The 2003 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the 2003 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 12 October 2003 at the Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan. It was the sixteenth and final round of the 2003 Formula One season, as well as the 29th Japanese Grand Prix. The 53-lap race was won by Rubens Barrichello driving for Ferrari after starting from pole position. Kimi Räikkönen, who started the race from eighth position, finished second in a McLaren car, with David Coulthard third in the other McLaren.
| 2003 Japanese Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 16 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship
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| 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 | Ferrari | ||||
| Time | 1:31.713 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |
 Ralf Schumacher | Williams-BMW | |||
| Time | 1:33.408 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Ferrari | ||||
| Second | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
| Third | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
|
Lap leaders | |||||
Barrichello's win saw Ferrari clinch their 13th Constructors Championship title, the team's fifth title in a row, with Barrichello's team-mate Michael Schumacher finishing eighth to secure his record-breaking 6th World Driver's Championship surpassing the record set by Juan Manuel Fangio in 1957. This was also Schumacher's fourth consecutive World Driver's title, matching the record set by Fangio in 1957.[2]
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.
Report edit
Background edit
Heading into the final race of the season, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher was leading the World Driver's Championship standings with 92 points; McLaren driver Kimi Räikkönen was second on 83 points, 9 points behind Schumacher. A maximum of 10 points were available, which meant that Räikkönen could still win the title. Schumacher only needed an eighth-place finish to become Driver's Champion even if Räikkönen won the race. Räikkönen needed to win and Schumacher not to score a single point in order for him to become Driver's Champion.[3]
There was one driver change heading into the race. Having been a driver for the BAR-Honda team for most of the season, Jacques Villeneuve pulled out of the Grand Prix after asking to be released by the team and was replaced by the team's test driver Takuma Sato.[4]
Sato had been confirmed as a driver for the team for the 2004 season in the days running up to the race and would drive alongside Jenson Button.[5]
Friday drivers edit
Three teams in the 2003 Constructors' Championship had the right to drive a third car on Friday that were involved in additional training. These drivers did not compete in qualifying or the race.
| Constructor | Nat | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| Renault | 
|
Allan McNish |
| Jordan-Ford | 
|
Satoshi Motoyama |
| Minardi-Cosworth | 
|
Gianmaria Bruni |
Classification edit
Qualifying edit
| 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 | |
| 20 | 7 | Jarno Trulli
|
Renault | 1:30.281 | No time | |
| Source:[6] | ||||||
Race edit
| 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:[7]
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Notes edit
- Takuma Sato finished 6th in his one and only race of the season.
- Ralf Schumacher spun 3 times in this race, once with his brother Michael.
- This was the last time to date that the Japanese Grand Prix was the final round of the season.
- Last race for Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jos Verstappen, Justin Wilson, Nicolas Kiesa and Ralph Firman.
- This was David Coulthard's final podium until the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix.
Championship standings after the race edit
- Bold text and an asterisk indicates the World Champions.
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References edit
- ^ "Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 – Media Kit" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
- ^ "Japanese GP - Sunday - Race Notes". grandprix.com. 12 October 2003. Archived from the original on 2014-04-29. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
- ^ "Deciding the World Championship". grandprix.com. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
- ^ "Villeneuve pulls out of Japan's GP". CNN International. 9 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
- ^ "Sato replaces Villeneuve". BBC Sport (BBC). 7 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
- ^ "2003 Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. 30 October 2019.
- ^ "2003 Japanese Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
- ^ a b "Japan 2003 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.