F1's Greatest Races: Winning Whilst on Fire: Brazil 2003

A Look at Brazil 2003: One of F1’s Greatest Races

A new series on The Sporting Blog delves into Formula 1’s most iconic races. What happened in Brazil 2003?

Fisichella celebrates his surprise win! Picture credits: Mondiali

With over 1,000 races to choose from, F1 has an abundance of back catalogue stories that could make Hollywood - with unbelievable comebacks, swashbuckling underdogs and bizarre race finishes.

We begin with a race where a bright yellow car finished on fire and was only declared the winner five days later…

Brazil 2003: Background

F1 made its way to the Interlagos circuit for Round 3 of the 2003 season with a fresh spring in its step.

Veteran David Coulthard and a young Kimi Raikkonen had taken a win apiece for Mclaren in the opening races at Australia and Malaysia respectively.

Ferrari had dominated the 2002 championship and many expected this to continue, but drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello experienced an error-prone start.

With emerging stars such as Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso of Renault beginning to flourish, and a quick-looking Williams BMW car, 2003’s title battle was shaping up to be far more exciting and competitive than the year before.

Meanwhile, cash-strapped independent teams such as Jordan and Minardi were being left behind on pace.

F1’s manufacturer era was beginning to boom with the likes of BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes and Toyota pumping investment in at a rate never seen before.

Jordan designer Gary Anderson described it as ‘working from day to day’, as the independents scrambled to make ends meet whilst remaining competitive.

Opening Stages

Changeable conditions in qualifying delivered a mixed-up grid, with usual front-runners such as Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya further down than expected.

Barrichello’s Ferrari was on pole to the delight of the Brazilian crowd, followed by the McLarens of Raikkonen and Coulthard, and the Jaguar of Mark Webber.

Sunday arrived - and after a mid-morning downpour, the track conditions were abysmal. Streams ran across the track, with poor drainage systems unable to cope with the sheer volume of water.

A new F1 rule change for 2003 dictated that teams could only use one type of wet tyre across each weekend - whether intermediates or full wets - in an attempt to save costs.

All of the teams opted for intermediates, which were more suitable in changing conditions, but were wholly unsuitable for the standing water the teams faced at Interlagos.

Despite concerns raised by the teams, the stewards deemed the track fit to race. The safety car led the field away and carried on for eight laps, with the cars acting as expensive water sweepers.

When the racing finally got underway, Barrichello led away but was soon overtaken by Coulthard, with Raikkonen getting past both.

Numerous incidents followed, with the safety car deployed twice more. Six drivers were caught out by streams of water across turn 3 and crashed into the barriers.

Michael Schumacher was the last of these, narrowly avoiding contact with a recovery crane that was clearing away previous victims of the same corner, including that of Juan Pablo Montoya.

Jordan’s Gamble

Giancarlo Fisichella was a major beneficiary of the wet-dry qualifying, starting an impressive eighth in the Jordan.

As the race began under the safety car, the team opted to pit him - much to his displeasure - refuelling the car to the full and dropping him to the back of the field.

The logic behind this decision was a gamble based on the race being stopped early.

A full tank of fuel wouldn’t take Fisichella to the end, but it would allow him to go three-quarters of the race distance and capitalise in the process.

Any race that is stopped after a three-quarter distance would still award drivers full points.

Fisichella’s teammate Ralph Firman adopted the same strategy, but he was forced out early with a dramatic suspension failure that also took out the Toyota of Olivier Panis.

Brazilian Curse Strikes Again

Following Schumacher’s crash, Raikkonen pitted for fuel.

Coulthard led Barrichello but on a drying track, the Brazilian was the quicker driver and capitalised on an error by Coulthard to take the lead.

Barrichello extended his lead to five seconds and looked destined to pull away to a glorious home victory, but on lap 47 his Ferrari shuddered to a halt. An error with Ferrari’s telemetry meant that the car had run out of fuel.

This was the ninth year in a row that Barrichello failed to finish at his home race.

He put that right the following year by finishing third, but he was never to get the opportunity to deliver a home win that he and the Brazilian fans so desperately craved.

Ensuing Chaos

Coulthard re-inherited the lead following Barrichello’s retirement, followed by Raikkonen. Jordan’s gamble was paying off handsomely, with Fisichella taking advantage of the race of attrition and running in third.

Coulthard pitted for fresh tyres and fuel, dropping him to fourth behind Raikkonen, Fisichella and Fernando Alonso. Raikkonen then ran wide on lap 54, allowing Fisichella to take a sensational lead.

As the race passed three-quarters distance on lap 55 of 71, Fisichella and Raikkonen were preparing to pit and refuel when Mark Webber had an almighty shunt at 150 mph on the back straight.

Debris was strewn across the track and the safety car was deployed.

More drama was to come. Alonso failed to realise Webber’s accident was in front of him on the circuit and struck one of the loose wheels at 170 mph.

He careered into the tyre barrier, which hurtled the car across the circuit and slammed him into a concrete wall on the other side of the track.

The stewards had no choice but to bring out the red flag just as Fisichella began lap 56, stopping the race. Just eight of the 20 cars were still running at this point.

Confusion Reigns - but a Happy Ending

Wild scenes emerged in the Jordan camp - not only because they thought they had won the race, but because Fisichella’s car had caught fire in the pit-lane.

The fire was quickly dealt with, but their dream result was also quickly extinguished.

When a race is stopped early, the final classification is decided by two full laps before the red flag was issued.

An error on the circuit timings showed that Fisichella was only on lap 55 when the race was stopped, meaning that the win was awarded to Raikkonen - who had been leading two laps earlier.

A bizarre podium ceremony ensued. A bemused Fisichella and delighted Raikkonen were the only attendees as Alonso was taken to hospital for precautionary checks.

Two days later, an investigation was launched as the FIA had concerns about the timekeeping.

It was soon revealed that Fisichella was in fact on lap 56 when the race was stopped, meaning that the race classification was to be taken from lap 54 and the Jordan driver was the true winner.

This was Fisichella’s first-ever win, and it turned out to be the last of four for the Jordan team. It delivered 10 points for the team, who would only score three more across the rest of the season.

Five days after the Brazilian Grand Prix, an unofficial ceremony took place in which Raikkonen and Fisichella traded trophies - concluding a week of total chaos and one of the F1’s most bizarre races.

For more great F1 races, check out our articles on Monaco 1982, Canada 2014 and Brazil 2008!