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2003 Australian Grand Prix

Coordinates: 37°50′59″S 144°58′06″E / 37.84972°S 144.96833°E / -37.84972; 144.96833
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2003 Australian Grand Prix
Race 1 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship
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Race details
Date 9 March 2003
Official name 2003 Foster's Australian Grand Prix
Location Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia
Course Temporary street circuit
Course length 5.303 km (3.295 miles)
Distance 58 laps, 307.574 km (191.118 miles)
Weather Damp at beginning, dry later, cloudy, mild
Attendance 118,000[1]
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:27.173
Fastest lap
Driver Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:27.724 on lap 32[2]
Podium
First McLaren-Mercedes
Second Williams-BMW
Third McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2003 Australian Grand Prix (formally the 2003 Foster's Australian Grand Prix)[3] was a Formula One motor race held on 9 March 2003 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. The race was won by McLaren driver David Coulthard, who took the 13th and final race victory of his Formula One career.

Report

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Background

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There was a lot of speculation about how the new set of rules that debuted in this race would affect Ferrari, which were the ones to cause the changes after their dominant 2002 season.

Qualifying

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Qualifying was an all Ferrari affair, with Schumacher edging out Barrichello. Montoya took third, with Frentzen, Panis and Villeneuve putting in good performances for 4th, 5th and 6th. The McLarens had poor qualifying, with Coulthard in 11th, and Räikkönen making a mistake, and ending up 15th.

Race

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It rained heavily before the race, and the track started in half-wet conditions. Räikkönen stopped for dry tyres at the end of the formation lap. Montoya and Panis also started on dry tyres, while the Ferraris, Saubers and BARs were on wet tyres. Barrichello jumped the start, and received a drive-through penalty. Schumacher led at the end of lap 1, with Barrichello in close company. Montoya was 6 seconds behind in third, followed by Frentzen and Villeneuve. Panis struggled on dry tyres, with the Renaults, Ralf Schumacher and Coulthard climbing quickly.

However, the track dried quickly and abnormal tire wear soon occurred on the two Ferraris. After two laps Coulthard, who started on wet tyres, returned to the pits to replace them with dry ones. Barrichello took his penalty, and on his in-lap, lost traction on a quickly drying track, crashing at Turn Five on lap five, followed by rookie Ralph Firman, who had climbed to eighth by lap seven on his dry Bridgestones.

Meanwhile Räikkönen quickly recovered from the back, while Coulthard, on dry tyres, set the fastest lap of the race. Despite this, Ferrari chose not to immediately call Schumacher back to the pits. Da Matta’s debut also came to a premature end when he spun into the gravel at turn 3. Schumacher dropped to eighth, pitting for dry tyres, with the leaders pitting just before a safety car to clear the stranded cars. Mark Webber's Jaguar had climbed to sixth, but his rear suspension broke just after the restart and he stopped in an awkward place, prompting a second appearance of the safety car.

Montoya, Trulli and Ralf Schumacher took advantage of the interruption to refuel, but the German driver lost a lot of time due to a spin and restarted at the back of the group. The safety car returned to the pits at the end of lap 20, with Räikkönen in the lead threatened by Michael Schumacher, who was in turn followed by Coulthard, Villeneuve, Button, Montoya, Panis and Frentzen. On lap 25 Villeneuve, who was having problems with the radio, entered the pits together with his teammate Button, causing a lot of confusion in the team garage and causing the Englishman to lose almost twenty seconds. Meanwhile Michael Schumacher unsuccessfully attacked Räikkönen. Unable to pass him, the German driver returned to the pits on lap 29, imitated three laps later by the McLaren drivers. Montoya then moved on to lead, followed by Räikkönen, Schumacher, Coulthard, Trulli and Alonso. Räikkönen had his turn leading the race until he received a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Räikkönen served the penalty on lap 39, returning to the track behind the two Renaults. When Montoya refueled for the last time on lap 42, Michael Schumacher found himself in the lead.

