 Canadian Grand Prix (Montreal) 2002 review.
Story by Andrew Frampton.
Michael Schumacher celebrated his 150th career Grand Prix victory with an impressive performance at the Canadian Grand Prix at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit. The championship leader fended off the challenges of Juan Pablo Montoya, who later retired, and his team-mate Rubens Barrichello, whose race strategy cost him a chance of victory - demoting him to third.
Following on from his pole position in Monaco, Montoya proved to be the star of qualifying once again, taking his third pole position of the season by 0.182 seconds. Michael Schumacher was next up, heading off the challenge of his Ferrari colleague Rubens Barrichello, who was joined on the second row by Ralf Schumacher's Williams - the German forced to use his spare car after the race machine developed a fault. Kimi Raikkonen took fifth position for McLaren, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella's Jordan and Nick Heidfeld's Sauber. David Coulthard was a disappointing eighth for McLaren, while Jacques Villeneuve was a promising ninth at his home event. His BAR team-mate Olivier Panis was eleventh despite running in the top ten in many of the free practice sessions. Jarno Trulli was Renault's best-placed driver in a poor tenth position, three spots ahead of Jenson Button. Eddie Irvine took fourteenth for Jaguar, while Allan McNish was down in 20th.
Montoya got the jump at the start, to lead into the first hairpin, with Barrichello slotting in ahead of Michael Schumacher for second. Raikkonen moved up to fourth ahead of Ralf Schumacher, while a good start elevated Coulthard ahead of Heidfeld and Fisichella. Montoya's lead only lasted for the opening lap, however, as the Colombian ran wide at the final chicane, allowing Barrichello the run into the first corner, and the race lead. The Ferrari driver began to gradually extend his lead, but with the Brazilian on a two-stop strategy, he would need to make up a comfortable margin to be able to retain it after the stops. However, his strategy went up in smoke on lap fifteen, when the Safety Car was deployed for Villeneuve's stranded BAR, whose engine had failed.
Montoya used this break to make his first stop, emerging in fifth place, while Barrichello stayed out in the lead. However, fate seemed to be smiling on the Colombian, as he quickly passed Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher after the two delayed each other at the final chicane. Barrichello made his first stop on lap 26 dropping down the field as Michael Schumacher inherited the lead until his stop 12 laps later. This allowed Montoya back into the lead for a second time, but Schumacher resumed just 3.6 seconds behind, with the Williams driver still needing to make another stop. That he did fourteen laps later, but he had been unable to exploit his lighter car and rejoined nearly nine seconds behind the championship leader. However, Montoya had no chance of a straight race with the German, as the problematic BMW powerplant forced the Williams driver to make an early exit.
With Montoya out, Schumacher was able to take it easy, while his team-mate set about Coulthard for second position, after the Scot had passed both Barrichello and Raikkonen during the pit stops. However, the Brazilian was unable to find a way past, and had to settle for the third spot on the podium, with Raikkonen taking fourth position 30 seconds behind. Fisichella took his third consecutive fifth place finish, with Trulli claiming the final point. Williams' miserable day was completed when Ralf Schumacher's fuel hose failed during his pit stop, necessitating another a visit to the pits, which would drop him to seventh. Having failed to finish any of the previous eight Grand Prix, Panis took a morale boosting eighth position, ahead of Massa's Sauber. Takuma Sato made up for his Monaco crash with a conservative tenth place finish, ahead of Mark Webber (Minardi) and Heidfeld, who was forced to take two drive-through penalties after his speed-limiter failed. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Arrows) and Alex Yoong (Minardi) completed the finishers.
Frentzen's team-mate Enrique Bernoldi was an early casualty after a persistent vibration, while Pedro De La Rosa's Jaguar survived an early skirmish with McNish, but later retired as a result of gearbox dramas. The second Jaguar of Irvine only lasted twelve laps longer before its engine blew, while neither Toyota made the finish either; Mika Salo succumbed to brake problems, while McNish spun off. Britain's Jenson Button was the final retirement of the race with an engine failure five laps from the end.
Canada had been seen as one of Williams' best chances to close on Ferrari, but as the Italian team took fourteen points, they left empty-handed. Now the championship moves to Ferrari's 'backyard' and the European Grand Prix held at the Nurburgring in Germany.
Canadian Grand Prix Race Result:
1. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)
2. David Coulthard (McLaren) +1.132s
3. Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) +7.082s
4. Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) +37.563s
5. Giancarlo Fisichella (Jordan) +42.812s
6. Jarno Trulli (Renault) +48.947s
Driver's Championship Standings:
1. Michael Schumacher 70pts
2. Ralf Schumacher 27pts
3. Juan Pablo Montoya 27pts
4. David Coulthard 26pts
5. Rubens Barrichello 16pts
6. Jenson Button 8pts
Constructor's Championship Standings:
1. Ferrari 86pts
2. Williams-BMW 54pts
3. McLaren-Mercedes 33pts
4. Renault 12pts
5. Sauber-Petronas 8pts
6. Jordan-Honda 6pts
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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