Modern Classics
The British Grand Prix - Silverstone 2003
By David Galton-Fenzi
In this column we’ll take a look at the epic
races of the modern era. Races that were so unforgettable that they deserve to
be retold and re-lived, and to celebrate
this week’s British Grand Prix we’re looking at a Silverstone classic, the day
Rubens made them all look very ordinary.
The Story So Far
I’m sure it doesn’t actually feel that
long ago but we’re going back 9 years here. The Wachowskis (Don’t call them brothers any more...) were ruining everything in 2003 by releasing both Matrix
sequels, and in sports a young Swiss player by the name of Roger Federer had
only just won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. Seems like an age
ago now doesn’t it!
Formula 1 was at war! Well, it was in the midst of a full blown tyre war anyway, waged between the French rubber of Michelin who supplied McLaren and Williams and the Japanese Bridgestone who supplied Ferrari. Since coming back into Formula 1 in 2001, Michelin had struggled to seriously challenge the might and experience of Bridgestone with any consistency. In 2003, for the first time, they had seriously raised their game and cars fitted with their rubber were legitimate contenders, and thank god, because I’d rather have injected the ebola virus straight into my eyeballs than sit through another whitewash championship like the previous one.
How bad was it? Well, after Michael Schumacher
had finished shitting over the entire 2002 schedule, (He finished on the podium
in every race. EVERY FUCKING RACE!) the FIA decided to change the scoring for
all future Grands Prix, with the intention to keep the championship closer for
longer. So instead of the top six drivers scoring, with 10 points for a win,
then 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 for the lesser places, the points now went all the way to
the eighth place finisher; 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
The scoring changes and Michelins improved tyres
worked a treat, and by Silverstone in 2003 the championship had developed into
a four horse race. Obviously Michael Schumacher was involved, gunning for his
fourth straight title (and sixth overall - the greedy bastard!) but Kimi
Raikkonen in his McLaren and the two Williams’ of Juan Montoya and Ralf
Schumacher were pushing him hard, with the standings looking like this;
Pos
|
Driver
|
Points
|
1
|  Michael Schumacher |
64
|
2
|  Kimi Räikkönen |
56
|
3
|  Ralf Schumacher |
53
|
4
|  Juan Pablo Montoya |
47
|
5
|  Rubens Barrichello |
39
|
