2002 Japanese Grand Prix
The 2002 Japanese Grand Prix, formally the 2002 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix, was a Formula One motor race that was held at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan on 13 October 2002, before a crowd of 155,000 spectators. It was the 17th and final round of the 2002 Formula One World Championship. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the 53-lap race from pole position. His teammate Rubens Barrichello finished in second and McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen was third.
World Drivers' Champion Michael Schumacher qualified on pole position after setting the fastest overall lap time in the one hour qualifying session. Barrichello started from second, with McLaren's David Coulthard third. Michael Schumacher maintained his pole position advantage going into the first corner and maintained the lead for the most of the race, except for one lap during the first round of pit stops when he relinquished it to Barrichello, leading to Ferrari's one-two finish. His teammate Barrichello finished second, 0.506 seconds behind, when Michael Schumacher slowed in the last laps of the race. Räikkönen took third when Williams driver Ralf Schumacher's engine failed with five laps remaining.
It was Michael Schumacher's 11th victory of the season and 64th in Formula One; he also became the first driver to finish on the podium at every Grand Prix of the season. Ferrari won 15 races this season, matching McLaren's record set in. As a result of the race, Michael Schumacher concluded the year with a season-record 144 championship points scored in the World Drivers' Championship, a record 67 championship points ahead of his teammate Barrichello. Ferrari scored 221 championship points in the World Constructors' Championship, as many as the other ten teams combined.
Background
The 2002 Japanese Grand Prix was the 17th and final round of the 2002 Formula One World Championship. It was held at the Suzuka Circuit in the city of Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan on 13 October 2002. After the previous year's race, the track was shortened by from by realigning key turns to allow for wider run-off areas. The S-curves and Dunlop Curves were partially realigned and the retaining barriers were relocated back. The Formula Dream and Integra Type-R Challenge Cup held support races during the race weekend.Before the race, both the World Drivers' Championship and World Constructors' Championship were already won, with Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher having secured the World Drivers' Championship six rounds earlier at the and Ferrari took the World Constructors' Championship two races after that at the, with Williams too many championship points behind to be able to catch them. The main focus of attention was the battle for third place in the World Drivers' Championship with six points separating Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya, his teammate Ralf Schumacher and McLaren's David Coulthard, which would be determined in Suzuka.
Following the on 29 September, most of the teams tested car and mechanical components, racing setups and tyres at various European circuits in preparation for the Japanese Grand Prix. The British American Racing, McLaren, Toyota and Williams all conducted three-day tests at Spain's Circuit de Barcelona. Alexander Wurz, McLaren's test driver, was quickest on the opening two days, breaking the track lap record on the second day. Williams test driver Antônio Pizzonia lapped fastest on the final day. Jordan's Takuma Sato tested for two days at the Silverstone Circuit in England, while Renault test driver Oliver Gavin did so for three days. Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer and Sauber tested for three day at Italy's Mugello Circuit. Luciano Burti spent three days testing Ferrari's Bridgestone tyres at Spain's Circuito de Jerez. Badoer finished Ferrari's race preparations with two days of wet-weather tyre testing at Italy's Fiorano Circuit.
File:Felipe Massa 2007 Desafio Internacional das Estrelas.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Felipe Massa returned to drive for Sauber after missing the to avoid a ten-place grid penalty.
Michael Schumacher had the chance to be the first driver to finish on the podium at every round of the season, and could extend his record for wins in a season to 11. He stated that he hoped to win the Grand Prix so he could start the winter break with a win, adding, "I am definitely on a mission here. Rubens has confirmed second place in the championship now, so here the competition is open. I am going to go flat out. I am not here to make the racing interesting, I am here to win." McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen trained and acclimatised in Hawaii and said of the upcoming race, "I am looking forward to the Japanese Grand Prix, as the track offers a perfect combination of challenges. These include medium and high speed corners, gradient changes and sweeping straights, which make Suzuka exciting to drive and, hopefully, spectate at." Barrichello stated he had enjoyed the season and looked forward to performing decently in Japan. Montoya admitted he would be surprised if his team could compete with Ferrari at Suzuka.
Ten constructors represented by a racing team entered two drivers each for the event. The weekend was the final race for Toyota's Mika Salo and Jaguar's Eddie Irvine. Felipe Massa returned to drive for Sauber after team owner Peter Sauber replaced him with Heinz-Harald Frentzen for the United States Grand Prix to avoid a ten-place grid penalty for colliding with Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa at the. The Arrows team missed its fifth consecutive Grand Prix due to financial problems that had persisted for three months. Because this was the season's final race, all of the teams were focused on working on their cars and did not introduce any major technical innovations to Suzuka. McLaren made their first use of upgraded rear end components. Honda provided BAR and Jordan with a more powerful engine.
