2003 Japanese Grand Prix

  2003 Japanese Grand Prix

Race details
Race 16 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One season
Date	12 October 2003
Official name	XXIX Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Location	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.807 km (3.608 mi)
Distance	53 laps, 307.771 km (191.224 mi)
Weather	Cloudy, Air: 22 °C (72 °F), Track 25 °C (77 °F)
Pole position
Driver	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Time	1:31.713
Fastest lap
Driver	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW
Time	1:33.408
Podium
First	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Second	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes
Third	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2003 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the XXIX Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 12 October 2003 at the Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan. It was the sixteenth and final round of the 2003 Formula One season as well as the 29th Japanese Grand Prix. The 53-lap race was won by Rubens Barrichello driving for Ferrari after starting from pole position. Kimi Räikkönen, who started the race from eighth position, finished second in a McLaren car, with David Coulthard third in the other McLaren.

Barrichello's win saw Ferrari clinch their 13th Constructors Championship title, the team's fifth title in a row, with Barrichello's team-mate Michael Schumacher finishing eighth to secure his record-breaking 6th World Driver's Championship surpassing the record set by Juan Manuel Fangio in 1957. This was also Schumacher's fourth consecutive World Driver's title.^[1]

Report

Background

Heading into the final race of the season, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher was leading the World Driver's Championship standings with 92 points; McLaren driver Kimi Räikkönen was second on 83 points, 9 points behind Schumacher. A maximum of 10 points were available, which meant that Räikkönen could still win the title. Schumacher only needed an eighth-place finish to become Driver's Champion even if Räikkönen won the race. Räikkönen needed to win and Schumacher not to score a single point in order for him to become Driver's Champion.^[2]

There was one driver change heading into the race. Having been a driver for the BAR-Honda team for most of the season, Jacques Villeneuve pulled out of the Grand Prix after asking to be released by the team and was replaced by the team's test driver Takuma Sato.^[3] Sato had been confirmed as a driver for the team for the 2004 season in the days running up to the race and would drive alongside Jenson Button.^[4]

Classification

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	53	1:25:11.743	1	10
2	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+11.085	8	8
3	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+11.614	7	6
4	17	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	53	+33.106	9	5
5	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	53	+34.269	20	4
6	16	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda	53	+51.692	13	3
7	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	53	+56.794	3	2
8	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	53	+59.487	14	1
9	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	53	+1:00.159	11
10	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	53	+1:01.844	4
11	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	53	+1:11.005	6
12	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	52	+1 Lap	19
13	15	Justin Wilson	Jaguar-Cosworth	52	+1 Lap	10
14	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan-Ford	51	+2 Laps	15
15	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	51	+2 Laps	17
16	18	Nicolas Kiesa	Minardi-Cosworth	50	+3 Laps	18
Ret	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	33	Out of fuel	16
Ret	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	17	Engine	5
Ret	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	9	Engine	12
Ret	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	9	Hydraulics	2
Source:[5]

Notes

• Takuma Sato finished 6th in his one and only race of the season.
• Ralf Schumacher spun 3 times in this race, once with his brother Michael.
• This was the last time to date that the Japanese Grand Prix was the final round of the season.
• Last race for Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jos Verstappen, Justin Wilson, Nicolas Kiesa and Ralph Firman.

Championship standings after the race

• Bold text indicates the World Champions.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher 93 2 Kimi Räikkönen 91 3 Juan Pablo Montoya 82 4 Rubens Barrichello 65 5 Ralf Schumacher 58

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 158 2 Williams-BMW 144 3 McLaren-Mercedes 142 4 Renault 88 5 BAR-Honda 26

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

References

1. "Japanese GP - Sunday - Race Notes". grandprix.com. 12 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
2. "Deciding the World Championship". grandprix.com. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
3. "Villeneuve pulls out of Japan's GP". CNN International. 9 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
4. "Sato replaces Villeneuve". BBC Sport (BBC). 7 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
5. "2003 Japanese Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.

Coordinates: 34°50′35″N 136°32′26″E / 34.84306°N 136.54056°E