2003 Malaysian Grand Prix

Race 2 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship| ← Previous race| Next race →

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Race details
Date|  23 March 2003
Official name|  2003 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix
Location|  Sepang International Circuit
Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia
Course|  Permanent racing facility
Course length|  5.543 km (3.444 miles)
Distance|  56 laps, 310.408 km (192.879 miles)
Weather|  Fine, air temperature 34°C (93°F)
Attendance|  101,485 (Weekend) [1]
Pole position
Driver|

* Fernando Alonso

|  Renault
Time|  1:37.044
Fastest lap
Driver|  Michael Schumacher|  Ferrari
Time|  1:36.412 on lap 45
Podium
First|

* Kimi Räikkönen

|  McLaren-Mercedes
Second|

* Rubens Barrichello

|  Ferrari
Third|

* Fernando Alonso

|  Renault

Lap leaders

Motor car race

The 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix (officially the 2003 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 23 March 2003 at the Sepang International Circuit. It was the second race of the 2003 Formula One season, and it was won by Kimi Räikkönen driving the MP4-17 for McLaren-Mercedes. This was Räikkönen's first Formula One Grand Prix victory. As well, Fernando Alonso scored his first pole position and podium finish.

Before the race, McLaren's David Coulthard was leading the championship however the Scot retired on lap three, handing the championship lead to his teammate, Kimi Räikkönen who finished third in the previous race.

## Report

[edit]

### Background

[edit]

David Coulthard was leading the championship after winning the first race of the season. Montoya was second. Kimi Räikkönen, Michael Schumacher and Jarno Trulli were in Third, Fourth and Fifth respectively.

Before the race rain was predicted with the likelihood of heavy showers at 60 per cent. High humidity was also predicted by some people however, causing the teams to be split in terms of tactics.[2]

### Practice

[edit]

The first Friday practice session saw Fernando Alonso fastest with a time of 1:37.693 and his teammate, Jarno Trulli, two tenths of a second slower putting him in third. Giancarlo Fisichella separated the Renault's with second fastest in the Jordan EJ13.[3]

The second session saw Ferrari take over with Michael Schumacher completely eclipsing the efforts of Alonso in the previous session. He went fastest with a 1:34.980. His teammate, Rubens Barrichello, managed second with a 1:35.681 lap at the end of the session.[4]

### Race

[edit]

Both the BAR of Jacques Villeneuve and the Toyota of Cristiano da Matta failed on the grid, causing them to start from the pit lane; however, this caused confusion after the warm-up lap, forcing Giancarlo Fisichella to reverse into his grid spot, the second-time the Italian took up the wrong position at this circuit. Alonso led the all-Renault front row and led the cars into the first corner, but Michael Schumacher, who started from third position, tangled whilst attempting to pass Jarno Trulli, knocking Trulli into a spin and dropping him to last. Schumacher was forced to pit for a new nosecone and after serving a drive-through penalty for the incident, dropped to the rear of the field. He later accepted blame for the incident.[5]

A chain reaction further back in the field caused Jaguar driver Antônio Pizzonia to rear-end Juan Pablo Montoya, removing the latter's rear wing. Montoya was forced to pit, losing two laps during a rear-wing replacement. As a result, David Coulthard of McLaren-Mercedes was left in second position, but his prospects were ended on the second lap with an electronics failure. He later criticised the team.[6] His team-mate Räikkönen had moved into second place by passing the Sauber of Nick Heidfeld. On the tenth lap, Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello passed Heidfeld for third place.

The podium positions stayed that way with Räikkönen cutting into the lead when Alonso pitted first out of the front three on lap 14, a sign that he was carrying a lighter fuel load during qualifying. Alonso did break the record for youngest driver to lead a race (the previous record having remained since 1951). Räikkönen circulated until lap 19, using the lighter fuel load to post faster lap times, and after his pit stop emerged ahead of Alonso.

