 Belgian Grand Prix (Spa Francorchamps) 2002 review.
Story by Andrew Frampton.
Michael Schumacher's domination of the 2002 Formula One Championship continued at the Belgian Grand Prix on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, taking his record-breaking tenth win of the season. In yet another dour encounter, the German wiped the floor with the opposition, finishing ahead of his Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello and the Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya.
The German's dominance had begun in the qualifying session, when he took his first ever pole position at the Belgian track, almost half a second ahead of his nearest challenger - the ever improving Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren). Schumacher's team-mate Rubens Barrichello was third quickest, ahead of the Williams of Ralf Schumacher, which had knocked the sister car of Juan Pablo Montoya back to fifth spot on the grid. David Coulthard lined up the second McLaren in sixth position, with Jarno Trulli's Renault and an impressive Eddie Irvine (Jaguar) on the fourth row.
Mika Salo took ninth position for Toyota despite learning that he will not be driving with the team next season. Jenson Button completed the top ten for Renault, with Pedro De La Rosa (Jaguar), Jacques Villeneuve (BAR), Allan McNish (Toyota) and Giancarlo Fisichella (Jordan) next up. In his second and final outing in the European Aviation Minardi, Britain's Anthony Davidson lined up in 20th position, just over half a second behind his team-mate Mark Webber. Disappointingly, Arrows were missing for a third time in four events, and their future now looks even bleaker.
The fear of a Ferrari whitewash soon became reality as Michael Schumacher stormed away from the start, opening up a lead of over 2 seconds by the end of the first lap. Although Barrichello strived to stay in touch, there was simply no hope for the rest of the field. Raikkonen failed to live up to the promise of his second position on the grid, and was passed by Barrichello on the opening lap, before a slight mistake allowed Montoya into third soon afterwards. The pit stops for the leading trio of Schumacher, Barrichello and Montoya came and went without incident, with the German cruising through his final stint to wind up victory by 1.9 seconds, with Barrichello finishing 16 seconds ahead of Montoya. Although Coulthard had qualified only sixth, he made a good start and after passing Raikkonen, tailed Montoya to the flag, but was unable to make a pass.
Raikkonen would have taken fifth position had his engine not blown nine laps from the end, handing the position to Ralf Schumacher. The younger Schumacher brother had driven a poor race, being passed by Coulthard on the opening lap, before spinning and losing his position to Trulli. The Italian could well have added to Renault's points this season had his engine not expired on lap 35. Jaguar's recent improvements with its R3 chassis were rewarded by Irvine's sixth place finish, securing the team's first points since the opening round in Australia. Salo took a strong seventh position, just two seconds behind Irvine, while Villeneuve carved his way through the field to finish eighth after a poor start. McNish took ninth, ahead of Nick Heidfeld's poorly performing Sauber and the Jordan of Takuma Sato.
Neither Minardi made the finish, with Webber the first retirement after gearbox problems forced him out with just four laps gone. Davidson departed his final F1 race at present when he ran into the gravel while trying to keep up with Sato. Jenson Button's run of poor form continued with an engine failure, with the same fate accounting for Felipe Massa (Sauber) and Fisichella, while De La Rosa departed with suspension failure. Only three races remain in the 2002 calendar: Monza, Indianapolis and Suzuka. Let's hope we get to see some racing…
Race Result:
1. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 44 Laps
2. Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) +1.977s
3. Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams) +18.445s
4. David Coulthard (McLaren) +19.357s
5. Ralf Schumacher (Williams) +56.440s
6. Eddie Irvine (Jaguar) +1m17.370s
Driver's Championship Standings:
1. Michael Schumacher 122pts
2. Rubens Barrichello 51pts
3. Juan Pablo Montoya 44pts
4. Ralf Schumacher 42pts
5. David Coulthard 37pts
6. Kimi Raikkonen 20pts
Constructor's Championship Standings:
1. Ferrari 173pts
2. Williams-BMW 86pts
3. McLaren-Mercedes 57pts
4. Renault 15pts
5. Sauber-Petronas 11pts
6. Jordan-Honda 7pts
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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