2003 German F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: German Grand Prix
Track: Hockenheimring

Weather: dry, hot, sunny

Juan-Pablo MONTOYA won his 3rd F1 World Championship race at the 2003 German F1 GP. The Williams-BMW driver started from pole and won at Hockenheim by 65.459 seconds from David Coulthard. It was the 116th win for the Williams F1 team and Montoyas 1st Hockenheim victory, in a race where Ferrari, McLaren and even Renault could not match Williams-BMW pace.

Williams lock the front row again, BMW power on show

Hockenheim on 3 August 2003 delivered another Williams-BMW front-row lockout. Montoya took pole with a 1:15.167 lap, Ralf Schumacher 0.018 seconds back for another Williams 1-2 in qualifying. Barrichello was third for Ferrari, Trulli fourth, Raikkonen fifth. The BMW engines were unmatched on Hockenheims long straights and Williams-BMW had race pace to match.

Race day: Montoya crushes the field

Ralf Schumacher was taken out at the first corner in a first-lap collision with Barrichello, ending his home Grand Prix on the opening lap for the second consecutive year. Montoya led every meaningful lap and won by 65.459 seconds over Coulthard, the largest winning margin of the season. Trulli was third for Renault, Alonso fourth. Panis fifth for Toyota, da Matta sixth also for Toyota. Michael Schumacher retired after tyre failure and made it back only to a seventh-place finish, a scoreless day at his home race for the third time in five years.

Championship: Montoya charges into the fight

After twelve races Michael Schumacher led with 75 points, Montoya 71, Raikkonen 70, Ralf Schumacher 53. The season had become a three-driver, three-team fight for the drivers championship, and Ralf Schumacher was fading. Montoyas 10 points and Michaels 2-point retirement had cut the lead to just four points with five races remaining. Montoya set the fastest lap on lap 14 with a 1:14.917.

Ferrari on the ropes, Michelin ascendant

Bridgestone-shod Ferrari were increasingly outperformed by Michelin runners Williams, McLaren and Renault at higher-temperature races. Hungary in two weeks would be another warm-weather test. Ferrari sporting director Ross Brawn admitted the team had lost ground to Michelin over the summer and would need every point they could earn. Michael Schumacher looked, for perhaps the first time in his Ferrari career, genuinely under pressure.

Classification 2003 German F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	3	Juan-PabloMontoya	Williams	Williams FW25BMW P83	1	67	66	1:28:48.769	10
2	5	DavidCoulthard	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17DMercedes FO 110	10	67		1:29:54.228+1:05.459	8
3	7	JarnoTrulli	Renault	Renault R23BRenault RS23	4	67		1:29:57.829+1:09.060	6
4	8	FernandoAlonso	Renault	Renault R23BRenault RS23	8	67	1	1:29:58.113+1:09.344	5
5	20	OlivierPanis	Toyota	Toyota TF103Toyota RVX-03	7	66		+1 lap	4
6	21	Cristianoda Matta	Toyota	Toyota TF103Toyota RVX-03	9	66		+1 lap	3
7	1	MichaelSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari F2003-GAFerrari 052	6	66		+1 lap	2
8	17	JensonButton	BAR	BAR 005Honda RA003E	17	66		+1 lap	1
9	16	JacquesVilleneuve	BAR	BAR 005Honda RA003E	13	65		+2 laps
10	9	NickHeidfeld	Sauber	Sauber C22Petronas 03A	15	65		+2 laps
11	14	MarkWebber	Jaguar	Jaguar R4Cosworth CR-5	11	64		Accident
12	18	NicolasKiesa	Minardi	Minardi PS03Cosworth CR-3	20	62		+5 laps
13	11	GiancarloFisichella	Jordan	Jordan EJ13Ford RS1	13	60		Engine
DNF	19	JosVerstappen	Minardi	Minardi PS03Cosworth CR-3	19	23		Hydraulics
DNF	15	JustinWilson	Jaguar	Jaguar R4Cosworth CR-5	16	6		Gearbox
DNF	4	RalfSchumacher	Williams	Williams FW25BMW P83	2	1		Accident damage
DNF	10	Heinz-HaraldFrentzen	Sauber	Sauber C22Petronas 03A	14	1		Accident damage
DNF	2	RubensBarrichello	Ferrari	Ferrari F2003-GAFerrari 052	3	0		Accident
DNF	6	KimiRäikkönen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17DMercedes FO 110	5	0		Accident
DNF	12	RalphFirman	Jordan	Jordan EJ13Ford RS1	18	0		Accident

Fastest lap: 1:14.917 min. by Juan-Pablo Montoya

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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