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2003 Spanish Grand Prix

Coordinates: 41°34′12″N 2°15′40″E / 41.57000°N 2.26111°E / 41.57000; 2.26111
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2003 Spanish Grand Prix
Race 5 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship
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Race details
Date 4 May 2003 (2003-05-04)
Official name Gran Premio Marlboro de España 2003
Location Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló, Catalonia, Spain[1]
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.730 km (2.939 miles)
Distance 65 laps, 307.324 km (190.962 miles)
Weather Clear. Track temperature: 35°C[2]
Attendance 96,000
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 1:17.762
Fastest lap
Driver Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari
Time 1:20.143 on lap 52
Podium
First
Ferrari
Second
Renault
Third
Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2003 Spanish Grand Prix (officially known as the Gran Premio Marlboro de España 2003)[3] was a Formula One motor race that took place on 4 May 2003 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló, Spain. It was the fifth round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship.

Michael Schumacher of Scuderia Ferrari took pole position for the race and went on to win it, ahead of Fernando Alonso of Renault and teammate Rubens Barrichello. Ralph Firman scored his only career point by finishing eighth.

Background

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The Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló hosted the Spanish Grand Prix for the thirteenth time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 2-4 May. The Grand Prix was the fifth round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship and the 33rd running of the Spanish Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship.[4][5]

Championship standings before the race

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Going into the weekend, Kimi Räikkönen led the Drivers' Championship with 32 points, 13 points ahead of his teammate David Coulthard in second and 14 ahead of Michael Schumacher in third.[6] McLaren-Mercedes, with 51 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari and Renault, who were second and third with 32 and 26 points, respectively.[6]

Updated Ferrari

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Ferrari debuted their new car, the F2003-GA, at this race. "GA" was added to the car's name as a tribute to Gianni Agnelli, head of Fiat, who died shortly before the car's unveiling.[7]

Practice

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Three free practice sessions were held for the event.[8][9] The first session on Friday was topped by Ralf Schumacher in the BMW Williams, ahead of the Renaults of Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso.[10] First Saturday practice was led by championship leader Kimi Räikkönen, ahead of Antônio Pizzonia in the Jaguar and Rubens Barrichello in the Ferrari.[11] Alonso then topped the final practice session, ahead of Rubens Barrichello in the Ferrari and Trulli in third.[12]

Qualifying

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Qualiyfing consisted of two one-hour sessions, one on Friday and one on Saturday afternoons. The first session's running order was determined by the Drivers' Championship standings, with the leading driver going first. Each driver was allowed to set one lap time. The result determined the running order in the second session: the fastest driver in the first session was allowed to go last in the second session, which usually provided the benefit of a cleaner track. Drivers were again allowed to set one lap time, which determined the order on the grid for the race on Sunday, with the fastest driver scoring pole position.[8][13]

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 time Q2 time Gap
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:17.130 1:17.762
2 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:17.218 1:18.020 +0.258
3 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 1:18.100 1:18.233 +0.471
4 7 Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 1:17.149 1:18.615 +0.853
5 17 United Kingdom Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:17.613 1:18.704 +0.942
6 20 France Olivier Panis Toyota 1:17.746 1:18.881 +1.049
7 4 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:18.409 1:19.006 +1.244
8 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:18.060 1:19.128 +1.366
9 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:18.607 1:19.377 +1.615
10 10 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 1:18.909 1:19.427 +1.665
11 16 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:18.461 1:19.563 +1.801
12 14 Australia Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:17.793 1:19.615 +1.853
13 21 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:17.443 1:19.623 +1.861
14 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:19.050 1:19.646 +1.884
15 12 Republic of Ireland Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 1:19.195 1:20.215 +2.453
16 15 Brazil Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 1:18.528 1:20.308 +2.546
17 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 1:18.879 1:20.976 +3.214
18 18 United Kingdom Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 1:21.100 1:22.104 +4.342
19 19 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 1:20.822 1:22.237 +4.475
20 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.862 No time1
Source:[14]
Notes
  • ^1 - Kimi Räikkönen did not set a time in the second session after he went off the circuit in turn seven.[2]

Race

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The start of the 2003 Spanish Grand Prix

The race was held on 4 May 2003 and was run for 65 laps.[1]

Race report

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At the start, third-starting Fernando Alonso was the fastest off the line, quickly overtaking Rubens Barrichello and pressuring Michael Schumacher, but coming to the first corner, Barrichello saw a chance round the outside. He re-overtook Alonso, while putting two wheels on the dirt to avoid clashing with his teammate. Jarno Trulli started fourth but fell back and was fighting with David Coulthard when the two touched in the first corner, leading to the Italian's immediate retirement and the Scot's need for an unscheduled pit stop. Looking back at the grid, Antônio Pizzonia had stalled his Jaguar and, while Justin Wilson had been able to avoid him, not so for championship leader Kimi Räikkönen. Both drivers retired with terminal damage.[2][15][16]

