2003 British Grand Prix

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  2003 British Grand Prix

Race details
Race 11 of 16 in the 2003 Formula One season.
The Silverstone Circuit modified in 2000
Date	July 20, 2003
Official name	LIIV Foster's British Grand Prix
Location	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, England
Course	Permanent Road Facility 3.194 mi / 5.141 km
Distance	59 laps, 188.410 mi / 303.216 km
Scheduled Distance	60 laps, 191.603 mi / 308.355 km
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Fastest lap
Driver	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Time	1:22.236
Podium
First	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Second	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW
Third	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes

The 2003 British Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on July 20 at the Silverstone Circuit.

It was won by polesitter Rubens Barrichello but is probably most well-known for a track invasion by the now-defrocked priest Neil Horan, who ran along Hangar straight, running opposite to the 280 km/h train of cars, wearing a saffron kilt and waving religious banners.^[1]

[edit] Race report

The race began with Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello on pole, alongside Renault F1's Jarno Trulli. Kimi Räikkönen of McLaren-Mercedes started from third, while world champion and championship leader Michael Schumacher started from fifth. Barrichello made a poor start, allowing both Trulli and Räikkönen past on an incident-free first lap. Ralf and Michael Schumacher retained their starting positions of fourth and fifth. On the sixth lap, the headrest of David Coulthard dislodged while traversing the first corner (Copse), forcing him to pit for a replacement under safety regulations, and causing a safety car period to allow marshals to clear the track. Upon the resumption of green flag racing, Barrichello closed the gap to Räikkönen before passing him on lap 11. On the following lap, Horan invaded the circuit and another safety car period was necessitated. As it was close to the period when the drivers would be making their scheduled pit stops, the vast majority of cars decided to pit under the safety car. The second placed cars from the respective teams were forced to queue up in the pit lane waiting for service, causing them to drop many places. Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Juan Pablo Montoya were all outside of the top ten. Of the leading contenders, Trulli was in fourth place while both Räikkönen and Ralf Schumacher had jumped Barrichello when in the pits.

The Toyotas of Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis – who had opted not to pit – were leading, while Coulthard was in third, having not required a pit stop after his earlier unscheduled headrest replacement. Räikkönen passed Trulli immediately after the restart before clearing team-mate Coulthard on the same lap. Barrichello then passed a slowing Ralf Schumacher on the 17th lap while Räikkönen also passed Panis before chasing down the leading da Matta. Ralf Schumacher was forced to pit after encountering difficulties, while at the same time Michael Schumacher was unable to pass Alonso. By the 26th lap Barrichello was still trying to pass Trulli, and the two leaders continued to extend their lead. Barrichello and Montoya eventually pass Trulli by the edn of the 27th lap, before Panis fell victim to both on the 29th. Da Matta eventually ceded the lead after pitting on the 30th lap to Räikkönen. Barrichello then set the fastest lap after being cleared of traffic, taking the lead after Räikkönen pitted for the second time. Barrichello continued to cut the advantage, but Räikkönen regained the lead with a reduced margin following the Brazilian's second stop. After closing in, Barrichello passed Räikkönen after pressuring him into a mistake. Michael Schumacher eventually passed Trulli on the 46th lap, but an unforced error by Räikkönen allowed Montoya to seize second position. In the closing phase of the race, Coulthard passes both da Matta and Trulli to earn fifth place.^[2][3]

[edit] Track invasion

Horan runs onto the track into the path of Mark Webber's Jaguar R4. Caption on this television screenshot indicates deployment of safety car as a result.

On the 11th lap, as the procession of cars exited the Becketts corner onto the Hangar straight, Horan cleared the fence wearing a kilt, waving banners with statements "Read the bible" and "The Bible is always right"^[4] and ran towards the sequence of cars, forcing several cars to swerve to avoid him. He eventually returned to the grass runoff area at the side of the track after the cars had passed for the lap, and was stopped by a track marshal.

He was later charged with aggravated trespass and pleaded guilty in a Northampton court,^[5] stating that he took the open gate as a sign from God, although the prosecution contended that his act was premeditated as he had already prepared the banners prior to attending the Grand Prix. He was later jailed for two months.^[4]

The race led to fears that Formula One bosses Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone, who had been highly critical of the media and corporate facilities of Silverstone, would use the incident to drop the race from the Formula One calendar, with Ecclestone saying "It wasn't necessary - the race was exciting enough without it. But the security wasn't good enough". However, drivers and team officials defended the circuit, with Montoya stating "This was one of the best races of the year, even with the spectator. It was so much fun today," and Sauber boss Peter Sauber stated "When a man sets himself on fire in the street in Paris, no one blames Paris", while McLaren-Mercedes boss Ron Dennis said "There is no way you can prevent it happening".^[6]

[edit] Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	60	1:28:37.554	1	10
2	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	60	+5.462 secs	7	8
3	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	60	+10.656 secs	3	6
4	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	60	+25.648 secs	5	5
5	5	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	60	+36.827 secs	12	4
6	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	60	+43.067 secs	2	3
7	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	60	+45.085 secs	6	2
8	17	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	60	+45.478 secs	20	1
9	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	60	+58.032 secs	4
10	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	60	+1:03.569 secs	9
11	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	60	+1:05.207 secs	13
12	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	60	+1:05.564 secs	14
13	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan-Ford	59	+1 Lap	17
14	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	59	+1 Lap	11
15	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	58	+2 Laps	19
16	18	Justin Wilson	Minardi-Cosworth	58	+2 Laps	18
17	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	58	+2 Laps	16
Ret	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	52	Gearbox	8
Ret	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	44	Suspension	15
Ret	15	Antônio Pizzonia	Jaguar-Cosworth	32	Engine	10

[edit] Notes

• This was Antônio Pizzonia's last race of the season.

[edit] Standings after Grand Prix

• 1. Michael Schumacher - 69
• 2. Kimi Räikkönen - 62
• 3. Juan Pablo Montoya - 55
• 4. Ralf Schumacher - 53
• 5. Rubens Barrichello - 49
• 6. Fernando Alonso - 39
• 7. David Coulthard - 33
• 8. Jarno Trulli - 16

Constructors

• 1. Ferrari - 118
• 2. Williams-BMW - 108
• 3. McLaren-Mercedes - 95
• 4. Renault - 55

[edit] References