2003 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2003 ) [ 3 ] was a Formula One motor race held on 6 April 2003 at Autódromo José Carlos Pace (Interlagos). It was the third round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship , the 32nd Brazilian Grand Prix and the 700th Formula One World Championship race.

After winning the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks earlier, McLaren driver Kimi Räikkönen led the World Drivers' Championship with 16 points , six ahead of his teammate David Coulthard in second. Juan Pablo Montoya of Williams , Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello and Fernando Alonso for Renault tied for third with eight points each. [ 9 ] In the World Constructors' Championship , McLaren led with 26 points; Ferrari and Renault were tied for second position with 16 points. Williams were a further tw...

The defending World Drivers' Champion Michael Schumacher of Ferrari was criticised by the German and Italian press for a sub-par beginning to the season. Schumacher said he expected criticism and thought Ferrari would have an advantage on circuits that suited his team better than others, [ 15 ] "The first two races are not too good. Still, we got eight points out of these not very good races for us and our time will come again." [ 16 ] Räikkönen, the Drivers Championship leader, said he would ap...

Two weeks before the Grand Prix, the FIA announced drivers would no longer be granted dispensation to compete in Formula One races without wearing a HANS device . It stated any competitor who could not wear a HANS device for medical reasons would be barred from driving in future events. [ 19 ] This stance was ratified at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 2 April. [ 20 ] Minardi driver Justin Wilson was passed fit by the FIA medical delegate Sid Watkins to take part in th...

On Friday morning, a two-hour test session took place for teams who opted for limited testing during the season. [ 28 ] In variable weather conditions that saw rain fell 90 minutes in, [ 29 ] Renault driver Jarno Trulli set the session's fastest lap, a 1-minute and 14.262 seconds. Antônio Pizzonia was second in a Jaguar and his teammate Mark Webber third. Alonso, Fisichella, Allan McNish , the Renault test driver, Minardi's Jos Verstappen , Ralph Firman for Jordan and Wilson made up positions fo...

The circuit was sodden for the beginning of the second practice session and dried as it progressed to provide every driver with dry track acclimatisation. [ 36 ] Barrichello set the pace with a 1-minute and 14.071 seconds lap. Ralf Schumacher, Montoya, Michael Schumacher, Alonso, Räikkönen, Pizzonia, Webber, Coulthard and Heidfeld made up positions two to ten. [ 37 ] In warm weather conditions, the final practice session was led by Panis who recorded a time of 1 minute and 13.457 seconds, ahead ...

The torrential rain observed in practice prompted several drivers to express concerns they would lose control of their vehicles and crash. [ 40 ] Around twenty minutes before the first qualifying session, [ 41 ] Coulthard, a senior member of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association , [ 7 ] Trulli and Michael Schumacher wrote a petition mandating the FIA cancel the session if there was no improvement in the track conditions. [ 41 ] [ 42 ] The petition was signed by a majority of drivers; [ 43 ] it was...

Alonso, ninth, was circumspect, [ 49 ] as Frentzen, tenth. reported an adequate car balance. [ 48 ] An incorrect setup put Da Matta 11th. [ 49 ] The wet-weather conditions restricted Trulli to 12th and an unbalanced car in slow speed corners left Ralf Schumacher in 13th. An oversteer and lack of grip restricted Fisichella to 14th as Verstappen extracted additional performance from his car to finish in 15th. [ 49 ] Heidfeld was circumspect through the Arquibancdas turn en route to 16th. [ 48 ] Mo...

On the morning of 6 April, McLaren sought permission from the FIA to change Räikkönen's engine after a crack in its casting was detected via telemetry . The FIA authorised the engine switch after it analysed data proving the engine was damaged. Telemetry from BAR also detected damage to Villeneuve's engine and were also allowed to change it. [ 58 ] Rain was forecast for the race; at the start the track was flooded because of a torrential downpour that fell from at 11:00 Brasilia Time ( UTC−02:00...

On lap ten, Räikkönen overtook Barrichello for second at the Senna S chicane and lost third when Montoya passed him later that lap. [ 61 ] There were overtakes further down the field on that lap. Ralf Schumacher moved past Trulli for sixth and Pizzonia passed Verstappen for fifteenth. [ 65 ] On the 11th lap, Räikkönen closed up to his teammate Coulthard and passed him to take the lead on the approach to the Senna S chicane. Not long after Montoya overtook Coulthard for third at the end of the Re...

As the circuit began to dry, [ 62 ] except for turn three which continued to have water stream across it, [ 68 ] Coulthard began to close up to his teammate Räikkönen, [ 65 ] as Michael Schumacher overtook Webber on the inside for fourth on lap 15 leaving Arquibancdas turn. [ 61 ] On the 16th lap, [ 65 ] Michael Schumacher moved into third position with a pass on the slower Montoya around the outside at the Bico de Pato corner. [ 67 ] Wilson drove through a river at the Curva do Sol turn and aqu...

