2003_Japanese_Grand_Prix

2003 Japanese Grand Prix

2003 Japanese Grand Prix

Motor car race

The 2003 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the 2003 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.

Quick Facts Race details, Date ...

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, matching the record set by Fangio in 1957.[2]

This event also notably marked the last race for cars using launch control and fully-automatic gearboxes, since their reintroduction at the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix. The FIA banned these two electronic driver aid systems ahead of the 2004 season. This was also the final Grand Prix for 3-time race winner Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jos Verstappen, father of future world champion Max Verstappen.

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.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

Friday drivers

Three teams in the 2003 Constructors' Championship had the right to drive a third car on Friday that were involved in additional training. These drivers did not compete in qualifying or the race.

More information Constructor, Nat ...

Classification

Qualifying

More information Pos, No ...

Race

More information Pos, No ...

Notes

Championship standings after the race

  • Bold text and an asterisk indicates the World Champions.
More information +/–, Pos ...
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

  1. [1]
    "Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 – Media Kit" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  2. [2]
    "Japanese GP - Sunday - Race Notes". grandprix.com. 12 October 2003. Archived from the original on 2014-04-29. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  3. [3]
    "Deciding the World Championship". grandprix.com. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  4. [4]
    "Villeneuve pulls out of Japan's GP". CNN International. 9 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  5. [5]
    "Sato replaces Villeneuve". BBC Sport (BBC). 7 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  6. [6]
    "2003 Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. 30 October 2019.
  7. [7]
    "2003 Japanese Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  8. [8]
    "Japan 2003 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
Previous race:
2003 United States Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
2003 season		 Next race:
2004 Australian Grand Prix
Previous race:
2002 Japanese Grand Prix		 Japanese Grand Prix Next race:
2004 Japanese Grand Prix

34°50′35″N 136°32′26″E
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 2003_Japanese_Grand_Prix, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.