2002 French Grand Prix
The 2002 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held before 106,000 spectators at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Magny-Cours, Burgundy, France on 21 July 2002. It was the 11th of 17 rounds of the 2002 Formula One World Championship as well as the 11th anniversary of Magny-Cours' debut Formula One event. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the 72-lap race after starting in second. McLaren teammates Kimi Räikkönen and David Coulthard finished second and third, respectively. Schumacher's victory confirmed him as the 2002 World Drivers' Champion, as no other driver could overtake Schumacher's championship points total with a record six races remaining in the season.
Only Michael Schumacher, his teammate Rubens Barrichello and Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya were in contention for the World Drivers' Championship entering the race, with Schumacher leading by 54 championship points. Ferrari led Williams in the World Constructors Championship by 57 championship points. Michael Schumacher began alongside pole position winner Montoya on the grid's first row. Montoya led the opening 23 laps before the first round of pit stops, when Michael Schumacher took the lead but received a drive-through penalty for crossing the white line at the pit lane exit. Montoya regained the lead until a delayed second pit stop put Räikkönen into the lead following the second round of pit stops. Räikkönen led until he ran over oil from the Toyota of Allan McNish on lap 68, allowing Michael Schumacher to pass him and take the lead for the remaining five laps, securing his eighth victory of the season and 61st of his career.
Schumacher secured his fifth World Drivers' Championship title, equalling Juan Manuel Fangio's record set in. Formula One individuals praised Michael Schumacher, including former champion Jody Scheckter and three-time world champion Niki Lauda. He also received official congratulations from world leaders Gerhard Schröder, Silvio Berlusconi and Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. Montoya moved from third to second in the World Drivers' Championship while Ferrari extended its World Constructors' Championship lead over Williams to 62 championship points.
Background
The 2002 French Grand Prix was the 11th of 17 rounds in the 2002 Formula One World Championship, contested on 21 July 2002 at the clockwise Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Magny-Cours, Burgundy, Central France, the 11th anniversary of the circuit hosting its maiden Formula One event in 1991. The race swapped places with the to avoid a scheduling conflict with the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 86 championship points before the event, followed by his teammate Rubens Barrichello on 32 and Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya on 31. Montoya's teammate Ralf Schumacher was fourth with 30 championship points and McLaren's David Coulthard was fifth with 26 championship points. If Michael Schumacher won the race and both Barrichello and Montoya finished lower than third, he would have won five world championships, matching Juan Manuel Fangio's record. Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 118 championship points, 57 ahead of Williams. McLaren were third with 37 championship points, with Renault fourth on 14 and Sauber fifth with 10.
Following the British Grand Prix on 7 July, in preparation for the French Grand Prix, the teams tested aerodynamic and car components, racing setups and tyres on four European circuits. The Arrows, Jordan, Renault. Sauber and Williams teams tested variously for four days at Spain's Circuit Ricardo Tormo. The British American Racing, Jaguar, Toyota and Williams teams all tested variously over a four-day period at Italy's Monza Circuit. Ferrari's race preparations included testing at two Italian racing tracks. Drivers Luca Badoer, Luciano Burti and Michael Schumacher spent five days testing at the Fiorano Circuit, while Badoer also tested at the Mugello Circuit. Minardi was the only team that did not test, remaining at their factory.
Michael Schumacher had won seven of the ten races so far in 2002 and was on the podium in every one. He indicated that he would try to win the championship at Magny-Cours since he wanted to win the French Grand Prix, but that it would be dependent on other drivers' actions and that it did not matter if the title fight continued at the following. He indicated he would compete normally, but he did not expect to win the title in France, "Whether it happens here or at another time I don't think that it's really important to me. What matters to me is that it does happen in the end." Ross Brawn, Ferrari's technical director, stated that the team was concerned about a mechanical failure during a race.
There were eleven teams with two drivers each for the Grand Prix, with no changes from the season entry list. Arrows' participation in the event was jeopardised by outstanding debts to engine supplier Cosworth. Arrows manager Tom Walkinshaw directed the team's transporters from Oxfordshire's Leafield factory to France on the evening of 16 July. Arrows' participation in the Grand Prix was ensured when Walkinshaw paid off the team's debt to Cosworth for a continued supply of engines the next day, before the noon deadline. Ferrari combined the rear wing mounting point with the deformable structure above the gearbox and the extractor profile's upper part at the F2002 car's rear-end. Given the high temperatures expected during the race, Williams introduced large openings in the FW24's sidepods to enhance heat dissipation. Renault debuted a new improved version of their engine, as well as an aperture in the right side of the R202 cars to cool the right-hand side oil radiator.
Practice
Two one-hour practice sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday preceded the race. Arrows did not take part in the Friday practice sessions because Walkinshaw kept the two cars in the pit lane after being urged to do little while negotiating with shareholders Morgan Grenfell to persuade the bank to allow new prospective investors into the team.The first practice session on Friday morning was held in hot, sunny weather. Barrichello set the fastest lap of 1:15.056 31 minutes in. Coulthard, Michael Schumacher, the Williams duo of Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen, Renault's Jenson Button, the Jaguar duo Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa and Jordan's Takuma Sato completed the top ten. Some drivers lost control of their cars during the session. Toyota's Mika Salo was on a fast lap when Sato cut across him at the fast-right/left Imola turn. This meant Salo drove onto the run-off area but Sato's left-rear collided with Salo's right-front wheel because Sato did not yield for him. Salo returned slowly to the pit lane with front suspension damage but continued after checks by Toyota, despite damage to the car's steering.
