2002 British Grand Prix
The 2002 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit, England, United Kingdom before 60,000 spectators on 7 July 2002. It was the 10th of 17 rounds in the 2002 Formula One World Championship and was the 53rd time that the British Grand Prix had been included in the championship since 1950. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher won the 60-lap race after starting from second position. His teammate Rubens Barrichello finished in second and Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya was third.
Heading into the Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship from Montoya's teammate Ralf Schumacher and Ferrari led Williams in the World Constructors' Championship. Montoya qualified on pole position by setting the fastest lap time in the one-hour qualifying session, with Barrichello starting second. However, Barrichello stalled on the formation lap and Montoya led the first 15 laps before an increase in rainfall allowed Michael Schumacher to pass him for the race lead on lap 16. Michael Schumacher led for the rest of the race, claiming his seventh victory of the season and 60th of his career. Despite losing control of his Ferrari halfway through the race, Barrichello finished second, 14.5 seconds behind.
The Grand Prix result increased Michael Schumacher's World Drivers' Championship lead to 54 championship points. Barrichello's second-place finish moved him from fourth to second while Montoya's third-place result kept him in third. Ferrari maintained a 57-point lead over Williams in the World Constructors' Championship, while McLaren remained third with seven races left in the season.
Background
The 2002 British Grand Prix was the 10th of 17 Formula One races in the 2002 Formula One World Championship, held on 7 July 2002, at the Silverstone Circuit in England, United Kingdom. This was the 53rd British Grand Prix in the Formula One World Championship, which began in at Silverstone. Before the race, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 76 championship points, 46 ahead of Williams's Ralf Schumacher and 49 in more than Juan Pablo Montoya. Michael Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello and McLaren's David Coulthard were joint fourth with 26 championship points each. Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 102 championship points, 45 ahead of Williams. McLaren were third with 37 championship points, with Renault fourth with 14 championship points, and Sauber fifth with nine.Following the on 23 June, in preparation for the British Grand Prix, the teams tested on various European racing tracks. Eight out of the eleven teams tested variously at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain from 25 to 28 June. Coulthard was fastest on the first day. Renault's Jenson Button led on the second day, Coulthard's teammate Kimi Räikkönen lapped quickest on the third day. Alexander Wurz, McLaren's test driver, led on the final day. Ferrari also spent three days at the Monza Circuit in Italy with test driver Luciano Burti. The Italian team also spent four days at Italy's Mugello Circuit, joined by British American Racing on the final two days. Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer spent the day at the Fiorano Circuit near Maranello. Toyota tested for three days with test driver Stéphane Sarrazin and race driver Allan McNish at France's Circuit Paul Ricard.
Michael Schumacher had won six of the nine races this season and talked about his chances in the British Grand Prix, "I am looking forward to Silverstone. We did very good tests there with Rubens. We learnt a lot and can feel well prepared for the British Grand Prix." Barrichello anticipated changing weather conditions, but also expected to be competitive at Silverstone and looking forward to the Grand Prix. Montoya had qualified on pole position in the previous three races, but had retired each time. He predicted his car's Michelin tyres would be a determinant factor at Silverstone, adding, "I really feel like making up for the last three disappointing races after as many brilliant qualifying sessions, but the British Grand Prix promises to be a tough one."
Eleven two-driver teams competed, each representing a different constructor, with no changes to the entry list from the previous race. There were four British drivers, four Germans, three Brazilians, two Finns, two Italians and one each from Australia, Canada, Colombia, France, Japan, Malaysia and Spain. Five drivers were making their British Grand Prix debuts, and three drivers were previous British Grand Prix winners. Toyota's Mika Salo was restricted to one installation in the first free practice session because of food poisoning, missing the rest of Friday's running on doctor's orders. The Arrows team's participation in the Grand Prix was jeopardised by debts owing to engine supplier Cosworth, legal action by former driver Jos Verstappen for being fired by the team, and investment bank Morgan Grenfell, who opposed possible investment by energy drinks brand Red Bull. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile allowed Arrows an extension to present their cars for scrutineering on Friday morning after missing Thursday afternoon's usual deadline, which they passed. The day before the race, Cosworth's managing directors and Arrows owner Tom Walkinshaw agreed payment for a supply of engines for the Grand Prix, allowing the team to compete.
During Friday free practice sessions, some teams experimented with a rear blue light to aid visibility in inclement weather. Drivers deemed the change ineffective. Jaguar presented the R3B, a highly updated version of the aerodynamically efficient R3, which was a total aerodynamic redesign. The car had redesigned front and rear wings, a new extractor profile, rear suspension and screens behind the front wheels. Williams adopted a new engine cover with a smaller section at the rear, allowing for a reduction in total dimensions at the FW24's rear, owing primarily to the BMW engine, which had less need to disperse heat than other engine brands. Renault debuted new bodywork at Silverstone while McLaren received a more powerful Mercedes-Benz engine.
Practice
Two one-hour practices on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday preceded the race. The first practice session on Friday morning took place in cloudy and wet weather conditions. The rain eased, but the track remained wet, and the ambient and asphalt temperatures were cold before a torrential downpour in the final ten minutes. Teams had to adjust their racing setups in the damp weather.Barrichello lapped fastest on intermediate tyres at 1:33.531, 1.213 seconds faster than Button. The McLaren duo of Coulthard and Räikkönen, Jaguar's Eddie Irvine and his teammate Pedro de la Rosa, Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella, BAR's Jacques Villeneuve, Fisichella's teammate Takuma Sato and Sauber's Nick Heidfeld were in positions third through tenth. Michael Schumacher spun at the Abbey chicane's right-hand exit during his first out-lap. He avoided striking the barrier and stalled after the engine cut out, abandoning his car under the bridge and missing out on chassis setup for the rest of the session. Felipe Massa beached his Sauber car in the Abbey chicane gravel trap with 15 minutes left. Halfway through practice after six laps, Montoya's engine failed on the Hangar Straight and stopped at Vale turn, with smoke spewing from the right bank despite the fact that it was not under load.
