 British Grand Prix (Silverstone)) 2002 review.
Story by Andrew Frampton.
Although there was little surprise as Michael Schumacher duly recorded the 60---th win of his Formula One career, the 2002 World Championship finally saw a thrilling race, made possible by ever changing weather conditions. In easily the best race of the year, the German was followed home by his team-mate Rubens Barrichello to record Ferrari's fourth 1-2 finish of the season, with one time leader Juan Pablo Montoya finishing third.
In the dry qualifying session on Saturday, Montoya stormed to his fourth successive pole position in a time of 1m18.998s, having previously taken top spot in Monte Carlo, 20020707_f12002canada_review_af.html">Canada, and at the Nurburgring. His last-gasp run promoted the Colombian to pole position, demoting the Ferraris, which had set the pace for much of the session. Michael Schumacher had been the man to beat in the early part of the session, with two exceptional flying laps, before his team-mate bumped him down to what would become third. Ralf Schumacher joined his brother on the second row in the second Williams. The top four were separated by 0.4 seconds, while there was a gap of 0.7 seconds back to fifth placed Kimi Raikkonen, who once again out-paced his McLaren team-mate David Coulthard.
Jarno Trulli lined up seventh in his Renault, ahead of Mika Salo, who managed to take eighth on the grid in his Toyota despite missing much of free practice with a stomach upset. BAR continued to show signs of improvement, and out-qualified Honda rivals Jordan, with Jacques Villeneuve in ninth position and Olivier Panis in thirteenth. The Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Felipe Massa did well to take tenth and eleventh positions respectively in a tight midfield battle, which saw 8th to 19th positions split by less than a second. Jenson Button's chance to score points in his home race was dealt a blow with an engine failure that forced him to use his spare car - he lined up only 12th. Takuma Sato once again outperformed his Jordan team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella, with the Japanese lining up in 14th, three spots ahead of his more experienced team-mate. Allan McNish, competing in his first British Grand Prix, took fifteenth position, 0.3 seconds ahead of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. The Arrows drivers, Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi (who lined up 18th), were just happy to make the grid after the debt owed by the team to engine supplier Cosworth had threatened their F1 future and forced them to miss practice. Team principle Tom Walkinshaw paid the £3 million pound debt out of his own pocket to secure at least the short-term future of the team. Another disappointing qualifying session for Eddie Irvine saw the Jaguar down in 19th position, just ahead of Mark Webber's Minardi and his Jaguar team-mate Pedro De La Rosa. Only 21 cars made the grid, with Alex Yoong not making the 107% cut-off time in his Minardi.
The field lined up on slicks for the start, despite the threat of more rain from the overcast sky. Amid the constant monitoring of the weather conditions, Barrichello's car stalled on his grid position as the field moved away for the formation lap, meaning that the Brazilian would have to start from the back of the grid. As the lights turned to green, Montoya made a superb start to take the lead into Copse for the first time, with Ralf Schumacher unable to take advantage of the clear track in front of him, following his brother into the first corner. Further back, there was commotion as the lower runners swerved to avoid McNish's stalled Toyota, while Massa harmlessly spun onto the grass at the first turn after being forced off-line by Villeneuve.
By the end of the first lap, Montoya already had an advantage of over a second, while the Schumacher brothers headed Raikkonen, Coulthard, Trulli and Button, who made a tremendous start from twelfth on the grid. Raikkonen made a move for Ralf Schumacher's third position into Copse on lap three, squeezing past the Williams, with Coulthard just unable to follow his team-mate through. Meanwhile, at the front, Michael Schumacher began to close in on Montoya as the rain began to fall. He had caught the Colombian by lap 8, but was unable to find a way past, despite several attempts to drive around the Williams.
The weather soon worsened considerably, and the majority of the drivers decided to pit on laps 12 or 13 to change to wet or intermediate tyres. Montoya and Schumacher were among the first to pit, with Montoya gaining an advantage during the stops, emerging with an advantage of over five seconds, while Michael Schumacher rejoined in second after a longer stop. Ralf Schumacher had followed his team-mate into the pits and lost time waiting for his pit-crew to find his wet tyres. The frantic activity had promoted Trulli to fourth, with Barrichello moving into fifth having carved his way through the field from 21st. Although the track was wet, those drivers on the Bridgestone intermediate tyres had found the best compromise, and with no comparable Michelin tyres, those teams using the Michelin tyres, including Williams, were forced to use a full wet.
