Due to confusion about the timing of the red flag, the win was initially awarded to Kimi Räikkönen of McLaren, with Giancarlo Fisichella of Jordan in second and Fernando Alonso of Renault in third.

However, following a post-race appeal by the Jordan team, eventually heard in court, it was established that Fisichella was leading when the race results were declared, and he was awarded the win with Räikkönen demoted to second.

[8] Following the 2002 edition, race organisers invested $1.7 million in resurfacing 1 km (0.62 mi) of track surface in an attempt to reduce its bumpiness, rebuilt its drainage system and introduced run-off areas in the first seven turns.

Sauber and Williams evaluated revised chassis components and both teams assessed their selection of tyre compounds from the Malaysian Grand Prix, optimising the setup of their vehicles to better suit it.

So my target for the Brazilian Grand Prix is to take the chequered flag and bring points to the team and looking at the way the car ran strongly with Ralph in Malaysia, I know I can get both jobs done.

"[17] Two weeks before the Grand Prix, the FIA announced drivers would no longer be granted dispensation to compete in Formula One races without wearing a HANS device.

Wilson visited the team's headquarters in Faenza, Italy to test a twin seat belt system installed in his car to prevent a similar occurrence.

[21] Barrichello, who had a minor hernia and received dispensation from the stewards not to wear a HANS device for medical reasons,[18] was at risk of being dropped for the race in the event a solution to his discomfort was not found.

Alonso, Fisichella, Allan McNish, the Renault test driver, Minardi's Jos Verstappen, Ralph Firman for Jordan and Wilson made up positions four to nine.

[31] In the first practice session, held in torrential weather conditions and saw four drivers record no lap times,[32][33] Michael Schumacher was quickest with a lap of 1 minute and 28.060 seconds, followed by Coulthard, British American Racing (BAR) driver Jenson Button, Trulli, Montoya, Barrichello, the Toyota pair of Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta, Fisichella and Heinz-Harald Frentzen of Sauber.

[34] With fifteen minutes to go,[32] Pizzonia crashed heavily leaving the Curva do Sol turn and struck the barriers on both sides of the circuit on his first timed lap,[34] temporarily stopping the session so that his Jaguar car could be removed from the track.

[40][41] The petition was signed by a majority of drivers;[42] it was later disregarded after it was unable to be sent to everyone in time and race officials had deemed the circuit safe to drive on after the rain tapered off before qualifying commenced.

[47] Button was the only driver not to set a lap time: he had a sudden oversteer when he ran onto a damp white line denoting the track boundaries,[48][49] and aquaplaned at almost 145 mph (233 km/h).

[52] This earned him pole position, the first for a Brazilian driver at the track since Ayrton Senna in the 1994 event, his first since the 2002 Hungarian Grand Prix and the seventh of his career with a 1-minute and 13.807 seconds lap.

[51] Michael Schumacher made a minor error at the Senna S chicane and was seventh;[52] he took his lowest grid position since he started ninth at the 1998 German Grand Prix.

[60] It was due to commence at 14:00 local time,[1] before the FIA race director Charlie Whiting delayed it for fifteen minutes,[61] to enable standing water to be drained from the circuit.

[61] The track's deficient drainage caused a large amount of water to cascade from a slope onto the tarmac surface at the Curva do Sol corner and made it susceptible for cars to aquaplane.

[65] The safety car was withdrawn at the end of lap 22 and Räikkönen closed the field up to maintain the lead from Coulthard, Michael Schumacher and the yet-to-stop Da Matta.

[66] On the Reta Oposta straight, Barrichello overtook Da Matta for fourth on lap 23,[61] as a driver error dropped Frentzen from eighth to sixteenth and Ralf Schumacher passed Verstappen for eleventh.

[57] Lap 27 saw the third safety car deployment: Michael Schumacher aquaplaned off the stream of water at the Curva do Sol turn and avoided hitting a recovery crane extricating Montoya and Pizzonia's vehicles from the side of the track.

[61][66] As Barrichello gained on race leader Coulthard, the stewards informed Renault on the 42nd lap that Alonso had been issued a drive-through penalty because he was deemed to have overtaken Ralf Schumacher under yellow flag conditions.

At the front of the field, Coulthard (on worn tyres) ran wide on the approach to the Senna S chicane and Barrichello used the driver error to pass him for first position on lap 45.

[57] On lap 47,[61] Barrichello pulled off at the side of the circuit to retire from the event for the ninth consecutive year, causing the first Ferrari's double withdrawal since the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix.

[65][74] Alonso sustained a bruised left elbow, knee and thigh,[75] a group of medical personnel placed him on a stretcher for transport by ambulance to the Saint Louis Hospital in São Paulo for observation.

"[60] Barrichello said he would continue to strive to win the Brazilian Grand Prix and was frustrated to learn a fuel problem caused his retirement: "I feel an enormous disappointment but I am not losing hope.

"[83] Coulthard said he was annoyed with himself for making a pit stop before the red flags were shown because he believed he could have won the race had he not done so: "I am going away from here without a Grand Prix win that I worked hard for.

"[67] After he flew to London from Brazil on the morning of 8 April, Whiting launched an internal investigation into the result of the race because FIA officials were unhappy at the timesheets provided to the governing body by Formula One's timekeepers TAG Heuer.

[85] He was concerned about a possible timekeeping error and asked representatives from TAG Heuer and the three race stewards for the Brazilian Grand Prix,[85] to attend a meeting at the FIA headquarters in Paris on the morning of 11 April as part of compliance with Article 179 (b) of the International Sporting Code.

[78] Oral arguments and timing evidence were presented to a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) court in Paris, which, on 11 April, awarded victory to Fisichella.

An unofficial ceremony was held during the next race weekend at Imola, where Räikkönen and Ron Dennis handed over the winning driver's and constructor's trophies to Fisichella and Eddie Jordan.