2003 Japanese Grand Prix

Championship standings

Michael Schumacher leads with 92 points, nine ahead of Räikkönen and ten ahead of Montoya. A maximum of ten points are available. Räikkönen can still win the title, but Schumacher needs only an eighth-place finish to secure the championship — he holds the tiebreaker on wins over Räikkönen, six to one. Räikkönen needs to win and Schumacher to score zero points. Montoya can still finish equal on points with Schumacher but is out of contention due to the tiebreaker, with six wins to Montoya’s two.

Previous race

At Indianapolis, Michael Schumacher won from seventh on the grid in a chaotic, rain-affected race. Räikkönen led from pole for the first 18 laps before the weather unravelled strategies for everyone. Six different drivers led across the 73 laps. Schumacher overtook Button for the race lead on lap 38 and held it to the end. Räikkönen finished second; Frentzen took third for Sauber, his first podium in three years. Montoya finished sixth after a drive-through penalty for colliding with Barrichello on lap three, mathematically eliminating him from title contention. Ferrari retook the Constructors’ Championship lead from Williams with a three-point advantage.

Entrants

Jacques Villeneuve asked to be released by BAR and will not race in Japan. He is replaced by the team’s test driver Takuma Sato, who had already been confirmed as a BAR race driver for 2004 alongside Jenson Button in the days before this race.

Practice

Trulli leads the first session, ahead of Michael Schumacher and Coulthard. Ralf Schumacher leads the second session ahead of Michael and Barrichello. Ralf also leads the third session, in the order Ralf–Montoya–Michael.

Milestones

This is the final race in which launch control and fully-automatic gearboxes are permitted, having been allowed since the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix. Both are banned by the FIA for 2004.