2002 German Grand Prix
The 2002 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Hockenheimring, Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on 28 July 2002. It was the 12th of 17 rounds in the 2002 Formula One World Championship and the second Grand Prix to be held in Germany that year. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the 67-lap race from pole position. The Williams duo of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher finished second and third, respectively.
This was the first race to be held on the reconfigured Hockenheimring circuit, which was decreased in length for safety and better spectator watching. Michael Schumacher, the World Drivers' Champion, qualified on pole position after setting the fastest lap time in the one-hour qualifying session. Schumacher led for the most of the race, except for two rounds of pit stops, and won his ninth victory of the season and 62nd of his career. Montoya finished second, 10.5 seconds behind, when his teammate Ralf Schumacher made an unscheduled pit stop late in the race to repressurise the car's pneumatic valve-gear reservoir when the air pressure in the engine's pneumatic valve system dropped.
The race result maintained Michael Schumacher's unassailable lead in the World Drivers' Championship with 106 championship points. Montoya remained in second while his teammate Ralf Schumacher overtook Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello for third. Ferrari extended their World Constructors' Championship advantage over Williams to 56 championship points with five races remaining in the season.
Background
The 2002 German Grand Prix was the 12th of 17 rounds in the 2002 Formula One World Championship, contested on 28 July 2002 at the clockwise Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, South West Germany. It was one of two Grands Prix to be held in Germany after the the month before.Heading into the Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher had already won the season's World Drivers' Championship, having clinched the title at the previous race, the. Michael Schumacher led the championship with 96 championship points, ahead of Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya with 34 championship points. Although the World Drivers' Championship was decided, the World Constructors' Championship was not. Ferrari were leading with 128 championship points while Williams were second with 66 championship points and McLaren were third on 47 championship points.
With Michael Schumacher world champion, Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn stated that the team would focus on helping his teammate Rubens Barrichello win races and become runner-up he contended for with Montoya, Ralf Schumacher and McLaren's David Coulthard. Michael Schumacher won the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring in and he wanted to win for the second time. He admitted that winning in Germany would be a satisfying way to celebrate his record-tying fifth world championship. Montoya said his team was travelling to the track hoping to demonstrate a better performing package than in France.
To increase safety and spectator watching, the Hockenheimring's layout was reduced from to. However, the race distance was raised from 45 to 67 laps to appeal to advertisers and television. Bernie Ecclestone, the owner of Formula One's commercial rights, sought the alterations, which were carried out by Tilke GmbH director Hermann Tilke. A long, curved straight called the Parabolika led into the new Spitzkehre hairpin before the demolished Senna chicane, which began with a new right-hand turn that bypassed the former Clark and Ost chicanes. Following the hairpin, there was an extra set of turns that included a quick right-hander, a tight left and a medium right before returning to the former stadium complex via a straight.
The changes to the track received a mixed response. Michael Schumacher stated the revised layout "flows nicely and there are some overtaking opportunities. It is quite demanding." His brother Ralf Schumacher said it was "one of the best" he had driven on, while Norbert Haug, Mercedes-Benz motorsport head, believed the layout would improve the racing facility. Former driver Jacques Laffite believed trackside spectators and television viewers would benefit watching the action. British American Racing's Jacques Villeneuve called it "a typical modern circuit and not as interesting to drive." Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa described the track as quite slippery and that its character had been removed to such an extent "you could be racing anywhere. The individualism has been compromised too much." McLaren CEO Ron Dennis said the circuit alterations had "cut the heart out of something which was very special, very emotional, something which had his own special." Sauber's Nick Heidfeld stated his preference for the former layout.
A total of eleven teams with two drivers each entered the event, with no changes from the season entry list. Arrows entered the race despite financial difficulties, after failing to qualify for the preceding due to a violation of the 107% rule. Their actions in Germany would reportedly be closely scrutinised as team owner Tom Walkinshaw was warned that race director Charlie Whiting could have reported them to the race stewards if they violated the International Sporting Code's article on "actions prejudicial to the spirit of competition" by failing to adequately attempt to qualify for the race. Jordan driver Giancarlo Fisichella was passed fit to enter the event. At the previous race in France, he had a major accident during the final free practice session and was judged unfit by Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile medical delegate Sid Watkins due to the high deceleration Fisichella experienced in the crash. Watkins examined Fisichella medically at Hockenheim and cleared him to compete.
The one-week gap between the French and German Grands Prix meant there was no in-season testing between the two races. It also curtailed the number of technical innovations introduced to the circuit, as did the new circuit design, which no longer required the very low aerodynamic load setups employed until the season. Mercedes and Honda both brought more powerful engines to the track, while Williams, which opened up vents in the sides to improve heat dissipation in France, added extra openings to the bodywork's rear section.
