The bottom 6 teams in the 2003 Constructors' Championship were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday.

After the Belgian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher was already crowned driver world champion.

The morning of the race was quite rainy and at the time of departure there were still wet parts of the circuit, which made tire selection difficult.

In the Minardi pit garage, the car of Gianmaria Bruni caught fire after fuel escaped from the hose onto the hot bodywork during a routine pit-stop, and it was put out without any serious injury.

Ferrari took a 1–2 in front of the delighted Tifosi, with Rubens Barrichello ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher.