2003 San Marino Grand Prix

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2003 San Marino Grand Prix
Race 4 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship
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Imola.svg
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit configuration
Race details
DateApril 20, 2003
Official name Gran Premio Foster's di San Marino 2003
Location Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.933 km (3.065 miles)
Distance 62 laps, 305.609 km (189.897 miles)
Weather Mostly cloudy with maximum ambient temperatures reaching 13 degrees during the day.
Pole position
Driver
 Ferrari
Time 1:22.327
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari
Time 1:22.491 on lap 17
Podium
First
 Ferrari
Second
 McLaren-Mercedes
Third
 Ferrari
Lap leaders
  • 2003 San Marino Grand Prix

The 2003 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the Gran Premio Foster's di San Marino 2003) was a Formula One motor race held on 20 April 2003 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, with the race taking place on Easter Sunday. It was the fourth round of the 2003 Formula One season The 62-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher for the Ferrari team after starting from pole position. Kimi Räikkönen, driving for McLaren, finished second with Rubens Barrichello third in the other Ferrari. The remaining points-scoring positions were filled by Ralf Schumacher (Williams), David Coulthard (McLaren), Fernando Alonso (Renault), Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams) and Jenson Button (BAR). Schumacher's victory for Ferrari was his and the team's first of the season.

Contents

Schumacher and his brother Ralf raced despite the death of their mother Elisabeth before the Grand Prix. The brothers led the field at the start with Ralf leading having overtaken Michael and held the lead until the first round of pit stops.

As a consequence of the race, Räikkönen increased his lead in the World Drivers' Championship, over teammate David Coulthard to 13 points with Michael Schumacher climbing to third. In the World Constructors Championship, McLaren increased their lead to 19 points with Ferrari overtaking Renault for second.

Background

Heading into the fourth race of the season, McLaren driver Kimi Räikkönen was leading the World Drivers' Championship with 24 points, teammate David Coulthard was second on 15 points, 9 points behind Räikkönen. Behind Räikkönen and Coulthard in the Drivers' Championship, Fernando Alonso was third on 14 points in a Renault, with Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli on 10 and 9 points respectively. In the World Constructors' Championship, McLaren were leading on 39 points and Renault were second on 23 points, with Ferrari on 16 points. [1]

An aerial view of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. Autodromo aerea poster.jpg
An aerial view of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

At the preceding Brazilian Grand Prix, confusion caused by a red flag at the end of the race led to Räikkönen being declared the winner. An investigation by Formula One's governing body the FIA in the days following the race proved that Fisichella had been the actual victor. The investigation discovered that Fisichella started his 56th lap when the red flag was shown and the results were rolled back to 54 laps. [2] Under the countback rule, the driver leading two laps before a race is stopped is declared the winner. During a meeting organised by the teams, the countback rule would be placed under review having highlighted potential problems. [3] Fifteen minutes before the start of the first practice session, a ceremony was held in which Räikkönen and McLaren team principal Ron Dennis presented their winners' trophies to Fisichella and Jordan team principal Eddie Jordan. [4]

Ferrari originally planned to debut its new car the F2003-GA at Imola. However, issues with reliability led to the decision to race the F2002. Ferrari stated the F2002 was still a competitive car and believed racing the F2003-GA would be "risky" [5] despite testing the car at Mugello and Fiorano. [6]

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.

ConstructorNatDriver
Renault Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Allan McNish
Jordan-Ford -
Minardi-Cosworth Flag of Italy.svg Matteo Bobbi

Practice

Three practice sessions were held before the race; the first was held from 11:00 to 12:00 local time on Friday, and two 45 minute timed sessions were also held on Saturday from 09:00 to 09:45 and 10:15 to 11:00 local time. [7] The Qualifying session was run as a one-lap session and took place on Friday and Saturday afternoon. The cars were run one at a time; the Friday running order was determined with the Championship leading heading out first. The Saturday running order was determined by times set in Friday afternoon qualifying with the fastest heading out last and the slowest running first. The lap times from the Friday afternoon session did not determine the grid order. [7]

Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya set the pace in the Friday free practice, which took place in dry and sunny conditions, with a time of 1:21.335. Montoya was less than sixth hundredths of a second behind, ahead of Jaguar driver Mark Webber, Coulthard, Alonso and BAR driver Jenson Button. Michael Schumacher clipped the kerb at the Variante Bassa chicane, [8] damaging the Ferrari's left rear suspension. [9]

Qualifying

In the Saturday afternoon qualifying session, Schumacher clinched his second pole position of the season with a time of 1:22.327. He was joined on the front row by his brother Ralf Schumacher, who was 14 thousands of a seconds behind. Rubens Barrichello was third in the other Ferrari, with Montoya fourth. Webber took fifth, with Räikkönen taking sixth. Minardi driver Jos Verstappen crashed into the wall at the Variane Alta chicane becoming the first driver to not set a competitive lap time under the new qualifying format. [10]

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1 TimeQ2 TimeGap
11 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:20.6281:22.327
24 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:21.1931:22.341+0.014
32 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:21.0821:22.557+0.230
43 Flag of Colombia.svg Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:21.4901:22.789+0.462
514 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:21.6691:23.015+0.688
66 Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.1471:23.148+0.821
716 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:21.9261:23.160+0.833
88 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso Renault 1:22.8091:23.169+0.842
917 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:21.8911:23.381+1.054
1020 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Toyota 1:22.7651:23.460+1.133
119 Flag of Germany.svg Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:22.9111:23.700+1.373
125 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.3261:23.818+1.491
1321 Flag of Brazil.svg Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:24.8541:23.838+1.511
1410 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 1:22.5311:23.932+1.605
1515 Flag of Brazil.svg Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 1:22.9191:24.147+1.820
167 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Renault 1:23.1001:24.190+1.863
1711 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 1:22.7241:24.317+1.990
1818 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 1:25.1951:25.826+3.499
1912 Flag of Ireland.svg Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 1:24.3601:26.357+4.030
2019 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 1:24.9902:01.007+38.680
Sources: [11]

