Formula 1

About the season

At the rain-soaked Brazilian Grand Prix, Mark Webber crashed into the wall and Fernando Alonso, following close behind, ploughed into the wreckage; the race was red-flagged, and the win was initially awarded to Kimi Raikkonen, only for a Jordan appeal five days later to prove that Giancarlo Fisichella had actually been leading when the race was stopped, forcing Raikkonen to hand back the trophy he had already collected. It was Fisichella's and Jordan's first win since 1999. At the Hungarian Grand Prix, 22-year-old Fernando Alonso claimed his maiden Grand Prix win, breaking Bruce McLaren's record from 1959 to become the youngest winner in Formula 1 history at the time. Thanks to the new points system rewarding the top eight finishers, Raikkonen stayed in title contention against Schumacher deep into the finale despite winning only a single race all year. Michael Schumacher won the 2003 Drivers' Championship with 93 points (Ferrari), 2 points ahead of the runner-up. Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship with 158 points, 14 points ahead of the runner-up. Across 16 completed races this season, there were 111 retirements. 8 different drivers won a race this season. Michael Schumacher took the most race wins, 6 in total. Coulthard won the season-opening race, the Australian Grand Prix. The season's biggest upset win came from Coulthard at the Australian Grand Prix, starting from grid position 11. The Brazilian Grand Prix saw the most retirements of the season, with 11 drivers failing to finish. The closest finish of the season came at the Monaco Grand Prix, with a gap of just 0.602 seconds. The most dominant win of the season came at the German Grand Prix, with a margin of 65.5 seconds. Trulli made the biggest gain of the season at the Japanese Grand Prix, from grid position 20 to finishing 5 (up 15 places). Barrichello won the Japanese Grand Prix, the final race of the season.