The German driver, however, damaged the flow diverters of his Ferrari by driving too violently over a curb. Some pieces of the damaged aerodynamic appendages broke off and slipped under the body. The race direction then displayed the black-orange flag to the German, which indicates the obligation to return to the pits within three laps for repairs. Schumacher, who still had to make another pit stop, was therefore forced to do so during the 46th lap. He missed out on the podium for the first time since the 2001 Italian Grand Prix and ending Ferrari's 53 consecutive podium finishes. It was the first time since the 1999 European Grand Prix that neither of the Ferraris finished on the podium. When Williams seemed to have the first victory of the year in their pocket, Montoya spun after entering the first corner too fast, with eight laps from the end and without any pressure from his rivals.[citation needed] Montoya returned to the track, but lost first place to Coulthard, who won what turned out to be his last race victory.[4] Montoya was visibly frustrated on the podium.

This was the first time that Michelin tires have dominated the podium since the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix. It was the first time since the 1998 Italian Grand Prix that no Bridgestone-shod cars finished in the podium positions.

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap Grid
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:27.103 1:27.173 1
2 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:26.372 1:27.418 +0.245 2
3 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:27.450 1:28.101 +0.928 3
4 10 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 1:27.563 1:28.274 +1.101 4
5 20 France Olivier Panis Toyota 1:27.352 1:28.288 +1.115 5
6 16 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:26.832 1:28.420 +1.247 6
7 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:27.510 1:28.464 +1.291 7
8 17 United Kingdom Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:27.159 1:28.682 +1.509 8
9 4 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:28.266 1:28.830 +1.657 9
10 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 1:27.255 1:28.928 +1.755 10
11 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.242 1:29.105 +1.932 11
12 7 Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 1:27.411 1:29.136 +1.963 12
13 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 1:27.633 1:29.344 +2.171 13
14 14 Australia Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:27.675 1:29.367 +2.194 14
15 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.551 1:29.470 +2.297 15
16 21 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:27.478 1:29.538 +2.365 16
17 12 Republic of Ireland Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 1:29.977 1:31.242 +4.069 17
18 15 Brazil Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 1:30.092 1:31.723 +4.550 18
19 19 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 1:30.053 No Time1 19
20 18 United Kingdom Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 1:30.479 No Time1 20
Source:[5]
Notes
  • ^1 – Jos Verstappen and Justin Wilson did not set a lap time in the Q2 section, in order to avoid the parc fermé regime.[6]

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 58 1:34:42.124 11 10
2 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 58 +8.675 3 8
3 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 58 +9.192 PL1 6
4 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 58 +9.482 1 5
5 7 Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 58 +38.801 12 4
6 10 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 58 +43.928 4 3
7 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 58 +45.074 10 2
8 4 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 58 +45.745 9 1
9 16 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 58 +1:05.536 6  
10 17 United Kingdom Jenson Button BAR-Honda 58 +1:05.974 8  
11 19 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 57 +1 Lap PL1  
12 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 52 Gearbox 13  
13 15 Brazil Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 52 Suspension 18  
Ret 20 France Olivier Panis Toyota 31 Fuel pressure 5  
Ret 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 20 Suspension 7  
Ret 18 United Kingdom Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 16 Radiator 20  
Ret 14 Australia Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 15 Suspension 14  
Ret 21 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Toyota 7 Spun off 16  
Ret 12 Republic of Ireland Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 6 Accident 17  
Ret 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 5 Accident 2  
Source:[7]
Notes
  • ^1 – Kimi Räikkönen and Jos Verstappen started the race from the pitlane.

Championship standings after the race

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

References

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  1. ^ F1 Racing. April 2003.
  2. ^ "2003 Australian Grand Prix - Race". Manipe F1. Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  3. ^ "Australia". Formula1.com. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  4. ^ Elson, James (29 March 2023). "F1's greatest opening race? Coulthard's '03 Australian GP win". Motor Sport magazine. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Australia 2003". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Stoddart Hoping Ambitious Gamble Pays Off". Autosport.com. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  7. ^ "2003 Australian Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Australia 2003 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
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Previous race:
2002 Japanese Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
2003 season
Next race:
2003 Malaysian Grand Prix
Previous race:
2002 Australian Grand Prix
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2004 Australian Grand Prix

37°50′59″S 144°58′06″E / 37.84972°S 144.96833°E / -37.84972; 144.96833