2002 Austrian Grand Prix
The 2002 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 12 May 2002 at the A1-Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. It was the sixth round of the 2002 Formula One World Championship and the 25th Austrian Grand Prix as part of the Formula One World Championship. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the 71-lap race starting from third position. His teammate Rubens Barrichello finished second, and Juan Pablo Montoya took third for the Williams team.
Michael Schumacher, who was the winner of four of the five preceding races in the season, led the World Drivers' Championship prior to the Grand Prix with his team Ferrari leading the World Constructors' Championship. Barrichello started the race from the pole position after recording the fastest lap in qualifying; Williams driver Ralf Schumacher started second, but was passed by Michael Schumacher in the first corner. Barrichello maintained the lead through most of the race until Ferrari invoked team orders on him to allow Michael Schumacher to win the race on the final lap and improve his standing in the World Drivers' Championship. It was his fourth victory in a row in the 2002 season and the 58th of his career. The safety car was deployed twice during the race, which included a major accident on lap 28 involving Jordan driver Takuma Sato and Nick Heidfeld of the Sauber team, who both sustained light injuries.
At the post-race podium ceremony, Michael Schumacher implored Barrichello to mount the stand reserved for the race winner and gave the first-place trophy to his teammate. That led the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile to fine Ferrari, Michael Schumacher and Barrichello $1 million on 26 June; each paid a third immediately, while the remainder was suspended. Following a review, the FIA banned the practice of team orders beginning with the 2003 season; they began again allowing the practice following the 2010 season.
The win increased Michael Schumacher's lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 27 championship points over Montoya in second place. Ralf Schumacher came fourth to maintain third place, and Barrichello moved past David Coulthard of the McLaren team to fourth. In the World Constructors' Championship, Ferrari further extended their advantage over Williams to 16 championship points. McLaren were another 36 championship points behind in third with eleven races remaining in the season.
Background
The 2002 Austrian Grand Prix was the 6th of 17 motor races in the 2002 Formula One World Championship, and the 25th time it formed part of the championship. The 71-lap race was held at the 9-turn A1 Ring in Spielberg, Styria, on 12 May. With very few sections requiring drivers competitors to slow down, the track gives teams an opportunity to push their engines to their full potential. 70 percent of the lap can be driven at full racing speed, although the circuit's relatively high altitude of offers less oxygen to feed the combustion engines, reducing their performance by approximately seven percent.Before the race, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 44 championship points. Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher of the Williams team were second and third with 23 and 20 championship points, respectively. Driving for McLaren, David Coulthard was fourth with nine championship points, and Jenson Button for Renault was a further championship point behind in fifth. Ferrari led the Constructors' Championship with 50 championship points, seven ahead of Williams in second place. McLaren with 13 championship points were third, with Renault and Sauber tied for fourth with eight championship points apiece.
Michael Schumacher, who had won four of the opening five Grands Prix in 2002, was strongly considered by the British press, bookmakers, and former drivers Gerhard Berger and Niki Lauda the favourite to win the Austrian Grand Prix, an event he had not won in four previous attempts. He said of his chances in Austria, "We believe we have a very competitive package overall but it's a question of how good the others can be." He expressed confidence he could challenge for victory saying, "I certainly won't be approaching this race any differently than the others. And with two almost perfect races behind us, I'm obviously looking forward to the Austrian Grand Prix with a lot of confidence." Montoya stated he would be better able to challenge Ferrari at the A1-Ring recalling the team's strong form in 2001 despite scoring no points, "I am pretty confident that in Austria we will be quite strong, certainly stronger than in Barcelona, so I am looking forward to it."
For the Grand Prix, a total of 11 teams each entered two race drivers, with no changes from the season entry list. In technical developments, Sauber introduced a revised evolution of its Ferrari 050 engine that the team had used in the first five races of the 2002 championship. The team installed a new aerodynamic package that included a revised undertray, front wing and altered bodywork around the cover of the C21's engine. The Ferrari, McLaren and Williams teams brought new front brake air intakes. Williams also used an upgraded front wing on its FW24, which was characterised by a curved profile.
