2003 Italian Grand Prix

Background

The event was held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza for the 53rd time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 12-14 September. The Grand Prix was the fourteenth round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship and the 54th running of the Italian Grand Prix as part of the Formula One World Championship.

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 72 points, 1 point ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya in second and 2 ahead of Kimi Räikkönen in third. Williams, with 129 points, led the Constructors' Championship for the first time since their title in 1997, from Ferrari and McLaren, who were second and third with 121 and 115 points, respectively.

Practice

Three free practice sessions were held for the event. Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello set the fastest time in the first session, ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher and McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen, in second and third places respectively. In the second session, Schumacher was ahead of Barrichello, and David Coulthard was the McLaren in third. Juan Pablo Montoya led the third practice session in his Williams, ahead of Michael Schumacher and stand-in teammate Marc Gené.

Friday drivers

Three teams in the 2003 Constructors' Championship had the right to run a third car on Friday's additional testing. These drivers did not compete in qualifying or the race.

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.

Notes

• • Earlier in September, Ralf Schumacher had crashed during a private test session at Monza. He was cleared by Formula One's race doctor Sid Watkins and participated in Friday testing and qualifying, but together with his team, the German decided to step back and let third driver Marc Gené stand in, ahead of the sessions on Saturday.
• • Jos Verstappen did not set a time in Q1 due to engine problems.
• • Fernando Alonso spun coming out of the first corner due to a problem with his traction control.
• • Ralf Schumacher initially set a lap time in Q1 (1:21.965), but his time was removed after cutting the first chicane on his flying lap.

Race

The race was held on 13 September 2003 and was run for 53 laps.

Race report

At the start, Michael Schumacher almost braked too late for the first chicane but was just able to make the first corner and hold on to his lead, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and sixth-starting Jarno Trulli. The other Renault of Fernando Alonso hit the back of Justin Wilson, who had stalled on the grid. He lost his front wing but was able to continue after making a pit stop. Montoya got alongside Schumacher at the second chicane, but he lost out and came under pressure from Trulli. The Renault, however, suddenly lost hydraulic pressure and the Italian was out of the race before the first lap was over.

Montoya was ever close to Schumacher but never enough to launch an attack. When the German rejoined after his second pit stop, however, he saw a Williams going passed. The Ferrari team, as well as the TV commentators, thought Schumacher had lost the lead, until they realised that it was Marc Gené who still had to pit. In the second half of the race, Montoya lost time due to backmarkers and finished more than five seconds behind the championship leader. Rubens Barrichello and Kimi Räikkönen had been fighting over third place, with the Ferrari driver holding on to take the last podium place. Gené by finishing 5th secured his first points finish since the 1999 European Grand Prix.

Race classification

Notes

• • Giancarlo Fisichella started the race from the pitlane.

Championship standings after the race

Michael Schumacher's first win since Canada saw him increasing his gap to Montoya to three points. Räikkönen was only seven points behind in third. Ralf Schumacher's withdrawal from the race, coupled with the result, ruined his chances of winning his first drivers' title as he was officially eliminated from championship contention alongside Barrichello and Alonso. Ferrari reduced the gap to Williams to four points in the Constructors' Championship; McLaren remained third with a 21-points-deficit to overcome heading into the last two races of the season.

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
• Competitors in bold and marked with an asterisk still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

References

Name_of_race = Italian Grand Prix | Year_of_race = 2003 | Previous_race_in_season = 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix | Next_race_in_season = 2003 United States Grand Prix | Previous_year's_race = 2002 Italian Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 2004 Italian Grand Prix

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