Who won the 2003 World Rally Championship drivers' title?

Petter Solberg won the 2003 World Rally Championship drivers' title.

Driving a Subaru Impreza WRC with co-driver Phil Mills, Solberg secured his first—and ultimately only—WRC drivers’ championship in the season-ending Rally Great Britain in Wales. He finished the 14-round season ahead of Sébastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz.

The title fight was exceptionally close. Solberg entered the final rally behind Loeb, but his victory combined with Loeb’s result gave the Norwegian the championship by a narrow margin. Solberg’s success also made Subaru a major force in the early-2000s rally era.

A common mix-up is confusing the drivers’ championship with the manufacturers’ championship. Solberg won the drivers’ crown, but Citroën won the 2003 manufacturers’ title. Marcus Grönholm, another option, was a leading Peugeot driver but did not win that season’s drivers’ championship.