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2002 Malaysian Grand Prix

Coordinates: 2°45′39.2″N 101°44′16.2″E / 2.760889°N 101.737833°E / 2.760889; 101.737833
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2002 Malaysian Grand Prix
Race 2 of 17 in the 2002 Formula One World Championship
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Race details[1][2]
Date 17 March 2002
Official name IV Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix
Location Sepang International Circuit, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.543 km (3.444 miles)
Distance 56 laps, 310.408 km (192.879 miles)
Weather Partially cloudy, hot, and dry
Attendance 92,000
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 1:35.266
Fastest lap
Driver Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW
Time 1:38.049 on lap 38
Podium
First
Williams-BMW
Second
Williams-BMW
Third
Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix (officially the 2002 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix)[3] was a Formula One motor race held before 92,000 spectators at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia on 17 March 2002. It was the second round of 17 in the 2002 Formula One World Championship and the fourth Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix. Williams driver Ralf Schumacher won the 56-lap race after starting from fourth position. His teammate Juan Pablo Montoya finished in second, ahead of Ferrari's Michael Schumacher in third.

Going into the race, Michael Schumacher and Ferrari led the World Drivers' Championship and World Constructors Championship, respectively. Michael Schumacher qualified on pole position by setting the fastest lap time in the one-hour qualifying session. At the start of the race, Michael Schumacher and Montoya collided at the first corner, promoting Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello to the race lead. Barrichello maintained the lead until the first round of pit stops when Ralf Schumacher took over the position. Ralf Schumacher led for most of the remainder of the Grand Prix to secure his fourth career victory, with Montoya in second 39.7 seconds behind after serving the first-ever drive-through penalty imposed on him for the first lap accident. Michael Schumacher secured third on the final lap after overtaking Renault's Jenson Button, who had a suspected anti-roll bar bracket failure that slowed him with two laps remaining.

Ralf Schumacher's and Montoya's one-two finish promoted Williams to the lead of the World Constructors' Championship by eight championship points over Ferrari. Michael Schumacher's lead in the World Drivers' Championship was reduced to two championship points over Montoya and four over race winner Ralf Schumacher with 15 races remaining in the season.

Background

[edit]
The Sepang International Circuit, where the race was held

The 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix, the second round of seventeen in the 2002 Formula One World Championship, was held at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia on 17 March 2002,[1] the fourth time a Formula One Grand Prix was taking place at Sepang.[4][5] The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's governing body, had sanctioned a race in Malaysia since the 1960s, with the initial events staged in Singapore, then part of the Malaysian Federation, before moving to the Shah Alam Circuit. When the Formula One Grand Prix debuted in 1999, tit was transferred to the purpose-built Sepang International Circuit, where it remained until 2017.[6] The track underwent safety upgrades, with 18 new safety fences installed to protect trackside personnel and the installation of new kerbs and gutters at five corners. A 60 m (200 ft) section of track on the straight between turns 11 and 12 was repaved.[5][7]

After winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with ten championship points, ahead of Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya with six and McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen with four. Jaguar's Eddie Irvine and Minardi's Mark Webber were in fourth and fifth positions with three and two championship points, respectively.[8] Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with Williams second and McLaren third with ten championship points.[8]

Following the Australian Grand Prix on 3 March,[9] six teams held in-season testing sessions at various European racing courses ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix.[10] Luciano Burti, Ferrari's test driver, spent four days testing mechanical components and Bridgestone tyres on a F2001 chassis at Italy's Fiorano Circuit.[10][11] Williams and Renault spent three days at Northamptonshire's Silverstone Circuit,[12][13] joined by British American Racing (BAR) concentrating on aerodynamic and engine development on the second and third days.[10][14] Toyota conducted a two-day test of electrical and mechanical components on its TF102 car with test driver Stéphane Sarrazin at Circuit Paul Ricard in Southern France,[15] while Jean Alesi spent three days at the same track testing Michelin tyres in a McLaren MP4-16B car.[10][16] The Arrows, Jaguar, Jordan, Minardi and Sauber teams did not test.[10]

