2003 Grande Premio Do Brasil
Mercifully, after one of the most accident-marred races in F1 history,
the red-flagged Brasilian Grand Prix ended without a tragedy..
Miraculously, the only physical casualty was the severe shaking
up suffered by the third place finisher Fernando Alonso, whose
Renault was destroyed in a massive smashup that littered the
track with wreckage and brought the race to a premature - albeit
entirely welcome - halt on the 53rd of the scheduled 71 laps.
Making it safely to the podium - while Alonso was being carried
away on a stretcher - were Giancarlo Fisichella (later declared
the winner) and second-placed Kimi Raikkonen, who somehow
managed to steer their respective Jordan and McLaren cars clear of
trouble on a frighteningly dangerous day when half the
20 starters crashed, either into each other or into the unforgiving
barriers bordering a serpentine Interlagos circuit made treacherous
by rain.
After a delayed start, following a heavy downpour that sent
rivers of water flowing across the track, the race began behind the
Safety Car, which was eventually deployed five times to hold the
field in check while damaged cars were removed. Each time racing
resumed cars flew off the progressively drying track with alarming
frequency and with increasingly severe results.
Among the non-survivors was Michael Schumacher, whose Ferrari hit
the wall (and nearly a wrecker that was removing another crashed
car) halfway through the race. Mark Webber was classified seventh,
though his terminally damaged Jaguar was parked against a wall
having smote it heavily and showering the circuit with debris, some
of which had caused Alonso to come to grief.
"What a race!," Kimi Raikkonen understated."It was often
difficult to see where you were going because of all the spray. I
had some luck avoiding other people's accidents. But it was
mainly lucky no one was hurt after so much damage."
https://youtu.be/93QKt44OsIU
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