2003 Hungarian Grand Prix

The 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix (formally the Marlboro Magyar Nagydíj 2003) was a Formula One motor race held on 24 August 2003 at the Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary. It was the thirteenth round of the 2003 Formula One season. The 70-lap race was won by Renault's Fernando Alonso after starting from pole position, scoring his first F1 win and becoming at the time the youngest ever driver to win a Grand Prix, beating the previous record of Bruce McLaren.<ref name="http://www.abc.net.au/">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This record lasted for over five years until it was beaten by Sebastian Vettel at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. Alonso also became the first Spaniard to win an F1 Grand Prix. It was the first Formula One win for Renault as a constructor since the 1983 Austrian Grand Prix. It was also the first Formula One win for the Enstone-based Formula One team since 1997 German Grand Prix and also the first Formula One win for a French-licensed Formula One team since 1996 Monaco Grand Prix.Template:Citation needed

It was the first to be held under the newly revamped Hungaroring, with the main straight lengthened and the first hairpin tightened, as well as further alterations near the latter stages of the lap in order to encourage more overtaking.

Report

Friday drivers

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

Constructor	Nat	Driver
Renault	Template:Flagicon	Allan McNish
Jordan-Ford	Template:Flagicon	Zsolt Baumgartner
Minardi-Cosworth	Template:Flagicon	Gianmaria Bruni

Practice

During practice Jordan driver Ralph Firman suffered a horrendous crash when his rear wing failed, causing his car to swap ends immediately and collide backwards into the crash barriers with such force that he was knocked unconscious and had to sit out the race. He was replaced by local driver Zsolt Baumgartner making his Formula One debut at his home Grand Prix.

Race

Alonso, starting from pole on the clean side of the track, made a clean start and lead into the first corner, while the two Williams of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, who had started second and fourth respectively on the dirty line had difficulty getting away and were down to around tenth place by the first corner, being compounded by Schumacher's spin at the second corner.

The McLaren-Mercedes of Kimi Räikkönen managed to climb to third on the opening lap from his grid position of seventh. With Mark Webber struggling in second place, Alonso managed to gain 7s in the first three laps and 21s in the first 13 laps before being forced to pit for fuel. Webber, who had also light-fueled to a high qualifying position, also pitted. Alonso reentered the track in second place, just behind Räikkönen, while Webber dropped much further down the field. At the end of the 16th lap, Räikkönen, Barrichello and Montoya all pitted, allowing Alonso to resume his lead.

On lap 17 Jacques Villeneuve's BAR came to a halt with a hydraulic failure before Michael Schumacher pitted, and was passed by Montoya while in the pits, who had been able to do a quicker lap while not being held up by Schumacher. On the following lap, David Coulthard, the last of the front-runners, who had been in front of both Schumacher and Montoya, pitted for a very long fuel stop, re-entering behind both. On lap 19, the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello suffered a left rear suspension failure, causing his Ferrari’s left rear wheel to detach, sending him straight on at the first corner hairpin, into the wall. The race stewards decided against deploying the safety car, preserving Alonso's 24s lead over Räikkönen, who rejoined ahead of Webber and proceeded to pull away from the Australian.

Alonso's teammate Jarno Trulli led a train of Montoya, Michael and Ralf Schumacher in a train of cars battling for fourth place, when Ralf overtook his brother on the 28th lap. Alonso and Webber were again the first to have a second fuel stop, on lap 30 and 31 respectively but this time Alonso had enough of a lead to re-enter the track ahead of Räikkönen while Webber dropped to ninth after his stop.

File:Sauber and Renault entering pits at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix.jpg

Sauber and Renault entering the pits.

Trulli pitted on the next lap, allowing the faster Williams duo of Montoya and Ralf Schumacher into clear air to set fast laps required to jump him, after Räikkönen rejoined after his pit stop behind them, therefore not causing any impedance. Ralf Schumacher immediately pitted on the next lap and rejoined ahead of Trulli but behind Webber who set a fast lap. Montoya set the fastest lap of the race on the next lap, and pitted on the next, exiting in front of Webber as well as Ralf Schumacher and with a clear track in front of him, became the fastest driver on the circuit. On lap 38 Michael Schumacher was in third place, with Coulthard in fourth, followed by Montoya, Webber, Ralf Schumacher and Trulli. Michael Schumacher then pitted, rejoining close behind Trulli, while Webber attempted to hold off Ralf Schumacher.

After a long first stop, third-placed Coulthard was the last to pit on lap 43, again with a long stop, indicating that he has switched to a two-stop strategy and rejoined between Trulli and Michael Schumacher. On lap 46, Ralf Schumacher finally passed Webber for fourth place, but was too far behind third-placed Montoya who had not been held up by Webber. The third round of pit stops saw no change in the order, aside from Coulthard who moved up to fifth behind Ralf Schumacher as a result of not having to pit. Alonso eventually lapped Schumacher, while Montoya spun in the latter stages of the race and had to fend off his teammate in the final laps. Alonso ended with a comfortable 16.8s lead over the second-placed Räikkönen.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the process, reigning world champion and the championship leader Michael Schumacher was lapped by the Spaniard, and only managed to salvage one point for an eighth-place finish. The second and third-place finishers Räikkönen and Montoya respectively cut his championship lead over his two rivals to just two and one point respectively.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Reaction

