2003 Australian Grand Prix

2003 Australian Grand Prix
Race 1 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
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
Pole position
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:27.173
Fastest lap
Driver	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:27.724 on lap 32
Podium
First	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Second	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW
Third	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2003 Australian Grand Prix (formally the 2003 Foster's Australian Grand Prix) 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

Background

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

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

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. Montoya returned to the track, but lost first place to Coulthard, who won what turned out to be his last race victory. 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

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1 Time	Q2 Time	Gap	Grid
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:27.103	1:27.173		1
2	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:26.372	1:27.418	+0.245	2
3	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:27.450	1:28.101	+0.928	3
4	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	1:27.563	1:28.274	+1.101	4
5	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	1:27.352	1:28.288	+1.115	5
6	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	1:26.832	1:28.420	+1.247	6
7	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	1:27.510	1:28.464	+1.291	7
8	17	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	1:27.159	1:28.682	+1.509	8
9	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	1:28.266	1:28.830	+1.657	9
10	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:27.255	1:28.928	+1.755	10
11	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:27.242	1:29.105	+1.932	11
12	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	1:27.411	1:29.136	+1.963	12
13	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	1:27.633	1:29.344	+2.171	13
14	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:27.675	1:29.367	+2.194	14
15	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:26.551	1:29.470	+2.297	15
16	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	1:27.478	1:29.538	+2.365	16
17	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan-Ford	1:29.977	1:31.242	+4.069	17
18	15	Antônio Pizzonia	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:30.092	1:31.723	+4.550	18
19	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	1:30.053	No Time1		19
20	18	Justin Wilson	Minardi-Cosworth	1:30.479	No Time1		20
Source:

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.

Race

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

Notes

• ^1 – Kimi Räikkönen and Jos Verstappen started the race from the pitlane.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	David Coulthard	10
2	Juan Pablo Montoya	8
3	Kimi Räikkönen	6
4	Michael Schumacher	5
5	Jarno Trulli	4
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	McLaren-Mercedes	16
2	Williams-BMW	9
3	Renault	6
4	Ferrari	5
5	Sauber-Petronas	3
Source:

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