Practice
There were four practice sessions preceding Sunday's race, two one-hour sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday. The first practice session was held in cool and overcast weather. Michael Schumacher was fastest with a lap of 1 minute, 11.072 seconds with approximately ten minutes remaining. His teammate Barrichello, Felipe Massa and Nick Heidfeld of Sauber, Jordan drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato, Coulthard, Arrows' Heinz-Harald Frentzen, and the British American Racing duo of Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis, were second through tenth. Some drivers—including Barrichello, Massa and Fisichella—ran off the dusty, slippery track into a gravel trap during the session because of a low amount of grip; none sustained damage to their vehicles.Conditions became warmer and sunnier for the second practice session though rainfall threatened towards the end. The fastest times were recorded within the first 20 minutes since the track temperature was at its warmest. Barrichello set the day's fastest lap, at 1 minute, 10.549 seconds. His teammate Michael Schumacher was three-hundredths of a second slower in second position. Montoya, Kimi Räikkönen of the McLaren team, Allan McNish for Toyota, Arrows driver Enrique Bernoldi, Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa, Panis, Coulthard and Sato were third to tenth. Some drivers, including Michael and Ralf Schumacher, and McNish, again lost control of their cars and ran off to the side of the track during the session. Heidfeld's track time was curtailed after 20 minutes due to an alternator fault. Frentzen lost a quarter of an hour to familiarise himself with the track after he spun over a kerb and damaged his car's undertray.
The third practice session took place in clear and dry weather; no drivers ventured off the less slippery circuit. Michael Schumacher used low track and ambient temperatures to become the first driver to go below 70 seconds all weekend with a lap of 1 minute, 9.001 seconds that he recorded half an hour in. His teammate Barrichello was second-fastest and Räikkönen third. Frentzen, Massa, Coulthard, Heidfeld, Panis, Button and Bernoldi followed in positions four through ten.
The ambient and track temperatures had increased by the start of the fourth practice session. Several competitors made driver errors sending them into the gravel. Michael Schumacher set the track lap record of 1 minute, 8.433 seconds. Barrichello was second, and Ralf Schumacher improved to third. Montoya, Frentzen, Massa, Heidfeld, Räikkönen, Panis and Villeneuve completed the top ten. Bernoldi missed 25 minutes due to a malfunctioning gearbox. He later lost control of the rear of his car at turn two and got beached in a gravel trap before the session ended.
Qualifying
Saturday's afternoon one-hour qualifying session saw each competitor limited to twelve laps, with the starting order decided by their fastest laps. The 107% rule was in effect during this session, requiring each driver set a time within 107 per cent of the quickest lap to qualify for the race. Conditions were clear with warm air and track temperatures. Barrichello took his second pole position of the season and the fifth of his career with a lap of 1 minute, 8.082 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Ralf Schumacher, who took his best starting position of the year. Michael Schumacher was third; he said he lost speed due to a brake problem, and traffic slowed him. He switched to the spare Ferrari for his final timed lap in an unsuccessful attempt to claim pole position, and did not earn a front-row start for the first time since the 2001 Italian Grand Prix eight races earlier. A misfiring engine prompted Montoya in fourth to switch to the spare car setup for his teammate Ralf Schumacher; he made a minor tyre-pressure adjustment to record his fastest lap. Heidfeld took fifth, claiming he could have improved had Button not slowed his final timed lap. A lack of speed restricted the McLaren duo of Räikkönen and Coulthard to sixth and eighth; they were separated by Massa who made two driver errors in an unbalanced car through high-speed turns. Panis was ninth-fastest as de la Rosa slowed his final timed lap. Toyota's Mika Salo in tenth had a minor understeer.Frentzen in 11th spun on oil and removed some bodywork components from his car in a gravel trap. His vehicle was later repaired to continue driving. His Arrows' teammate Bernoldi followed in 12th and expressed satisfaction with his car's balance. Traffic slowed Button on his four timed laps and left him 13th. McNish and Toyota located a car setup tailored to suit him, and took 14th. Fisichella ran a new engine in qualifying and took 15th with a car setup suited for used front and new rear tyres. Jarno Trulli had a major engine failure through turn nine and lost control of his Renault on oil. The session was stopped for 11 minutes for track marshals to dry the oil. Trulli returned to the garage and used the spare Renault setup for his teammate Button and took 16th after minor braking problems. Villeneuve used a new set of tyres for qualifying; he was uncomfortable with his car's setup and was 17th. A handling imbalance created an unbalanced car for Sato in 18th. Jaguar's de la Rosa and Eddie Irvine filled the grid's tenth row: de la Rosa had a rear suspension fault caused by an exhaust overheating it and Irvine removed his front wing in a collision with the rear of Bernoldi's vehicle into turn one. Minardi drivers Mark Webber and Alex Yoong started from the eleventh row: Webber optimised his PS02's balance so it ran without any issues on its tyres during the session, and intermittent rear brake locking destabilised Yoong's car causing him to spin after leaving the pit lane.