and finished more than five seconds behind the championship leader. Rubens Barrichello and Kimi Räikkönen had been fighting over third place, with the Ferrari driver holding on to take the last podium place. ^[21]

Race classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	53	1:14:19.838	1	10
2	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	53	+5.294	2	8
3	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	53	+11.835	3	6
4	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+12.834	4	5
5	4	Marc Gené	Williams-BMW	53	+27.891	5	4
6	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	52	+1 Lap	10	3
7	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	52	+1 Lap	11	2
8	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	52	+1 Lap	20	1
9	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	52	+1 Lap	16
10	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	52	+1 Lap	PL 1
11	12	Zsolt Baumgartner	Jordan-Ford	51	+2 Laps	18
12	18	Nicolas Kiesa	Minardi-Cosworth	51	+2 Laps	19
13	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	50	Transmission	14
Ret	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	45	Fuel pressure	8
Ret	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	35	Brakes	9
Ret	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	27	Oil leak	17
Ret	17	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	24	Gearbox	7
Ret	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	3	Tyre/Spun off	12
Ret	15	Justin Wilson	Jaguar-Cosworth	2	Gearbox	15
Ret	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	0	Hydraulics	6
Source: [24]

Notes

• ^1 - Giancarlo Fisichella started the race from the pitlane. ^[21]

Championship standings after the race

• Bold text and an asterisk indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

Drivers' Championship standings +/– Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher* 82 2 Juan Pablo Montoya* 79 3 Kimi Räikkönen* 75 4 Ralf Schumacher 58 1 5 Rubens Barrichello 55 Source: [25]

Constructors' Championship standings +/– Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-BMW* 141 2 Ferrari* 137 3 McLaren-Mercedes* 120 4 Renault 79 5 BAR-Honda 18 Source: [25]

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

References

1. "2003 Italian Grand Prix F1 Final Results". ESPN. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
2. "2003 Italian Grand Prix". MotorsportMagazine. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
3. "Grands Prix Italy". StatsF1. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. "2003 Italian Grand Prix - Results and Reports". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
7. "2003 Italian Grand Prix - Friday Practice Session Results". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
8. "GRAN PREMIO VODAFONE D'ITALIA 2003 - PRACTICE 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
9. "2003 Italian Grand Prix - First Saturday Practice Session Results". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
10. "GRAN PREMIO VODAFONE D'ITALIA 2003 - PRACTICE 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
11. "2003 Italian Grand Prix - Second Saturday Practice Session Results". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
12. "GRAN PREMIO VODAFONE D'ITALIA 2003 - PRACTICE 3". Formula1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
13. "Deciding the grid - A history of F1 qualifying formats". formula1.com. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
14. "Gran Premio Vodafone d'Italia 2003 – Qualifying 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
15. "Gran Premio Vodafone d'Italia 2003 – Qualifying 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
16. "2003 Italian Grand Prix Classification Grid". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
17. "Ralf's accident". GrandPrix.com. 3 September 2003. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
18. "Ralf Schumacher withdrawn from Italian GP". Au.Motorsport.com. 14 September 2003. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
19. "Gene replaces Ralf Schumacher". GrandPrix.com. 13 September 2003. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
20. "Ralf pulls out of Italian GP". News24.com. 13 September 2003. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
21. Elizalde, Pablo (17 September 2003). "The 2003 Italian GP Review". AtlasF1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
22. "Formula-1 2003 R14 Italy Grand Prix (1st Qualifying)". Dailymotion.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
23. "14. Italy 2003". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
24. "2003 Italian Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
25. "Italy 2003 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.

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