 San Marino Grand Prix (Imola) 2002 review.
Story by Andrew Frampton.
Michael Schumacher continued his defence of the Formula One World Championship title, with his third win of the season in the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. Rubens Barrichello completed a memorable day for the Ferrari team, taking second position in his debut race with the F2002 car, after fending off the challenge of Williams.
Michael Schumacher took the F2002 to its second pole position in as many races, with a late flying lap, which moved him ahead of Barrichello on the grid - the gap between the two just 0.06 secs. The Brazilian was over 0.3 seconds faster than third placed Ralf Schumacher. His team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya completed the second row of the grid. The two McLarens were next up, Kimi Raikkonen out-qualifying David Coulthard yet again. Nick Heidfeld took seventh on the grid in his Sauber, ahead of the Renaults of Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button. Jacques Villeneuve completed the top ten in his BAR, and with Olivier Panis claiming 12th, the team had their best qualifying session of the season. They also emerged ahead of Jordan, the team who shares the Honda powerplant - Takuma Sato and Giancarlo Fisichella were only 14th and 15th respectively. The promise shown in Brazil by the Jaguar team was not continued in San Marino, and Eddie Irvine lined up only 18th, while Pedro De La Rosa was 21st. Allan McNish took seventeenth in his Toyota, while Alex Yoong failed to qualify his Minardi after not setting a time within 107% of pole.
Michael Schumacher got the jump at the start, and maintained his lead as his brother passed Barrichello into the first corner. Montoya defended fourth from the following pairs of McLarens, Renaults and Saubers. Allan McNish never even got of the grid - his transmission broke after his car had moved a matter of metres.
As Michael Schumacher effortlessly stretched his lead, Barrichello kept the pressure on Ralf, eventually leapfrogging the German as the pair made their first pit stops. Michael Schumacher still had a comfortable lead over Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya. All four drivers made a second stop, resuming in the same order. Barrichello had been gradually closing on the leader, only for a problem in his second stop to cost him a couple of seconds, killing off any chance he had of taking the fight to Michael. Schumacher's winning margin was 17.9seconds, while Barrichello had to watch over his shoulder for Ralf Schumacher, who ultimately was still over 1.5 seconds behind at the flag. Montoya took a subdued fourth for Williams, ahead of Jenson Button, who added two more points to his season's tally, bringing it to eight. He holds fourth in the driver's standings, and is the top Brit, three points ahead of David Coulthard, who took sixth at Imola. After a poor weekend, Coulthard was lucky to make the points, after once again running second fiddle to Kimi Raikkonen all weekend - the Finn denied points after being forced out after his exhaust broke.
Villeneuve continued BAR's improvement, with a comfortable seventh position. Panis also performed well, running with Villeneuve for much of the race before his throttle linkage failed - the Frenchman has yet to finish a race this season. Felipe Massa took eighth for Sauber after passing Renault's Jarno Trulli with a perfectly judged moved towards the end of the race. Trulli's ailing car took ninth from Nick Heidfeld, whose Sauber pit-crew were not ready for him at the first stop, which resulted in him making a further three trips to the pit-lane. Mark Webber's Minardi was 11th and last.
Only half the grid finished the event, with the Arrows, Jordans, Jaguars and Toyotas failing to make the finish. Jordan's season seems to be going from bad to worse - Sato was forced out with gearbox problems after five laps, and Fisichella's hydraulics packed up 14 laps later. Heinz-Harald Frentzen raced well until his Arrows lost fuel pressure, while Enrique Bernoldi lost power 12 laps from the end. Both Jaguars succumbed to driveshaft failures due to the nature of the curbs, while Mika Salo joined team-mate Allan McNish on the sidelines after hitting gearbox problems.
Next the teams go to Barcelona, and the Spanish Grand Prix.
