 Spanish Grand Prix (Barcelona) 2002 review.
Story by Andrew Frampton.
Michael Schumacher took another step towards retaining his FIA Formula One World Championship crown with his fourth victory from the first five races, at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
Ferrari were always expected to be quick in qualifying, but their pace was phenomenal. Once again, the front row of the grid was scarlet, with Schumacher and team-mate Rubens Barrichello battling over pole position. Schumacher set the fastest time on his final run, demoting his Brazilian team-mate to second. Michael was nearly a whole second faster than his brother Ralf, who lined up third with his Williams team-mate, Juan Pablo Montoya, alongside. Kimi Raikkonen continued his good qualifying form, less than a tenth of a second off Montoya in fifth. He had once again out-qualified his team-mate David Coulthard. The two McLarens sandwiched the continually impressive Jenson Button (Renault). Nick Heidfeld lined up eighth in his Sauber, ahead of the Renault of Jarno Trulli, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Arrows. Eddie Irvine had qualified his Jaguar 15th, but fuel irregularities demoted him to the back of the grid. Allan McNish was 19th, but when Minardi withdrew both of its cars after spectacular wing failures in qualifying and final practice, it meant that McNish and Irvine completed the final row of the grid.
If Michael Schumacher was in any doubt of his ability to claim another victory, his cause was helped when Barrichello's car failed to start the warm-up lap and was pushed into the pit-lane and out of the race with gear selection problems. This left the German alone on the front row of the grid, and although his brother attempted to dive up the inside into the first corner, Michael had it covered and began extending his lead. Montoya settled into third, ahead of Raikkonen, Button, Coulthard and Trulli. However, the latter three would all move up a position on lap four, when Raikkonen's rear wing failed, forcing the Finn into the gravel and out of the race. By this stage we had also lost Pedro De La Rosa, who spun his Jaguar out of his home race on lap two.
As Michael extended his lead at the front, the Williams pair made their first stops, Ralf Schumacher emerging just ahead of Montoya, but the Colombian wanted second position and started to close on his team-mate. That pressure seemed to get to Ralf, and he ran onto the grass at turn 9, damaging the car and forcing him back into the pits. After having his front nose cone replaced the German rejoined well down the order. Montoya, meanwhile, was too far behind the race leader to make a challenge, and also lost a few seconds in his second stop when he ran over his chief mechanics foot after he had incorrectly informed Montoya he was free to leave the pit - thankfully he was uninjured. Despite these problems, Montoya was well clear of Button, who had profited from Ralf Schumacher's demise.
Out front there was little surprise as Schumacher racked up yet another victory, easing off at the end so not to spoil the battle for the final points position, which he was destined to lap. He still finished over 30 seconds ahead of Montoya. Button's desires for a podium finish were dashed by hydraulic problems soon after his first stop. Easy prey for Coulthard, Button soldiered on until five laps from the end when he was eventually forced out. Five laps later, Coulthard had secured his second successive podium finish, with Heidfeld taking fourth. However, the German was thankful for mechanical problems that forced the second Renault of Jarno Trulli out two laps from the end - the unlucky Italian has yet to score points this season. Felipe Massa took fifth position, but only after a race long battle with Frentzen's much improved Arrows, which took its first points of the season with sixth. Jacques Villeneuve took seventh for BAR, ahead of the Toyotas of Allan McNish, and Mika Salo, who fought back from an early puncture.
Jordan had another event to forget, with Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato failing to make the finish. The cars had lined up 12th and 18th on the grid, but both went out of the race early on - Fisichella succumbing to hydraulic failure for the second successive event on lap five, while Sato spun out five laps later. Joining Fisichella and Button on the list of those undone by their hydraulics were the Arrows of Enrique Bernoldi and Irvine, who went out within a lap of each other at just over half distance. Olivier Panis's (BAR) run of non-finishes continued, this time with a broken exhaust, while Ralf Schumacher's struggling Williams gave up the ghost two laps from home.
Williams will be praying for victory in the next round at the A1-Ring in Austria, trailing Ferrari by seven points in the constructor's standings, and Montoya with 21 points behind Michael Schumacher in the driver's standings.
Race Result:
1. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 65laps
2. Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams) +35.630s
3. David Coulthard (McLaren) +42.623s
4. Nick Heidfeld (Sauber) +1m06.697s
5. Felipe Massa (Sauber) +1m18.973s
6. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Arrows) +1m20.430s
Driver's Standings:
1. Michael Schumacher 44pts
2. Juan Pablo Montoya 23pts
3. Ralf Schumacher 20pts
4. David Coulthard 9pts
5. Jenson Button 8pts
6. Rubens Barrichello 6pts
Constructor's Standings:
1. Ferrari 50pts
2. Williams-BMW 43pts
3. McLaren-Mercedes 13pts
4. Renault 8pts
= Sauber-Petronas 8pts
6. Jaguar-Cosworth 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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