 Austrian Grand Prix (Spielberg) 2002 review.
Story by Andrew Frampton.
Michael Schumacher took his fourth successive victory, and his fifth from six races at the latest round of the FIA Formula One World Championship at the A1-Ring in Austria. However, the German's victory was a disappointing conclusion to a race which had been dominated by his team-mate Rubens Barrichello - with the Brazilian pulling over on the run up to the flag to allow Schumacher through. This extends Schumacher's lead in the standings, as well as Ferrari's advantage in their constructor's championship, with the Williams pair of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher finishing only third and fourth.
Barrichello made the most of his newly found form with the superb F2002 car, to take pole position ahead of Ralf Schumacher by just over a quarter of a second. For the first time this season, Michael Schumacher wasn't on the front row of the gird, instead being forced to settle for third, 0.6 seconds slower than his team-mate. Montoya lined up fourth, marginally ahead of Nick Heidfeld's Sauber, and Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren. Felipe Massa was an impressive seventh in his Sauber, while David Coulthard was disappointed to be only eighth, two places behind his team-mate. Olivier Panis put on impressive show to take 9th on the grid, comfortably faster than team-mate Jacques Villeneuve, who could only set the 17th fastest time. It was a good session for both Arrows and Toyota, with Mika Salo and Allan McNish lining up 10th and 14th respectively for the Japanese marque, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi took 11th and 12th for Arrows. It was less rewarding for the Renault duo of Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli, who both performed strongly in qualifying this season - they were only 13th and 16th. Eddie Irvine's troubled season in the Jaguar continued - the Irishman only managed 20th spot on the grid.
Barrichello led the field away, with Michael Schumacher jumping ahead of his brother for second into the first corner. With the advantage of a clear track, Barrichello extended his lead over the second Ferrari, while Ralf Schumacher headed Montoya for third. Nick Heidfeld held his fifth position off the grid, ahead of Coulthard, Raikkonen, Salo, Button and Massa. However, Raikkonen would only last until lap 5, when his engine failed, leaving the Finn to contemplate his second early exit in as many races. Barrichello continued to extend his lead at the front of the field, with Michael Schumacher moving clear of the Williams duo. This remained the case until lap 22, when the luckless Panis suffered an engine seizure in his BAR, which forced his machine to a halt on the start/finish straight. This sixth successive retirement for Panis brought out the safety car, as his machine was stuck right on the racing line.
The Ferraris, using the less popular two stop strategy, chose to pit, with Barrichello resuming ahead of Ralf Schumacher, and Michael rejoining just behind his brother. With the BAR cleared from the track, the race got underway again, with Barrichello retaining his lead. Although the lower runners got through the first corner okay, disaster struck at the tight turn two, when Heidfeld lost control of his Sauber, the car spinning across the corner, and clouting the Jordan of Takuma Sato. With Heidfeld failing to scrub off any speed in his spin, the size of the accident was tremendous, and with the force of the impact on Sato's cockpit, trapping the Japanese driver in his car. The Safety Car was scrambled as ambulances rushed to the scene. Despite the force of the accident, Heidfeld was able to exit from his car, as Sato was taken to the medical centre. Amazingly, he escaped serious injury, although he was detained in hospital overnight for observation.
A further ten laps behind the safety car ensued for the remaining runners, many of whom used the delay to make their pit-stops. Williams chose not to, running both cars on longer stints. Ralf Schumacher came in for his one and only stop on lap 47, while Montoya put in a series of fast laps to retain third position after he made his stop four laps later. Although they were now a considerable distance behind the Ferraris, the scarlet cars still had to make another stop. Barrichello and Michael Schumacher both made good stops, and emerged still ahead of the Williams pair, with the Brazilian holding the advantage by just a couple of seconds. And that's how it remained for the next ten laps, before team orders intervened.
Like last year, when Barrichello pulled over in sight of the line to let his team-mate through into second, this time he did it for the lead. So the record says a win for the German by 0.2 seconds, but it was a shame to see such a great race resolved this way - the crowd in Austria voiced their views with a chorus of boos as the cars completed their slowing down lap. Montoya held off the challenge from Ralf Schumacher to take third, with Giancarlo Fisichella bringing some joy to the Jordan team with a fifth place finish - the team's first points of the season. He inherited the position when Coulthard ran wide at the final corner, forcing the Scot into sixth.
Button chased Coulthard home, finishing just 0.5 seconds behind after a great battle with Villeneuve. The Canadian had been as high as third in his BAR, having carved his way through the field after a poor qualifying showing. However, after his second stop, he dropped to eighth, before retiring on the final lap after his Honda engine expired. The two Toyotas of Salo and McNish proved reliable once again, taking eighth and ninth positions, while Villeneuve was classified tenth, ahead of Frentzen and Mark Webber's Minardi.
Of those not so lucky to make the finish, Pedro De La Rosa, Enrique Bernoldi and Felipe Massa went out with mechanical problems early on, while Eddie Irvine joined the growing retirement list on lap 38, when he toured into the pits. Alex Yoong lasted four laps longer in his Minardi before engine failure forced him out, while Trulli parked up at turn one on lap 44, with fuel pressure problems.
Monaco, the venue for the next round of the season, had its fair share of controversy last year, when Coulthard became stuck behind Bernoldi for much of the race after a poor start. After this weekend's action, another controversial race is not an attractive prospect.
Race Result:
1. Michael Schumacher 71laps
2. Rubens Barrichello +0.182s
3. Juan Pablo Montoya +17.730s
4. Ralf Schumacher +16.488s
5. Giancarlo Fisichella +49.965s
6. David Coulthard +50.672s
Driver's Standings:
1. Michael Schumacher 54pts
2. Juan Pablo Montoya 27pts
3. Ralf Schumacher 23pts
4. Rubens Barrichello 12pts
5. David Coulthard 10pts
6. Jenson Button 8pts
Constructor's Standings:
1. Ferrari 66pts
2. Williams-BMW 50pts
3. McLaren-Mercedes 14pts
4. Renault 8pts
5. Sauber-Petronas 8pts
6. Jaguar 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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