| 2003 Monaco Grand Prix | |||||
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Race 7 of 16 in the2003 Formula One World Championship
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| Race details | |||||
| Date | 1 June 2003 | ||||
| Official name | Grand Prix de Monaco 2003 | ||||
| Location | Circuit de Monaco,Monaco | ||||
| Course | Street circuit | ||||
| Course length | 3.34 km (2.075 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 78 laps, 260.52 km (161.85 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Sunny at start, cloudy later | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Williams-BMW | ||||
| Time | 1:15.259 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | |||
| Time | 1:14.545 on lap 49 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Williams-BMW | ||||
| Second | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
| Third | Ferrari | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2003 Monaco Grand Prix (officially known as theGrand Prix de Monaco 2003)[1] was aFormula One motor race that took place on 1 June 2003 at theCircuit de Monaco inMonte Carlo,Monaco. It was the seventh round of the2003 Formula One World Championship.
Ralf Schumacher ofBMW Williams tookpole position for the race, but his teammateJuan Pablo Montoya won the race ahead of championship leaderKimi Räikkönen ofMcLaren and current World ChampionMichael Schumacher ofFerrari. It was Williams's first victory in Monaco sinceKeke Rosberg in1983.
There were no recorded on-track overtakes during this race, one of the very few occasions in Formula One history where this has occurred. The other three races since 1981 not to feature any on-track overtakes were the controversial2005 United States and2021 Belgian Grands Prix, as well as the2009 European Grand Prix.[2]
Across the weekend of 29 May - 1 June, theCircuit de Monaco inMonte Carlo hosted a Formula One Grand Prix for the 50th time in the circuit's history, with it being the 50thMonaco Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship as well. The Grand Prix was the seventh round of the2003 Formula One World Championship.[3][4]
Going into the weekend,McLaren driverKimi Räikkönen led theDrivers' Championship with 40 points, ahead ofFerrari driversMichael Schumacher andRubens Barrichello on 38 and 26 points, respectively. In theConstructors' Championship, Ferrari were leading with 64 points and McLaren were second on 63 points, withRenault third on 35 points.[5]
The Grand Prix was contested by 20 drivers, in ten teams of two. The teams, also known asconstructors, wereFerrari,Williams,McLaren,Renault,Sauber,Jordan,Jaguar,BAR,Minardi andToyota.[6]
Threefree practice sessions were held for the event.[7][8]Jaguar driverMark Webber set the fastest time in the first session, a tenth of a second quicker thanJenson Button andDavid Coulthard, in second and third places respectively.[9][10][11] Webber was third in the second session, which was topped byKimi Räikkönen in theMcLaren ahead ofJuan Pablo Montoya in theBMW Williams.[12] Finally, Coulthard led the third practice session, ahead of Montoya and World ChampionMichael Schumacher in theFerrari.[13][14]
Jenson Button suffered a heavy crash during Saturday morning practice and his resulting injuries meant that he took no further part in the weekend.[15][16]
Qualiyfing consisted of two one-hour sessions, one on Friday and one on Saturday afternoon. The first session's running order was determined by the Drivers' Championship standings, with the leading driver going first. Each driver was allowed to set one lap time. The result determined the running order in the second session: the fastest driver in the first session was allowed to go last in the second session, which usually provided the benefit of a cleaner track. Drivers were again allowed to set one lap time, which determined the order on the grid for the race on Sunday, with the fastest driver scoringpole position.[7][17]
Ralf Schumacher scored his firstpole position in nearly two years. In contrast, his brotherMichael's fifth starting place was his worst qualifying performance at this circuit since he first competed there in1992.[18]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 |  Ralf Schumacher | Williams-BMW | 1:17.063 | 1:15.259 | |
| 2 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:17.926 | 1:15.295 | +0.036 |
| 3 | 3 |  Juan Pablo Montoya | Williams-BMW | 1:17.108 | 1:15.415 | +0.156 |
| 4 | 7 |  Jarno Trulli | Renault | 1:16.905 | 1:15.500 | +0.241 |
| 5 | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:16.305 | 1:15.644 | +0.385 |
| 6 | 5 |  David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:17.059 | 1:15.700 | +0.441 |
| 7 | 2 |  Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | 1:16.636 | 1:15.820 | +0.561 |
| 8 | 8 |  Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:18.370 | 1:15.884 | +0.625 |
