On this day in 2003, Michael Schumacher won the first race in the new Ferrari F2003-GA after they spent first four races in the old F2002 while Fernando Alonso was very competitive in Renault in his home race.
After the first four races in 2003, where McLaren celebrated twice (Australia and Malaysia), Jordan once (Brazil) and Ferrari once (San Marino), next race was Spanish GP in Barcelona. McLaren led both championship – Raikkonen (32) led the drivers’ championship in front of Coulthard (19) and Schumacher (18) while McLaren had 19 points ahead of Ferrari in the constructors.
Ferrari finally decided to race their new F2003GA in Spain (Photo: Ferrari)Ferrari finally decided to bring their new car after using the modified F2002 in the first four races which was so good that Ferrari was able to start from pole in each of them.
The new F2003-GA, which was labeled ‘GA’ in honor of Gianni Agnelli, the head of Fiat who passed away on January 24, had a longer wheelbase than his predecessor and the rounded sidepods with a pronounced undercut at the front lower part, which will become a trend in years to come.
McLaren also performed with modified last year’s MP4-17D, and although anticipating the ‘radical’ MP4-18 all season, that car had never been raced so they spent the entire season with last year’s car that had more and more upgrades from the MP4-18.
Schumacher and Barrichello (+0.258) locked the front row in the new Ferraris while Alonso (+0.471) and Trulli (+0.853) took second row for Renault. The leading man in the championship Kimi Raikkonen made a mistake in qualifying and had to start the race from the back of the grid.
His race ended just seconds after the start as he hit Pizzonia in the Jaguar, which failed to start, while Coulthard and Trulli collided in the first corner and both retired.
Start of 2003 Spanish GP (Photo: Ferrari)Alonso started briliantly and immediately passed Barrichello, but Schumacher blocked him on the inside and Barrichello retained the second place from the outside of turn one. Schumacher and Barrichello almost colided in the first corner, but led the grid after the start.
By the end of the race, Schumacher managed to control the race, and Alonso managed to beat Barrichello and show a pretty impressive speed for Renault. The Spaniard finished his home race just 5.7 seconds behind Schumacher and 12.3 seconds ahead of Barrichello.
Schumacher closed championship gap to Raikkonen to just four points and Alonso was three more behind. Although they haven’t scored points in this race, McLaren still led the constructors, but with only three points ahead of Ferrari.
Photo: FerrariSTARTING GRID
| 1 | 1 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:17.762 | – |
| 2 | 2 | R.Barrichello | Ferrari | 1:18.020 | 0.258 |
| 3 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:18.233 | 0.471 |
| 4 | 7 | Jarno Trulli | Renault | 1:18.615 | 0.853 |
| 5 | 17 | Jenson Button | BAR/Honda | 1:18.704 | 0.942 |
| 6 | 20 | Olivier Panis | Toyota | 1:18.811 | 1.049 |
| 7 | 4 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/BMW | 1:19.006 | 1.244 |
| 8 | 5 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:19.128 | 1.366 |
| 9 | 3 | J.P.Montoya | Williams/BMW | 1:19.377 | 1.615 |
| 10 | 10 | H-H.Frentzen | Sauber/Petronas | 1:19.427 | 1.665 |
| 11 | 16 | J.Villeneuve | BAR/Honda | 1:19.563 | 1.801 |
| 12 | 14 | Mark Webber | Jaguar/Cosworth | 1:19.615 | 1.853 |
| 13 | 21 | C.da Matta | Toyota | 1:19.623 | 1.861 |
| 14 | 9 | Nick Heidfeld | Sauber/Petronas | 1:19.646 | 1.884 |
| 15 | 12 | Ralph Firman | Jordan/Ford | 1:20.215 | 2.453 |
| 16 | 15 | Antônio Pizzonia | Jaguar/Cosworth | 1:20.308 | 2.546 |
| 17 | 11 | G.Fisichella | Jordan/Ford | 1:20.976 | 3.214 |