After the race, Alonso described the win as "..a dream come true. I am 22 years old and I have my first victory. I hope I have a long career with lots more victories".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Jean Todt, the Ferrari team's manager, referred to their performance as "disappointing".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Post-race

Following the Hungarian GP, Ferrari complained about Michelin front tyres used by its competitors, which, according to the complaint, were wider than allowed towards the end of the race and thereafter. Michelin had to narrow its tyres by the next race.Template:ClarifyTemplate:Citation needed

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1 Time	Q2 Time	Gap
1	8	Template:Flagicon Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:22.953	1:21.688	—
2	4	Template:Flagicon Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	1:22.413	1:21.944	+0.256
3	14	Template:Flagicon Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:22.625	1:22.027	+0.339
4	3	Template:Flagicon Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:23.305	1:22.180	+0.492
5	2	Template:Flagicon Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:22.892	1:22.180	+0.492
6	7	Template:Flagicon Jarno Trulli	Renault	1:22.358	1:22.610	+0.922
7	6	Template:Flagicon Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:23.695	1:22.742	+1.054
8	1	Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:23.430	1:22.755	+1.067
9	5	Template:Flagicon David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:22.786	1:23.060	+1.372
10	20	Template:Flagicon Olivier Panis	Toyota	1:22.986	1:23.369	+1.681
11	9	Template:Flagicon Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	1:23.482	1:23.621	+1.933
12	15	Template:Flagicon Justin Wilson	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:24.343	1:23.660	+1.972
13	11	Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	1:24.725	1:23.726	+2.038
14	17	Template:Flagicon Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	1:24.313	1:23.847	+2.159
15	21	Template:Flagicon Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	1:55.138	1:23.982	+2.294
16	16	Template:Flagicon Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	1:24.333	1:24.100	+2.412
17	10	Template:Flagicon Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	1:23.660	1:24.569	+2.881
18	19	Template:Flagicon Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	1:26.052	1:26.423	+4.735
19	12	Template:Flagicon Zsolt Baumgartner	Jordan-Ford	No time	1:26.678	+4.990
20	18	Template:Flagicon Nicolas Kiesa	Minardi-Cosworth	1:27.023	1:28.907	+7.219
Sources:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation							CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	8	Template:Flagicon Fernando Alonso	Renault	70	1:39:01.460	1	10
2	6	Template:Flagicon Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+16.768	7	8
3	3	Template:Flagicon Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	70	+34.537	4	6
4	4	Template:Flagicon Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	70	+35.620	2	5
5	5	Template:Flagicon David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+56.535	9	4
6	14	Template:Flagicon Mark Webber	Jaguar-Cosworth	70	+1:12.643	3	3
7	7	Template:Flagicon Jarno Trulli	Renault	69	+1 Lap	6	2
8	1	Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	69	+1 Lap	8	1
9	9	Template:Flagicon Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	69	+1 Lap	11
10	17	Template:Flagicon Jenson Button	BAR-Honda	69	+1 Lap	14
11	21	Template:Flagicon Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	68	+2 Laps	15
12	19	Template:Flagicon Jos Verstappen	Minardi-Cosworth	67	+3 Laps	18
13	18	Template:Flagicon Nicolas Kiesa	Minardi-Cosworth	66	+4 Laps	20
Ret	10	Template:Flagicon Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Petronas	47	Out of fuel	17
Ret	15	Template:Flagicon Justin Wilson	Jaguar-Cosworth	42	Engine	12
Ret	12	Template:Flagicon Zsolt Baumgartner	Jordan-Ford	34	Engine	19
Ret	20	Template:Flagicon Olivier Panis	Toyota	33	Gearbox	10
Ret	11	Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Ford	28	Engine	13
Ret	2	Template:Flagicon Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	19	Suspension/Accident	5
Ret	16	Template:Flagicon Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	14	Hydraulics	16
Source:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation								CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

Championship standings after the race

• Bold text and an asterisk indicates who still has a mathematical chance of becoming World Champion.

Drivers' Championship standings

+/–	Template:Abbr	Driver	Points
File:1rightarrow blue.svg	1	Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher*	72
File:1rightarrow blue.svg	2	Template:Flagicon Juan Pablo Montoya*	71
File:1rightarrow blue.svg	3	Template:Flagicon Kimi Räikkönen*	70
File:1rightarrow blue.svg	4	Template:Flagicon Ralf Schumacher*	58
File:1uparrow green.svg 1	5	Template:Flagicon Fernando Alonso*	54
Source: <ref name="Championship standings">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation				CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Constructors' Championship standings

+/–	Template:Abbr	Constructor	Points
File:1uparrow green.svg 1	1	Template:Flagicon Williams-BMW*	129
File:1downarrow red.svg 1	2	Template:Flagicon Ferrari*	121
File:1rightarrow blue.svg	3	Template:Flagicon McLaren-Mercedes*	115
File:1rightarrow blue.svg	4	Template:Flagicon Renault*	78
File:1rightarrow blue.svg	5	Template:Flagicon BAR-Honda	15
Source: <ref name="Championship standings"/>

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

• 2003 Hungaroring F3000 round

References

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