Ferrari has won all three Formula One races at Sepang since its debut in 1999.[17] Michael Schumacher, the pre-race favourite with most bookmakers,[18] stated he was confident of winning the race after finishing first in Australia with a year-old car.[17] Montoya said coming second in Australia helped him cement "a good start to the season" for himself, adding he was taking a step-by-step approach, "I'm not going to rush into things. Our target is to improve on last year's position and of course to be more consistent" after retiring in Sepang the previous year.[19] His teammate Ralf Schumacher encouraged drivers to take extra precautions to avoid a multi-car accident, as seen on the first lap in Australia. He planned to prevent his brother from winning in Malaysia again and hoped for no monsoons.[20] Renault's Jenson Button was more optimistic, reckoning he could secure a podium result.[21]

Michelin introduced a new radical tyre compound for the race.[22] Tyres were a major topic leading into the Grand Prix, with Michelin predicted to outperform Bridgestone if conditions were hot.[23][24] However, Michael Schumacher warned Bridgestone had closed the gap on Michelin's warm-weather performance but said a Williams driver would finish on the podium.[24] Ralf Schumacher was convinced that Michelin's new tyre compound would correct an early performance drop-off and help him close the gap to Ferrari in Malaysia.[25] The drivers met on Friday afternoon to discuss a gentlemen's agreement on "non-aggression" at the first corner on the first lap to avoid a multi-car accident as observed at the Australian Grand Prix.[5] The stewards further warned the drivers at the Sunday morning meeting to exercise caution at the first turn.[26]

The Grand Prix featured eleven teams of two drivers (each representing a different constructor), with no changes to the season entry list.[27] Phoenix Finance unsuccessfully attempted to enter the Grand Prix with two 2001-spec Prost AP04 cars with drivers Tarso Marques and Gastón Mazzacane after the FIA ruled it had not purchased Prost Grand Prix's entry.[28][29] Toyota's Mika Salo had a severe case of flu, meaning Ryan Briscoe, Toyota's test driver, was on standby to replace him. However, Salo recovered in time to enter the Grand Prix.[30] To assist the cooling of their internal components in Malaysia's hot and humid atmosphere, teams installed more apertures on their cars.[31] Ferrari again sent two F2001B cars and opened additional vents on their sides.[31] Ralf Schumacher drove a Williams FW24 after it was repaired after being damaged on the opening lap of the preceding Australian Grand Prix due to production constraints, forcing the decision to avoid using a year-old chassis.[17][32] Renault employed a more powerful qualifying engine for the race and upgraded the rear wing, extractor profile and rear suspension components.[31][33] The Jaguar team received a new engine and aerodynamic updates for their R3 cars.[34]

Practice

[edit]

Two one-hour practices on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday preceded the race.[35] The Friday practice sessions at Sepang took place shrouded by a smoky haze caused by forest fires in four Peninsular Malaysia states exacerbated by a prolonged drought in parts of Southeast Asia,[36][37] threatening to significantly limit visibility of the circuit.[5] However, practice was not affected by the haze.[38]

David Coulthard (pictured in 2007) had his first practice session interrupted when he stopped his McLaren with an overheating exhaust collector causing his car's right-rear bodywork to catch fire.

Michael Schumacher lapped fastest in the first practice session, which happened in the morning in hot and humid weather, with a time of 1:38.626, nearly a second faster than his teammate Rubens Barrichello. Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, Arrows' Enrique Bernoldi, Button, Jordan's Takuma Sato, Bernoldi's teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Renault's Jarno Trulli, Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella and Montoya followed in the top ten.[39] Some drivers lost control of their cars as they became acclimatised to the circuit during the session.[39] Around 20 minutes in and after completing three laps,[40][41] On his first lap,[42] David Coulthard stopped his McLaren exiting turn 11 when an overheating exhaust collector caused his car's right-rear bodywork to catch fire. Coulthard spent 20 minutes pushing the car back to the pit lane for repairs.[39][43][44] Because the rules prohibited using the spare car on Fridays, his team replaced the engine before the start of the second practice.[40][41] Bernoldi then stopped his car on the grass with a suspected software glitch in the diffuser.[44][45]

The second practice session held later in the afternoon was also hot and humid,[46][47] giving the advantage to Michelin-shod cars.[42] McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen set the day's fastest lap of 1:37.399,[47] Friday's only sub-1:37 lap.[48] Coulthard was 0.639 seconds slower in second. Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Salo, Montoya, Barrichello, Button, Trulli and Heidfeld were in positions three to ten.[47] More drivers lost control of their cars during the session.[48] Webber's Asiatech engine failed on his out-lap and billowed smoke in the opening minute of the session and he stopped on the track.[45][47][48] Barrichello stopped after turn nine when his Ferrari's engine failed with 15 minutes remaining.[43][45][46]