After five laps behind the safety car, the race resumed and the top runners slowly spread out, but Alonso did manage to jump Barrichello during the first round of pit stops. Meanwhile, Coulthard had his second accident, this time with Jenson Button. The McLaren was now too damaged to continue and Button had to change his front wing.[2][15][16]

All through the second half of the race and the final round of stops, Alonso kept pressuring Schumacher, reducing the gap to less than six seconds, but the German led his updated Ferrari to the win. Alonso became the first Spanish driver to score points at his home race. Behind Barrichello and both Williamses, Cristiano da Matta finished in sixth position to score his first points in Formula One, as did Ralph Firman, who finished in eighth position. Mark Webber in seventh scored his first points since his debut weekend more than a year ago.[2][15][16]

Race classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 65 1:33:46.933 1 10
2 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 65 +5.716 3 8
3 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 65 +18.001 2 6
4 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 65 +1:02.022 9 5
5 4 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 64 +1 lap 7 4
6 21 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Toyota 64 +1 lap 13 3
7 14 Australia Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 64 +1 lap 12 2
8 12 Republic of Ireland Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 63 +2 laps 15 1
9 17 United Kingdom Jenson Button BAR-Honda 63 +2 laps 5  
10 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 63 +2 laps 14  
11 18 United Kingdom Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 63 +2 laps 18  
12 19 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 62 +3 laps 19  
Ret 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 43 Engine 17  
Ret 20 France Olivier Panis Toyota 41 Gearbox 6  
Ret 10 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 38 Suspension 10  
Ret 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 17 Collision 8  
Ret 16 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 12 Electrical 11  
Ret 7 Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 0 Collision 4  
Ret 15 Brazil Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 0 Launch control / collision 16  
Ret 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 0 Collision 20  
Source:[17]

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. ^ a b "2003 Spanish Grand Prix". Motor Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e Elizalde, Pablo (7 May 2003). "The 2003 Spanish GP Review". Spain. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  3. ^ "Spanish". Formula1.com. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  4. ^ "2003 Spanish GP – XLV Gran Premio Marlboro de España". ChicaneF1. Archived from the original on 9 December 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  5. ^ "Grands Prix Spain". StatsF1. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  6. ^ a b Jones, Bruce (2004). "Final Tables 2003". The Official ITV Sport Guide: 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship. Carlton Books. pp. 100–101. ISBN 1-84442-811-7 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ "Scuderia Ferrari History - 2003". ferrari.com. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  8. ^ a b Domenjoz, Luc, ed. (2003). "Sporting regulations". Formula 1 Yearbook 2003–04. Bath, Somerset: Parragon. pp. 220–221. ISBN 978-1-4054-2089-1 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ^ "2003 Spanish Grand Prix - Results and Reports". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  10. ^ "GRAN PREMIO MARLBORO DE ESPAÑA 2003 - PRACTICE 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  11. ^ "2003 Spanish Grand Prix - First Saturday Practice Session Results". NewsOnF1. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  12. ^ "GRAN PREMIO MARLBORO DE ESPAÑA 2003 - PRACTICE 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  13. ^ "Deciding the grid - A history of F1 qualifying formats". formula1.com. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  14. ^ "Gran Premio Marlboro de España 2003 – Overall Qualifying". Formula1.com. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  15. ^ a b c "SPANISH GRAND PRIX: MICHAEL SCHUMACHER TAKES SECOND CONSECUTIVE VICTORY AS F2003-GA WINS MAIDEN GRAND PRIX". ItaliaSpeed. 4 May 2003. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  16. ^ a b c Petric, Darjan (4 May 2022). "2003 Spanish GP – Schumacher wins in new F2003-GA, Alonso splits the Ferraris". MaxF1. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  17. ^ "2003 Spanish Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  18. ^ a b "Spain 2003 – Championship". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
[edit]


Previous race:
2003 San Marino Grand Prix 		FIA Formula One World Championship
2003 season 		Next race:
2003 Austrian Grand Prix
Previous race:
2002 Spanish Grand Prix 		Spanish Grand Prix Next race:
2004 Spanish Grand Prix
Awards
Preceded by
2002 Hungarian Grand Prix 		Formula One Promotional Trophy
for Race Promoter
2003 		Succeeded by
2004 Bahrain Grand Prix

41°34′12″N 2°15′40″E / 41.57000°N 2.26111°E / 41.57000; 2.26111

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