2003 British Grand Prix
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The 2003 British Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on July 20 at the Silverstone Circuit.
It was won by polesitter Rubens Barrichello but is probably most well-known for a track invasion by the now-defrocked priest Neil Horan, who ran along Hangar straight, running opposite to the 280 km/h train of cars, wearing a saffron kilt and waving religious banners. <ref name=BBC1> Legard, Jonathan. "A very British curse", BBC Sports, July 20, 2003. Retrieved on August 26, 2006. (in English)</ref>
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[edit] Race report
The race began with Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello on pole, alongside Renault F1's Jarno Trulli. Kimi Räikkönen of McLaren-Mercedes started from third, while world champion and championship leader Michael Schumacher started from fifth. Barrichello made a poor start, allowing both Trulli and Raikkonen past on an incident-free first lap. Ralf and Michael Schumacher retained their starting positions of fourth and fifth. On the sixth lap, the headrest of David Coulthard dislodged while traversing the first corner (Copse), forcing him to pit for a replacement under safety regulations, and causing a safety car period to allow marshals to clear the track. Upon the resumption of green flag racing, Barrichello closed the gap to Raikkonen before passing him on lap 11. On the following lap, Horan invaded the circuit and another safety car period was necessitated. As it was close to the period when the drivers would be making their scheduled pit stops, the vast majority of cars decided to pit under the safety car. The second placed cars from the respective teams were forced to queue up in the pit lane waiting for service, causing them to drop many places. Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Juan Pablo Montoya were all outside of the top ten. Of the leading contenders, Trulli was in fourth place while both Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher had jumped Barrichello when in the pits.
The Toyotas of Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis – who had opted not to pit – were leading, while Coulthard was in third, having not required a pit stop after his earlier unscheduled headrest replacement. Raikkonen passed Trulli immediately after the restart before clearing team-mate Coulthard on the same lap. Barrichello then passed a slowing Ralf Schumacher on the 17th lap while Raikkonen also passed Panis before chasing down the leading da Matta. Ralf Schumacher was forced to pit after encountering difficulties, while at the same time Michael Schumacher was unable to pass Alonso. By the 26th lap Barrichello was still trying to pass Trulli, and the two leaders continued to extend their lead. Barrichello and Montoya eventually pass Trulli by the edn of the 27th lap, before Panis fell victim to both on the 29th. Da Matta eventually ceded the lead after pitting on the 30th lap to Raikkonen. Barrichello then set the fastest lap after being cleared of traffic, taking the lead after Raikkonen pitted for the second time. Barrichello continued to cut the advantage, but Raikkonen regained the lead with a reduced margin following the Brazilian's second stop. After closing in, Barrichello passed Raikkonen after pressuring him into a mistake. Michael Schumacher eventually passed Trulli on the 46th lap, but an unforced error by Raikkonen allowed Montoya to seize second position. In the closing phase of the race, Coulthard passes both da Matta and Trulli to earn fifth place. <ref name=BBC2> Benson, Andrew. "Silverstone joy for Barrichello", BBC Sports, July 20, 2003. Retrieved on August 26, 2006. (in English)</ref> <ref name=BBC3>"Lapwatch: British GP", BBC Sports, July 20, 2003. Retrieved on August 26, 2006. (in English)</ref>
[edit] Track invasion
On the 11th lap, as the procession of cars exited the Becketts corner onto the Hangar straight, Horan cleared the fence wearing a kilt, waving banners with statements "Read the bible" and "The Bible is always right" <ref name=NewSeekers>"The new seekers", BBC Sports, November 5, 2003. Retrieved on August 26, 2006. (in English)</ref> and ran towards the sequence of cars, forcing several cars to swerve to avoid him. This instigated a second safety car period. He eventually returned to the grass runoff area at the side of the track after the cars had passed for the lap, and was stopped by a track marshal.
He was later charged with aggravated trespass and pleaded guilty in a Northampton court, <ref>"Ex-priest admits Grand Prix invasion", BBC Sports, August 11, 2003. Retrieved on August 26, 2006. (in English) </ref>stating that he took the open gate as a sign from God, although the prosecution contended that his act was premeditated as he had already prepared the banners prior to attending the Grand Prix. He was later jailed for two months.<ref name=NewSeekers/>
The race lead to fears that Formula One bosses Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone, who had been highly critical of the media and corporate facilities of Silverstone, would use the incident to drop the race from the Formula One calendar, with Ecclestone saying "It wasn't necessary - the race was exciting enough without it. But the security wasn't good enough". However, drivers and team officials defended the circuit, with Montoya stating "This was one of the best races of the year, even with the spectator. It was so much fun today," and Sauber boss Peter Sauber stated "When a man sets himself on fire in the street in Paris, no one blames Paris", while McLaren-Mercedes boss Ron Dennis said "There is no way you can prevent it happening". <ref>Benson, Andrew. "Ex-priest admits Grand Prix invasion", BBC Sports, July 20, 2003. Retrieved on August 26, 2006. (in English)</ref>
[edit] Classification
[edit] Notes
- Fastest Lap: Rubens Barrichello 1:22.236
[edit] References
| Previous race: 2003 French Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship, 2003 season | Next race: 2003 German Grand Prix |
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id:Grand Prix F1 Inggris 2003 pt:Grande Prêmio da Inglaterra de 2003 (Fórmula 1) sv:Storbritanniens Grand Prix 2003