Race

The race took place in the afternoon and started at 14:00 local time, in dry and clear weather. [12] As usual, the race was broadcast worldwide, with the "World Feed" coverage being produced by host broadcaster RAI. Michael Schumacher, from pole position on the grid, lost the lead from Ralf Schumacher before the first corner. Webber, from fifth, made a poor start dropping down to eleventh. Räikkonen managed to gain one position for fifth with teammate Coulthard making the best start and gained four places to go into eighth position. [13] Webber's teammate Antônio Pizzonia stalled on the grid. [12] Trackside marshals pushed Pizzonia's car to the exit of the pitlane where Jaguar mechanics managed to restart the car's engine enabling Pizzonia rejoin at the back of the field. [14]

Post-race

Ralf and Michael Schumacher raced despite the death of their mother Elisabeth just hours before the race with the pair flying on a private jet to Cologne to be at her side. [15] They sported black armbands and no champagne was sprayed on the podium as a mark of respect. [16] Ralf also sported a black stripe on his racing helmet. [17] The Schumacher brothers left the circuit immediately after the podium celebrations and Ferrari team principal Jean Todt took Michael's place at the post-race press conference. [18] Race stewards Tony Scott-Andrews, Roger Peart and Giuseppe Musiconi formally excused the Schumacher brothers from the pre and post-race formalities. [19]

At the subsequent post-race press conference, Todt revealed that Schumacher made the decision to compete in the Grand Prix with Ferrari giving their full support to Schumacher. [20] Mercedes motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug expressed sympathy for the Schumacher brothers while also praising them for their performance during the race. [21]

As a consequence of the race, Räikkönen increased his lead in the World Drivers' Championship, over teammate David Coulthard to 13 points with Schumacher climbing to third. In the World Constructors Championship, McLaren increased their lead to 16 points with Ferrari overtaking Renault for second.

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
11 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 621:28:12.058110
26 Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 62+1.88268
32 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 62+2.29136
44 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 62+8.80325
55 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 62+9.411124
68 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso Renault 62+43.68983
73 Flag of Colombia.svg Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 62+45.27142
817 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jenson Button BAR-Honda 61+1 Lap91
920 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Toyota 61+1 Lap10 
109 Flag of Germany.svg Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 61+1 Lap11 
1110 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 61+1 Lap14 
1221 Flag of Brazil.svg Cristiano da Matta Toyota 61+1 Lap13 
137 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Renault 61+1 Lap16 
1415 Flag of Brazil.svg Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 60+2 Laps15 
1511 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 57Engine17 
Ret14 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 54Driveshaft5 
Ret12 Flag of Ireland.svg Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 51Oil linePL 
Ret19 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 38ElectricalPL 
Ret18 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 23Fuel rigPL 
Ret16 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 19Engine7 
Sources: [22]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. ↑ Edwards, Ben (2003). Formula 1: 2003 - Michael & Co. The Dream Team (DVD). Duke Video. ISBN   9780769737034. OCLC   60612199.
  2. ↑ "Fisichella declared winner of Brazilian GP". Sports Illustrated (Brendan Ripp). 11 April 2003. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "F1 to review countback rule". BBC Sport (BBC). 11 April 2003. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Fisichella gets Brazil winner's trophy". formula1.com (Formula One World Championship Limited). 18 April 2003. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "Ferrari pushes back F2003 GA debut". GrandPrix.com. 12 April 2003. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "Only one F2003-GA for Imola?". crash.net. 8 April 2003. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  7. 1 2 "F1 Commission Decision". FIA. 28 October 2002. Archived from the original on 4 June 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "Friday free practice review". formula1.com (Formula One World Championship Limited). 18 April 2003. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  9. ↑ Tremayne, David (19 April 2003). "Schumacher makes most of old Ferrari to shrug off cares" . The Independent (Independent Print Limited). Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  10. ↑ Benson, Andrew (20 April 2003). "Schumacher takes Imola pole". BBC Sport (BBC). Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "2003 San Marino Grand Prix - Qualifying Results". formula1.com (Formula One World Championship Limited). Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  12. 1 2 "San Marino GP as it happened". BBC Sport (BBC). 20 April 2003. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  13. ↑ "Grand Prix Results: San Marino GP, 2003". GrandPrix.com. 20 April 2003. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  14. ↑ San Marino Grand Prix - Live (Television). Imola, Italy: ITV Sport (ITV). 20 April 2003.
  15. ↑ Williams, Richard (21 April 2003). "Schumacher mourns mother on winner's podium". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  16. ↑ "Schumacher wins on emotional day". The Spokesman-Review (Cowles Publishing Company). 21 April 2003. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  17. ↑ Benson, Andrew (20 April 2003). "Schumacher ends barren run". BBC Sport (BBC). Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  18. ↑ "Schumachers Make Quick Exit". ITV-F1 (ITV Sport). 20 April 2003. Archived from the original on 21 April 2003. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  19. ↑ "Schumachers excused formalities after mother's death". formula1.com (Formula One World Championship Limited). 20 April 2003. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  20. ↑ "San Marino GP - Sunday - Race Notes". GrandPrix.com. 20 April 2003. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  21. ↑ "Schumacher wins San Marino GP after mother dies". Sports Illustrated (Brendan Ripp). 20 April 2003. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  22. ↑ "2003 San Marino Grand Prix - Race Results". formula1.com (Formula One World Championship Limited). Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  23. 1 2 "San Marino 2003 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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