2003 French Grand Prix

2003 French Grand Prix
Race 10 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One World Championship
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Race details
Date 6 July 2003
Official name Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France 2003
Location Magny-Cours, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.411[1] km (2.741 miles)
Distance 70 laps, 308.586[1] km (191.746 miles)
Weather Cloudy, Air: 26 °C (79 °F), Track 35 °C (95 °F)
Attendance 101,537
Pole position
Driver
Williams-BMW
Time 1:15.019
Fastest lap
Driver Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW
Time 1:15.512 on lap 36
Podium
First
Williams-BMW
Second
Williams-BMW
Third
Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2003 French Grand Prix (officially known as the Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France 2003)[2] was a Formula One motor race that took place on 6 July 2003 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. It was the tenth round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship.

Ralf Schumacher of BMW Williams took pole position for the race and went on to take the race win. His teammate Juan Pablo Montoya finished second and his brother Michael Schumacher, driving for Ferrari, was third.

This was Ralf's second consecutive victory but it would turn out to be his last in Formula One. As of 2025, this is also the last 1–2 finish for Williams.

Background

The event was held at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Magny-Cours, France for the 13th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 4-6 July 2003. The Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship and the 53rd running of the French Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship.[3][4]

Circuit changes

The Lycée section of the circuit was modified ahead of the 2003 event.

Earlier in the year, the circuit was upgraded. Château d'Eau a sharper right hand corner and the Lycée section were completely modified, now featuring a sharp right hand turn after the back straight, which then leads to a difficult final chicane next to the pit entrance. The pit lane was significantly shortened as a result of the upgrades.[5]

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 58 points, seven points ahead of Kimi Räikkönen in second and fifteen ahead of his brother Ralf Schumacher in third.[6] Ferrari, with 95 points, led the Constructors' Championship from BMW Williams and McLaren, who were second and third with 82 and 76, respectively.[6]

Practice

Three free practice sessions were held for the event.[7][8] Jaguar driver Mark Webber set the fastest time in the first session, more than a second quicker than Ralf Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, in second and third places respectively.[9][10] The second session was topped by Alonso in the Renault ahead of Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher.[11][12] Finally, the Williamses of Ralf Schumacher and Juan-Pablo Montoya led the third practice session, ahead of David Coulthard in third.[13][14]

Qualifying

Jos Verstappen set the fastest time in Friday qualifying.

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 scoring pole position.[7][15]

Qualifying report

Courtesy of a drying track, Jos Verstappen ended up quickest in the first qualifying session, almost three seconds ahead of anyone else. This was the only time a Minardi topped the timesheets at a race weekend.[16][17] His teammate Justin Wilson had set the second-fastest time but it was deleted after scrutineering found his car was 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) underweight.[18]

Normal service resumed in second qualifying on a dry track, in which Williams teammates Ralf Schumacher and Juan-Pablo Montoya clinched the first row on the grid. It was Schumacher's third pole position in four races.[19]

Qualifying classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap
1 4 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:29.327 1:15.019
2 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:28.988 1:15.136 +0.117
3 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:27.929 1:15.480 +0.461
4 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:29.120 1:15.533 +0.514
5 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.937 1:15.628 +0.609
6 7 Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 1:29.024 1:15.967 +0.948
7 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 1:29.455 1:16.087 +1.068
8 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:27.095 1:16.166 +1.147
9 14 Australia Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:25.178 1:16.308 +1.289
10 20 France Olivier Panis Toyota 1:24.175 1:16.345 +1.326
11 15 Brazil Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 1:24.642 1:16.965 +1.946
12 16 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:24.651 1:16.990 +1.971
13 21 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:26.975 1:17.068 +2.049
14 17 United Kingdom Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:30.371 1:17.077 +2.058
15 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:24.042 1:17.445 +2.426
16 10 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 1:26.151 1:17.562 +2.543
17 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 1:28.502 1:18.431 +3.412
18 12 Republic of Ireland Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 1:23.496 1:18.514 +3.495
19 19 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 1:20.817 1:18.709 +3.690
20 18 United Kingdom Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 1:20.9681 1:19.619 +4.600
Sources:[20][21][22]

Notes

  • ^1 – Justin Wilson drove a time of 1:20.968 but his time was removed because his car was underweight.[18]

Race

The race was held on 6 July 2003 and was run for 70 laps.[23][4]

