San Marino GP Race Facts

By Andrew Hooper
April 20 2003

 

 

  
San Marino GP Race Facts
 
The Minardi team repairs Jos Verstappen's Minardi and so the Dutchman has to start from the pit lane. Joining him in the pitlane were Ralph Firman and at the end of the parade lap Justin Wilson also came in.

* Lap 1: At the start Ralf Schumacher makes the best start and takes the lead from Michael as the pair head into Tamburello. Behind them Rubens Barrichello is followed by Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen. The big loser is Mark Webber who is slow off the grid and he delays Jacques Villeneuve. This means that behind Raikkonen is Fernando Alonso, Olivier Panis and David Coulthard. He is followed by Nick Heidfeld and Jenson Button. Webber is 11th, Cristiano da Matta 12th and Villeneuve 13th. Antonio Pizzonia's run of bad luck continues and he is left on the grid and starts from the pitlane a lap behind.

* Lap 2: Ralf and Michael battle for the lead with Barrichello right behind them and Montoya lurking in fourth.

* Lap 4: Michael challenges for the lead, the two cars crossing the line side-by-side by Ralf holds on to his advantage.

* Lap 8: The battle has slowed the leaders and so Barrichello and Montoya are right with them. They have pulled clear of Raikkonen, who is fighting with Alonso.

* Lap 11: The pit stops begin with Panis abandoning his seventh place and rejoining back in 16th. It is clear that he is on a three-stop strategy.

* Lap 13: Heidfeld and Da Matta are also on three-stop strategies and pit early.

* Lap 14: Alonso is the first of the two-stop runners to pit. He falls from sixth position down to 11th.

* Lap 15: Webber, who is on a three-stop strategy pits. He goes too quickly in the pit lane and so is given a drive-through penalty. Trulli, on a two-stop strategy, stops and drops back from 10th to 16th.

* Lap 16: Ralf Schumacher goes into the pits (he is on a three-stop strategy) and so Michael Schumacher moves into the lead. Also stopping is Jenson Button who is running in seventh place. He has a longer stop, indicating that he is on a two-stop strategy, and rejoins in 12th position.

* Lap 17: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest lap of the race in an effort to get ahead of his brother when he pits. Barrichello and Montoya both pit. They rejoin in fifth and sixth places.

* Lap 18: Michael stops and manages to emerge ahead of Ralf (indicating that he is on a three-stop strategy). This means that Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard move up to first and second places. Michael is third with Ralf fourth, Barrichello fifth and Montoya sixth. Seventh-placed Villeneuve pits as do ninth placed Giancarlo Fisichella and 10th-placed Frentzen.

* Lap 20: Webber comes in for his drive-through penalty and so drops another place, falling to 12th behind da Matta. Further back Jos Verstappen stops for the first time

* Lap 21: Coulthard is the first McLaren to stop - the team having decided to go for a two-stop strategy. He drops back to sixth position.

* Lap 22: The leader Raikkonen pits and so Michael goes back into the lead. During the pit stop sequence Michael has built a lead of more than six seconds over Ralf. The Williams driver is under pressure from Barrichello but Rubens is unable to find a way past the Ferrari.

* Lap 23: Justin Wilson retires with a mechanical problem

* Lap 26: As Michael Schumacher builds up his lead. Firman stops for the first time, Jordan having opted for a long first stint.

* Lap 27: Panis comes in for a second time and falls from eighth place to 13th.

* Lap 28: Da Matta follows his team mate into the pits and drops from 10th to 14th.

* Lap 30: Montoya has his second pit stop but there is a problem with his refuelling rig. He is forced to return to the pits on lap 32. This means that he falls from fifth to eighth. Heidfeld has his second stop and falls from ninth to 12th.

* Lap 31: Ralf has his second pit stop. He falls behind Barrichello and Raikkonen. Webber comes in for his second stop.

* Lap 32: Fisichella overtakes Da Matta to move to 14th position.

* Lap 33: Barrichello pits but comes out still behind Ralf Schumacher. Raikkonen is now ahead of both of them

* Lap 34: Michael has his second stop and gets out in the lead although Raikkonen is right with him and attacking hard. The two are working their way through traffic and so the gap fluctuates in the laps that follow. Further back Fisichella and Trulli clash and the Jordan driver falls back behind Da Matta.

* Lap 37: Seventh-placed Button pits and rejoins in ninth place.

* Lap 39: Sixth-placed Alonso comes in for his second stop and so falls behind Montoya.

* Lap 40: The midfield battle is still intense and so when Frentzen pits he drops from eighth to 13th. Further back Trulli falls from 13th to 15th, his two-stop strategy obviously not working well. At the back of the field Jos Verstappen pulls off and retires.

* Lap 43: Panis stops for a third time and falls from ninth to 11th.

* Lap 44: Raikkonen finally comes into the pits for his second stop he falls behind Ralf and Barrichello but will not stop again.

* Lap 45: Michael Schumacher is no longer under pressure and runs wide at Rivazza. Coulthard comes in for his second stop and rejoins behind Raikkonen. Also stopping is Heidfeld who is running ninth. He rejoins back in 11th. Da Matta also completes his third stop but the strategy is not very successful and so he falls from 12th to 14th.

* Lap 47: Webber has his third stop (and fourth visit to the pits). He holds on to ninth position.

* Lap 48: Ralf Schumacher's final pit stop drops him behind Barrichello and Raikkonen.

* Lap 49: Michael Schumacher stops again. When he rejoins he lets Barrichello go ahead for a lap. Also stopping is Montoya in sixth place. He falls back to seventh.

* Lap 50: Barrichello comes in but his stop is slow because of a wheel problem. he rejoins behind Ralf Schumacher (again).

* Lap 52: Barrichello forces his way past Ralf by maintaining his momentum better as the pair accelerate out of the final corner. Down at the back of the field Firman goes off with a clutch problem.

* Lap 54: Webber slows and goes into the pits to retire with a mechanical problem.

* Lap 58: Fisichella goes out with a blown engine.

* Lap 62: The race ends with victory for Michael Schumacher over Kimi Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello. Ralf Schumacher is fourth with Coulthard fifth, Alonso sixth and Montoya seventh. Everyone else is lapped by Button gets the last point for eighth place.
 
 
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