2003 Australian Grand Prix

Entrants

Four drivers make their Formula One debut this weekend. Cristiano da Matta, the reigning CART FedEx champion, joins Toyota alongside Olivier Panis, replacing the entire 2002 lineup of Allan McNish and Mika Salo. At Minardi, Justin Wilson — the 2001 International Formula 3000 champion — partners Jos Verstappen. Antônio Pizzonia joins Jaguar alongside Mark Webber; Pizzonia raced in International Formula 3000 in 2002 while serving as a Williams test driver. Ralph Firman, the 2002 Formula Nippon champion, replaces Takuma Sato at Jordan.

The track’s mesh barriers have been raised from 2.5 m to 4.75 m following marshal Graham Beveridge’s death in an accident during the 2001 race.

Michael Schumacher described the competition he expects this season: “It will automatically become harder because other teams hadn’t done a great job last year, and I am pretty sure they will do a much better job this year and therefore competition will become harder.”

Both Ferrari and McLaren delay the debut of their new cars. Ferrari races the F2002B — a redesigned version of last year’s car — while McLaren fields the drastically altered MP4-17D, featuring a completely new rear end and revised aerodynamics at both ends. The new Williams FW25 differs significantly from the car used in winter testing; the gearbox and rear suspension developed during testing are fitted, while the solution originally planned for the FW25 is temporarily set aside.

Practice

The first practice session runs in dry, hot conditions. Kimi Räikkönen sets the fastest lap, 0.479 seconds ahead of teammate David Coulthard. Several engine failures strike the BAR cars of Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button in the opening session; Villeneuve’s fire from the cockpit — Giancarlo Fisichella’s fuel pump also fails.

Saturday morning practice runs on a slick, dirty track after overnight rain. Jenson Button leads the session. Michael Schumacher loses control at Ascari, removing the nose cone and left-front wheel against the barrier. Räikkönen crashes heavily at the fast right-hand Whiteford corner with ten minutes remaining, severely damaging his car’s left-front corner; officials stop the session for nine minutes. Villeneuve also stops at the session end with a hydraulic failure.

Jarno Trulli leads the final practice session. Räikkönen sits it out while McLaren repairs his car from the Saturday crash. Coulthard suffers a right-rear puncture and a fuel pump failure at the pit lane entry.