Race Result:
1. Michael Schumacher
2. Rubens Barrichello +17.907s
3. Ralf Schumacher +19.755s
4. Juan Pablo Montoya +44.725s
5. Jenson Button +1m23.395s
6. David Coulthard + 1Lap
Driver's Standings:
1. Michael Schumacher 34pts
2. Ralf Schumacher 20pts
3. Juan Pablo Montoya 17pts
4. Jenson Button 8pts
5. Rubens Barrichello 6pts
6. David Coulthard 5pts
Manufacturer's Standings:
1. Ferrari 40pts
2. Williams-BMW 37pts
3. McLaren-Mercedes 9pts
4. Renault 8pts
5. Jaguar-Cosworth 3pts
6. Sauber-Petronas 3pts
2002 F1 season calendar
03/03/2002 - Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne)
- Australia circuit by JR
- Australia preview by AF
- Australia grid by JR
- Australia review by AF
- Australia lap-by-lap by JR
17/03/2002 - Malaysian Grand Prix (Sepang)
- Malaysia circuit by JR
- Malaysia preview by AF
- Malaysia grid by JR
- Malaysia review by AF
- Malaysia lap-by-lap by JR
31/03/2002 - Brazilian Grand Prix (Sao Paulo)
- Brazil circuit by JR
- Brazil preview by AF
- Brazil grid by JR
- Brazil review by AF
- Brazil lap-by-lap by JR
14/04/2002 - San Marino Grand Prix (Imola)
- San Marino circuit by JR
- San Marino preview by AF
- San Marino grid by JR
- San Marino review by AF
- San Marino lap-by-lap by JR
28/04/2002 - Spanish Grand Prix (Barcelona)
- Spain circuit by JR
- Spain preview by AF
- Spain grid by JR
- Spain review by AF
- Spain lap-by-lap by JR
12/05/2002 - Austrian Grand Prix (Spielberg)
- Austria circuit by JR
- Austria preview by AF
- Austria grid by JR
- Austria review by AF
- Austria lap-by-lap by JR
26/05/2002 - Grand Prix de Monaco (Monaco)
- Monaco circuit by JR
- Monaco preview by AF
- Monaco grid by JR
- Monaco review by AF
- Monaco lap-by-lap by JR
09/06/2002 - Canadian Grand Prix (Montreal)
- Canada circuit by JR
- Canada preview by AF
- Canada grid by JR
- Canada review by AF
- Canada lap-by-lap by JR
23/06/2002 - European Grand Prix (Nürburgring)
- Europe circuit by JR
- Europe grid by JR
- Europe review by AF
- Europe lap-by-lap by JR
07/07/2002 - British Grand Prix (Silverstone)
- Britain circuit by JR
- Britain grid by JR
- Britain review by AF
- Britain lap-by-lap by JR
21/07/2002 - French Grand Prix (Magny-Cours)
- France circuit by JR
- France preview by AF
- France grid by JR
- France review by AF
- France lap-by-lap by JR
28/07/2002 - German Grand Prix (Hockenheim)
- Germany circuit by JR
- Germany preview by AF
- Germany grid by JR
- Germany review by AF
- Germany lap-by-lap by JR
18/08/2002 - Hungarian Grand Prix (Budapest)
- Hungary circuit by JR
- Hungary grid by JR
- Hungary lap-by-lap by JR
01/09/2002 - Belgian Grand Prix (Spa Francorchamps)
- Belgium circuit by JR
- Belgium grid by JR
- Belgium review by AF
- Belgium lap-by-lap by JR
15/09/2002 - Italian Grand Prix (Monza)
- Italy circuit by JR
- Italy grid by JR
- Italy lap-by-lap by JR
29/09/2002 - American Grand Prix (Indianapolis)
- USA circuit by JR
- USA grid by JR
- USA lap-by-lap by JR
13/10/2002 - Japanese Grand Prix (Suzuka)
- Japan circuit by JR
- Japan grid by JR
- Japan review by AF
- Japan lap-by-lap by JR
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