Race report

At the start, the Williamses of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya kept their places in front, while Kimi Räikkönen managed to get by Michael Schumacher for third position. The German was also challenged by the second McLaren of David Coulthard but stood his ground. His teammate Rubens Barrichello was running eighth at the end of the first lap when he spun his Ferrari coming out of the newly designed final corner.[24][25]

Ralf Schumacher took full advantage of running in clear air and stretched his lead to four seconds in ten laps. After the first round of pit stops, this was up to seven seconds. Coulthard had stopped earlier than his rivals and managed to jump Michael Schumacher. There were little changes in position up to and including the second round of pit stops. Afterwards, however, both the Renaults suddenly retired. Fernando Alonso's engine expired in a big cloud of smoke on lap 43 and Jarno Trulli pulled off with engine failure three laps later.[24][25]

During the third round of stops, Ralf Schumacher was held up by backmarkers, but still rejoined ahead of his teammate and then steadily extended his lead to up to ten seconds at the finish. Coulthard left his box when the fuel hose was still attached to his McLaren. He left no one injured but lost a lot of time. This left third place open to Michael Schumacher, who passed Räikkönen when the Finn was suffering from issues with his rear brakes.[24][25]

Race classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 4 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 70 1:30:49.213 1 10
2 3 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 70 +13.813 2 8
3 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 70 +19.568 3 6
4 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 70 +38.047 4 5
5 5 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 70 +40.289 5 4
6 14 Australia Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 70 +1:06.380 9 3
7 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 69 +1 lap 8 2
8 20 France Olivier Panis Toyota 69 +1 lap 10 1
9 16 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 69 +1 lap 12  
10 15 Brazil Antônio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 69 +1 lap 11  
11 21 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Toyota 69 +1 lap 13  
12 10 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 68 +2 laps 16  
13 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 68 +2 laps 15  
14 18 United Kingdom Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 67 +3 laps 20  
15 12 Republic of Ireland Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 67 +3 laps 18  
16 19 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 66 +4 laps 19  
Ret 7 Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 45 Engine 6  
Ret 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 43 Engine 7  
Ret 11 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 42 Engine 17  
Ret 17 United Kingdom Jenson Button BAR-Honda 21 Out of fuel 14  
Source:[26]

Championship standings after the race

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

References

  1. ^ a b "Grand Prix de France". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 2010-09-15. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  2. ^ "France". Formula1.com. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  3. ^ "Grands Prix France". StatsF1. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  4. ^ a b "2003 French Grand Prix". MotorsportMagazine. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  5. ^ "Magny-Cours". RacingCircuits.Info. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  6. ^ a b Jones, Bruce (2004). "Final Tables 2003". The Official ITV Sport Guide: 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship. Carlton Books. pp. 100–101. ISBN 1-84442-811-7 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ a b Domenjoz, Luc, ed. (2003). "Sporting regulations". Formula 1 Yearbook 2003–04. Bath, Somerset: Parragon. pp. 220–221. ISBN 978-1-4054-2089-1 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ "2003 French Grand Prix - Results and Reports". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  9. ^ "2003 French Grand Prix - Friday Practice Session Results". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  10. ^ "MOBIL 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2003 - PRACTICE 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  11. ^ "2003 French Grand Prix - First Saturday Practice Session Results". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  12. ^ "MOBIL 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2003 - PRACTICE 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  13. ^ "2003 French Grand Prix - Second Saturday Practice Session Results". NewsOnF1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  14. ^ "MOBIL 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2003 - PRACTICE 3". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  15. ^ "Deciding the grid - A history of F1 qualifying formats". formula1.com. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  16. ^ "MOBIL 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2003 - QUALIFYING 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  17. ^ "Provisional pole for Verstappen in French GP qualifying". Motorsport.com. 15 May 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  18. ^ a b "Wilson Stripped of Qualifying Time". AtlasF1. 4 July 2003. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  19. ^ "Qualifying: Another pole for Ralf". Autosport. 5 July 2003. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  20. ^ "2003 Mobil 1 Grand Prix of France – Qualifying 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  21. ^ "2003 Mobil 1 Grand Prix of France – Qualifying 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  22. ^ "2003 French Grand Prix Classification Grid". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  23. ^ "10. France 2003". StatsF1. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  24. ^ a b c Elizalde, Pablo (9 July 2003). "The 2003 French GP Review". AtlasF1.com. Spain. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  25. ^ a b c Petric, Darjan (6 July 2022). "2003 French GP – Dream week for Ralf, last Williams 1-2". MaxF1. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  26. ^ "2003 French Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  27. ^ a b "France 2003 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
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