By the second practice session later in the afternoon, the rain had subsided, but there was still standing water on the circuit. As a dry line appeared, lap times lowered and teams used intermediate rather than full wet tyres, but rain returned with more than ten minutes remaining. The rain subsided again at the session's conclusion. Barrichello set the day's fastest lap of 1:31.457, ahead of his teammate Michael Schumacher, Fisichella, Montoya, Sato, Villeneuve, Räikkönen, Massa, Button and Heidfeld in positions two to ten. The slippery surface caught out a number of drivers during the session. BAR's Olivier Panis spun at low speed and became struck in the Brooklands corner gravel trap.
The third practice session, held on Saturday morning, was mostly dry and cold, and the Arrows team's first involvement of the weekend. Michael Schumacher set the early pace with his first quick lap, lapping at 1:20.750. His teammate Barrichello, Räikkönen, Arrows's Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Villeneuve, Sato, Frentzen's teammate Enrique Bernoldi, Renault's Jarno Trulli and his teammate Button completed the top ten. Early in the session, Fisichella stopped on track at Stowe corner with an engine issue. Panis stopped at Vale turn with electrical issues 20 minutes in. Irvine was the only driver not to set a lap time because of a gear selection fault.
The final practice session on Saturday morning also took place in dry weather. Barrichello set the pace with a 1:20.230 lap with five minutes left in the session. Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Montoya, the McLaren duo of Coulthard and Räikkönen, Heidfeld, Button, Frentzen and Villeneuve rounded out the top ten. Ten minutes into the session, Arrows drivers Bernoldi and Frentzen stopped at the pit lane exit, pushing their cars into the pit lane for repairs. Panis again stopped at Vale turn with ten minutes to go and Mark Webber stopped his Minardi PS02 car at the exit to Copse corner with two minutes remaining.
Qualifying
Each driver was allowed twelve laps during Saturday's one-hour qualifying session, with starting positions determined by the drivers' quickest laps. During this session, the 107% rule was in effect, requiring each driver to remain within 107% of the quickest lap time in order to qualify for the race. It was dry, cloudy and cool throughout qualifying. Montoya claimed his fourth successive pole position of the season and the eighth of his career with a lap time of 1:18.998, the weekend's only lap sub-1:19, set on his final run in the session's final seconds. Following a change of rear wing, Barrichello was second, 0.034 seconds behind. He led early on, qualifying ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher for the third time in 2002. Barrichello lost time on his first run due to smoke from Button's engine failure at Becketts turn, and changed both wings for his second run. Michael Schumacher was third after taking nine of his twelve allocated laps. He installed new front and rear wings to better his Ferrari's balance. He made an error on his last run. Ralf Schumacher, fourth, made a late-session change that cost him his car's handling balance edge. McLaren occupied the grid's third row. Räikkönen, in fifth, lost engine power after a cylinder bank failed on his second run, forcing him to switch to the spare MP4-17 car for the rest of qualifying. His fastest time was set in the final seconds. Coulthard experienced excessive oversteer and twice baulked under braking; he was sixth after aborting his final run due to oversteer. Trulli, seventh, struggled with the racing setup but corrected a front-end issue for qualifying. Salo secured Toyota's season-best qualifying result with eighth, with Toyota resolving an issue with a flat battery. Villeneuve in ninth had a minor clutch issue during his third run and a gearbox downshift fault. Heidfeld was impeded by Montoya at Priory corner on his best lap and almost hit the rear of his car, leaving him in 10th.File:AlexYoong 0028.jpg|thumb|left|Alex Yoong transgressed the 107% rule for the second time in the season and failed to qualify for the race.
Massa finished 11th after gradually reducing oversteer in his car during qualifying and losing time in traffic on the final run. On his first fast lap, Button's engine failed into Becketts corner, with smoke billowing from his car's rear. He returned to the pit lane and drove the spare Renault R202 lacking a more powerful qualifying engine and newest aerodynamic package, qualifying 12th. Panis finished 13th after replacing his engine during the interval. Sato needed a replacement front wing when it got loose during his second run. He took 14th due to a jittery car in high-speed corners and tyre graining. McNish took 15th after Räikkönen slowed him exiting the pit lane on his third run, costing him time. Frentzen encountered traffic on his final run but had none on the previous three. On his first run, Fisichella's engine cut out and stopped at Club turn. He drove the spare Jordan car for the rest of qualifying and was 17th. Bernoldi took 18th, citing improved handling balance on each of his runs. Irvine was the faster Jaguar driver in 19th. Webber qualified 20th despite a minor gearbox issue in his Minardi. On his first run, De La Rosa had a water leak that poured coolant over his race car's rear tyres. He then lost a lot of time in the pit lane while Jaguar sought to solve an electrical misfire. He drove the spare Jaguar setup for teammate Irvine, qualifying 21st within the 107% limit in the final minute. For the second time in 2002, Webber's teammate Alex Yoong did not lap within 107% of Montoya's pole time in his Minardi car by two-tenths of a second. This was attributed to him losing a lot of time in high-speed turns and potentially not having power steering. The stewards rejected Minardi's request for Yoong to enter the race, citing "no exceptional circumstances".