2003 Formula One World Championship

• The Arrows team folded several days after the 2002 German Grand Prix due to financial issues without contesting another Grand Prix.
• Jordan switched to using Ford engines for 2003, after their previous suppliers, Honda, opted to focus on their partnership with BAR. Jordan's contract with the Japanese engine manufacturer was due to expire at the end of the 2003 season, but Honda were no longer willing to provide Jordan with free engines. A link-up with, and possible buy-out by, Asiatech was rumoured,[10] although this did not prove to be the case, and, when funding was withdrawn from the company, Asiatech was wound down. Minardi, who had been using Asiatech engines in 2002, switched to Cosworth units for 2003.
• Renault took part in Friday testing sessions. People thought it was odd because not only were they a manufacturer, they would also get fewer testing miles. However, Mike Gascoyne, the technical director for Renault in 2003, said that not only did Renault save money, they also got more testing mileage out of their cars.

• Fernando Alonso, the team's test driver in 2002, was promoted to a full-time drive at Renault, replacing Jenson Button. Button moved to BAR, where he took the seat vacated by the Toyota-bound Olivier Panis. Panis joined Formula One debutant, and reigning CART champion, Cristiano da Matta at the Japanese team, in an all-new lineup for 2003. Allan McNish, one of the drivers replaced at Toyota, signed with Renault as a test driver, while his teammate from 2002, Mika Salo, left Formula One altogether.
• Felipe Massa left his Sauber drive to assume the duties of test driver for Ferrari. His place at Sauber was taken by Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who had replaced Massa on a one-off basis for the United States Grand Prix (by which time Frentzen was already confirmed as a Sauber driver for 2003), after having driven for Arrows before the team's collapse.
• Takuma Sato left the Jordan team to take the place of several others (Anthony Davidson, Darren Manning, Ryo Fukuda and Patrick Lemarié) as the sole test driver for BAR, being replaced by 2002 Formula Nippon champion Ralph Firman.
• Jaguar replaced both Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa for 2003. Their new drivers were Mark Webber, who signed from Minardi, and debutant Antônio Pizzonia, who drove in the International Formula 3000 series in 2002 whilst also performing test driver duties for Williams. Webber's vacated seat at Minardi was filled by Justin Wilson, who had won the International Formula 3000 title in 2001. Alex Yoong's Minardi contract from 2002 was not renewed and he moved to the CART series, albeit only for a brief stint, in 2003. He was replaced at Minardi by Jos Verstappen, who had spent a season on the sidelines after losing his Arrows drive to Heinz-Harald Frentzen in 2002.

Mid-season changes

• Minardi's Justin Wilson joined Jaguar from the German Grand Prix onwards, filling in for the under-performing Antônio Pizzonia, who was offered a test driving role at the team but turned it down. He would later resurface as a test driver at Williams. Wilson's seat at Minardi was taken by the Danish driver Nicolas Kiesa, who joined Formula One from the International Formula 3000 series.
• Ralph Firman suffered injuries as a result of a crash during practice in Hungary. He was replaced by Zsolt Baumgartner for two races before returning to finish the season for Jordan. Baumgartner, another driver who had been competing in the International Formula 3000 series, was the first Hungarian driver to race in Formula One.
• Ralf Schumacher was unable to race in Italy, due to concussion. He was replaced at Williams by Marc Gené, the team's test driver, for that particular race, before returning for the following Grand Prix.
• After a string of disappointing results in 2003, Jacques Villeneuve was replaced at BAR by test driver Takuma Sato for the Japanese Grand Prix. Villeneuve would later drive for Renault in 2004 as a replacement driver, and sign a multi-year contract at Sauber for 2005 (though he was replaced in 2006).

Points were awarded to the top eight finishing drivers and constructors as follows:

Pos Driver AUS MAL BRA SMR ESP AUT MON CAN EUR FRA GBR GER HUN ITA USA JPN Points 1 Michael Schumacher 4 6 Ret 1 1 1 3 1 5 3 4 7 8 1 1 8 93 2 Kimi Räikkönen 3 1 2 2 Ret 2 2 6 Ret 4 3 Ret 2 4 2 2 91 3 Juan Pablo Montoya 2 12 Ret 7 4 Ret 1 3 2 2 2 1 3 2 6 Ret 82 4 Rubens Barrichello Ret 2 Ret 3 3 3 8 5 3 7 1 Ret Ret 3 Ret 1 65 5 Ralf Schumacher 8 4 7 4 5 6 4 2 1 1 9 Ret 4 WD Ret 12 58 6 Fernando Alonso 7 3 3 6 2 Ret 5 4 4 Ret Ret 4 1 8 Ret Ret 55 7 David Coulthard 1 Ret 4 5 Ret 5 7 Ret 15† 5 5 2 5 Ret Ret 3 51 8 Jarno Trulli 5 5 8 13 Ret 8 6 Ret Ret Ret 6 3 7 Ret 4 5 33 9 Jenson Button 10 7 Ret 8 9 4 DNS Ret 7 Ret 8 8 10 Ret Ret 4 17 10 Mark Webber Ret Ret 9† Ret 7 7 Ret 7 6 6 14 11† 6 7 Ret 11 17 11 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 6 9 5 11 Ret DNS Ret Ret 9 12 12 Ret Ret 13† 3 Ret 13 12 Giancarlo Fisichella 12† Ret 1 15† Ret Ret 10 Ret 12 Ret Ret 13† Ret 10 7 Ret 12 13 Cristiano da Matta Ret 11 10 12 6 10 9 11† Ret 11 7 6 11 Ret 9 7 10 14 Nick Heidfeld Ret 8 Ret 10 10 Ret 11 Ret 8 13 17 10 9 9 5 9 6 15 Olivier Panis Ret Ret Ret 9 Ret Ret 13 8 Ret 8 11 5 Ret Ret Ret 10 6 16 Jacques Villeneuve 9 DNS 6 Ret Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret 9 10 9 Ret 6 Ret 6 17 Marc Gené 5 4 18 Takuma Sato 6 3 19 Ralph Firman Ret 10 Ret Ret 8 11 12 Ret 11 15 13 Ret WD Ret 14 1 20 Justin Wilson Ret Ret Ret Ret 11 13 Ret Ret 13 14 16 Ret Ret Ret 8 13 1 21 Antônio Pizzonia 13† Ret Ret 14 Ret 9 Ret 10† 10 10 Ret 0 22 Jos Verstappen 11 13 Ret Ret 12 Ret Ret 9 14 16 15 Ret 12 Ret 10 15 0 23 Nicolas Kiesa 12 13 12 11 16 0 24 Zsolt Baumgartner Ret 11 0 Pos Driver AUS MAL BRA SMR ESP AUT MON CAN EUR FRA GBR GER HUN ITA USA JPN Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Other points position Blue Other classified position Not classified, finished (NC) Purple Not classified, retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Did not enter (cell empty) Text formatting Meaning Bold Pole position Italics Fastest lap

^† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.