October 2003
October 2003
28 October 2003 Sauber have announced that they have signed Felipe Massa as a new driver from the 2004 season onwards. Massa will partner Giancarlo Fisichella, who has moved to the team from Jordan.
25 October 2003 Former Formula 1 driver Jean Alesi has had his driver's licence taken away for speeding. Alesi was clocked in his Mercedes AMG at 191kmh by French police driving his mother from Geneva to Avignon last weekend. His mother had to take the wheel and drive for the rest of the journey.
22 October 2003 Ferrari Director of Gestione Sportiva, Jean Todt, has received an honorary degree from the University of Florence for his scientific work.
21 October 2003 Renault has made history by being the very first Formula 1 team to run a Formula 1 car in Russia. The team drivers ran the Renault F1 R23B on a specially-constructed street circuit in the grounds of Moscow University in front of fifty thousand fans, who stayed to cheer despite the adverse weather conditions.
19 October 2003 Alessandro Zanardi, 36, returned to the track on Saturday for the first time since losing both his legs in a horror crash at the Lausitz EuroSpeedway in September 2001. The Italian qualified in 11th place in the latest round of the European Touring Car Championship on a BMW 320i with specially adapted controls with the throttle on the steering wheel and the clutch operated on the gear shift.
17 October 2003 Credit Suisse and Team Sauber Petronas have announced the continuation of their partnership, that began in 2001, during the 2004 season.
16 October 2003 Quebec Premier Jean Charest said that his government may provide financial assistance to guarantee the Canadian Grand Prix's place in the 2004 world Formula One championship, but warned that any cash contribution would come with attached conditions, such as a guaranteed GP for several years, not just one.
15 October 2003 The World Sport Council has agreed new rules for the 2004 season during a meeting in Paris. The Changes are as follows:
Race Weekend Schedule
Friday
11.00-12.00 Free practice
14.00-15.00 Free practice
During both sessions all teams, other than those who finished in the top four positions of the previous year’s World Championship for Constructors, will be permitted to run a third car provided any driver of this car:
The requirements of Article 60 concerning car livery will not apply to the third car being used during these two sessions but will apply should this car be used as the team’s spare car during the remainder of the event.
Saturday
10.00-10.45 Free practice
11.15-12.00 Free practice
14.00 Qualifying begins and will be run as follows:
14.00 Race (or at other times according to the relevant schedule).
40 dry-weather tyres per driver are allowed
Tyre use and allocation
The number of dry-weather tyres available to each driver during the Event will remain the same at forty, twenty front and twenty rear.
Each driver will be allocated three sets of dry-weather tyres for use on Friday, these may not be used at any other time during the Event. No tyres from the remaining seven sets may be used on Friday.
The choice of dry-weather tyre for qualifying and race must be made by 09.00 on Saturday (either specification of tyre may be used for the free practice sessions on Saturday). However, if both Friday sessions are declared wet this choice may be postponed until 13.00 on Saturday.
The number of wet-weather tyres available to each driver during the Event will remain the same at twenty-eight, fourteen front and fourteen rear.
Extreme weather tyres will continue to be permitted but, as now, may only be used when authorised.
Parc fermé procedures
To remain the same as in 2003 but the practice of fuel circulation for the purposes of cooling will now be prohibited.
Number of drivers per car
Each team will now be allowed to use four drivers during each season, not including any third driver running in the Friday sessions.
Pit lane speed limit
The speed limit for qualifying and race will be raised to 100km/h. In accordance with Article 100 (of the draft 2004 Sporting Regulations) the Permanent Bureau may be asked to consider a lower limit at tracks which have a particularly narrow pit lane.
15 October 2003 The Canadian GP has received a reprieve and given a provisional date of June 13, dependent upon a satisfactory financial agreement with the teams regarding the absence of tobacco sponsorship.
15 October 2003 Mike Gascoyne, formerly of Renault F1, has officially joined the Toyota team as Technical Director Chassis. Gascoyne's place at Renault has been taken by Bob Bell, previously Deputy Technical Director at Renault F1 Team UK.
13 October 2003 BAR wants Jenson Button to be the team leader next season. Team chief David Richards said that he believes Button has the maturity and experience required to guide the outfit. Takuma Sato will be the team's second driver, replacing Jacques Villeneuve.
13 October 2003 Bernie Ecclestone is pushing for the Canadian GP to be reinstated in next season's calendar. If Canada were to come back, the 2004 season would consist of 18 races, thanks to the addition of the new Bahrain and Chinese GPs. The Belgian GP is also back in the schedule after one year suspension due to the tobacco advertising ban.
