2003 Japanese Grand Prix

2003 Japanese Grand Prix
Race 16 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship ←  Previous race Next race  →
Race details
Date	12 October 2003
Official name	2003 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Location	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.807 km (3.608 miles)
Distance	53 laps, 307.573 km (191.117 miles)
Weather	Cloudy, Air: 22 °C (72 °F), Track 25 °C (77 °F)
Attendance	329,000 [1]
Pole position
Driver	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Time	1:31.713
Fastest lap
Driver	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW
Time	1:33.408
Podium
First	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Second	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes
Third	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2003 Japanese Grand Prix (officially known as the 2003 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 12 October 2003 at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Mie, Japan. It was the sixteenth and final round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship. Rubens Barrichello took pole position for the race in the Ferrari and went on to take the race win, ahead of the McLarens of Kimi Räikkönen and David Coulthard.

Michael Schumacher finished in eighth place, enough to secure his record-breaking sixth World Drivers' Championship, surpassing the record set by Juan Manuel Fangio in 1957. This was also Schumacher's fourth consecutive title, matching the record set by Fangio in 1957. ^[2] Barrichello's win saw Ferrari clinch their thirteenth Constructors' Championship, the team's fifth title in a row.

This event also notably marked the last race for cars using launch control and fully-automatic gearboxes, since their reintroduction at the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix. The FIA banned these two electronic driver aid systems ahead of the 2004 season. This was also the final Grand Prix for 3-time race winner Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jos Verstappen, father of future world champion Max Verstappen.

Background

The event was held at the Suzuka International Racing Course in Suzuka, Mie for the 17th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 10-12 October. The Grand Prix was the sixteenth and final round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship and the 19th running of the Japanese Grand Prix as part of the Formula One World Championship. ^{[3] [4]}

Championship standings before the race

Heading into the final race of the season, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher was leading the Drivers' Championship with 92 points, 9 points ahead of McLaren driver Kimi Räikkönen and 10 ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya. ^[5] A maximum of 10 points were available, which meant that Räikkönen could still win the title. Schumacher only needed an eighth-place finish to secure the championship, seeing as he held the tiebreaker on wins over Räikkönen, 6 to 1. Räikkönen needed to win and for Schumacher not to score a single point, in order for him to become champion. Montoya could still finish equal on points with Schumacher, but was out of contention for the title due to the tiebreaker on wins (6 to 2). ^[6]

Driver changes

Jacques Villeneuve pulled out of the Grand Prix after asking to be released by the BAR team. He was replaced by the team's test driver Takuma Sato. ^[7] Sato had already been confirmed as their driver for the 2004 season in the days running up to the race, along with Jenson Button staying at the team. ^[8]

Practice

Three free practice sessions were held for the event. ^{[9] [10]} Renault driver Jarno Trulli set the fastest time in the first session, ahead of Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard, in second and third places respectively. ^{[11] [12]} The second session was topped by Ralf Schumacher in the BMW Williams, ahead of his brother Michael and Rubens Barrichello. ^{[13] [14]} Ralf also led the third practice session, this time ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and then Michael. ^{[15] [16]}

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. ^[9]

Constructor	Nat	Driver
Renault		Allan McNish
Jordan-Ford		Satoshi Motoyama
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. ^{[9] [17]}

Qualifying report

Rain fell at the end of second qualifying, giving the advantage to the drivers that went out earlier, like the Toyotas, who finished third and fourth, and Mark Webber taking sixth position on the grid. Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher, the fastest drivers on Friday, did not finish their timed lap, as the rain was too heavy, and were assigned 19th and 20th position on the grid, respectively. ^[18]

Qualifying classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1 Time	Q2 Time	Gap
1	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:30.758	1:31.713
2	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams–BMW	1:31.201	1:32.412	+0.699
3	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	1:32.256	1:32.419	+0.706
4	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	1:31.908	1:32.862	+1.149
5	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:30.624	1:33.044	+1.331
6	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar–Cosworth	1:31.305	1:33.106	+1.393
7	5	David Coulthard	McLaren–Mercedes	1:30.482	1:33.137	+1.424
8	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren–Mercedes	1:30.558	1:33.272	+1.559
9	17	Jenson Button	BAR–Honda	1:32.374	1:33.474	+1.761
10	15	Justin Wilson	Jaguar–Cosworth	1:32.291	1:33.558	+1.845
11	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	1:31.783	1:33.632	+1.919
12	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	1:31.892	1:33.896	+2.183
13	16	Takuma Sato	BAR–Honda	1:31.832	1:33.924	+2.211
14	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:30.464	1:34.302	+2.589
15	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan–Ford	1:33.057	1:34.771	+3.058
16	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan–Ford	1:33.313	1:34.912	+3.199
17	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi–Cosworth	1:34.836	1:34.975	+3.262
18	18	Nicolas Kiesa	Minardi–Cosworth	1:36.181	1:37.226	+5.513
19	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams–BMW	1:30.343	No time 1
20	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	1:30.281	No time 2
Source: [19]