The second practice session, which took place later in the afternoon, was sunny. Coulthard set the day's fastest lap of 1:14.025, 0.072 seconds quicker than his teammate Räikkönen. The Ferrari duo of Michael Schumacher and Barrichello as well as Ralf Schumacher, Irvine, Salo, De La Rosa Button and Montoya followed in positions third through tenth. Some drivers again went off the circuit. Less than four minutes in, Button's teammate Jarno Trulli took too much kerb through the Nurburgring chicane on his first run, causing him to lose control of his Renault's rear. Trulli controlled the slide but he nudged the tyre barrier at the run-off area's edge, prematurely ending his session. Montoya and Sato removed components from their cars in excursions across the gravel trap.
The third practice session on Saturday morning took place in sunny weather. Michael Schumacher was fastest with a time of 1:12.974 he set at the conclusion of the session and was the only driver to set a sub 1:13-lap. His teammate Barrichello was 0.529 seconds slower in second, followed by Räikkönen, his McLaren teammate Coulthard, Sauber's Felipe Massa, Montoya, Ralf Schumacher, Button, Massa's teammate Nick Heidfeld and BAR's Olivier Panis in positions three to ten.
File:Giancarlo Fisichella - Le Mans 24 Hours 2010.jpg|thumb|Giancarlo Fisichella was withdrawn from the race by doctor Sid Watkins following a heavy accident in the final practice session.
Although he failed to lap faster in the final practice session, which took place in sunny weather, Michael Schumacher remained the fastest overall driver after losing control of his Ferrari's rear heading towards the Adelaide hairpin. Räikkönen improved to second and his teammate Coulthard was third. Barrichello, Button, Montoya, Ralf Schumacher, Irvine, Heidfeld and Trulli followed in the top ten. Around 15 minutes in, Giancarlo Fisichella's front wing collapsed over the kerbs at the exit of the fast right-hand Estoril corner, folding under his Jordan car. lifting the front wheels into the air off the tarmac surface. He lost frontal downforce, and lost control of his car, striking the outside tyre barrier. Fisichella experienced a hit at, leaving him confused, dazed and with no recollection of the accident. Practice was stopped for 26 minutes as marshals repaired the tyre wall.
Fisichella was left with a concussion, a cut finger, and a slightly stiff neck as a result of his crash. Sid Watkins, a doctor from the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, examined him at the circuit's medical centre before flying him to Nevers for a brain scan. Although hospital scans revealed no serious injuries, Watkins deemed Fisichella unfit to race, citing the risk of another major accident during the race because of the g-forces he experienced.
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. Montoya and Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and Barrichello battled it out in qualifying, in hot and sunny weather, appearing to favour Michelin-shod cars. Montoya secured his fifth successive pole position with a 1:11.985 lap, the only driver to lap under 1:12 despite going wide at the final turn on his final quick lap. Michael Schumacher qualified second, 0.023 seconds behind, after losing time on his final run despite adjusting his Ferrari. He lost control of his Ferrari and cut across the gravel trap at the final chicane, invalidating his lap time. Michael Schumacher's third run was likewise invalidated for cutting the Nurburgring chicane. Barrichello, third, had his car modified inbetween sessions. Räikkönen made an error at the final corner, finishing fourth, his best qualifying result at the time, just slower than Barrichello. Ralf Schumacher, fifth, drove an unbalanced car and was unable to improve his lap when he slid entering the start/finish straight. Coulthard had an minor oversteer that improved during qualifying, taking sixth. The Renault duo qualified seventh and eighth. Button in seventh spent most of qualifying correcting oversteer and locking his tyres entering turn eight. For the third race in 2002, he qualified ahead of teammate Trulli, who was unable to push due to discomfort in his Renault on the limit. Irvine achieved his best qualifying result of 2002 at the time in ninth. Heidfeld, tenth, was the final Bridgestone runner in the top ten. His team made minor tweaks to his racing setup for each run; Heidfeld had traffic on the second run.Panis, 11th, had poor balance and understeer, but set his best time on his final run after pushing hard. Massa lapped faster on each run after Sauber improved his car, securing 12th. BAR's Jacques Villeneuve, 13th, used the latest Honda engine for qualifying and was happy with how his car performed in slow turns. Sato was the only Jordan driver that qualified when Fisichella withdrew from the event, securing 14th. He was sent out early in qualifying because Jordan temperatures increases and he improved marginally with each lap. De La Rosa pulled over at the pit lane exit with a loss in hydraulic pressure affecting the car's throttle control. He moved to his spare Jaguar setup, but that had a front wheel sensor problem and a loss of power once it was rectified, leaving him 15th. The Toyota pair of Salo and Allan McNish qualified 16th and 17th. Salo had grip problems for most of qualifying, while McNish believed Toyota would be slightly more competitive in the session. Minardi teammates Mark Webber and Alex Yoong were the final qualifiers in 18th and 19th. Webber's car stopped right before the pit lane exit due to a fuel pressure issue, forcing him to drive the spare Minardi car setup for him. Yoong's car understeered and he lost time on his last runs due to a fuel delivery issue. Arrows made a token appearance in qualifying to avoid FIA-imposed fines for missing rounds of the championship after completing one installation lap in the final practice session; drivers Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi intentionally failed to lap inside 107% of Montoya's pole position time when they slowed in the final third of the lap. Both drivers completed three laps each and Arrows left the track after qualifying.