2003 Canadian F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Canadian Grand Prix
Track: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

Michael SCHUMACHER won his 68th F1 World Championship race at the 2003 Canadian F1 GP. The Ferrari driver started from 3rd on the grid and won at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve by 0.784 seconds from brother Ralf Schumacher, with Juan-Pablo Montoya third. It was the 166th win for the Ferrari F1 team and Schumachers 4th win of the season, an all-BMW-vs-Ferrari finish in Montreal.

Ralf pole, Williams front row lockout again

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on 15 June 2003 opened with Ralf Schumacher taking pole with a 1:15.529 lap, Montoya alongside him and Michael Schumacher third for Ferrari. Alonso qualified an excellent fourth for Renault, Barrichello fifth. The Williams-BMW pair had qualifying pace at almost every high-speed circuit in 2003, but Ferrari had race-day pace when it mattered.

Race day: Michael chases down the Williams pair

Ralf Schumacher led the opening 19 laps but Michael took the lead on lap 20 during the first pit-stop cycle. Alonso briefly held the front on laps 21-25 and 49-54 on his own strategy, but Michael led the meaningful laps of the race and took the flag 0.784 seconds ahead of Ralf, with Montoya third at 1.355 seconds. It was a top-three inside 1.5 seconds of the winner, one of the closest podium finishes of the season.

Alonso fourth, another strong Renault day

Fernando Alonso took fourth for Renault, his best result of the season to that point after starting fourth on the grid. Barrichello fifth for Ferrari, Raikkonen sixth for McLaren, Mark Webber seventh for Jaguar-Cosworth, Olivier Panis the final point for Toyota. Raikkonen had a difficult afternoon, no pace to match Ferrari or Williams. Alonso also set the fastest lap of the race on lap 53 with a 1:16.040.

Championship: Schumacher retakes the lead

After eight races Michael Schumacher had 58 points, Raikkonen 51, Alonso 34, Ralf Schumacher 33. Ferraris renewed strength combined with Kimi Raikkonens Canada scoreless afternoon put the German back on top of the championship. Nurburgring in two weeks would be another chance for Williams-BMW power to dominate.

Classification 2003 Canadian F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	1	MichaelSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari F2003-GAFerrari 052	3	70	40	1:31:13.591	10
2	4	RalfSchumacher	Williams	Williams FW25BMW P83	1	70	19	1:31:14.375+0.784s	8
3	3	Juan-PabloMontoya	Williams	Williams FW25BMW P83	2	70		1:31:14.946+1.355s	6
4	8	FernandoAlonso	Renault	Renault R23Renault RS23	4	70	11	1:31:18.072+4.481s	5
5	2	RubensBarrichello	Ferrari	Ferrari F2003-GAFerrari 052	5	70		1:32:17.852+1:04.261	4
6	6	KimiRäikkönen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17DMercedes FO 110	20	70		1:32:24.093+1:10.502	3
7	14	MarkWebber	Jaguar	Jaguar R4Cosworth CR-5	6	69		+1 lap	2
8	20	OlivierPanis	Toyota	Toyota TF103Toyota RVX-03	7	69		+1 lap	1
9	19	JosVerstappen	Minardi	Minardi PS03Cosworth CR-3	15	68		+2 laps
10	15	AntônioPizzonia	Jaguar	Jaguar R4Cosworth CR-5	13	64		+6 laps
11	21	Cristianoda Matta	Toyota	Toyota TF103Toyota RVX-03	9	64		+6 laps
DNF	18	JustinWilson	Minardi	Minardi PS03Cosworth CR-3	18	60		Gearbox
DNF	17	JensonButton	BAR	BAR 005Honda RA003E	17	51		Gearbox
DNF	5	DavidCoulthard	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17DMercedes FO 110	11	47		Gearbox
DNF	9	NickHeidfeld	Sauber	Sauber C22Petronas 03A	12	47		Engine
DNF	7	JarnoTrulli	Renault	Renault R23Renault RS23	8	22		Accident
DNF	11	GiancarloFisichella	Jordan	Jordan EJ13Ford RS1	16	20		Gearbox
DNF	12	RalphFirman	Jordan	Jordan EJ13Ford RS1	19	20		Engine
DNF	16	JacquesVilleneuve	BAR	BAR 005Honda RA003E	14	14		Brakes
DNF	10	Heinz-HaraldFrentzen	Sauber	Sauber C22Petronas 03A	10	6		Electronics

Fastest lap: 1:16.040 min. by Fernando Alonso

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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