The safety car was deployed for the second time for debris clearing. [ 61 ] [ 67 ] Several drivers took the opportunity to make pit stops for fuel and tyres. [ 65 ] Montoya avoided a collision with Trulli and Alonso stopped twice since he had the incorrect tyres installed on his car. [ 66 ] The safety car was withdrawn at the end of lap 22 and Räikkönen closed the field up to maintain the lead from Coulthard, Michael Schumacher and the yet-to-stop Da Matta. [ 67 ] On the Reta Oposta straight, Ba...

Lap 27 saw the third safety car deployment: Michael Schumacher aquaplaned off the stream of water at the Curva do Sol turn and avoided hitting a recovery crane extricating Montoya and Pizzonia's vehicles from the side of the track. [ 61 ] He stopped on a run-off area and failed to finish a race for the first time since the 2001 German Grand Prix . [ 62 ] Räikkönen and Da Matta made their pit stops for fuel under safety car conditions. Coulthard took the lead and maintained it at the lap 30 resta...

Räikkönen overtook Alonso on the start/finish straight into the Senna S chicane for fourth on the 38th lap. [ 65 ] [ 66 ] Further round the lap, he passed Ralf Schumacher on the outside line going into the Descida do Lago corner. [ 61 ] Frentzen in eighth was overtaken by Webber and Villeneuve re-passed Da Matta for tenth during the same lap. [ 65 ] On lap 40, Alonso steered to the inside to extract additional grip and passed Ralf Schumacher at Mergulho turn for fourth position. [ 61 ] [ 67 ] As...

Because Alonso was in hospital, Räikkönen and Fisichella appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in a later press conference. [ 64 ] Räikkönen believed he was lucky to be awarded the victory: "I think that it came so quickly that we didn't make the decision quickly enough but in the end it was the right decision, so thanks to the team. It was a difficult race because the conditions were so bad and the safety car was out so often, but I'm pretty happy." [ 68 ] Fisi...

Alonso received messages of well-being from the public and rally driver Carlos Sainz . [ 77 ] He was discharged from hospital after 12 hours, [ 80 ] and returned to Madrid on the morning of 8 April to begin physical therapy for the following San Marino Grand Prix . [ 76 ] Alonso commented on the accident: "I thought my race was going pretty well. But then I came round the final corner to find debris everywhere and I had nowhere to go. I think I hit a wheel, and the next thing I knew I was headed...

Alonso and Michael Schumacher's crashes put them at risk of FIA sanctioning. An FIA observer reported Schumacher and Alonso to the governing body; the stewards could not question Alonso in Brazil as he was hospitalised. Schumacher was interviewed by Whiting at the San Marino Grand Prix pre-event drivers' meeting on 17 April. [ 81 ] Two days later, Alonso and Schumacher met with Whiting individually; he cautioned the two over their future driving standards and did not further reprimand them. [ 82...

Villeneuve said he felt the drivers and not the track conditions contributed to unsafe racing: "It is down to the drivers to be less crazy in those conditions and there was some crazy driving out there. Some drivers were overtaking under the yellow flags, halfway through the race I saw Alonso overtake under the flags. I think that is the kind of driving that leads to big accidents." [ 83 ] After his first race retirement since the 2001 German Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher stated he was unworrie...

Coulthard said he was annoyed with himself for making a pit stop before the red flags were shown because he believed he could have won the race had he not done so: "I am going away from here without a Grand Prix win that I worked hard for. I believe I have more claim on that victory than other people. I'd done my final stop of the race and I know the three guys in front of me all had to come in again if the race had not been stopped." [ 85 ] Frentzen lauded Sauber's decision to change its strate...

After he flew to London from Brazil on the morning of 8 April, Whiting launched an internal investigation into the result of the race because FIA officials were unhappy at the timesheets provided to the governing body by Formula One's timekeepers TAG Heuer . [ 86 ] He was concerned about a possible timekeeping error and asked representatives from TAG Heuer and the three race stewards for the Brazilian Grand Prix, [ 86 ] to attend a meeting at the FIA headquarters in Paris on the morning of 11 Ap...

Oral arguments and timing evidence were presented to a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) court in Paris , which, on 11 April, awarded victory to Fisichella. [ 78 ] McLaren declined to file an appeal. This was Fisichella's first Formula One win. It was the last Grand Prix win for a car with a Ford engine and for Jordan as a constructor. An unofficial ceremony was held during the next race weekend at Imola , where Räikkönen and Ron Dennis handed over the winning driver's and construc...

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