Notes

• ^1 – Ralf Schumacher did not set a time in Q2 because he spun in the final corner and did not complete his flying lap. ^[18]
• ^2 – Jarno Trulli did not set a time in Q2 because Renault decided to save fuel when the track was wet and he did not even complete his flying lap. ^[18]

Race

The race was held on 12 October 2003 and was run for 53 laps. ^{[3] [10] [20]}

Race report

With parts of the race track still damp from overnight rain, Rubens Barrichello took advantage of his start on the dry line and easily held off second-starting Juan Pablo Montoya. However, he had trouble getting his tyres up to temperature and he was passed by Montoya in Spoon corner. Fernando Alonso had passed both Toyotas to get up to third position and was now right behind Barrichello. Ralf Schumacher had climbed up to fourteenth position but spun his Williams at the final chicane and rejoined in second-to-last place. Michael Schumacher and Jarno Trulli were running twelfth and thirteenth, respectively, by the end of the first lap. ^[18]

On lap seven, the championship leader tried to dive down the inside of Takuma Sato, but the BAR driver close the door, clipped Schumacher's front wing and forcing the Ferrari driver to make a pit stop. His teammate had more luck when Montoya suffered a hydraulics issue and limped back to the pits, where he retired the car. Alonso's engine gave up on lap 18, which left Barrichello under pressure from both McLarens. The Brazilian played a key role in the Drivers' Championship, as Kimi Räikkönen needed to win the race to have a shot at clinching the title. ^[18]

The Schumacher brothers were fighting with Cristiano da Matta over eighth place when the trio arrived at the final chicane and Michael locked his wheels. This caught out Ralf, who hit the back of the Ferrari and spun off. Michael continued without damage but stayed away from Da Matta, effectively settling for the necessary eighth place. Barrichello won the race, 11 seconds ahead of the Räikkönen, earning the Constructors' Championship for his Ferrari team and giving the Drivers' Championship to his teammate Michael Schumacher. ^[18]

Race classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	53	1:25:11.743	1	10
2	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+11.085	8	8
3	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+11.614	7	6
4	17	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	53	+33.106	9	5
5	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	53	+34.269	20	4
6	16	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	53	+51.692	13	3
7	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	53	+56.794	3	2
8	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	53	+59.487	14	1
9	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	53	+1:00.159	11
10	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	53	+1:01.844	4
11	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	53	+1:11.005	6
12	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	52	+1 Lap	19
13	15	Justin Wilson	Jaguar-Cosworth	52	+1 Lap	10
14	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan-Ford	51	+2 Laps	15
15	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	51	+2 Laps	17
16	18	Nicolas Kiesa	Minardi-Cosworth	50	+3 Laps	18
Ret	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	33	Out of fuel	16
Ret	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	17	Engine	5
Ret	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	9	Engine	12
Ret	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	9	Hydraulics	2
Source: [21]

Championship standings after the race

• Bold text and an asterisk indicates the World Champions.

Drivers' Championship standings +/– Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher* 93 2 Kimi Räikkönen 91 3 Juan Pablo Montoya 82 1 4 Rubens Barrichello 65 1 5 Ralf Schumacher 58 Source: [22]

Constructors' Championship standings +/– Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari* 158 2 Williams-BMW 144 3 McLaren-Mercedes 142 4 Renault 88 1 5 BAR-Honda 26 Source: [22]

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

References

1. "Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 – Media Kit" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
2. "Japanese GP - Sunday - Race Notes". grandprix.com. 12 October 2003. Archived from the original on 2014-04-29. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
3. "2003 Japanese Grand Prix". MotorsportMagazine.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
4. "Grands Prix Japan". StatsF1. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
5. 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.
6. "Deciding the World Championship". grandprix.com. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
7. "Villeneuve pulls out of Japan's GP". CNN International. 9 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
8. "Sato replaces Villeneuve". BBC Sport (BBC). 7 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
9. 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.
10. "2003 Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix - Results and Reports". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
11. "2003 Japanese Grand Prix - Friday Practice Session Results". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
12. "2003 FUJI TELEVISION JAPANESE GRAND PRIX - PRACTICE 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
13. "2003 Japanese Grand Prix - First Saturday Practice Session Results". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
14. "2003 FUJI TELEVISION JAPANESE GRAND PRIX - PRACTICE 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
15. "2003 Japanese Grand Prix - Second Saturday Practice Session Results". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
16. "2003 FUJI TELEVISION JAPANESE GRAND PRIX - PRACTICE 3". Formula1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
17. "Deciding the grid - A history of F1 qualifying formats". formula1.com. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
18. Elizalde, Pablo (15 October 2003). "The 2003 Japanese Grand Prix Review". AtlasF1.com. Spain. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
19. "2003 Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. 30 October 2019.
20. "16. JAPAN 2003". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
21. "2003 Japanese Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
22. "Japan 2003 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.

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