12 October 2003 M. Schumacher won his record sixth Drivers Championship title after his team mate Barrichello won the Japanese GP, stopping Räikkönen from claiming it. The German also managed to finish eighth, collecting the one point that would have given him the Championship even if the Finn had managed to win the race. Barrichello took the lead from the start, but had to surrender it to Montoya on the second lap. The Colombian could not enjoy his dominance for long though, as his car stopped with hydraulic problems. Barrichello was left back into the lead to fight off Alonso's advances. The Spaniard suffered a similar fate to Montoya and stopped by the side with a broken car, leaving Barrichello unchallenged throughout the rest of the race. If Barrichello was doing everything right for M. Schumacher, the World Champion himself was not doing himself any favour. In his haste to work his way up from his starting 14th place, the German made a mistake on lap six trying to overtake Sato and ended up with a damaged nosecone. A long stop at the pits for a new nosecone sent him to the back of the grid with everything to do again. The retirements in front of him and Barrichello's uncatchable lead bode well for him and he finally decided to settle for eighth (the minimum he needed to win the Championship title), behind Da Matta after an attempt to overtake the Toyota driver resulted in a scrap with brother Ralf. The Williams driver was on the Ferrari's tail and trying to overtake, so when M. Schumacher had ti brake hard to avoid running into the back of Da Matta, Ralf was not quick enough to hit the brakes and clipped his older brother's rear left tyre. The Bridgestone tyre resisted the impact, but the Williams driver was out of the tarmac and back to the pits for a new nosecone. R Scumacher really had nothing to write home about. After failing to qualify, he spun twice in the race before becoming entangled in his older brother's title fight and ending up well out of the points. It was obvious that a Williams' Constructors Championship title had been written off when Montoya had retired, as Ralf never showed any merit today. Räikkönen also put in a lacklustre performance and seemed unable to get the best out of his car, letting Barrichello, and the Championship title, run away from him. At the end, having been placed in front of team mate Coulthard by careful team pit-stop manouevring, he had problems staying ahead of the Scot, who easily paced along behind the Finn in third place until the end.
So, after the most interesting season for some years, Ferrari still managed to retain the Constructors Championship title and the Drivers Championship title, but only just. The field was considerably more level than it had been for a very long time and it is to be hoped that things will continue in this vein next season. Hopefully McLaren will manage to come up with a competitive car for the new season, after the MP4-18 debacle, and Williams will continue to improve. Renault will hopefully carry on along the path it joined in 2003 and become a force to contend with. What a difference that would make from the times of boredom up to last year when there was one winning team and a cloud of also-rans! Formula 1 could do worse than having a four-way fight for both titles next season. That would restore attention to the sport much more than the half-baked schemes FIA keeps on coming up with to spice up the action. No fear though: they are already planning a different qualifying format for 2004.
All in all Ferrari can be proud of themsleves. Their star driver M. Schumacher surpassed Fangio and set the new record of six Drivers Championship titles, a record that will go unbeaten for a few years to come. The team gained yet another Constructors Championship title, and did it all beating off real competition for once. Few teams can sparkle emotions, both good and bad, as much as Ferrari can, but it is undeniable that they have deserved to be where they are now.
Roll on 2004, we are waiting.
Japanese GP finishing times:
| 1. | 2 | BARRICHELLO | Ferrari | B | 1h25'11"740 | 217.136 Km/h |
| 2. | 6 | RAIKKONEN | McLaren Mercedes | M | + 0'11"085 | 216.666 Km/h |
| 3. | 5 | COULTHARD | McLaren Mercedes | M | + 0'11"614 | 216.643 Km/h |
| 4. | 17 | BUTTON | BAR Honda | B | + 0'33"106 | 215.738 Km/h |
| 5. | 7 | TRULLI | Renault | M | + 0'34"269 | 215.690 Km/h |
| 6. | 16 | SATO | BAR Honda | B | + 0'51"692 | 214.962 Km/h |
| 7. | 21 | DA MATTA | Toyota | M | + 0'56"794 | 214.750 Km/h |
| 8. | 1 | M. SCHUMACHER | Ferrari | B | + 0'59"487 | 214.638 Km/h |
| 9. | 9 | HEIDFELD | Sauber Petronas | B | + 1'00"159 | 214.610 Km/h |
| 10. | 20 | PANIS | Toyota | M | + 1'01"844 | 214.540 Km/h |
| 11. | 14 | WEBBER | Jaguar Cosworth | M | + 1'11"005 | 214.161 Km/h |
| 12. | 4 | R. SCHUMACHER | Williams BMW | M | 1 lap | |
| 13. | 15 | WILSON | Jaguar Cosworth | M | 1 lap | |
| 14. | 12 | FIRMAN | Jordan Ford | B | 1 lap | |
| 15. | 19 | VERSTAPPEN | Minardi Cosworth | B | 2 laps | |
| 16. | 18 | KIESA | Minardi Cosworth | B | 3 laps | |
| 17. | 11 | FISICHELLA | Jordan Ford | B | 20 laps | |
| 18. | 8 | ALONSO | Renault | M | 36 laps | |
| 19. | 10 | FRENTZEN | Sauber Petronas | B | 44 laps | |
| 20. | 3 | MONTOYA | Williams BMW | M | 44 laps |
12 October 2003 BAR and the Monaco production company PPGI have settled their differences out of court. BAR missed out on the first practice session of the French GP after the team's cars were impounded after a lawsuit from PPGI. BAR sued PPGI for damages in return.
