It’s never great when an F1 Grand Prix has ten drivers retire, and so it’s safe to say that the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix can be classified as a chaotic one.
In front of roughly 120,000 spectators, a soaked Interlagos played host to a series of crashes, and a race that began with eight safety car laps.
A few prominent figures were involved in the ensuing aquaplaning, like as Jenson Button, whose erratic relationship with Interlagos helped him go on to win the incredible Formula One Championship with Brawn GP, but who was also shot at when returning to his hotel from qualifying.
Michael Schumacher of Ferrari also crashed out, leading to his first non-finish in more than two years at the time. But Mark Webber’s crash was the only one to match Alonso’s.
Webber decided to catch up to David Coulthard as he was approaching the pits, but he lost control on the main straight and damaged his to the extent that it appeared to be a lump without wheels. Alonso missed seeing a wheel that belonged to Webber.
It was Alonso however who really stole the show, smashing into the tire and then into a tire sidewall, leaving him with a bruised left elbow, knee and thigh and being observed in room 1114 of the Saint Louis Hospital in Sao Paolo.
He said: “I am lucky to have got off so lightly. The impact was massive. It all went too quickly. From the third corner onward, I had seen the yellow flags and the sign telling me that the safety car was coming out.”
“But, at that moment, there were yellow flags all around the circuit. I was careful, but I didn’t expect there to be as much debris.
“I couldn’t avoid a tire in the middle of the track. I remember hurtling towards the wall. The first impact was very hard. Many people have sent me their best wishes.”
With over three-quarters of the race done, the result was declared, with a young Kimi Raikkonen leading the way. The controversy on the track continued off it, however.
Giancarlo Fisichella’s Jordan which was in second place on lap 53, had overheated due to it slowly trudging along behind a safety car, and stunningly burst into flames as it returned to the pits.
Raikkonen took the winner’s trophy home but five days later it was successfully argued that the Italian was actually ten seconds into his 56th lap when the red flag came out and therefore the result should be based on the standings after 54 laps, when Fisichella was ahead of Raikkonen by 0.9 of a second.
After the matter went to court, Fisichella was eventually given his victory back, and even though he was not present at the ceremony, he managed to grab hold of the trophy two weeks later at the San Marino Grand Prix, expressing his satisfaction with not being able to celebrate on the podium.
It is to be hoped that this weekend’s event may be every bit as thrilling as the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix.
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