On this day in 2003 Michael Schumacher won his sixth and penultimate title after beating Kimi Raikkonen in McLaren by only two points.
Before the sixteenth and final race of the championship in 2003 Michael Schumacher had nine points lead in front of Kimi Raikkonen in McLaren and he needed only one point (eighth place) if Raikkonen would win the race.
To make the race more interesting, rain fell during qualifying and favoured drivers who went on the track first. Schumacher started 14th, and his only championship rival Raikkonen was eighth.
Schumacher survived the scare after unsuccessfully trying to overtake Takuma Sato in the BAR Honda when he lost his front wing, but he was able to recover and win the point he needed for the sixth title.
Rubens Barrichello won ahead of McLaren duo Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard while Ferrari secured the constructors’ championship for the fifth year in a row.
Michael Schumacher became the first driver in history of Formula 1 with six titles, one year after he equalled Juan Manuel Fangio’s record. Argentinian won his first title in 1951 before winning four consecutive titles between 1954 and 1957.
STARTING GRID
| 1 | 2 | R.Barrichello | Ferrari | 1:31.713 | – |
| 2 | 3 | J.P.Montoya | Williams/BMW | 1:32.412 | 0.699 |
| 3 | 21 | C.da Matta | Toyota | 1:32.419 | 0.706 |
| 4 | 20 | Olivier Panis | Toyota | 1:32.862 | 1.149 |
| 5 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:33.044 | 1.331 |
| 6 | 14 | Mark Webber | Jaguar/Cosworth | 1:33.106 | 1.393 |
| 7 | 5 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:33.137 | 1.424 |
| 8 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:33.272 | 1.559 |
| 9 | 17 | Jenson Button | BAR/Honda | 1:33.474 | 1.761 |
| 10 | 15 | Justin Wilson | Jaguar/Cosworth | 1:33.558 | 1.845 |
| 11 | 9 | Nick Heidfeld | Sauber/Petronas | 1:33.632 | 1.919 |
| 12 | 10 | H-H.Frentzen | Sauber/Petronas | 1:33.896 | 2.183 |
| 13 | 16 | Takuma Sato | BAR/Honda | 1:33.924 | 2.211 |
| 14 | 1 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:34.302 | 2.589 |
| 15 | 12 | Ralph Firman | Jordan/Ford | 1:34.771 | 3.058 |
| 16 | 11 | G.Fisichella | Jordan/Ford | 1:34.912 | 3.199 |
| 17 | 19 | Jos Verstappen | Minardi/Cosworth | 1:34.975 | 3.262 |
| 18 | 18 | Nicolas Kiesa | Minardi/Cosworth | 1:37.226 | 5.513 |
| 19 | 7 | Jarno Trulli | Renault | – | – |
| 20 | 4 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/BMW | – | – |
RACE RESULTS
| 1 | 2 | R.Barrichello | Ferrari | 53 | 1:25:11.743 | |
| 2 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren/Mercedes | 53 | 1:25:22.828 | 11.085 |
| 3 | 5 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 53 | 1:25:23.357 | 11.614 |
| 4 | 17 | Jenson Button | BAR/Honda | 53 | 1:25:44.849 | 33.106 |
| 5 | 7 | Jarno Trulli | Renault | 53 | 1:25:46.012 | 34.269 |
| 6 | 16 | Takuma Sato | BAR/Honda | 53 | 1:26:03.435 | 51.692 |
| 7 | 21 | C.da Matta | Toyota | 53 | 1:26:08.537 | 56.794 |
| 8 | 1 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 53 | 1:26:11.230 | 59.487 |
| 9 | 9 | Nick Heidfeld | Sauber/Petronas | 53 | 1:26:11.902 | 1:00.159 |
| 10 | 20 | Olivier Panis | Toyota | 53 | 1:26:13.587 | 1:01.844 |
| 11 | 14 | Mark Webber | Jaguar/Cosworth | 53 | 1:26:22.748 | 1:11.005 |
| 12 | 4 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/BMW | 52 | 1:25:12.351 | 1 lap |
| 13 | 15 | Justin Wilson | Jaguar/Cosworth | 52 | 1:25:42.985 | 1 lap |
| 14 | 12 | Ralph Firman | Jordan/Ford | 51 | 1:25:20.772 | 2 laps |
| 15 | 19 | Jos Verstappen | Minardi/Cosworth | 51 | 1:26:00.145 | 2 laps |
| 16 | 18 | Nicolas Kiesa | Minardi/Cosworth | 50 | 1:25:21.313 | 3 laps |
| 11 | G.Fisichella | Jordan/Ford | 33 | 54:09.005 | Out of fuel | |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 17 | 27:26.077 | Engine | |
| 10 | H-H.Frentzen | Sauber/Petronas | 9 | 15:16.756 | Engine | |