An overnight rainstorm left moist patches off the racing line and lowered grip levels for Saturday morning's third practice session.[49] The forest fires' haze made it humid and overcast.[50][51] Most drivers did not enter the circuit after halfway through, when more grip was available.[49][50] Barrichello led with a 1:36.974 lap set late in the session.[50][51] His teammate Michael Schumacher, Räikkönen, Montoya, Button, Ralf Schumacher, Coulthard, Fisichella and the Sauber duo of Felipe Massa and Heidfeld completed the top ten.[51] Frentzen was the only driver not to set a lap time because of a fractured oil line damaging his engine.[49][51]

As the circuit temperature increased, it remained hot with a slight hazy mist during the final practice session.[52][53] Several drivers lost control of their cars on the damp track surface.[53] Montoya recorded the quickest lap time of 1:36.556 27 minutes into the session. Räikkönen was second with a lap set with 16 minutes remaining.[54][55] Ralf Schumacher, Barrichello, Coulthard, Michael Schumacher, Button, Fisichella, Massa and Heidfeld rounded out the top ten.[54] Coulthard's right-hand wheels went onto the grass exiting the left-hand corner heading into turn 14. He abandoned his car in the gravel trap after spinning into it.[54][55] Late in the session, a fire at the rear of Frentzen's car led him to evacuate and mechanics extinguished it.[52][53][54]

Qualifying

[edit]
Michael Schumacher (pictured in 2005) secured the 44th pole position of his career with the fastest lap time in the one-hour qualifying session.

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.[35] Qualifying was held in hot, humid and overcast conditions,[56] and the high ambient and track temperatures favoured the Michelin-shod cars.[57] Michael Schumacher used nine of his twelve allocated laps and secured his first pole position of the season and the 44th of his career with a lap time of 1:35.266.[56][58] He theorised he could have lapped faster had he waited until the end of qualifying as it seemed to be the best time to avoid slower cars.[59] Montoya qualified second, 0.231 seconds behind Michael Schumacher,[60] after initially struggling to stay consistent all around the track and reporting understeer that cost him time between turns seven and eight.[61] Barrichello missed the first half of qualifying,[58] and was unable to duplicate his Australian Grand Prix qualifying performance. He took third on his final fast lap on newer tyres, creating excess understeer and braking problems initially before a car setup change resolved the issue.[59][60][61] He demoted Ralf Schumacher to fourth when qualifying ended;[57][62] Ralf Schumacher was affected by car setup issues.[59] Räikkönen secured fifth and qualified ahead of Coulthard in sixth for the first time in their second race as teammates despite an oversteer putting him wide on his second run.[60][61][62] An excess oversteer stopped Coulthard from attacking in the way he desired due to a lack of straightline speed, McLaren reacted by reducing downforce, affecting the car's handling.[63] He ended qualifying prematurely after spinning into the turn 14 gravel trap.[56] Heidfeld set his fastest time for seventh on his second run despite a chassis setup fault that required him to return to the original setup.[59][61] Button qualified eighth on his first run, his best result since leaving Williams at the end of 2000, but suffered an engine power issue on his next run, forcing him to drive the spare Renault R202 car.[60][61]

Fisichella, ninth, made driver errors on his final run, preventing him from lapping faster.[59] Salo took tenth, Toyota's first top ten qualifying result in their second Grand Prix.[62] Frentzen qualified 11th after being dissatisfied with the balance of his Arrows A23 car.[59] Trulli was unable to locate a suitable car balance, leaving him in 12th. BAR's Jacques Villeneuve, 13th, was two-tenths of a second faster than in practice, reporting that the car was not quick in either the corners or straights.[61] Massa, in 14th, experienced a front-right suspension failure midway through qualifying, forcing him to be transported to the pit lane to drive the spare Sauber car configured for him, which had more understeer than his race car.[59][64] Sato admitted to pushing too hard on his second and fourth runs and qualified 15th.[61] Bernoldi was 16th after running off onto the grass in the spare Arrows vehicle during his third run owing to a car balance issue. Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa pushed hard on his first two runs despite an oversteer and his last run was affected by slower cars, leaving him 17th. Olivier Panis, 18th, had a gearbox oil leak that required a new gearbox, but it began to bounce out of fourth gear on his first run, forcing him to drive the spare BAR vehicle 12 minutes before qualifying concluded.[59][61] On his first lap, Allan McNish had to use the spare Toyota due to a broken differential that billowed from smoke from the right exhaust. McNish was uncomfortable with how the spare car felt and he qualified 19th.[56][63] Irvine finished 20th due to balance issues caused by reverting from a reworked front wing to the previous setup, resulting in driver errors.[59][61] The Minardi duo of Webber and Alex Yoong completed the starting grid in 21st and 22nd;[63] Yoong believed he might have equalled his teammate Webber, but improvements to his car proved ineffective.[59]

