Race detailsDate16 November 2003LocationGuia Circuit, MacauCourseTemporary street circuitDistance25 laps, First legPoleDriverTime2:13.016Fastest LapDriverTime2:13.381PodiumFirst James CourtneyTOM'SSecond Nicolas LapierreSignature TeamThird Richard AntinucciHitech RacingSecond legDriverFastest LapDriverTime2:12.937PodiumFirst Nicolas LapierreSignature TeamSecond Fábio CarboneSignature TeamThird Katsuyuki HiranakaPrema Powerteam The 2003 Macau Grand Prix (formally the 50th Macau Grand Prix) was a Formula Three (F3) motor race held on the streets of Macau on 16 November 2003. Unlike other races, such as the Masters of Formula 3, the 2003 Macau Grand Prix was not a part of any F3 championship, but was open to entries from all F3 championships. The race was divided into two legs: the first leg, which lasted ten laps, was held in the morning. The afternoon leg lasted fifteen laps. The driver who completed all 25 laps in the shortest time was declared the overall winner. The 2003 event was the 50th Macau Grand Prix and the 21st for F3 cars.
Nicolas Lapierre of Signature Plus won the event after finishing second in the first leg, which was won by James Courtney of TOM'S. Four laps from the finish, Lapierre took the lead after Courtney suffered a puncture running over carbon fibre debris and crashed into the wall at the Melco hairpin. Lapierre became the first rookie to win in Macau since David Coulthard in 1991. Fábio Carbone's sister Signature Plus car finished second and Prema Powerteam's Katsuyuki Hiranaka was third.
Background and entry list The Macau Grand Prix is a Formula Three (F3) race that has been dubbed the territory's most prestigious international sporting event and a stepping stone to higher motorsport categories such as Formula One. The 2003 Macau Grand Prix was the race's 50th edition and the 21st to be held to F3 rules. It took place on the 22-turn Guia Circuit on 16 November 2003 with three preceding days of practice and qualifying.
Drivers were required to compete in a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)-regulated championship race during the calendar year, either in the Formula 3 Euro Series or one of the domestic championships, with the highest-placed drivers receiving priority in receiving an invitation to the race. Three of the four major F3 series were represented on the Macau 30-car grid by their respective champions. Ryan Briscoe, the F3 Euro Series champion, was joined in Macau by Japanese F3 series winner James Courtney and Italian champion Fausto Ippoliti. The best ranked British F3 Championship representative was Nelson Piquet Jr. and he was joined by its scholarship champion E. J. Viso. Race organisers invited five drivers from outside of F3 to enter the race. They were Lewis Hamilton, the Formula Renault 2.0 UK champion, who had been entered after improving his performance at the British series round at Brands Hatch. World Series by Nissan driver Narain Karthikeyan and Macau natives Lei Kit Meng, Michael Ho and Jo Merszei.
Practice and qualifying There were two one-hour practice sessions preceding Sunday's race: one on Thursday morning and one on Friday morning. Courtney, a pre-race favourite, lapped fastest early in the first practice session at 2:14.724, 0.744 seconds quicker than Pierre Kaffer in second. Richard Antinucci, Tatsuya Kataoka, Karthikeyan, Fábio Carbone, Briscoe, Katsuyuki Hiranaka, Robert Kubica and Paolo Montin made up positions three through ten. Three incidents occurred during the session. Hamilton collided with Kataoka at Fisherman's Bend corner and spun into a barrier. Marco Bonanomi hit a wall at Dona Maria Bend corner and Fairuz Fauzy braked too late for Lisboa turn and struck the barrier.