Barrichello also made up time before pitting on the 21st lap, but did not clear Alonso upon his return to the track, with a deficit of over three seconds. By this stage, Trulli had recovered to 6th place, challenging the BAR of Jenson Button for fifth position. Räikkönen gradually extended his lead, which reached 17.8 s by the 33rd lap. Button pitted on the 34th lap, allowing Trulli clean air to post faster lap times.

Alonso then pitted on the 35th lap, freeing Barrichello, who did not pit until the 38th lap and re-entered the race ahead of Alonso. Räikkönen was the last of the contenders to pit, doing so on lap 40 and further extending his lead. Meanwhile, a delay with a fuel nozzle had denied Trulli the opportunity to jump Button in the pits. Michael Schumacher, with a light car at the end of his stint, passed Trulli and Button in quick succession before conceding his gains with a final pit stop.

On lap 41  Justin Wilson pulled into the Minardi garage to retire, as the straps on his HANS device worked loose and pinched his shoulders, resulting in temporary paralysis of both his arms. It took the team nearly 10 minutes to ease Wilson out of the car before he was taken to hospital. He recovered before the next race.[7]

On the 51st lap, Trulli spun attempting to pass Button. He and Schumacher eventually passed Button on the final corner after the Briton made a mistake. Räikkönen eventually earned his maiden Grand Prix victory with a large margin of 39s.

## Classification

[edit]

### Qualifying

[edit]

Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Gap

|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | 8  |  Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:36.693  | 1:37.044 |
2  | 7  |  Jarno Trulli | Renault | 1:36.301  | 1:37.217  | +0.173
3  | 1  |  Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:34.980 | 1:37.393  | +0.349
4  | 5  |  David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:36.297  | 1:37.454  | +0.410
5  | 2  |  Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | 1:35.681  | 1:37.579  | +0.535
6  | 9  |  Nick Heidfeld | Sauber-Petronas | 1:36.407  | 1:37.766  | +0.722
7  | 6  |  Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:36.038  | 1:37.858  | +0.814
8  | 3  |  Juan Pablo Montoya | Williams-BMW | 1:35.939  | 1:37.974  | +0.930
9  | 17  |  Jenson Button | BAR-Honda | 1:36.632  | 1:38.073  | +1.029
10  | 20  |  Olivier Panis | Toyota | 1:36.995  | 1:38.094  | +1.050
11  | 21  |  Cristiano da Matta | Toyota | 1:36.706  | 1:38.097  | +1.053
12  | 16  |  Jacques Villeneuve | BAR-Honda | 1:37.585  | 1:38.289  | +1.245
13  | 10  |  Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Sauber-Petronas | 1:36.615  | 1:38.291  | +1.247
14  | 11  |  Giancarlo Fisichella | Jordan-Ford | 1:36.759  | 1:38.416  | +1.372
15  | 15  |  Antônio Pizzonia | Jaguar-Cosworth | no time  | 1:38.516  | +1.472
16  | 14  |  Mark Webber | Jaguar-Cosworth | 1:37.669  | 1:38.624  | +1.580
17  | 4  |  Ralf Schumacher | Williams-BMW | 1:36.805  | 1:38.789  | +1.745
18  | 19  |  Jos Verstappen | Minardi-Cosworth | 1:38.904  | 1:40.417  | +3.373
19  | 18  |  Justin Wilson | Minardi-Cosworth | 1:39.354  | 1:40.599  | +3.555
20  | 12  |  Ralph Firman | Jordan-Ford | 1:38.240  | 1:40.910  | +3.866
Sources:[8][9][10]

### Race

[edit]

Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | 6  |  Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | 56  | 1:32:22.195  | 7  | 10
2  | 2  |  Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | 56  | +39.286  | 5  | 8
3  | 8  |  Fernando Alonso | Renault | 56  | +1:04.007  | 1  | 6
4  | 4  |  Ralf Schumacher | Williams-BMW | 56  | +1:28.026  | 17  | 5
5  | 7  |  Jarno Trulli | Renault | 55  | +1 Lap  | 2  | 4
6  | 1  |  Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 55  | +1 Lap  | 3  | 3
7  | 17  |  Jenson Button | BAR-Honda | 55  | +1 Lap  | 9  | 2
8  | 9  |  Nick Heidfeld | Sauber-Petronas | 55  | +1 Lap  | 6  | 1
9  | 10  |  Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Sauber-Petronas | 55  | +1 Lap  | 13  |
10  | 12  |  Ralph Firman | Jordan-Ford | 55  | +1 Lap  | 20  |
11  | 21  |  Cristiano da Matta | Toyota | 55  | +1 Lap  | PL |
12  | 3  |  Juan Pablo Montoya | Williams-BMW | 53  | +3 Laps  | 8  |
13  | 19  |  Jos Verstappen | Minardi-Cosworth | 52  | +4 Laps  | 18  |
Ret  | 15  |  Antônio Pizzonia | Jaguar-Cosworth | 42  | Brakes/Spun off  | 15  |
Ret  | 18  |  Justin Wilson | Minardi-Cosworth | 41  | Fatigue  | 19  |
Ret  | 14  |  Mark Webber | Jaguar-Cosworth | 35  | Engine  | 16  |
Ret  | 20  |  Olivier Panis | Toyota | 12  | Fuel pressure  | 10  |
Ret  | 5  |  David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 2  | Electrical  | 4  |
Ret  | 11  |  Giancarlo Fisichella | Jordan-Ford | 0  | Launch control[11] | 14  |
DNS  | 16  |  Jacques Villeneuve | BAR-Honda | 0  | Electrical  | 12  |

Source:[12]

## Championship standings after the race

[edit]

Drivers' Championship standings
| +/–  | Pos | Driver  | Points

|
|
|

2  | 1  |  Kimi Räikkönen | 16
1  | 2  |  David Coulthard | 10
1  | 3  |  Juan Pablo Montoya | 8
10  | 4  |  Rubens Barrichello | 8
2  | 5  |  Fernando Alonso | 8
Source: [13]

Constructors' Championship standings
| +/–  | Pos | Constructor  | Points

|
|
|

| 1  |  McLaren-Mercedes | 26
2  | 2  |  Ferrari | 16
| 3  |  Renault | 16
2  | 4  |  Williams-BMW | 14
| 5  |  Sauber-Petronas | 4
Source: [13]

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Are tickets too dear? Where F1 race attendance fell in 2016 - F1 Fanatic". 8 February 2017.
2. ^ "Unsettled weather for Malaysian Grand Prix". formula1.com. 19 March 2008. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
3. ^ "Alonso fastest in Friday testing". formula1.com. 21 March 2003. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
4. ^ "Schumacher unstoppable". formula1.com. 21 March 2003. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
5. ^ "Schumacher accepts blame". London: BBC Sport. 23 March 2003. Retrieved 23 March 2003.
6. ^ "Angry Coulthard criticises McLaren". London: BBC Sport. 23 March 2003. Retrieved 23 March 2003.
7. ^ "Wilson defies pain in Brazil". 2 April 2003.
8. ^ "2003 Malaysian GP – 1st Qualification". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
9. ^ "2003 Malaysian GP – 2nd Qualification". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
10. ^ "2003 Malaysian Grand Prix Classification Grid". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
11. ^ "Fisichella Relives Sepang Grid Nightmare". www.autosport.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
12. ^ "2003 Malaysian Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
13. ^ a b "Malaysia 2003 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Complete Race Guide FIA.com
* Race Report - An emotional first win for Raikkonen Formula1.com
* Race Facts and Incidents PDF File
* Circuit and Facts PDF File

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2°45′39″N 101°44′18″E﻿ / ﻿2.76083°N 101.73833°E﻿ / 2.76083; 101.73833
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