2003 Malaysian Grand Prix

  2003 Malaysian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 2 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One season
Date	23 March 2003
Official name	V Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix
Location	Sepang International Circuit Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.543 km (3.444 mi)
Distance	56 laps, 310.408 km (192.879 mi)
Weather	Fine
Pole position
Driver	Fernando Alonso	Renault
Time	1:37.044
Fastest lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:36.412 on lap 45
Podium
First	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes
Second	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Third	Fernando Alonso	Renault
Lap leaders

The 2003 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 23 March 2003 at the Sepang International Circuit. It was the second race of the 2003 Formula One season, and it was won by Kimi Räikkönen driving the MP4-17 for McLaren-Mercedes. This was Räikkönen's first Formula One Grand Prix victory. As well, Fernando Alonso scored his first pole position and podium finish.

Before the race, McLaren's David Coulthard was leading the championship however the Scot retired on lap three handing the championship lead to his teammate, Kimi Räikkönen who finished third in the previous race.

Report

Background

David Coulthard was leading the championship after winning the first race of the season. Montoya was second. Kimi Räikkönen, Michael Schumacher and Jarno Trulli were in Third, Fourth and Fifth respectively.

Before the race rain was predicted with the likelihood of heavy showers at 60 per cent. High humidity was also predicted by some people however, causing the teams to be split in terms of tactics.

Practice

The first Friday practice session saw Fernando Alonso fastest with a time of 1:37.693 and his teammate, Jarno Trulli, two tenths of a second slower putting him in third. Giancarlo Fisichella separated the Renault's with second fastest in the Jordan EJ13.

The second session saw Ferrari take over with Michael Schumacher completely eclipsing the efforts of Alonso in the previous session. He went fastest with a 1:34.980. His teammate, Rubens Barrichello, managed second with a 1:35.681 lap at the end of the session.

Race

Both the BAR of Jacques Villeneuve and the Toyota of Cristiano da Matta failed on the grid, causing them to start from the pit lane; however, this caused confusion after the warm-up lap, forcing Giancarlo Fisichella to reverse into his grid spot, the second-time the unfortunate Italian took up the wrong position at this circuit. Alonso led the all-Renault front row and led the cars into the first corner, but Michael Schumacher, who started from third position, tangled whilst attempting to pass Jarno Trulli, knocking Trulli into a spin and causing him to lose many places. Schumacher was forced to pit for a new nosecone and after serving a drive-through penalty for the incident, dropped to the rear of the field. He later accepted blame for the incident.

A chain reaction further back in the field caused Jaguar driver Antônio Pizzonia to rear-end Juan Pablo Montoya, removing the latter's rear wing. Montoya was forced to pit, losing two laps during a rear-wing replacement. As a result, David Coulthard of McLaren-Mercedes was left in second position, but his prospects were ended on the second lap with an electronics failure. He later criticised the team. His team-mate Räikkönen had moved into second place by passing the Sauber of Nick Heidfeld. On the tenth lap, Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello passed Heidfeld for third place.

The podium positions stayed that way with Räikkönen cutting into the lead when Alonso pitted first out of the front three on lap 14, a sign that he was carrying a lighter fuel load during qualifying. Alonso did break the record for youngest driver to lead a race (the previous record having remained since 1951). Räikkönen circulated until lap 19, using the lighter fuel load to post faster lap times, and after his pit stop emerged ahead of Alonso.

Barrichello also made up time before pitting on the 21st lap, but did not clear Alonso upon his return to the track, with a deficit of over three seconds. By this stage, Trulli had recovered to 6th place, challenging the BAR of Jenson Button for fifth position. Räikkönen gradually extended his lead, which reached 17.8 s by the 33rd lap. Button pitted on the 34th lap, allowing Trulli clean air to post faster lap times.

Alonso then pitted on the 35th lap, freeing Barrichello, who did not pit until the 38th lap and re-entered the race ahead of Alonso. Räikkönen was the last of the contenders to pit, doing so on lap 40 and further extending his lead. Meanwhile, a delay with a fuel nozzle had denied Trulli the opportunity to jump Button in the pits. Michael Schumacher, with a light car at the end of his stint, passed Trulli and Button in quick succession before conceding his gains with a final pit stop.

On the 51st lap, Trulli spun attempting to pass Button. He and Schumacher eventually passed Button on the final corner after the Briton made a mistake. Räikkönen eventually earned his maiden Grand Prix victory with a large margin of 39s.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1 Time	Q2 Time
1	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:36.693	1:37.044
2	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	1:36.301	1:37.217
3	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:34.980	1:37.393
4	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:36.297	1:37.454
5	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:35.681	1:37.579
6	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	1:36.407	1:37.766
7	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:36.038	1:37.858
8	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:35.939	1:37.974
9	17	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	1:36.632	1:38.073
10	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	1:36.995	1:38.094
11	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	1:36.706	1:38.097
12	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	1:37.585	1:38.289
13	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	1:36.615	1:38.291
14	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	1:36.759	1:38.416
15	15	Antônio Pizzonia	Jaguar-Cosworth	no time	1:38.516
16	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:37.669	1:38.624
17	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	1:36.805	1:38.789
18	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	1:38.904	1:40.417
19	18	Justin Wilson	Minardi-Cosworth	1:39.354	1:40.599
20	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan-Ford	1:38.240	1:40.910

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	56	1:32:22.195	7	10
2	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	56	+39.286	5	8
3	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	56	+1:04.007	1	6
4	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	56	+1:28.026	17	5
5	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	55	+1 Lap	2	4
6	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	55	+1 Lap	3	3
7	17	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	55	+1 Lap	9	2
8	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	55	+1 Lap	6	1
9	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	55	+1 Lap	13
10	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan-Ford	55	+1 Lap	20
11	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	55	+1 Lap	11
12	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	53	+3 Laps	8
13	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	52	+4 Laps	18
Ret	15	Antônio Pizzonia	Jaguar-Cosworth	42	Brakes/Spin	15
Ret	18	Justin Wilson	Minardi-Cosworth	41	Fatigue	19
Ret	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	35	Engine	16
Ret	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	12	Fuel pressure	10
Ret	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	2	Electrical	4
Ret	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	0	Electrical	14
DNS	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	0	Electrical	12
Source:

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Kimi Räikkönen	16
2	David Coulthard	10
3	Juan Pablo Montoya	8
4	Rubens Barrichello	8
5	Fernando Alonso	8

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	McLaren-Mercedes	26
2	Ferrari	16
3	Renault	16
4	Williams-BMW	14
5	Sauber-Petronas	4

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

External links

• Complete Race Guide FIA.com
• Race Report - An emotional first win for Raikkonen Formula1.com
• Race Facts and Incidents PDF File
• Circuit and Facts PDF File

Previous race: 2003 Australian Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 2003 season	Next race: 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix
Previous race: 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix	Malaysian Grand Prix	Next race: 2004 Malaysian Grand Prix