11 October 2003 Rubens Barrichello stole pole position from Montoya and held onto it when the rain dampened down the qualifying attempts of all other top runners. R. Schumacher failed to qualify after spinning out during his flying lap and will start from the pit lane. There he will have TRulli's company, after the Italian, the last driver out, decided that the rain was falling too heavily and chose not to try to qualify. Title contenders Räikkönen was down in eighth place behind team mate Coulthard and M. Schumacher could do no better than 14th.
Japanese GP second qualifying times:
| 1. | 2 | BARRICHELLO | Ferrari | B | 1'31"713 | 227.942 Km/h |
| 2. | 3 | MONTOYA | Williams BMW | M | 1'32"412 | + 0'00"699 |
| 3. | 21 | DA MATTA | Toyota | M | 1'32"419 | + 0'00"706 |
| 4. | 20 | PANIS | Toyota | M | 1'32"862 | + 0'01"149 |
| 5. | 8 | ALONSO | Renault | M | 1'33"044 | + 0'01"331 |
| 6. | 14 | WEBBER | Jaguar Cosworth | M | 1'33"106 | + 0'01"393 |
| 7. | 5 | COULTHARD | McLaren Mercedes | M | 1'33"137 | + 0'01"424 |
| 8. | 6 | RAIKKONEN | McLaren Mercedes | M | 1'33"272 | + 0'01"559 |
| 9. | 17 | BUTTON | BAR Honda | B | 1'33"474 | + 0'01"761 |
| 10. | 15 | WILSON | Jaguar Cosworth | M | 1'33"558 | + 0'01"845 |
| 11. | 9 | HEIDFELD | Sauber Petronas | B | 1'33"632 | + 0'01"919 |
| 12. | 10 | FRENTZEN | Sauber Petronas | B | 1'33"896 | + 0'02"183 |
| 13. | 16 | SATO | BAR Honda | B | 1'33"924 | + 0'02"211 |
| 14. | 1 | M. SCHUMACHER | Ferrari | B | 1'34"302 | + 0'02"589 |
| 15. | 12 | FIRMAN | Jordan Ford | B | 1'34"771 | + 0'03"058 |
| 16. | 11 | FISICHELLA | Jordan Ford | B | 1'34"912 | + 0'03"199 |
| 17. | 19 | VERSTAPPEN | Minardi Cosworth | B | 1'34"975 | + 0'03"262 |
| 18. | 18 | KIESA | Minardi Cosworth | B | 1'37"226 | + 0'05"513 |
| 19. | 4 | R. SCHUMACHER | Williams BMW | M | 1'48"100 | + 0'16"387 |
| 20. | 7 | TRULLI | Renault | M | 1'59"200 | + 0'27"487 |
11 October 2003 The BAR team has announced that they wish to move to Michelin tyres next season, if the French tyre supplier agrees. Bridgestone have replied that the team has a contract with them for the whole of 2004 and that they are looking at the legal implications of the situation.
11 October 2003 Minardi driver Nikolas Kiesa has been fined 1,000 USD for crossing the white line at the pit exit during the Friday free practice session at Suzuka.
10 October 2003 Justin Wilson said that he expect the Jaguar team to make a decision whether to retain him as a driver within a month of the end of the season.
10 October 2003 Peter Sauber has announced that current Ferrari test driver Felipe Massa will partner Fisichella in his team next season.
10 October 2003 Paul Stoddart said that the Minardi team has not yet received the money promised by Bernie Eccleston following a deal done in June because the team's financial situation has improved. Stoddart has sent his cars to Suzuka with he sticker "not paid" across the logo of one of the sponsors that has not come up with the money yet.
10 October 2003 Trulli was in top form for the first Japanese GP qualifying session and scored the provisional lead ahead of the Schumacher brothers. Coulthard beat his title-hopeful team mate Räikkönen, Alonso, Barrichello and Montoya. Takuma Sato, standing in for Jacques Villeneuve, managed to do well in 11th place, with team mate Button down in 16th.