Qualifying was divided into two 45-minute sessions; the first was held on Thursday afternoon, and the second on Friday afternoon. Each driver's fastest time from either session was used to determine their starting position for Sunday's race. The first qualifying session was delayed by 35 minutes due to an incident during practice for the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race in which an unknown driver dented an Armco barrier at the pit lane exit, requiring course officials to repair it. When the session did start in overcast but warm weather, several drivers occupied provisional pole position, until Courtney avoided using new tyres to go fastest at 2:13.232. Carbone was six-tenths of a second behind in second after leading for much of the session. Kaffer was consistently in the top four and was provisionally third. Kataoka took fourth and Robert Doornbos fifth. Nicolas Lapierre took sixth after correcting a ride height issue that had slowed him in practice, ahead of Montin and Piquet. Karthikeyan and César Campaniço were ninth and tenth. Antinucci was the fastest driver who did not enter the top ten, after briefly holding provisional pole. Following Antinucci were Nico Rosberg, Álvaro Parente and Hiranaka. Briscoe was 15th after failing to replicate a faster pace. Fauzy, Pedro Barral, Andrew Thompson, Hamilton, Ronnie Quintarelli. Danny Watts, Viso, Naoki Yokomizo, Bonanomi, Ho, Rob Austin, Hiroki Yoshimoto, Kubica, Lei and Merszei completed the order. The session was disrupted with two red flags as some drivers ventured off the track. Viso spun on the approach to Police Bend and landed sideways on a narrow section of track. Kubica was nearby and attempted to avoid Viso, but he hit the wall and ricocheted off his nose cone. As a result, the circuit became impassable, and the session was halted to allow officials to move the damaged cars. The second stoppage came after Barral spun entering the Melco hairpin and blocked the track. Yellow flags were later needed at the R-Bend turn after Piquet removed his left-rear wheel striking the wall.
In the second half an hour practice session, Courtney lapped fastest at 2:13.566, three-tenths of a second ahead of Antinucci. Kataoka, Lapierre, Doornbos, Montin, Rosberg, Kaffer, Yoshimoto and Carbone placed third through tenth. The session's first stoppage happened when Austin had an accident and Yokomizo crashed heavily at San Francisco Bend corner. Piquet, Barral, Briscoe and Hiranaka also sustained car damage.
The start of the second qualifying session was delayed by 25 minutes due to multiple incidents and crashes in second practice and qualifying for the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race. When it did start, most drivers saved two sets of tyres for Sunday's race but nobody went faster early on. Although heavy traffic prevented Courtney from going laster, he maintained pole position until Carbone took it late on with a 2:13.016 lap. However, Carbone's session ended early spinning into the wall at San Francisco Bend corner trying to lap quicker. Briscoe pushed hard and joined Carbone on the grid's front row despite replacing a wishbone on his suspension after spinning into a barrier at Fisherman's Bend early on. Courtney dropped to third after a gear ratio change slowed him. Lapierre improved to fourth while Kaffer fell to fifth. Antinucci also went faster and gained five places to qualify sixth despite going off at Lisboa turn. Rosberg, seventh, clipped the wall at Police bend. Kataoka was eighth and Montin ninth. Doornbos crashed at Lisboa corner and fell five places to tenth. Parente, Fauzy, Piquet, Kubica, Campaniço, Watts, Karthikeyan, Hamilton, Yoshimoto, Quintarelli, Thompson, Barral, Hiranaka, Viso, Austin, Ho, Yokomizo, Bonanomi, Lei and Merszei completed the starting order. Another major incident occurred during the session, as other drivers went off the track: the ill Karthiekyan could not control his car and pulled over at Police bend.
