The 2003 Australian Grand Prix (formally the 2003 Foster's Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Albert Park Circuit, Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 9 March 2003. It was the first round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship and the eighth World Championship Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park. McLaren's David Coulthard won the 58-lap race after starting in 11th position. Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya finished in second and Coulthard's teammate Kimi Räikkönen took third.
Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, the World Drivers' Champion, took pole position after setting the quickest lap time in the second qualifying session.The circuit was damp after an overnight rainstorm but quickly dried due to a strong wind. Schumacher led the race for six laps until a pit stop on lap seven to switch from wet to dry tyres. The lead changed seven times between four different drivers. Montoya led after the second round of pit stops, but lost first place and the race victory to Coulthard when he lost control of his car on lap 48. The safety car was deployed twice during the race, including an accident involving Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello on lap six.
The victory was the 13th and last of Coulthard's Formula One career. The race result meant Coulthard left Australia as the World Drivers' Championship leader with ten championship points. Montoya was two championship points behind in second, and Räikkönen was another two points back in third. McLaren led the World Constructors' Championship with 16 championship points while Williams were second with nine championship points with 15 races remaining in the season.
Background
left|thumb|The [[Albert Park Circuit (pictured in 2018), where the Grand Prix was held.]]
The 2003 Australian Grand Prix took place at the 5.303 km (3.295 mi) Albert Park Circuit in Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria on 9 March 2003; it was the first round of sixteen in the 2003 Formula One World Championship and the eighth staging of the World Championship Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park. The track's mesh barriers were raised from to after marshal Graham Beveridge's death in an accident during the 2001 race.
Out of the 10 teams and 20 drivers on the starting grid, four drivers made their debut. The 2002 CART FedEx Championship Series champion Cristiano da Matta joined the Toyota team alongside Olivier Panis. The two replaced Toyota's 2002 lineup of Allan McNish, who moved to Renault as third driver and Mika Salo, who left Formula One. At the Minardi team, 2001 International Formula 3000 champion Justin Wilson joined Jos Verstappen, who rejoined the series after a one-year absence. The last rookie competitor was Formula Nippon driver Ralph Firman,
At the front of the field, many were tipping Ferrari driver and five-time world champion Michael Schumacher as the favourite to win the 2003 World Drivers' Championship. Bookmakers in Australia and the United Kingdom installed Michael Schumacher as the favourite to win the Australian Grand Prix for the fourth consecutive time. He said he was expecting other teams to perform better than the season before, "It will automatically become harder because other teams hadn't done a great job last year, and I am pretty sure they will do a much better job this year and therefore competition will become harder." Nigel Mansell, the world champion, said Schumacher's high level of talent combined with his strong desire to succeed, would make him quite difficult to beat. The championship points system was expanded to include the first eight finishers to try and keep the title battle open for as long as possible and to reward consistency. For the first time since , qualifying was separated into two one-hour sessions, conducted on Fridays and Saturdays, with cars running one at a time for one quick lap. The Sunday morning warm-up session for teams to fine-tune their vehicle settings was ended and cars were placed under parc fermé conditions, preventing significant changes to cars or refuelling between Saturday qualifying and the race. On Friday morning, a two-hour test session was held for teams that agreed to limit their in-season testing programmes, Among these was the adoption of revised rear wing profiles that were no longer rectangular but rounded at the ends, a solution introduced by Renault in the 2002 season to limit vortice formation, which was copied by British American Racing (BAR), Williams and Jaguar. Although the track surface gave minimal grip for cars, there were small offs into the grass but no one spun. Renault driver Jarno Trulli was fastest with a lap time of 1:28.125, ahead of Webber and Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella; The first practice session was held on Friday morning in dry and hot weather. McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen set the fastest lap of 1:26.509 with five minutes remaining, 0.479 seconds ahead of teammate David Coulthard. Trulli, Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello, Webber, Michael Schumacher, Renault's Fernando Alonso, Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, and the Williams duo of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher followed in the top ten. The track was slick and dirty from overnight rainstorms, but it dried quickly. His engine was not replaced because it was undamaged. With ten minutes left, Räikkönen lost control of his McLaren at the fast right-hand Whiteford corner, severely damaging the car's left-front corner. Räikkönen sat out the session as McLaren were working on his car, while Michael Schumacher's Ferrari was repaired. Trulli was fastest with a 1:26.928 lap set with five minutes remaining. Button's fastest time remained unchanged, dropping to second.
