9月26日下午两点，F1中国大奖赛决赛在上海进行，20辆F1赛车的马达同时轰鸣，上演了风驰电掣般的速度大战。经过激烈的角逐，法拉利车队的巴里切罗最终以1小时29分12秒420的成绩夺得F1中国大奖赛的首位冠军。英美车队的巴顿依靠两次进站的战术成功获得了亚军，迈凯伦车队的雷克南排名第三。外电有这样的报道：

2003 saw a drop in Rubens' performances and his finishing position in the Drivers' Championship, despite team orders not coming into play throughout the year. Although he clinched two victories, and six other podium finishes, his performances were erratic and the season yielded only 65 points, leaving him down in fourth place.

However, it was all smiles at Ferrari when Rubens won the season-ending Japanese race and helped his teammate to secure the Drivers' title and Ferrari the Constructors'. Now the Brazilian reckons 2004 could finally be the year in which he not only out-races his teammate but wins his first World Championship.

报道中提到，巴里切罗去年的表现虽然不错，但很不稳定。Erratic表示“不稳定的，无规律的，反复无常的”，例如：The singer gave an erratic performance.（这个歌手没唱出自己的水平。）Erratic用做名词时，还表示古怪的人, 乖僻的人，或漂泊无定的人。