2003 European Grand Prix

The 2003 European Grand Prix (formally the 2003 Allianz Grand Prix of Europe)^[1] was a Formula One motor race held on 29 June 2003 at the Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany. It was the ninth race of the 2003 Formula One season. The 60-lap race was won Ralf Schumacher driving in a Williams car. Juan Pablo Montoya, also driving for Williams finished second, with Rubens Barrichello third in a Ferrari.

2003 European Grand Prix
Race 9 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
The Nürburgring
Race details
Date	29 June 2003 (2003-06-29)
Official name	2003 Allianz Grand Prix of Europe
Location	Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.148 km (3.2 miles)
Distance	60 laps, 308.88 km (192 miles)
Weather	Mostly cloudy with maximum ambient temperatures reaching 25 degrees celsius during the day.
Attendance	123,000
Pole position
Driver	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:31.523
Fastest lap
Driver	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:32.621 on lap 14
Podium
First	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW
Second	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW
Third	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Lap leaders

Race report

Approximately 123,000 people attended the race.^[2] For 25 laps of the European Grand Prix, Kimi Räikkönen looked set to win from his first pole position and regain his championship lead. Then his McLaren’s Mercedes engine broke down and instead it was Ralf Schumacher who came through to score his first win of the year.

Having taken pole, Räikkönen soon built a lead over Ralf Schumacher. He was nine seconds clear when he made his first refuelling stop on the 16th lap, with Michael Schumacher another ten seconds further back. Ralf led briefly for Williams and ran until lap 21 before pitting, but this was still insufficient to keep Räikkönen out of the lead. Ralf Schumacher was still 4.8 seconds behind when Räikkönen's Mercedes engine blew up, making him the first retirement of the race.

On the 43rd lap Juan Pablo Montoya and Michael Schumacher collided while fighting for second place. Montoya had gradually reeled in Schumacher until they were side-by-side on the rundown to the Dunlop Kurve. Schumacher ran up the kerb and tagged Montoya’s Williams as it passed the German's Ferrari for second place. As Schumacher spun and sat stranded, his Ferrari’s rear wheels spinning in the gravel, Montoya continued. By the time three marshals and fireman pushed the Ferrari from its dangerous spot on the corner’s apex, Schumacher was down to sixth.

“Michael was quick on the straights, but in the corners he was very slow,” said Montoya. “He was on the inside and I was on the outside. I thought I gave him plenty of room. I wasn’t going to give him all the track, but I thought it was all right.”^{[citation needed]}

Schumacher agreed that Montoya had given him enough room and after a stewards’ enquiry, no action was taken. Ferrari’s Ross Brawn was not content with the situation, but Williams technical director Patrick Head remarked that, had Montoya been penalised, it would effectively have been a declaration that overtaking was no longer allowed in Formula One racing.^{[citation needed]}

Then, on the 57th lap, McLaren's David Coulthard suddenly had to swerve around Fernando Alonso approaching the chicane, and spun into retirement. “Alonso braked ten metres earlier than he had the lap before,” said Coulthard. “He was dealing inconsistently with problems, as his rear tyres looked completely worn out. But I just got caught out.”^{[citation needed]} The Spaniard continued, and was very nearly caught on the final lap by the recovering world champion. The stewards investigated the incident after a report was filed to them by the FIA race director Charlie Whiting. They spoke to both Alonso and Coulthard and members of their respective teams. After a review of telemetry and video data, no driver was imposed a penalty.^[3]

Williams’ haul of points from a race in which McLaren went home with none moved them up into second place in the constructors’ championship. Sir Frank Williams was careful to play down talk of a championship challenge for his team. But with Ferrari only 13 points ahead, everyone within the team believed that they had a chance of challenging before the season was over.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1 Time	Q2 Time	Gap
1	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:29.989	1:31.523
2	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:30.353	1:31.555	+0.032
3	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	1:30.522	1:31.619	+0.096
4	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:30.378	1:31.765	+0.242
5	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:30.842	1:31.780	+0.257
6	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	1:31.143	1:31.976	+0.453
7	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	1:57.327	1:32.350	+0.827
8	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:31.533	1:32.424	+0.901
9	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:30.903	1:32.742	+1.219
10	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	No Time	1:32.949	+1.426
11	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:35.972	1:33.066	+1.543
12	17	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	1:32.479	1:33.395	+1.872
13	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	1:32.196	1:33.553	+2.030
14	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan-Ford	1:53.893	1:33.827	+2.304
15	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	1:32.201	1:34.000	+2.477
16	15	Antônio Pizzonia	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:57.435	1:34.159	+2.636
17	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	No Time	1:34.596	+3.073
18	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	1:55.921	1:36.318	+4.795
19	18	Justin Wilson	Minardi-Cosworth	1:54.546	1:36.485	+4.962
20	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	1:52.300	No Time
Sources:[4][5][6]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	60	1:34:43.622	3	10
2	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	60	+16.821	4	8
3	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	60	+39.673	5	6
4	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	60	+1:05.731	8	5
5	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	60	+1:06.162	2	4
6	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	59	+1 Lap	11	3
7	17	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	59	+1 Lap	12	2
8	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	59	+1 Lap	PL	1
9	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	59	+1 Lap	15
10	15	Antônio Pizzonia	Jaguar-Cosworth	59	+1 Lap	16
11	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan-Ford	58	+2 Laps	14
12	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	58	+2 Laps	13
13	18	Justin Wilson	Minardi-Cosworth	58	+2 Laps	19
14	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	57	+3 Laps	18
15	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	56	Spun off	9
Ret	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	53	Engine	10
Ret	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	51	Gearbox	17
Ret	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	37	Fuel pressure	6
Ret	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	37	Brakes	7
Ret	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	25	Engine	1
Source:[7]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings +/– Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher 58 2 Kimi Räikkönen 51 1 3 Ralf Schumacher 43 1 4 Juan Pablo Montoya 39 2 5 Fernando Alonso 39 Source: [8]

Constructors' Championship standings +/– Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 95 1 2 Williams-BMW 82 1 3 McLaren-Mercedes 76 4 Renault 52 1 5 BAR-Honda 13 Source: [8]

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

References

1. "Europe". Formula1.com. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
2. "Huge home crowd greets Schumacher win". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. 30 June 2003. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
3. "The Coulthard-Alonso incident". Grand Prix. 1 July 2003. Retrieved 16 January 2007.
4. "2003 Allianz Grand Prix of Europe – Qualifying 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
5. "2003 Allianz Grand Prix of Europe – Qualifying 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
6. "2003 European Grand Prix Classification Grid". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
7. "2003 European Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
8. "Europe 2003 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.

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