Practice
Two one-hour practice sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday preceded the race. Conditions for the first practice session on Friday morning were sunny. Michael Schumacher posted the quickest lap time of 1:36.109 just before halfway through the session. His teammate Barrichello, the McLaren duo of Coulthard and Räikkönen, the Williams pair of Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, Irvine, Renault's Jarno Trulli, De La Rosa and Trulli's teammate Jenson Button completed the top ten. 27 minutes into the session, Jacques Villeneuve lost control of his BAR car's rear over the kerbing at the Spoon Curve corner exit, possibly due to a traction control system issue. He veered to the left and spun into the tyre barrier, heavily damaging the vehicle's front and rear and covering the circuit with carbon fibre shards. Villeneuve was unhurt and exited his car unaided. Practice was stopped for ten minutes to allow marshals to clear the debris from the track. When Olivier Panis slowed to check on his teammate Villeneuve's condition, his engine stalled further across the track because he slowed down too much.It remained sunny and warm for the second practice session later in the afternoon. Räikkönen set the day's fastest lap of 1:34.232, 0.498 seconds quicker than his teammate Coulthard. Barrichello, the Williams duo of Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, Michael Schumacher, the Jaguar pairing of Irvine and De La Rosa, Trulli and Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella made up positions three through ten. With 12 minutes remaining, Montoya understeered off the circuit at the tight initial right-hand Degner Curve turn and collided with the tyre wall at the next turn with the car's left-hand side at high speed, severely damaging the rear and left-hand side. Although he admitted to feeling sore, Montoya was unhurt. A hydraulic fault limited Michael Schumacher to four laps; Alex Yoong's Minardi car had a hydraulic problem as well as a minor fire under the back. Sato spun into the gravel at Degner Curve turn but returned to the circuit.
The third practice session, held on Saturday morning, was sunny and warm. Michael Schumacher set the first sub-1:33 lap of the weekend with a time of 1:32.978 with 15 minutes remaining. His teammate Barrichello was 0.710 seconds slower in second. Ralf Schumacher, the McLaren team of Coulthard and Räikkönen, Montoya, Trulli, Irvine, Fisichella and Massa rounded out the top ten. After the session ended, Sato's engine failed on the back straight, approaching the 130R corner. Flames poured from the rear of his car but he was unhurt. Toyota's Allan McNish entered the pit lane after his engine failed, limiting him to four laps.
The final practice session took place in sunny weather. Michael Schumacher did not improve his lap time from the previous sesion, although he remained fastest overall. Ralf Schumacher moved from third to second place by 0.255 seconds on the fastest lap time. Following in the top ten were Räikkönen, Montoya, Coulthard, Barrichello, Irvine, Sato, Button and Massa. Panis stopped at the exit from under the bridge with 20 minutes to go because of a possible gearbox fault. Minardi's Mark Webber stopped on the straight past the hairpin in the final minute due to a broken gearbox input shaft.
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 fine conditions. Michael Schumacher was fastest after his first flying lap, then lowered his time to 1:31.317 to clinch his seventh pole position of the season and 50th overall. He believed he might have lapped faster after adjusting his racing setup for his final run. Barrichello was 0.432 seconds slower than his teammate; he secured second with his final quick lap, where he ran wide at turn three and rode the kerbing. Coulthard was faster due to the colder temperatures and took third using a scrubbed set of tyres; a minor understeer in the first sector kept him from going faster on his final run. Räikkönen's final-minute lap landed him fourth despite running wide at turn one. The spare McLaren was prepared for him by mechanics due to a minor issue with the car's pneumatics telemetry system trace. This did not become an issue, as Räikkönen did not need the spare car. Ralf Schumacher, fifth, had an inconsistent car balance, while Montoya, sixth, experienced understeer and oversteer and ran wide attempting to lap quicker at the end of qualifying. Sato took seventh in the last seconds of qualifying, his highest result of the season. Fisichella, his teammate, finished eighth despite minor troubles with the automatic shifter downchange mechanism and minor balancing issues through the esses behind the pit lane. Villeneuve was ninth and was baulked by Montoya during a run. In his final qualifying session for Renault, Button claimed tenth on his final run despite an error into the chicane that sent him sideways. Trulli was dissatisfied with his car's handling and secured 11th on his first run, being demoted out of the top ten by his teammate Button. Heidfeld did not have four clear runs and made errors, as well as experiencing graining on the front tyres following the Spoon Curve corner, finishing 12th. Salo was 13th after collecting grass on his tyres when Ralf Schumacher ran wide ahead of him during his final run.Irvine's engine suddenly failed midway round the circuit in the final ten minutes, prematurely ending his qualifying session and started from 14th. Massa in 15th got graining on his tyres and had excess understeer at the chicane as a result on his fastest run. Panis pulled off the circuit just before the pit lane exit with a gearbox fault. He returned to drive the spare BAR car and took 16th. De La Rosa's Jaguar lacked grip, despite improving balance with each run, leaving him 17th. In his final race for Toyota, McNish was 18th. 35 minutes into the session, he lost control of the rear of his Toyota at the exit to the 130R corner, hurtling backwards airborne over the run-off area and into the outside Armco barrier when he used opposite lock to restore control. McNish smashed through the tire wall and metal barrier at great speed, destroying the barrier and a substantial portion of the Toyota's rear, which rested on the outside grass bank. The car vaulted the barrier, having broken its two top rails, and stopped at the other side of it resting upright after hitting an earth bank. McNish exited the Toyota unaided but had a limp. Sid Watkins, medical delegate for the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, conducted a precautionary check on him at the track's medical centre. Qualifying was stopped for 75 minutes to allow marshals to repair the barriers and clear debris from McNish's car off the circuit. McNish was advised to not participate in the rest of qualifying due to a mild concussion and a bruised knee; the fact that he escaped major harm because he crashed backwards was credited to safety measures adopted following the fatalities of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. The Minardi team completed the starting order. Webber took 19th on the prime Michelin tyre compound, while teammate Yoong claimed 20th on the option compound despite minor oversteer in the high-speed corners during his final two runs.