| 3 | J.P.Montoya | Williams/BMW | 9 | 15:23.691 | Hydraulics | |
Fastest lap: Ralf Schumacher – 1:33.408 (lap 43)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 16/16 RACES
| 1 | Michael Schumacher | 93 | 5 | 3 | – | 10 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 1 |
| 2 | Kimi Räikkönen | 91 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 8 | – | 8 | 8 | 3 | – | 5 | 6 | – | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 |
| 3 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 82 | 8 | – | – | 2 | 5 | – | 10 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 3 | – |
| 4 | Rubens Barrichello | 65 | 8 | – | 6 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 10 | – | – | 6 | – | 10 | |
| 5 | Ralf Schumacher | 58 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 10 | – | – | 5 | – | – | |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | 55 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 8 | – | 4 | 5 | 5 | – | – | 5 | 10 | 1 | – | – |
| 7 | David Coulthard | 51 | 10 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 4 | 2 | – | – | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 | – | – | 6 |
| 8 | Jarno Trulli | 33 | 4 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | 3 | 6 | 2 | – | 5 | 4 |
| 9 | Jenson Button | 17 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – | 5 | – | – | 2 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 5 |
| 10 | Mark Webber | 17 | – | – | 2 | 2 | – | 2 | 3 | 3 | – | – | 3 | 2 | – | – | ||
| 11 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | 13 | 3 | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | – |
| 12 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 12 | – | – | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – |
| 13 | Cristiano da Matta | 10 | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 3 | – | – | – | 2 | |
| 14 | Nick Heidfeld | 6 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | – | |
| 15 | Olivier Panis | 6 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | |||
| 16 | Jacques Villeneuve | 6 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – |
| 17 | Marc Gené | 4 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| 18 | Takuma Sato | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| 19 | Ralph Firman | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 20 | Justin Wilson | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | ||||
| 21 | Antônio Pizzonia | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||
| 22 | Jos Verstappen | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 23 | Nicolas Kiesa | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 24 | Zsolt Baumgartner | 0 | – |
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | Ferrari | 158 | 5 | 11 | – | 16 | 16 | 16 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 10 | 11 |
| 2 | Williams/BMW | 144 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 15 | 14 | 18 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 3 | – |
| 3 | McLaren/Mercedes | 142 | 16 | 10 | 13 | 12 | – | 12 | 10 | 3 | – | 9 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 14 |
| 4 | Renault | 88 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 5 | – | 3 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| 5 | BAR/Honda | 26 | – | 2 | 3 | 1 | – | 5 | – | – | 2 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 3 | – | 8 |
| 6 | Sauber/Petronas | 19 | 3 | 1 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | – |
| 7 | Jaguar/Cosworth | 18 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 2 | – | 2 | 3 | 3 | – | – | 3 | 2 | 1 | – |
| 8 | Toyota | 16 | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | 2 | 7 | – | – | – | 2 |
| 9 | Jordan/Ford | 13 | – | – | 10 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – |
| 10 | Minardi/Cosworth | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