Practice
Preceding the race were two one-hour practice sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday. Rain fell overnight making the circuit damp and the new track surface had a relatively low level of grip. During the first practice session, in cool, humid and overcast weather on Friday morning, Barrichello lapped fastest at 1:16.248 on his final lap of the session. Michael Schumacher, BAR's Olivier Panis, McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen, Heidfeld, Montoya, Sauber's Felipe Massa, the Jordan pair of Takuma Sato and Fisichella and Arrows's Heinz-Harald Frentzen completed the top ten. Some drivers went off the track. Fisichella removed a bargeboard from his car after colliding with a gravel trap at Agip corner in the stadium area, but he returned to the pit lane. His car's floor was subsequently replaced. After completing nine laps with around 20 minutes left, De La Rosa's car billowed smoke from the rear due to an engine failure leaving the hairpin. Coulthard managed six laps due to a split boot on a constant-velocity joint.It was slightly warmer for the second practice session later on Friday afternoon. Michael Schumacher set the day's fastest lap time of 1:16.086 with five minutes remaining, 0.182 seconds ahead of his teammate Barrichello. The McLaren duo of Räikkönen and Coulthard as well as Ralf Schumacher, Jaguar's Eddie Irvine, Montoya, Massa, Toyota's Allan McNish and Frentzen followed in the top ten. More drivers spun off the circuit. Alex Yoong spun his Minardi car at turn two and beached upon a kerb with the rear off the tarmac surface, ending his session early. With three minutes remaining, Fisichella's engine failed at the Nordkurve corner. Oil and moisture was laid at turn one's braking zone, catching out Massa whose front wing's right-hand side was removed upon the kerbing. Renault's Jarno Trulli spun backwards braking for the Sachs turn, becoming stuck in the gravel trap. Panis's stopped on track with a suspected clutch failure and lost 40 minutes of running.
The third practice session on Saturday morning was held in overcast but warm weather. Michael Schumacher was fastest with a 1:15.337 lap, 0.122 seconds faster than teammate Barrichello. Williams teammates Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, Coulthard, Massa, Fisichella, Panis. Heidfeld and Sato were in positions third through tenth. Some drivers again spun during the session. Renault's Jenson Button suffered a gearbox selection issue, leaving him in neutral when he mistakenly hit the neutral button midway through the first corner, He lost control of the rear leaving the turn, nudging the tyre wall before stopping in the opposite direction. At the final turn, Barrichello lost control of his Ferrari's rear and spun across the gravel trap, hitting the wall lightly.
Cloudy conditions were observed in the final practice session on Saturday morning. Michael Schumacher lapped faster by almost a second and was the only driver in the 1:14-bracket with a time of 1:14.487. Ralf Schumacher was 0.667 seconds behind in second. Barrichello, Montoya, Heidfeld, Massa, Fisichella, Toyota's Mika Salo, Coulthard and McNish occupied third through tenth. Fewer spins happened during the session as drivers were more aware of the track limits and more rubber was on the circuit. Sato sat out the session due to an exhaust-related issue that arose early on.
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. Qualifying took place in cloudy, dry and warm conditions, and it was marked by a battle between the Schumacher brothers. Michael Schumacher secured his fourth pole position of the season, his first since the three months earlier and 47th of his career with a 1:14.389 lap, set in the last seconds of qualifying, ending Montoya's five-race pole streak. His second run saw him mount too much kerb at turn one, lose control of his Ferrari, and drive onto the run-off area, aborting the run. Ralf Schumacher qualified second, 0.181 seconds slower, and took pole position with nine minutes left until Michael Schumacher's best lap. Barrichello led midway through qualifying, made small racing setup changes to his Ferrari for his third and fourth runs, resulting in a minor time loss since he mounted a kerb on his third lap and ran wide on the next, leaving him third. Montoya, fourth, had understeer, going through Agip turn's gravel trap into the stadium section on his first run. He locked the front tyres at the hairpin on his final run. Räikkönen led early on, and set times that may have contested for pole position in the first two sectors, but ended up fifth. Fisichella matched his and Jordan's season's best qualifying result in sixth; he was happy with how the car felt. Panis qualified seventh, his best start of the season, despite aborting his first run after going wide twice; his team had to fine-tune his car's driveability. Trulli's mechanics altered the chassis setup between runs to accommodate the ever-changing circuit conditions, securing eighth on his final quick lap. Coulthard qualified ninth, four places behind his teammate, oversteering wide on his third run. Heidfeld took tenth on his last run in the spare Sauber car setup for him.File:AlexYoong.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Alex Yoong failed to qualify for a Grand Prix for the third time in the season by transgressing the 107% rule.
Villeneuve qualified 11th and was lapping faster on his final run before encountering Coulthard in the final two corners, forcing him to lose front aerodynamics, run wide, and spin in avoidance. Sato spent some of qualifying modifying the setup that dialled out the oversteer he had when the session began, finishing 12th. After an engine issue, Button was unable to use a qualifying engine and was forced to revert to an earlier specification. Minor errors on his last run left him 13th. Massa, 14th, experienced grip issues, understeer when accelerating out of slow corners, nervousness in high-speed turns, and a deterioration in handling balance as track temperatures rose. Frentzen in 15th complained his vehicle was not as quick as it should have been. Irvine experienced mid-corner understeer but improved with each run for 16th. McNish, 17th, qualified ahead of teammate Salo for the first time in the season. Toyota modified his car slightly after the morning free practice sessions, gaining time in the first two sectors but losing time in the final sector. Enrique Bernoldi, Frentzen's teammate, was pleased with his car's improved balance and took 18th. Salo lost car balance and understeered as the track conditions changed during the interval. De La Rosa chose a different tyre compound than teammate Irvine, understeered, and ran wide twice in the stadium section, taking 20th. Minardi's Mark Webber was the final qualifier in 21st after traffic prevented him from lapping faster. Despite a major improvement in lap time on his last run, Webber's teammate Yoong did not lap within 107% of Michael Schumacher's pole time, failing to qualify for the third time in the season. A request by Minardi owner Paul Stoddart to allow Yoong into the race was rejected by the race stewards, citing "no exceptional circumstances". This meant 21 drivers started the race.