On this day in 2003 – Montoya wins in Monaco for BMW Williams

On this day in 2003 Juan Pablo Montoya won the most prestigious race in Formula 1 after beating the teammate Ralf Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen in McLaren in 2003 Monaco GP.

Montoya won from third place, one year after failing to win from pole position on the streets of Monte Carlo when Coulthard overtook him at the start and later won the race.

Ralf Schumacher won his first pole position of the season and the second in his career after the 2001 French GP – the German was 0.036 seconds faster than Raikkonen and 0.156 seconds faster than Montoya. The fourth was Trulli in Renault, fifth Michael Schumacher in Ferrari, sixth Coulthard in McLaren, seventh Barrichello in Ferrari and eighth Alonso in Renault.

juan pablo montoya monaco f1 2003 bmw williams — Photo: Williams F1

Ralf retains the lead at the start, but he is lightest from the fronrunners and pits already in lap 21. Montoya followed him two laps later while Raikkonen entered the pits two laps after Columbian. Michael Schumacher was the heaviest from top6 drivers and made his first stop in lap 31 while Montoya and Raikkonen overtook Ralf after his first stop.

Michael Schumacher was third after the first stops and finished third behind Montoya and Raikkonen, which was vital for his championship hopes because Kimi increased his advantage at the top. Ralf finished just fourth after starting from pole, Alonso was fifth and Trulli sixth.

It was Williams’ first win in the 2003 season and Raikkonen continued to lead the drivers’ championship, four points ahead of Michael Schumacher, while McLaren led the constructors with two points more than Ferrari.

STARTING GRID

1	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams/BMW	1:15.259	–
2	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren/Mercedes	1:15.295	0.036
3	3	J.P.Montoya	Williams/BMW	1:15.415	0.156
4	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	1:15.500	0.241
5	1	M.Schumacher	Ferrari	1:15.644	0.385
6	5	David Coulthard	McLaren/Mercedes	1:15.700	0.441
7	2	R.Barrichello	Ferrari	1:15.820	0.561
8	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:15.884	0.625
9	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar/Cosworth	1:16.237	0.978
10	21	C.da Matta	Toyota	1:16.744	1.485
11	16	J.Villeneuve	BAR/Honda	1:16.755	1.496
12	11	G.Fisichella	Jordan/Ford	1:16.967	1.708
13	15	Antônio Pizzonia	Jaguar/Cosworth	1:17.103	1.844
14	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber/Petronas	1:17.176	1.917
15	10	H-H.Frentzen	Sauber/Petronas	1:17.402	2.143
16	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan/Ford	1:17.452	2.193
17	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	1:17.464	2.205
18	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi/Cosworth	1:18.706	3.447
19	18	Justin Wilson	Minardi/Cosworth	1:20.063	4.804

RACE RESULTS

1	3	J.P.Montoya	Williams/BMW	78	1:42:19.010
2	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren/Mercedes	78	1:42:19.612	0.602
3	1	M.Schumacher	Ferrari	78	1:42:20.730	1.720
4	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams/BMW	78	1:42:47.528	28.518
5	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	78	1:42:55.261	36.251
6	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	78	1:42:59.982	40.972
7	5	David Coulthard	McLaren/Mercedes	78	1:43:00.237	41.227
8	2	R.Barrichello	Ferrari	78	1:43:12.276	53.266
9	21	C.da Matta	Toyota	77	1:43:24.502	1 lap
10	11	G.Fisichella	Jordan/Ford	77	1:43:26.017	1 lap
11	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber/Petronas	76	1:42:42.341	2 laps
12	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan/Ford	76	1:43:07.630	2 laps
13	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	74	1:43:06.947	4 laps

(9)	16	J.Villeneuve	BAR/Honda	63	1:24:59.611	Engine
(14)	18	Justin Wilson	Minardi/Cosworth	29	41:04.619	Fuel system
(12)	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi/Cosworth	28	39:38.213	Fuel system
(15)	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar/Cosworth	16	23:39.983	Engine
(14)	15	Antônio Pizzonia	Jaguar/Cosworth	10	15:32.645	Electrical
	10	H-H.Frentzen	Sauber/Petronas	0	–	Spun-off
	17	Jenson Button	BAR/Honda	0	–	DNS

Fastest lap: Kimi Raikkonen – 1:14.545 (lap 49)

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 7/16 RACES

1	Kimi Räikkönen	48	6	10	8	8	–	8	8
2	Michael Schumacher	44	5	3	–	10	10	10	6
3	Fernando Alonso	29	2	6	6	3	8	–	4
4	Rubens Barrichello	27		8	–	6	6	6	1
5	Juan Pablo Montoya	25	8	–	–	2	5	–	10
6	David Coulthard	25	10	–	5	4	–	4	2
7	Ralf Schumacher	25	1	5	2	5	4	3	5
8	Jarno Trulli	13	4	4	1	–	–	1	3
9	Giancarlo Fisichella	10	–	–	10	–	–	–	–
10	Jenson Button	8	–	2	–	1	–	5	–
11	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	7	3	–	4	–	–	–	–
12	Mark Webber	4			–	–	2	2	–
13	Cristiano da Matta	3		–	–	–	3	–	–
14	Jacques Villeneuve	3	–	–	3	–	–	–	–
15	Nick Heidfeld	1		1	–	–	–	–	–
16	Ralph Firman	1		–	–	–	1	–	–
17	Antônio Pizzonia	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
18	Olivier Panis	0				–	–	–	–
19	Jos Verstappen	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
20	Justin Wilson	0					–	–	–

CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

1	McLaren/Mercedes	73	16	10	13	12	–	12	10
2	Ferrari	71	5	11	–	16	16	16	7
3	Williams/BMW	50	9	5	2	7	9	3	15
4	Renault	42	6	10	7	3	8	1	7
5	Jordan/Ford	11	–	–	10	–	1	–	–
6	BAR/Honda	11	–	2	3	1	–	5	–
7	Sauber/Petronas	8	3	1	4	–	–	–	–
8	Jaguar/Cosworth	4	–	–	–	–	2	2	–
9	Toyota	3	–	–	–	–	3	–	–
10	Minardi/Cosworth	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–