By role
July 21 2003

The race started great for Renault as Trulli was able to overtake barrichello for the lead a t the start. He then went to set some fast laps in order to open a gap with raikkonen that was charging towards the Italian. Alonso was also able to overtake Montoya and Da Matta and was pressing hard on Michael Schumacher to take the fifth place.

However, Michael closed the gate on the last second and Alonso had to step with his tyres on the grass.

The loss of speed meant that Montoya was able to overtake Alonso to put him on 7th.

Trulli was running a great race on front gaining seconds from second place Raikkonen when some problems on the car of David Coulthard running 9th brought the Safety Car for the first time.

Only Da Matta and Coulthard pitted in this stop and Trulli saw how his first lead in time was lost right away.

When the race continued Trulli was still at the front with Alonso running 6th behind Montoya.

Then an intruder came and that was the loss of the Renault F1 team. The protester, that was carrying signs urging people to read the bible, could have caused a big accident and therefore the safety car was deployed for the second and final time.

This meant all cars getting on pits except for those who had pitted earlier. Trulli pitted first and rejoined on 4th but Alonso had to wait on line until his teammate had been serviced what meant that he rejoined the track 14th, just behind Montoya and ahead of Michael Schumacher.

The second set of tyres were not going to give Trulli the result he had expected and he paid it dearly with lack of pace:

"Mixed feelings for me at the end of this race: on the positive side, I scored three more points, but it’s a disappointing result given where I qualified. The car was perfect at the start of the race, and I was pulling away from Raikkonen, but both safety car periods cost me. After my first stop, the car’s handling changed, and I lost grip all the way round the circuit. I was pushing all the way through the race, and had to fight hard to defend my position: it was right on the limit a few items, but always fair. Overall, I am not sure whether to be satisfied or disappointed." Said Trulli.

Alonso then started a big come back overtaking Firman and Villeneuve and chasing his teammate Trulli before the Italian went into the second pitstop.

On lap 38 Alonso went for his second pit stop while running 3rd and he should have rejoin the track in front of his teammate. Unfortunately, his engine stalled because an electronics problem and that meant that he had to rejoin 12th and with little chance to challenge for a podium position.

The stop also meant that he had to race without traction control and with manual shifting. It also was going to be the reason for him to retire on lap 51:

"I was unfortunate not to complete the race, because I think I would have finished in a strong position. The car was handling well, and I felt I made the right tyre choice. At my second stop, the idle speed of the engine was very low, and it stalled. The mechanics pushed me to get the car going again, and then I had to drive without traction control: it was a little uncomfortable, but I was quite quick even so.” Said the Spaniard.

Meanwhile Trulli was fighting hard to maintain Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard behind but the problems with his tyres meant that he had to settle for 6th at the end of the action packed race.

The race was won by Rubens Barrichello who had a great afternoon and was able to challenge and overtake Raikkonen. Second was Juan Pablo Montoya who also had to overtake a slower than usual Raikkonen. The Finn finished 3rd to keep his Championship hopes alive as Michael Schumacher finished 4th just ahead of David Coulthard on 5th and Trulli on 6th.

The final 2 scoring positions were for Cristiano da Matta that had lead early on in the race and for Jenson Button.

All in all a great race that could have seen the Renault in a better position. The bet of Trulli in his choice of tyres paid its dividends on the qualifying but not in the race where his tyres where having troubles unlike Alonso's tyre compound, that was harder but much more consistent.