Japanese GP first qualifying times:
| 1. | 7 | TRULLI | Renault | M | 1'30"281 | 231.557 Km/h |
| 2. | 4 | R. SCHUMACHER | Williams BMW | M | 1'30"343 | + 0'00"062 |
| 3. | 1 | M. SCHUMACHER | Ferrari | B | 1'30"464 | + 0'00"183 |
| 4. | 5 | COULTHARD | McLaren Mercedes | M | 1'30"482 | + 0'00"201 |
| 5. | 6 | RAIKKONEN | McLaren Mercedes | M | 1'30"558 | + 0'00"277 |
| 6. | 8 | ALONSO | Renault | M | 1'30"624 | + 0'00"343 |
| 7. | 2 | BARRICHELLO | Ferrari | B | 1'30"758 | + 0'00"477 |
| 8. | 3 | MONTOYA | Williams BMW | M | 1'31"201 | + 0'00"920 |
| 9. | 14 | WEBBER | Jaguar Cosworth | M | 1'31"305 | + 0'01"024 |
| 10. | 9 | HEIDFELD | Sauber Petronas | B | 1'31"783 | + 0'01"502 |
| 11. | 16 | SATO | BAR Honda | B | 1'31"832 | + 0'01"551 |
| 12. | 10 | FRENTZEN | Sauber Petronas | B | 1'31"892 | + 0'01"611 |
| 13. | 20 | PANIS | Toyota | M | 1'31"908 | + 0'01"627 |
| 14. | 21 | DA MATTA | Toyota | M | 1'32"256 | + 0'01"975 |
| 15. | 15 | WILSON | Jaguar Cosworth | M | 1'32"291 | + 0'02"010 |
| 16. | 17 | BUTTON | BAR Honda | B | 1'32"374 | + 0'02"093 |
| 17. | 12 | FIRMAN | Jordan Ford | B | 1'33"057 | + 0'02"776 |
| 18. | 11 | FISICHELLA | Jordan Ford | B | 1'33"313 | + 0'03"032 |
| 19. | 19 | VERSTAPPEN | Minardi Cosworth | B | 1'34"836 | + 0'04"555 |
| 20. | 18 | KIESA | Minardi Cosworth | B | 1'36"181 | + 0'05"900 |
9 October 2003 Jacques Villeneuve has decided not to race in the Japanese GP, following the team's decision not to offer him a contract for next season. It is likely that Takuma Sato, who takes Villeneuve's place in the team next season, will race for BAR in the last GP of the season.
8 October 2003 Toyota and EMC have announced the renewal of their multi-year partnership contract.
7 October 2003 A consortium assembled by Merrion Capital has purchased a 49.9% shareholding of Warburg Pincus in Jordan Grand Prix.
7 October 2003 BAR has confirmed the drivers line up for 2004. Takuma Sato will partner Jenson Button, who enters his second year with the team. David Richards said that Jacques Villeneuve’s commitment over the past five years w\as much appreciated, but that it was time to refresh the line up.
6 October 2003 Japanese Satoshi Motoyama, who is leading the 2003 Formula Nippon Championship, has been offered the chance of a lifetime to be Jordan third test driver at Suzuka.
5 October 2003 Patrick Head has denied rumours that the Williams team will help McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen to beat M. Schumacher for the Drivers Championship title. 4 October 2003 Jacques Villeneuve's manager Craig Pollock said that the driver has been dropped by BAR. The news was given to him by BAR Managing Director Dave Richards in a phone call on Friday night. Pollock said that he is not sure whether Villeneuve will take part in the Japanese GP, the last race of teh current season.
2 October 2003 According to the Dutch Race Report magazine Jos Verstappen has heavily criticised the Minardi team, saying that it is "a mess". He is looking forwards to the end of the season and is hoping for a drive at Jaguar or Jordan next year. The driver claims that his quotes have been misinterpreted.
2 October 2003 BAR driver Jacques Villeneuve has been praised by ex boss Frank Williams. Williams said that Villeneuve, who has received lots of flack recently, deserves praise and not scorn for joining BAR in 1999, because his decision to try and turn BAR into a competitive team shows strength of character.
2 October 2003 Former Formula driver Niki Lauda has launched his latest venture in Vienna: Laudamotion. The venture combines car rental with advertising. The 50 Smart cars will be available for hire at the amazingly low price of one euro per day. Advertising will appear on the cars to allow the very low price and the people who hire the cars must agree to drive at least 30 kilometres per day in Vienna.
1 October 2003 R. Schumacher has heavily criticised his own team on his personal website. The German crashed into the barrier and retired from the US GP on lap 22. He claims that he had been trying to get information about the weather forecast for two laps, but that the team had not given him the information he requested. When they finally told him to go in for wet tyres, he had just passed the pit lane entrance and had to go an extra lap. That's when he spun and retired. Mario Theissen believes that R. Schumacher's criticism is unjustified and that the team had been waiting for his reply that never came.
1 October 2003 Talking about the recent rumours that Alonso may be headed for Ferrari, Briatore commented that the Spaniard is under contract at Renault until 2006 and that the team has no intention of letting him go. The rumour has also been rubbished by M. Schumacher's personal manager Willie Weber.
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by Federica Massagrande