Since his debut in Formula 1 in 1996 with Minardi, Giancarlo Fisichella has waited eight seasons before triumphing in a Grand Prix for the first time. And as if waiting and trepidation weren’t enough, for the Roman driver born on January 14, 1973, the award ceremony was postponed to the next circuit due to a mistake by the FIA ​​commissioners .
Yes, because the 2003 Brazilian GP that won the driver who in the meantime passed to Jordan was simply one of the most daring, absurd, potentially dangerous and unpredictable of recent decades . Certainly of the new century.
And on April 6, 2003, the scenario and the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, the third race of the season that has just begun. “Physicist” in the two previous GPs in Australia and Malaysia did not see the checkered flag, having retired before the end of the track. In Brazil it was raining heavily and the final outcome was affected by the team’s decision, dating back to the previous October, to use only one type of wet tire per event . This choice, motivated by the need to cut costs, prompted Michelin and Bridgestone to supply the teams with intermediate tires, characterized by greater versatility, however, these tires proved to be inadequate in the event of heavy rainfall such as those that occurred in the Brazilian race.
Shortly before the start on the Interlagos circuit it began to rain so the start was postponed for a quarter of an hour, in order to wait for the intensity to decrease and the race was started under the safety car. Frentzen, Verstappen, Fisichella, Panis, Pizzonia and Firman took advantage of the situation to refuel while the others continued behind the safety car, which stepped aside after eight laps.
Thus began the show that in the end I count 10 retirements: on lap eight, Nick Heidfeld gave up the engine, while eight laps later Justin Wilson spun and he too was forced to retire . During the 18th lap in the car ofFirman broke the front right suspension without warning and the Irish car, out of control, crashed into Panis’s and both drivers were forced to retire . Montoya, during the 25th lap, went off the track at the Do Sol curve, crashing violently against the barriers. At the same point Pizzonia also went off the track , whose Jaguar hit the Colombian’s car parked on the escape route, and, two laps later, Michael Schumacher .
With a continuous and incessant presence of the safety car, the GP was proceeding in fits and starts. On lap 33, the English BAR driver Jenson Button also went off the track at the Do Sol corner; shortly before, however, Jos Verstappen on Minardi had also retired due to a spin due to a mistake , who at the time was eighth. The Dutch driver had started with a completely full tank of petrol and, as the then owner of the Faenza team Paul Stoddart admitted years later, if he hadn’t made mistakes and had reached the finish line he could have conquered the podium or even the victory. Minardi had in fact planned a race strategy that provided for total chaos deriving from a possible storm.
The race restarts on lap 34, with Coulthard in the lead ahead of Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher, Alonso, Raikkonen and Fisichella. With the track gradually drying up, the Finnish driver was among the quickest to adapt to variable conditions, quickly moving into third position behind Barrichello. The latter recovered ground on Coulthard, putting pressure on the opponent and overtaking him during the 44th pass. Once at the head of the race, Barrichello set the fastest lap in the race, clearly detaching Coulthard, but three laps later the Brazilian driver was forced to retire due to a fuel draft problem.
Coulthard then returned to the lead ahead of Raikkonen, Fisichella, Alonso, Frentzen, Villeneuve, Trulli and Webber: the Scotsman refueled for the last time five laps later, returning to the track in third position. Raikkonen, in crisis with the tires, made a mistake, giving the position to Fisichella and returning to the pits in his turn during the 54th lap. In the meantime, however, Webber lost control of his Jaguar in the last, fast corners leading up to the finish straight, crashing violently into the barriers and littering the track with debris. Alonso, having arrived too quickly in the area of ​​the accident, hit one of the wheels of the Australian’s car, crashing in turn against the protective barriers. The severity of these accidents, in particular that of the Spanish driver who was transported to hospital for investigations, prompted the race direction to display the red flag, stopping the race.
At the moment of the interruption Fisichella, leading the race, had just completed the 55th lap, starting the 56th. According to the regulations, the classification should have been drawn up on the basis of the order of the drivers two laps before the suspension of the race, therefore at the end of the 54th lap. However, due to an error in the timing system, the race direction considered the Grand Prix to be concluded before Fisichella passed under the finish line, thus bringing back the order of arrival on lap 53, when Raikkonen was in command of the race. The Finnish driver was declared the winner, ahead of Fisichella, Alonso, Coulthard, Frentzen, Villeneuve, Webber and Trulli.
Realizing the mistake, the FIA ​​called a meeting at the end of which the correct order of arrival was re-established and Fisichella was proclaimed the winner. The Roman driver, winner for the first time in his career, received the first prize from Raikkonen at the next San Marino Grand Prix.“Fisico” was the first Italian to win an F1 race after eleven years of fasting: the last to do so was Riccardo Patrese at the 1992 Japanese Grand Prix.