| 9 | 14 |  Mark Webber | Jaguar-Cosworth | 1:17.637 | 1:16.237 | +0.978 |
| 10 | 21 | Cristiano da Matta | Toyota | 1:20.374 | 1:16.744 | +1.485 |
| 11 | 16 |  Jacques Villeneuve | BAR-Honda | 1:18.109 | 1:16.755 | +1.496 |
| 12 | 11 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Jordan-Ford | 1:17.080 | 1:16.967 | +1.708 |
| 13 | 15 | Antônio Pizzonia | Jaguar-Cosworth | 1:18.967 | 1:17.103 | +1.844 |
| 14 | 9 | Nick Heidfeld | Sauber-Petronas | 1:17.912 | 1:17.176 | +1.917 |
| 15 | 10 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Sauber-Petronas | No time | 1:17.402 | +2.143 |
| 16 | 12 |  Ralph Firman | Jordan-Ford | 1:18.286 | 1:17.452 | +2.193 |
| 17 | 20 |  Olivier Panis | Toyota | 1:19.903 | 1:17.464 | +2.205 |
| 18 | 19 |  Jos Verstappen | Minardi-Cosworth | 1:19.421 | 1:18.706 | +3.447 |
| 19 | 18 | Justin Wilson | Minardi-Cosworth | 1:19.680 | 1:20.063 | +4.804 |
| 20 | 17 | Jenson Button | BAR-Honda | 1:16.685 | No time1 | — |
| Sources:[19][20][21] | ||||||
The race was held on 1 June 2003 and was run for 78 laps.[22]
Ralf Schumacher led the pack through the first corner without incidents. His teammateJuan Pablo Montoya was the first to follow, having overtakenKimi Räikkönen in theMcLaren. Behind them cameJarno Trulli,Michael Schumacher andFernando Alonso, theSpaniard overtaking two drivers on the getaway.Heinz-Harald Frentzen did not finish the first lap, after going wide over the kerbs at the swimming pool chicane, losing control of hisSauber and crashing it hard into thearmco barrier.[18][23]
After four laps behind thesafety car to let themarshals clear the track, the race continued and the top three escaped from the rest of the pack, mainly due to Trulli's cautious pace. Montoya put heavy pressure on his leading teammate, running less than half a second behind when Schumacher made hispit stop. TheColombian made use of the clean air on just one lap. He immediately set thefastest lap time of the race and after his stop, rejoined just in front of his teammate. To make matters worse for theGerman, Räikkönen also appeared ahead him after theFinn had pitted. Michael Schumacher overtook Trulli through the pit stop phase andDavid Coulthard got ahead of Alonso.[18][23]
When Montoya made his second stop, Räikkönen set the fastest lap in an effort to jump his rival, but he rejoined just behind theWilliams. Meanwhile, Ralf Schumacher had fallen back to fourth position, behind his brother, and almost crashed at Rascasse corner. Alonso on the other hand, took advantage of an alternative strategy to jump both Coulthard and teammate Trulli in the pit stops.[18][23]
With fifteen laps to go, Montoya had Räikkönen continuously right behind him and Michael Schumacher closing in by seven tenths per lap, but he held on to take his first victory in nearly two years.[18][23]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Williams-BMW | M | 78 | 1:42:19.010 | 3 | 10 |
| 2 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren-Mercedes | M | 78 | + 0.602 | 2 | 8 |
| 3 | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | B | 78 | + 1.720 | 5 | 6 |
| 4 | 4 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams-BMW | M | 78 | + 28.518 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | M | 78 | + 36.251 | 8 | 4 |
| 6 | 7 | Jarno Trulli | Renault | M | 78 | + 40.972 | 4 | 3 |
| 7 | 5 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | M | 78 | + 41.227 | 6 | 2 |
| 8 | 2 | Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | B | 78 | + 53.266 | 7 | 1 |
| 9 | 21 | Cristiano da Matta | Toyota | M | 77 | + 1 Lap | 10 | |
| 10 | 11 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Jordan-Ford | B | 77 | + 1 Lap | 12 | |
| 11 | 9 | Nick Heidfeld | Sauber-Petronas | B | 76 | + 2 Laps | 14 | |
| 12 | 12 | Ralph Firman | Jordan-Ford | B | 76 | + 2 Laps | 16 | |
| 13 | 20 | Olivier Panis | Toyota | M | 74 | + 4 Laps | 17 | |
| Ret | 16 | Jacques Villeneuve | BAR-Honda | B | 63 | Engine | 11 | |
| Ret | 18 | Justin Wilson | Minardi-Cosworth | B | 29 | Fuel system | 19 | |
| Ret | 19 | Jos Verstappen | Minardi-Cosworth | B | 28 | Fuel system | 18 | |
| Ret | 14 | Mark Webber | Jaguar-Cosworth | M | 16 | Hydraulics | 9 | |
| Ret | 15 | Antônio Pizzonia | Jaguar-Cosworth | M | 10 | Electrical | 13 | |
| Ret | 10 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Sauber-Petronas | B | 0 | Accident | 15 | |
| DNS | 17 | Jenson Button | BAR-Honda | B | Driver injured | 20 | ||
Source:[24] | ||||||||
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| Previous race: 2003 Austrian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2003 season | Next race: 2003 Canadian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2002 Monaco Grand Prix | Monaco Grand Prix | Next race: 2004 Monaco Grand Prix |
43°44′4.74″N7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E /43.7346500; 7.421333
