2003 United States GP: Schumacher masters the Indianapolis rain

At the 2003 United States GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Michael Schumacher drove his Ferrari from grid position 7 to victory. Behind him, Kimi Räikkönen in the McLaren and Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Sauber crossed the line. Several rain showers decided the race, and whoever picked the right tyre at the right moment won. Schumacher and the Bridgestone wet tyres coped with that best.

Räikkönen led from pole position, and behind him things were unsettled straight away. Olivier Panis in the Toyota passed Rubens Barrichello, who according to Wikipedia was struggling with a gearshift problem. Schumacher gained three places on the opening lap and was running fourth afterwards.

On the third lap, Juan Pablo Montoya in the Williams and Barrichello went into turn two side by side. Montoya's front wheel touched the rear of the Ferrari, and Barrichello ended up in the gravel. His race was over after two laps, officially because of a collision. The stewards reviewed the incident and gave Montoya a drive-through penalty, which he served on lap 22 according to Wikipedia. That hurt all the more because Montoya was still in the title fight. He lost further time when the refuelling rig jammed at his first stop and the backup rig had to step in.

It had already rained before the start, and at one point hail even came down. All the drivers still started on dry tyres. Light rain began on the second lap and grew heavier, then from lap 8 the track started to dry out again. Panis was the first front-runner to switch to intermediates, but he moved too early.

In this phase the Michelin teams were in front, and Räikkönen led the first 18 laps. From lap 18 the rain returned, harder this time, and it only eased around lap 28. Now the Bridgestone wet tyres were clearly superior. Apart from Schumacher, the main beneficiaries were Jenson Button in the BAR and Frentzen, who had both switched to wet tyres in time. Schumacher, by contrast, had initially stayed out on dry tyres and took intermediates on lap 22. Michelin's motorsport director later admitted that the manufacturer had work to do on its wet tyres.

With so many pit stops, the lead kept changing hands. Schumacher led for one lap, then Mark Webber in the Jaguar for two laps and David Coulthard for one lap. From lap 23 Button was in front. According to Crash.net, it was the first time he had ever led a Grand Prix.

On the wet asphalt, Schumacher worked his way past Frentzen and Button and took the lead on lap 38. Shortly afterwards Button's race was over: he had lost hydraulic pressure, and an engine failure followed. According to Wikipedia, Button called it the “worst feeling” of his career.

As the track dried out again, Schumacher pitted for fuel and dry tyres. Frentzen led for one lap during that stop, then the Ferrari was back in front and stayed there to the flag. Räikkönen had lost a lot of ground in the rain. Once the track was dry he was quick again, passing Nick Heidfeld and then Frentzen on lap 55. He could not get back to Schumacher, though: according to Wikipedia, the gap at the finish was 18.258 seconds. Frentzen finished third, 37.964 seconds down. It was Schumacher's sixth win of the season.

Of 20 starters, only eleven saw the chequered flag. The key retirements:

• Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), after 2 laps: collision with Montoya.
• Ralf Schumacher (Williams), after 21 laps: accident. According to Wikipedia and Crash.net, he ran onto the wet grass on dry tyres and hit the tyre barrier.
• Mark Webber (Jaguar), after 21 laps: accident. According to Wikipedia, his visor had fogged up and he slid off on dry tyres at turn eight.
• Olivier Panis (Toyota), after 27 laps: crashed into the tyre barrier at turn seven.
• Jenson Button (BAR), after 41 laps: engine failure while in a promising position.
• Fernando Alonso (Renault), after 44 laps: engine failure.
• David Coulthard (McLaren), after 45 laps: gearbox failure.
• Ralph Firman (Jordan), after 48 laps: spun off the track.
• Jacques Villeneuve (BAR), after 63 laps: engine failure, with white smoke pouring from the rear according to Crash.net.

Sauber were the big winners. Frentzen gained twelve places, going from grid position 15 to the podium, and Heidfeld climbed from grid position 13 to fifth. Frentzen's timely switch to wet tyres paid off. It was his first podium since the 2000 United States GP, and as it turned out, it would be his last in Formula 1.

It was also a good day for Giancarlo Fisichella (Jordan), who worked his way up from grid position 17 to seventh, a gain of ten places. Justin Wilson (Jaguar) scored his first championship point in eighth. Jarno Trulli (Renault) finished fourth, six places up on his grid position. Cristiano da Matta (Toyota) finished exactly where he started, in ninth. For Minardi, Jos Verstappen and Nicolas Kiesa made it to the finish in tenth and eleventh.

The losers included Barrichello, who started from grid position 2 and was out after just two laps, and Panis, who started from grid position 3, switched to intermediates too early and later crashed. Montoya took the hardest blow in the title fight: he started fourth and finished only sixth, a lap down.

In the 2003 standings, Schumacher led after the race with 92 points, ahead of Räikkönen on 83 and Montoya on 82. Going into the final race in Japan, a win was worth ten points, so a single point at Suzuka would be enough for Schumacher's sixth title. Montoya no longer had a chance: even a win would only have taken him to 92 points, and in a tie Schumacher would have been ahead on number of wins. Ralf Schumacher (58), Barrichello (55) and Alonso (55) were out of the running.

In the constructors' standings, Ferrari retook the lead with 147 points, three points ahead of Williams, with McLaren next on 128 points. Third and fifth place lifted Sauber to 19 points and fifth position, ahead of BAR and Jaguar on 18 points each.

That was how the rainy day at Indianapolis ended: Ferrari went into the finale as title favourites once again. Schumacher needed just one more point to beat the record of five world titles, which Juan Manuel Fangio held alone at the time.