Within four laps, the difference was noticeable, with Michael Schumacher taking the lead after Montoya made a small mistake into Club on lap sixteen. Within a couple of laps, Montoya was down to third, as Barrichello moved past at Luffield, and into a Ferrari 1-2. However, the race strategy had gone all wrong for McLaren. Coulthard had remained out on track while his rivals pitted, but soon found that his slick tyres were up to ten seconds a lap slower than wets and tumbled down the order. The Scot pitted on lap 24 for new slicks when the weather looked to be improving, with Raikkonen following suit soon afterwards. Barrichello seemed to have the legs of his team-mate out front, and although he began to close on Michael Schumacher, a spin at Abbey cost him valuable time. McLaren had once again made the wrong decision in fitting both cars with slicks as the weather deteriorated, Raikkonen pitting for full wets, while Coulthard chose the untested Michelin intermediate tyres.
The Renaults were also suffering in the conditions and Trulli and Button were soon passed by the BARs and Frentzen's Arrows, only for the German's engine to fail while hunting down Ralf Schumacher's Williams. Michael Schumacher was the first of the front runners to make his second stop, although he was soon followed by Barrichello, who soon came under threat from the recovering Montoya. The McLarens soon made their fourth stops of the afternoon, with both Coulthard and Raikkonen rejoining on slick tyres, although both were now outside the top ten. With the track too try for intermediate tyres, and none of the cars fuelled to the end of the race, the leading drivers made their third stops. Ralf Schumacher was the first to pit, but both his fuel hose and its replacement failed, resulting in a delay and yet another pit stop for the German. Barrichello and Montoya made their final stops together, with the Brazilian retaining his slender lead. However, Montoya was soon on the pace, and squeezed through into second position at Priory on lap 41, only to lose the place five laps later, as Barrichello swept passed at Copse. From that point on, the Williams driver had no answer to the might of Ferrari, who, after Michael Schumacher had made his final stop, cruised to a 1-2 finish. Montoya came home third, ahead of Villeneuve, who had fought his way through the field to claim BAR's first points of the season in fourth. Team-mate Olivier Panis brought his machine home fifth to take the teams point's total to five. Nick Heidfeld grabbed the final point for sixth position, after holding off Fisichella. Ralf Schumacher's botched pit stop cost him a chance of fourth position, dropping to eighth by the flag, ahead of Massa, Coulthard and De La Rosa.
Unsurprisingly, the conditions caught out several drivers, with Irvine, and Minardi's Mark Webber spinning out of the event. McNish was never able to restart his car after it had stalled on the grid, and he was joined on the retirement list by team-mate Salo, who lasted only 15 more laps before he suffered a transmission failure - the Finn's fourth successive retirement. The second Arrows of Bernoldi joined Frentzen on the sidelines, after his driveshaft broke on lap 28, just five laps after his team-mate had been forced out. Both Renault drivers were late retirements from the event, Trulli was forced out by an electric problem, while Button stopped after suspension troubles. Kimi Raikkonen's dreadful weekend finally came to an end when his McLaren's engine blew.
Michael Schumacher's lead currently stands at 54 points, and he could wrap up the championship as soon as the next round in France in two weeks time, as long as he finishes at least six points clear of his brother and Montoya.
Silverstone Race Result:
1. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)
2. Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) +14.578s
3. Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams) +31.661s
4. Jacques Villeneuve (BAR) +1 Lap
5. Olivier Panis (BAR) +1 Lap
6. Nick Heidfeld (Sauber) +1 Lap
Driver's Championship Standings:
1. Michael Schumacher 86pts
2. Rubens Barrichello 32pts
3. Juan Pablo Montoya 31pts
4. Ralf Schumacher 30pts
5. David Coulthard 26pts
6. Kimi Raikkonen 11pts
Constructor's Championship Standings:
1. Ferrari 118pts
2. Williams-BMW 61pts
3. McLaren-Mercedes 37pts
4. Renault 14pts
5. Sauber-Petronas 10pts
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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