Race Report

Michael Schumacher took his second consecutive victory in Barcelona to give the brand new Ferrari F2003-GA a debut victory, and, with World Championship leader Kimi Raikkonen failing to score points, close up on the Finn in the title race. The F2003-GA becomes the fifth consecutive Ferrari to win on its debut, but the expected dominance of the new car failed to materialise and Schumacher was pushed all the way to the line by Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard, in front of his home crowd, eventually came home second, five seconds back on the German, to the delight of the 100,000 strong home crowd.

At the green light Kimi Raikkonen, starting from the back of the grid after failing to set a time during qualifying, ran straight into the back of Antonio Pizzonia's Jaguar which had stalled, eliminating the points leader immediately. McLaren's poor showing was completed when David Coulthard retired after a brush with Jenson Button on lap 17.

Schumacher withstood pressure from Barrichello at the start to lead round the first lap until the safety car was deployed. The Brazilian soon had to turn his attention to fending off Alonso but at the first round of pitstops the Renault driver got past and pressurised Schumacher all the way to the finish.

Barrichello eventually claimed the final podium slot. A long way adrift came the Williams pair of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, the teams decision to opt for a two stop strategy instead of everyone else's three failing to pay off. Toyota's Christiano da Matta took sixth, Mark Webber clinched Jaguar's first points of the season with seventh, while Ralph Firman followed him hme to claim his first ever F1 point.

It was the second win of the season for Ferrari and for Michael Schumacher. This was Ferari's eighth victory in the Spanish Grand Prix and the 161st from 675 races. It is also Michael's fifth win (the third in a row) in this race and the 66th of his career. 

Jean Todt

"It was a great day. We have won with Michael and come third with Rubens on the race debut of the F2003-GA. It was a race where our rivals produced a very competitive total car, driver and tyre package. Today, we knew it would be vital to get both cars to the finish and to do so obtaining almost the perfect result was important, as it allowed us to close up the gap considerably, having lost ground in the first three races. On those occasions, we had not been able to make the most of our potential, at least in terms of the results." 

"The sixteen points we have picked up here are the result of a great job from a fantastic group of people, an extraordinary car and two great drivers. It was down to teamwork and also thanks to our partners, including Bridgestone, Shell and Magneti Marelli. We still have eleven races ahead of us, when it will be vital for both our cars to finish in the points, given the new points system. We will be back at work from tomorrow to prepare for the next round and to further develop the F2003-GA. For tonight we can enjoy the moment." 

Michael Schumacher

"This was a perfect day for the championship and for the new car. I am very happy and must thank the team for their 100% effort. At the first corner, I did not expect Rubens on the outside and I moved over the inside kerb and slid a bit and thought we might touch. I am not sure if we did or not. But that is racing and it is supposed to be a competition. The win was not as easy as it looked. We had expected a very tough fight after seeing the lap times on the first two days and that is how it turned out." 

"My tyres performed very well at the beginning of each stint, but towards the end their performance dropped off a bit. But towards the end of the race, the longer I was out on the track, the better the situation became and the tyres were more consistent again. I really love this new car which is fantastic and it was the right decision to bring it as, today, I am not sure we would have won with the old one.' 

Rubens Barrichello

"I have never been so close to Michael as I was at the first corner! I had to try and get ahead of Fernando again and then when I saw Michael protecting his line on the inside, I felt I had to give it a go on the outside. I did get slightly ahead, but then I went on the grass and had to back off. My tyres were good for the first five to ten laps of each stint, but after that I could not maintain my pace. That is why Fernando managed to pull away, because when I should have been pushing to pass the five cars which were racing one another, I was struggling a bit. I made some changes to the settings from the cockpit and during the last pit stop, the team changed the front wing settings. The car was much better after that, which is proved by the fact I set the fastest lap, but by then it was too late to catch up." 

Ross Brawn

"That was a fantastic debut for the new car, especially as it is never easy for the mechanics to adapt to a new car after the season has started. It was a tough weekend for them and they worked very well to make this result possible. It was a very tough race and very good for us in terms of the championships, as we have managed to close up the gap to the leaders in both of them." 

Michael Schumacher 1st  1:33.46.933 65 laps F2003-GA chassis 229 
Rubens Barrichello 3rd + 18.001 65 laps  F2003-GA chassis 228