2003 European Grand Prix

The 2003 European Grand Prix (formally the Allianz Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One motor race held on 29 June 2003 at the Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany. It was the ninth race of the 2003 Formula One season. The 60-lap race was won Ralf Schumacher driving in a Williams car. Juan Pablo Montoya, also driving for Williams finished second, with Rubens Barrichello third in a Ferrari.

2003 European Grand Prix
Race 9 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship
The Nürburgring
Race details
Date 29 June 2003 (2003-06-29)
Official name XLVII Allianz Grand Prix of Europe
Location Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.148 km (3.2 mi)
Distance 60 laps, 308.88 km (192 mi)
Weather Mostly cloudy with maximum ambient temperatures reaching 25 degrees celsius during the day.
Attendance 123,000
Pole position
Driver
McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:31.523
Fastest lap
Driver Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:32.621
Podium
First
Williams-BMW
Second
Williams-BMW
Third
Ferrari

Race report

Approximately 123,000 people attended the race.[1] For 25 laps of the European Grand Prix, Kimi Räikkönen looked set to win from his first pole position and regain his championship lead. Then his McLaren’s Mercedes engine broke down and instead it was Ralf Schumacher who came through to score his first win of the year.

Having taken pole, Räikkönen soon built a lead over Ralf Schumacher. He was nine seconds clear when he made his first refuelling stop on the 16th lap, with Michael Schumacher another ten seconds further back. Ralf led briefly for Williams and ran until lap 21 before pitting, but this was still insufficient to keep Räikkönen out of the lead. Ralf Schumacher was still 4.8 seconds behind when the Räikkönen's Mercedes engine blew up, making him the first retirement of the race.

On the 43rd lap Juan Pablo Montoya and Michael Schumacher collided while fighting for second place. Montoya had gradually reeled in Schumacher until they were side-by-side on the rundown to the Dunlop Kurve. Schumacher ran up the kerb and tagged Montoya’s Williams as it passed the German's Ferrari for second place. As Schumacher spun and sat stranded, his Ferrari’s rear wheels spinning in the gravel, Montoya continued. By the time three marshals and fireman pushed the Ferrari from its dangerous spot on the corner’s apex, Schumacher was down to sixth.

“Michael was quick on the straights, but in the corners he was very slow,” said Montoya. “He was on the inside and I was on the outside. I thought I gave him plenty of room. I wasn’t going to give him all the track, but I thought it was all right.”

Schumacher agreed that Montoya had given him enough room and after a stewards’ enquiry, no action was taken. Ferrari’s Ross Brawn was not content with the situation, but Williams technical director Patrick Head remarked that, had Montoya been penalised, it would effectively have been a declaration that overtaking was no longer allowed in Formula One racing.

Then, on the 57th lap, McLaren's David Coulthard suddenly had to swerve around Fernando Alonso approaching the chicane, and spun into retirement. “Alonso braked ten metres earlier than he had the lap before,” said Coulthard. “He was dealing inconsistently with problems, as his rear tyres looked completely worn out. But I just got caught out.” The Spaniard continued, and was very nearly caught on the final lap by the recovering world champion. The stewards investigated the incident after a report was filed to them by the FIA race director Charlie Whiting. They spoke to both Alonso and Coulthard and members of their respective teams. After a review of telemetry and video data, no driver was imposed a penalty.[2]

Williams’ haul of points from a race in which McLaren went home with none moved them up into second place in the constructors’ championship. Sir Frank Williams was careful to play down talk of a championship challenge for his team. But with Ferrari only 13 points ahead, everyone within the team believed that they had a chance of challenging before the season was over.

Classification

Qualifying
PosNoDriverConstructorQ1 TimeQ2 TimeGap
1 6 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:29.989 1:31.523
2 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:30.353 1:31.555 +0.032
3 4 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:30.522 1:31.619 +0.096
4 3 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:30.378 1:31.765 +0.242
5 2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:30.842 1:31.780 +0.257
6 7 Jarno Trulli Renault 1:31.143 1:31.976 +0.453
7 20 Olivier Panis Toyota 1:57.327 1:32.350 +0.827
8 8 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:31.533 1:32.424 +0.901
9 5 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.903 1:32.742 +1.219
10 21 Cristiano da Matta Toyota No Time 1:32.949 +1.426
11 14 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:35.972 1:33.066 +1.543
12 17 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:32.479 1:33.395 +1.872
13 11 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 1:32.196 1:33.553 +2.030
14 12 Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 1:53.893 1:33.827 +2.304
15 10 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 1:32.201 1:34.000 +2.477
16 15 Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 1:57.435 1:34.159 +2.636
17 16 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda No Time 1:34.596 +3.073
18 19 Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 1:55.921 1:36.318 +4.795
19 18 Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 1:54.546 1:36.485 +4.962
20 9 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:52.300 No Time

Race
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 4 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 60 1:34:43.622 3 10
2 3 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 60 +16.821 4 8
3 2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 60 +39.673 5 6
4 8 Fernando Alonso Renault 60 +1:05.731 8 5
5 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 60 +1:06.162 2 4
6 14 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 59 +1 Lap 11 3
7 17 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 59 +1 Lap 12 2
8 9 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 59 +1 Lap 20 1
9 10 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 59 +1 Lap 15  
10 15 Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 59 +1 Lap 16  
11 12 Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 58 +2 Laps 14  
12 11 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 58 +2 Laps 13  
13 18 Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 58 +2 Laps 19  
14 19 Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 57 +3 Laps 18  
15 5 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 56 Spun off 9  
Ret 21 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 53 Engine 10  
Ret 16 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 51 Gearbox 17  
Ret 7 Jarno Trulli Renault 37 Fuel pressure 6  
Ret 20 Olivier Panis Toyota 37 Brakes 7  
Ret 6 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 25 Engine 1  
Source:[3]

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

References
  1. "Huge home crowd greets Schumacher win". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. 30 June 2003. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  2. "The Coulthard-Alonso incident". Grand Prix. 1 July 2003. Retrieved 16 January 2007.
  3. "2003 European Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  4. "Europe 2003 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
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