Qualifying classification Each of the driver's fastest lap times from the two qualifying sessions are denoted in bold. +Final qualifying classification Driver Team 116 Fábio CarboneSignature Team2:13.83522:13.0161—1 21 Ryan BriscoePrema Powerteam2:15.894152:13.2232+0.2072 39 James CourtneyTOM'S2:13.23212:13.2373+0.2163 417 Nicolas LapierreSignature Team2:14.90062:13.2704 +0.2544 537 Pierre KafferTME Racing2:14.12632:13.5065+0.4905 611 Richard AntinucciHitech Racing2:15.572112:13.5146+0.4986 76 Nico RosbergCarlin Motorsport2:15.644122:13.9067+0.8907 810 Tatsuya KataokaTOM'S2:14.21242:14.9108+0.8948 923 Paolo MontinThreeBond Racing2:15.07172:13.9589+0.9429 1020 Robert DoornbosMenu Motorsport2:14.71952:14.14610+1.13010 115 Álvaro ParenteCarlin Motorsport2:15.686132:14.59311+1.57711 1236 Fairuz FauzyPromatecme2:15.922162:14.72812+1.71212 1312 Nelson Piquet Jr.Hitech Racing2:15.07582:14.94913+1.93313 1425 Robert KubicaTarget Racing2:20.406282:14.96514+1.94914 1518 César CampaniçoSignature Team2:15.506102:15.00115+1.98515 1630 Danny WattsAlan Docking Racing2:17.218212:15.05016+2.03416 174 Narain KarthikeyanCarlin Motorsport2:15.13592:15.38119+2.11917 1827 Lewis HamiltonManor Motorsport2:16.636192:15.16017+2.14418 1932 Hiroki YoshimotoSwiss Racing Team2:19.483272:15.18918+2.17319 2021 Ronnie QuintarelliJB Motorsport with Inging2:17.069202:15.47820+2.46220 2115 Andrew ThompsonHitech Racing2:16.597182:15.51521+2.49921 2231 Pedro BarralSwiss Racing Team2:16.568172:15.78222+2.76622 232Katsuyuki HiranakaPrema Powerteam2:15.854142:16.11424+2.83823 2433 E. J. VisoPromatecme2:18.163222:16.00623+2.99024 2519 Rob AustinMenu Motorsport2:18.934262:16.36825+3.35225 2638 Michael HoTME Racing2:18.896252:16.87726+3.86126 2722 Naoki YokomizoJB Motorsport with Inging2:18.18323No Time+5.16727 2826 Marco BonanomiTarget Racing2:18.247242:20.73028+5.23128 2928 Lei Kit MengManor Motorsport2:22.298292:20.53727+7.52129 3029 Jo MerszeiAlan Docking Racing2:29.289302:24.50329+11.48730
Warm-up A 20-minute warm-up session was held on the morning of the race. Antinucci led with a lap time of 2:14.048 seconds, faster than he had been in any previous session. Carbone was a tenth of a second behind in second and Piquet followed close behind in third. Kataoka, Doornbos, Kaffer, Briscoe, Montin, Rosberg and Kubica completed warm-up's top ten drivers. The field was reduced to 29 cars after warm-up but before the first leg of the race because Karthikeyan was withdrawn after the FIA medical delegate diagnosed him with glandular fever.
Race Sunday's race was divided into two aggregate legs totalling 30 laps. The first 15-lap leg took place in the morning, and the results determined the starting order for the second leg, with the winner starting from pole position. Following that, a five-hour interval was observed to allow for the intervening support races. The second 15-lap leg began later in the afternoon. The driver who completed all 30 laps in the quickest time took overall victory.
Leg 1
The race's first leg began in overcast but dry weather at 09:15 Macau Standard Time (UTC+08:00) on 16 November. On the formation lap, one of Piquet's tyres shredded up into Moorish Hill, detached and shattered his front wing. Piquet stopped in the pit lane and ran to the grid to seek a mechanic from his team; repairs could not be completed before the start. Briscoe got off to a quick start, drawing alongside pole sitter Carbone on the inside into Reservoir Bend. Briscoe took the lead after touching wheels with Carbone. Briscoe maintained the lead for a short time, but ran wide approaching the Lisboa turn after overspeeding, allowing Carbone back through. Lapierre and Courtney used the situation to claim second and third from Briscoe. Further down the order, Kaffer tried to pass Montin on the inside but hit a barrier on the outside. As Kaffer ricocheted across the track, Rosberg rolled over one of the stricken vehicles and rested upside down on the circuit. Parente also got caught up in the incident and retired. Watts then sustained front wing damage but returned to the pit lane for a new nose cone before retiring a lap later.