2003 Season

The 2003 FIA Formula One World Championship is the 57th season of Formula One motor racing. It features sixteen races, commencing on 9 March in Australia and concluding on 12 October in Japan. Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari are the defending World Drivers’ and Constructors’ champions, respectively.

Team changes

Arrows, which failed to complete the 2002 season due to financial difficulties, had their application for the 2003 championship rejected by the FIA without explanation. The team subsequently folded after 25 years in Formula One. Jordan switches to Ford-branded Cosworth engines for 2003; their previous supplier Honda opted to focus on their partnership with BAR, and the relationship’s contract — due to expire at the end of 2003 — was ended early when Honda declined to continue providing Jordan with free engines. Minardi, which had been using Asiatech engines in 2002, also switches to Cosworth after Asiatech was wound down when its funding was withdrawn.

Driver changes

Fernando Alonso, who served as Renault’s test driver in 2002, is promoted to a full-time race seat, replacing Jenson Button. Button moves to BAR, filling the vacancy left by Olivier Panis, who joins Toyota alongside the team’s other new signing Cristiano da Matta, the reigning CART champion. Da Matta and Panis replace Toyota’s entire 2002 lineup: Allan McNish moves to Renault as test driver and Mika Salo leaves Formula One altogether.

Felipe Massa leaves Sauber to take up a test driver role at Ferrari. His seat is filled by Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who had already driven for Sauber on a one-off basis at the 2002 United States Grand Prix before being confirmed as a full-time driver for 2003. Frentzen had previously driven for Arrows before that team’s collapse.

Takuma Sato departs Jordan for BAR as their sole test driver, replacing several others including Anthony Davidson. His Jordan seat goes to Ralph Firman, the 2002 Formula Nippon champion.

Jaguar replaces both Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa. Mark Webber joins from Minardi and debutant Antônio Pizzonia — who raced in International Formula 3000 in 2002 while also serving as a Williams test driver — takes the second seat. Webber’s Minardi seat goes to Justin Wilson, winner of the 2001 International Formula 3000 title. Alex Yoong, whose Minardi contract was not renewed, moves to CART. His seat is taken by Jos Verstappen, who had spent a season on the sidelines after losing his Arrows drive in 2002.

Calendar

The season runs over sixteen races. The Belgian Grand Prix, which had been scheduled for 31 August, was cancelled due to a dispute over tobacco advertising, even though multiple other races on the calendar continue without such restrictions.

Regulation changes

The HANS (Head and Neck Support) device becomes mandatory for all Formula One competitors from this season, following its approval by the FIA World Motor Sport Council in June 2002. The requirement is not without controversy; several drivers including Rubens Barrichello, Jacques Villeneuve, Justin Wilson and Nick Heidfeld have voiced objections.

Team orders that interfere with a race result are prohibited from 2003 onward, a direct response to Ferrari’s 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, in which Barrichello was ordered to yield victory to Michael Schumacher.

A completely revised qualifying format is introduced. On Friday, drivers run a single timed lap in championship order (leader first); on Saturday, they run again in reverse order of Friday times (slowest first, fastest last). The Saturday times set the grid. Drivers must start the race on the fuel load and tyres from their Saturday qualifying run, and cars enter parc fermé immediately after Saturday qualifying, preventing significant setup changes before the race. The Sunday morning warm-up session is abolished.

Optional Friday testing at Grand Prix weekends is introduced for teams that agree to limit their stand-alone test days. This is intended to give smaller teams a cheaper alternative to the private tests that are to be banned in 2004.

The points system is expanded from 10–6–4–3–2–1 for the top six to 10–8–6–5–4–3–2–1 for the top eight, intended to keep the championship alive longer and reward consistent midfield performers.

Only one type of wet-weather tyre compound is permitted per race, a cost-reduction measure that applies to both tyre suppliers Bridgestone and Michelin.

Hydraulic power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering becomes mandatory for all entrants, as manual systems were deemed too physically demanding in slow-speed corners.

2003 is the third and final season in which fully-automatic gearboxes and launch control are permitted. Both systems have been allowed since the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix; the FIA will ban them for 2004 (though the traction control ban is ultimately delayed until 2008).