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2003 Malaysian Grand Prix

Coordinates: 2°45′39″N 101°44′18″E / 2.76083°N 101.73833°E / 2.76083; 101.73833
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2003 Malaysian Grand Prix
Race 2 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship
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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
Renault
Time 1:37.044
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari
Time 1:36.412 on lap 45
Podium
First
McLaren-Mercedes
Second
Ferrari
Third
Renault
Lap leaders

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

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Background

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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

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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

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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

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Qualifying

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Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap
1 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 1:36.693 1:37.044
2 7 Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 1:36.301 1:37.217 +0.173
3 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:34.980 1:37.393 +0.349
4 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.297 1:37.454 +0.410
5 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:35.681 1:37.579 +0.535
6 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:36.407 1:37.766 +0.722
7 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.038 1:37.858 +0.814
8 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:35.939 1:37.974 +0.930
9 17 United Kingdom Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:36.632 1:38.073 +1.029
10 20 France Olivier Panis Toyota 1:36.995 1:38.094 +1.050
11 21 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:36.706 1:38.097 +1.053
12 16 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:37.585 1:38.289 +1.245
13 10 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 1:36.615 1:38.291 +1.247
14 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 1:36.759 1:38.416 +1.372
15 15 Brazil Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth no time 1:38.516 +1.472
16 14 Australia Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:37.669 1:38.624 +1.580
17 4 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:36.805 1:38.789 +1.745
18 19 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 1:38.904 1:40.417 +3.373
19 18 United Kingdom Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 1:39.354 1:40.599 +3.555
20 12 Republic of Ireland Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 1:38.240 1:40.910 +3.866
Sources:[8][9][10]

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 56 1:32:22.195 7 10
2 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 56 +39.286 5 8
3 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 56 +1:04.007 1 6
4 4 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 56 +1:28.026 17 5
5 7 Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 55 +1 Lap 2 4
6 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 55 +1 Lap 3 3
7 17 United Kingdom Jenson Button BAR-Honda 55 +1 Lap 9 2
8 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 55 +1 Lap 6 1
9 10 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 55 +1 Lap 13  
10 12 Republic of Ireland Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 55 +1 Lap 20  
11 21 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Toyota 55 +1 Lap PL  
12 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 53 +3 Laps 8  
13 19 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 52 +4 Laps 18  
Ret 15 Brazil Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 42 Brakes/Spin 15  
Ret 18 United Kingdom Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 41 Fatigue 19  
Ret 14 Australia Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 35 Engine 16  
Ret 20 France Olivier Panis Toyota 12 Fuel pressure 10  
Ret 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 2 Electrical 4  
Ret 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 0 Launch control[11] 14  
DNS 16 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 0 Electrical 12  
Source:[12]

Championship standings after the race

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

References

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  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.
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2003 Australian Grand Prix 		FIA Formula One World Championship
2003 season 		Next race:
2003 Brazilian Grand Prix
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2002 Malaysian Grand Prix 		Malaysian Grand Prix Next race:
2004 Malaysian Grand Prix

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

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