| 18 | 18 | Justin Wilson | Minardi/Cosworth | 1:22.104 | 4.342 |
| 19 | 19 | Jos Verstappen | Minardi/Cosworth | 1:22.237 | 4.475 |
| 20 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren/Mercedes | – | – |
RACE RESULTS
| 1 | 1 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 65 | 1:33:46.933 | |
| 2 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 65 | 1:33:52.649 | 5.716 |
| 3 | 2 | R.Barrichello | Ferrari | 65 | 1:34:04.934 | 18.001 |
| 4 | 3 | J.P.Montoya | Williams/BMW | 65 | 1:34:48.955 | 1:02.022 |
| 5 | 4 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/BMW | 64 | 1:33:55.791 | 1 Lap |
| 6 | 21 | C.da Matta | Toyota | 64 | 1:33:56.150 | 1 Lap |
| 7 | 14 | Mark Webber | Jaguar/Cosworth | 64 | 1:34:02.928 | 1 Lap |
| 8 | 12 | Ralph Firman | Jordan/Ford | 63 | 1:33:57.593 | 2 Laps |
| 9 | 17 | Jenson Button | BAR/Honda | 63 | 1:34:09.907 | 2 Laps |
| 10 | 9 | Nick Heidfeld | Sauber/Petronas | 63 | 1:34:10.822 | 2 Laps |
| 11 | 18 | Justin Wilson | Minardi/Cosworth | 63 | 1:34:57.072 | 2 Laps |
| 12 | 19 | Jos Verstappen | Minardi/Cosworth | 62 | 1:34:36.773 | 3 Laps |
| (11) | 11 | G.Fisichella | Jordan/Ford | 43 | 1:06:06.042 | Engine |
| (7) | 20 | Olivier Panis | Toyota | 41 | 1:01:24.480 | Gearbox |
| (12) | 10 | H-H.Frentzen | Sauber/Petronas | 38 | 58:27.995 | Suspension |
| (9) | 5 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 17 | 28:03.993 | Collision |
| (17) | 16 | J.Villeneuve | BAR/Honda | 12 | 21:34.454 | Fire |
| 7 | Jarno Trulli | Renault | 0 | – | Collision | |
| 15 | Antônio Pizzonia | Jaguar/Cosworth | 0 | – | Collision | |
| 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren/Mercedes | 0 | – | Collision | |
Fastest lap: Rubens Barrichello – 1:20.143 (lap 52)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 5/16 RACES
| 1 | Kimi Räikkönen | 32 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 8 | – |
| 2 | Michael Schumacher | 28 | 5 | 3 | – | 10 | 10 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | 25 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 8 |
| 4 | Rubens Barrichello | 20 | 8 | – | 6 | 6 | |
| 5 | David Coulthard | 19 | 10 | – | 5 | 4 | – |
| 6 | Ralf Schumacher | 17 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| 7 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 15 | 8 | – | – | 2 | 5 |
| 8 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 10 | – | – | 10 | – | – |
| 9 | Jarno Trulli | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | – | – |
| 10 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | 7 | 3 | – | 4 | – | – |
| 11 | Jacques Villeneuve | 3 | – | – | 3 | – | – |
| 12 | Cristiano da Matta | 3 | – | – | – | 3 | |
| 13 | Jenson Button | 3 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| 14 | Mark Webber | 2 | – | – | 2 | ||
| 15 | Nick Heidfeld | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| 16 | Ralph Firman | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | |
| 17 | Olivier Panis | 0 | – | – | |||
| 18 | Jos Verstappen | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 19 | Justin Wilson | 0 | – | ||||
| 20 | Antônio Pizzonia | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | McLaren/Mercedes | 51 | 16 | 10 | 13 | 12 | – |
| 2 | Ferrari | 48 | 5 | 11 | – | 16 | 16 |
| 3 | Renault | 34 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 8 |
| 4 | Williams/BMW | 32 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| 5 | Jordan/Ford | 11 | – | – | 10 | – | 1 |
| 6 | Sauber/Petronas | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | – | – |
| 7 | BAR/Honda | 6 | – | 2 | 3 | 1 | – |
| 8 | Toyota | 3 | – | – | – | – | 3 |
| 9 | Jaguar/Cosworth | 2 | – | – | – | – | 2 |
| 10 | Minardi/Cosworth | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
