The Brazilian Grand Prix in 2003 was one that will live in the memory for many fans and drivers, namely because it became a huge battle against the weather, track conditions and the confusion amid the carnage as to who was actually the race winner.
With several storm fronts battering Interlagos with heavy rain, it was a difficult start to the race. Thanks to cost-cutting measures, teams brought only one wet tyre compound which was the intermediate rubber, hardly suited to such conditions. It also proved a disadvantage to Bridgestone runners as their wet tyres were not as good as the Michelin’s.
After a 10-minute delay to the start of the race, proceedings finally got underway behind the safety car. Rubens Barrichello led the field away when the race to get underway, however, he bunched the field up much to his detriment.
David Coulthard punished the Brazilian dearly by nailing the home favourite into Turn 1, not long after this Coulthard’s McLaren teammate Kimi Raikkonen quickly passed Barrichello and then the Scotsman himself again into Turn 1.
Lap 18 we saw a bizarre incident when the Jordan of Ralph Firman suffered a suspension failure causing him to lose control and pile into the back of the Toyota of Olivier Panis putting them both out of the race.
Due to the undulating nature of the Interlagos circuit, small rivers of water tend to run across the track and, as the rain kept falling, one such river formed on the exit of the Senna ‘S’ down the hill through Curva Del Sol, catching out several drivers.
Antonio Pizzonia’s Jaguar and the Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya were the first victims of the extra water as they aquaplaned through it and spun into the outside barrier on lap 25.
Even the world champion Michael Schumacher could not navigate his way through the treacherous corner as he succumbed just two laps later. It was a scary moment as marshals and a recovery vehicle were still attempting to get the stricken Jaguar and Williams behind the barrier.
Jenson Button was the fourth victim of the corner on lap 33 after nearly rescuing a slide through the corner, but ultimately lost control and hit the barrier, leaving many littered machines behind the barrier.
As the rain eased off, Barrichello started setting fastest laps and climbed back through the field. When Raikkonen made a mistake at Turn 1 the Ferrari driver slipped by in the lead, only to succumb to an engine failure a handful of laps later putting an end to what was his best shot at victory at his home circuit.
With cars falling by the wayside at what seemed almost every lap, there was still yet more drama to be had.
Lap 53 saw Mark Webber have a huge accident on the start/finish straight leaving debris strewn all over the circuit. Luckily Webber got away from the accident, however, it appeared no one told Renault’s Fernando Alonso to slow down.
The Spaniard came over the brow of the hill unsighted only to slam into one of Webber’s discarded wheels from his Jaguar, this caused his Renault to hit the inside tyre barrier at high speed before hitting the outside concrete wall causing the safety car to come back on to the circuit.
Alonso managed to get out of the car but sat at the side of the track heavily winded as paramedics came to his and Webber’s aid.
Amid all the carnage, Jordan’s Giancarlo Fisichella had passed Raikkonen on lap 54 to take the lead of the race, but due to the Alonso/Webber accidents causing too much damage to restart the race, proceedings were subsequently stopped two laps later on lap 56.
There was confusion as it was unclear according to the stewards at what lap the red flag was called on. In accordance with FIA sporting regulations in the event of a red flag and the race being stopped, should a result be called, the final classification is counted back to the last racing lap.
It was believed that the race was stopped on lap 54, so counting back to the last racing lap, the win was given to Kimi Raikkonen at the time despite several claims that the race was actually stopped on lap 55 and the win should belong to Fisichella.
In spectacular fashion as the cars pulled into the pit-lane at the end of the race, Fisichella’s Jordan had actually caught fire to add to the drama of the day’s events.
Fernando Alonso was classified as third and should have been on the podium, but due to the nature of his accident he was taken to hospital for precautionary checks.
A few days after the race analysis showed that Fisichella had just crossed the line to start the 56th lap as the red flag was shown. Evidence was given to the FIA at a hearing in Paris and the win was officially handed over to Fisichella.
At the next race in San Marino, an unofficial ceremony was held to exchange the winning trophies to Fisichella and team owner Eddie Jordan from Ron Dennis and Raikkonen.