Qualifying
thumb|left|upright|[[Rubens Barrichello (pictured in 2002) was the fastest driver in the first qualifying session]]
There were two one-hour qualifying sessions on both Friday and Saturday afternoons. The final 2002 World Drivers' Championship standings determined the running order for the first session (first to last), with the second session's running order reversed from the results of the first session (slowest to quickest). In each session, each driver recorded one timed lap with no other cars on track, and the starting order was determined by the quickest laps in the second session. Barrichello was the second driver to set a lap and the fastest at 1:26.372. Räikkönen ran wide at the first corner and was second, 0.179 seconds slower than Barrichello. Villeneuve drove the spare BAR car after his engine failed in the first practice session, claiming third with a clean lap that set the session's final sub-1:27 lap. Michael Schumacher was the first to set a lap and took fourth, having run on dirt from the circuit for other drivers, slowing him. Button was third but was demoted to fifth by his teammate Villeneuve following a slow middle sector, overrunning turn one slightly, and understeering at the final turn. Coulthard ran an mistake-free lap to go sixth despite an unbalanced car. ran conservatively and finished 10th despite losing time in some corners. The understeer increased towards the end of the lap as the tyres wore, going 17th. An hour before the session began, light rain fell, although the circuit was dry. Following his practice session crash, Michael Schumacher copied his teammate Barrichello's setup, taking the 51st pole position of his career with a lap time of 1:27.173. His teammate Barrichello was 0.245 seconds slower in second. He was distracted by debris from Räikkönen's left-rear tyre in turn six, forcing him to pass him in the second sector. Montoya lost some time at turn one after a racing setup change and took third. Frentzen qualified fourth in a more balanced car despite an error at the second chicane. Although he ran wide onto dust, He ran wide, lost control of his car at turn four, Webber made an error at the first corner and was 14th. He pushed too hard and put a wheel onto the grass towards the end of his quick lap, This allowed the team's mechanics to work on the cars;
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Notes
- – Jos Verstappen and Justin Wilson did not set a lap time in the second session, in order to avoid the parc fermé regime. There were 116,700 spectators, 10,000 fewer than the previous year and the lowest since 1998. It rained heavily before the race due to an overnight thunderstorm, but it ceased around 15 minutes before the start. This dampened the track slightly but a strong wind was causing it to dry up. The air temperature was and the asphalt temperature was between . Although most drivers started on intermediate tyres, Montoya and Panis had dry grooved tyres. At the end of the formation lap, Räikkönen was called into the pit lane by McLaren for dry tyres and fuel. Panis moved into fourth at turn one, but he dropped seven positions from his starting position as cars on wet tyres were faster. Heidfeld advanced from fifth to third by the end of the first lap, passing Montoya at Ascari, while Wilson gained six spots in the same distance. and the intermediate tyres' advantage was diminishing. Some drivers made pit stops under safety car conditions. Alonso stopped from second and fell to the rear of the field. Räikkönen overtook Webber on the inside into turn one for fourth and Michael Schumacher passed Webber on the same lap. This caused Alonso, who was battling Ralf Schumacher, Because Webber's Jaguar was deemed in a dangerous position, the race director deployed the safety car for the second time to allow marshals to move the car off the track. Trulli finished fifth, five seconds clear of Frentzen in sixth, whose first pit stop was moved forward due to tyre problems. Verstappen was the last finisher after being unable to select gear exiting the pit lane. There were seven lead changes among four different drivers, He said that while he did not overtake many drivers, it was difficult to complain about a Grand Prix victory. Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt called it "a very strange race and not really because of the new rules" because of the weather, differing race strategies and two safety car deployments. He said the result demonstrated that a minor error could result in a serious disadvantage. Michael Schumacher commented of his absence from the podium for the first time since 2001, "It is normal that one day it will change – in sport that's the way it goes." Barrichello attributed his early-race collision to soreness in his collarbone caused by the HANS device fitted between the neck and helmet, implying that he was not fully focused on the circuit. He added that "It was not a good weekend" but felt that Ferrari were still performing decently.
thumb|right|upright|[[Paul Stoddart (pictured in 2006) was complimentary of the revised sporting regulations adopted for the first time in the race.]]
Stoddart said that Formula One won under the new sporting regulations implemented in Australia, and that the modifications should be highly appreciated, adding, "Who could say this was anything other than the most exciting race we have had for a long time?" Gerald Donaldson of the Toronto Star also agreed that Formula One was "the real winner" in Australia. BAR team principal David Richards said the objective of the changes was to improve the racing, calling it "a good race and very encouraging." Coulthard was more reserved, saying "I think we will only be able to judge that (whether the rules contributed to the excitement) on reflection of the season."
Villeneuve blamed his early pit lane entry on lap 25 on radio problems and apologised to Button for the error. Button said that Villeneuve's actions had "completely buggered my race" and lost him a large amount of time, adding it made him angry and frustrated, "There is nothing you can do then, it completely destroyed the race." Richards argued that Villeneuve was unable to correctly listen to his radio. Firman believed he ran onto an patch of oil when he crashed. Michael Schumacher was fourth in the standings, losing the lead he had held since the 2000 United States Grand Prix.
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;Notes
- – Kimi Räikkönen and Jos Verstappen started the race from the pit lane.
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;Constructors' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"
|-
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Constructor
! scope="col" | Points
|-
| align="center"| 1
| McLaren-Mercedes
| align="left"| 16
|-
| align="center"| 2
| Williams-BMW
| align="left"| 9
|-
| align="center"| 3
| Renault
| align="left"| 6
|-
| align="center"| 4
| Ferrari
| align="left"| 5
|-
| align="center"| 5
| Sauber-Petronas
| align="left"| 3
|-
!colspan=3|Sources: