2003 Spanish F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Spanish Grand Prix
Track: Catalunya Circuit

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

Michael Schumacher won his 66th F1 World Championship race at the 2003 Spanish F1 GP. The Ferrari driver started from pole and won at Barcelona by 5.716 seconds from Fernando Alonso. It was the 164th win for the Ferrari F1 team, Schumachers 2nd win of the season and the first true statement that the Ferrari F2003-GA had arrived.

Schumacher pole, Ferrari lock the front row

Barcelona on 4 May 2003 saw Michael Schumacher take pole with a 1:17.762 lap, Barrichello alongside 0.258 seconds back. Fernando Alonso was third for Renault, delighting his home crowd, Trulli fourth, Button fifth. Ferrari had brought the new F2003-GA to Imola and Barcelona was where it really came alive on a dry circuit.

Race day: Michael controls, Alonso hunts

Schumacher led the opening 18 laps, Barrichello briefly on 19-20 during the stops, and Michael was back in front from lap 21. Alonso, running his own strategy, took a brief spell on laps 36-37 but the pace advantage of the F2003-GA on race day was too great for the Renault to answer. Michael Schumacher took his 66th F1 win by 5.716 seconds from Alonso, who took a superb second at his home Grand Prix, his first F1 podium of the season and the biggest cheer of the weekend. Barrichello set the fastest lap on lap 52 with a 1:20.143.

Ferrari 1-3, McLaren struggle at Barcelona

Barrichello took third for Ferrari at 18.001 seconds, Montoya fourth for Williams-BMW, Ralf Schumacher fifth, Cristiano da Matta a solid sixth for Toyota. Both McLarens were nowhere: Raikkonen had electrical issues, Coulthard ran on the wrong strategy. Kimi Raikkonens championship lead had been comprehensively closed by Michael Schumacher.

Championship: Raikkonen 32, Schumacher 25, Alonso 21

After five races the top of the standings read Raikkonen 32, Schumacher 25, Alonso 21, Coulthard 20. This was truly a four-way championship fight, in the closest F1 season since 1986. The Ferrari F2003-GA was clearly the fastest package now, but reliability and race-day mistakes would decide the year, not just outright pace.

Classification 2003 Spanish F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	1	MichaelSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari F2003-GAFerrari 052	1	65	60	1:33:46.933	10
2	8	FernandoAlonso	Renault	Renault R23Renault RS23	3	65	3	1:33:52.649+5.716s	8
3	2	RubensBarrichello	Ferrari	Ferrari F2003-GAFerrari 052	2	65	2	1:34:04.934+18.001s	6
4	3	Juan-PabloMontoya	Williams	Williams FW25BMW P83	9	65		1:34:48.955+1:02.022	5
5	4	RalfSchumacher	Williams	Williams FW25BMW P83	7	64		+1 lap	4
6	21	Cristianoda Matta	Toyota	Toyota TF103Toyota RVX-03	13	64		+1 lap	3
7	14	MarkWebber	Jaguar	Jaguar R4Cosworth CR-5	12	64		+1 lap	2
8	12	RalphFirman	Jordan	Jordan EJ13Ford RS1	15	63		+2 laps	1
9	17	JensonButton	BAR	BAR 005Honda RA003E	5	63		+2 laps
10	9	NickHeidfeld	Sauber	Sauber C22Petronas 03A	14	63		+2 laps
11	18	JustinWilson	Minardi	Minardi PS03Cosworth CR-3	18	63		+2 laps
12	19	JosVerstappen	Minardi	Minardi PS03Cosworth CR-3	19	62		+3 laps
DNF	11	GiancarloFisichella	Jordan	Jordan EJ13Ford RS1	17	43		Engine
DNF	20	OlivierPanis	Toyota	Toyota TF103Toyota RVX-03	6	41		Gearbox
DNF	10	Heinz-HaraldFrentzen	Sauber	Sauber C22Petronas 03A	10	38		Suspension
DNF	5	DavidCoulthard	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17DMercedes FO 110	8	17		Collision
DNF	16	JacquesVilleneuve	BAR	BAR 005Honda RA003E	11	12		Electrical
DNF	7	JarnoTrulli	Renault	Renault R23Renault RS23	4	0		Collision
DNF	15	AntônioPizzonia	Jaguar	Jaguar R4Cosworth CR-5	16	0		Launch control
DNF	6	KimiRäikkönen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17DMercedes FO 110	20	0		Collision

Fastest lap: 1:20.143 min. by Rubens Barrichello

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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