Qualifying classification

[edit]
Pos No Driver Constructor Lap Gap
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:35.266 —
2 6 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:35.497 +0.231
3 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:35.891 +0.625
4 5 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:36.028 +0.762
5 4 Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.468 +1.202
6 3 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.477 +1.211
7 7 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:37.199 +1.933
8 15 United Kingdom Jenson Button Renault 1:37.245 +1.979
9 9 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Honda 1:37.536 +2.270
10 24 Finland Mika Salo Toyota 1:37.694 +2.428
11 20 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth 1:37.919 +2.653
12 14 Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 1:37.920 +2.654
13 11 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:38.039 +2.773
14 8 Brazil Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 1:38.057 +2.791
15 10 Japan Takuma Sato Jordan-Honda 1:38.141 +2.875
16 21 Brazil Enrique Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth 1:38.284 +3.018
17 17 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth 1:38.374 +3.108
18 12 France Olivier Panis BAR-Honda 1:38.390 +3.124
19 25 United Kingdom Allan McNish Toyota 1:38.959 +3.693
20 16 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth 1:39.121 +3.855
21 23 Australia Mark Webber Minardi-Asiatech 1:39.454 +4.188
22 22 Malaysia Alex Yoong Minardi-Asiatech 1:40.158 +4.892
107% time: 1:41.935
Sources:[2][65]

Warm-up

[edit]

On race morning, a 30-minute warm-up session was held in hot, sunny weather.[66][67]Barrichello led with a lap of 1:39.611, which he set late on,[67] ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher, Coulthard, Trulli, Heidfeld, Button, Montoya, De La Rosa, Ralf Schumacher and Frentzen in positions two to ten.[68] Some drivers drove their team's spare cars after being permitted by the rules. They reported problems with them during their last preparations on the dry course before the race.[69][70] Ralf Schumacher lost control of his car at turn 14. In the pit lane, he suffered a front disc brake failure and extinguished a brief fire in his car. Yoong caused the yellow flags to be waved when he entered the turn 12 gravel trap but returned to the pit lane.[66][67][68]

Race

[edit]

The race began at 14:00 local time under hot, partially cloudy, humid, and slightly hazy weather.[5][71][72] The air temperature ranged from 30 to 34 °C (86 to 93 °F) and the track temperature was between 35 to 41 °C (95 to 106 °F);[5][73] a 90% chance of a thunderstorm was forecast.[74] Approximately 92,000 spectators attended the event.[75] When the red lights went out to begin the race,[74][76] Frentzen stalled on the starting grid for the second consecutive event due to a launch control system fault.[76][77] His car was pushed into the pit lane by mechanics and was restarted with Frentzen a lap behind.[71][74]

Juan Pablo Montoya was involved in a first lap collision with Michael Schumacher and was imposed the first-ever drive-through penalty for it.

At the front, Michael Schumacher went across to the right, into Montoya's path on the inside line, headed into the right-hand Selangor S turn. Montoya drew alongside Michael Schumacher on the inside due to his car's powerful BMW engine, and he appeared to push Schumacher to the outside kerbing entering the corner. Michael Schumacher then understeered off the kerbing, pushing Montoya to the outside.[76][77][78] Michael Schumacher collided with Montoya, breaking his front wing against Montoya's right-front wheel and sending Montoya off the circuit.[71][79] The front wing folded under Montoya's car.[5] Montoya's horizontal fin was also removed, falling to 11th and gesticulating to Michael Schumacher as he passed him.[76][80] The collision ended both drivers' chance at victory.[81] Meanwhile, Barrichello took the race lead from Ralf Schumacher and Räikkönen.[76] Michael Schumacher drove slowly into the pit lane for a replacement front wing in a 12.5-second pit stop. He rejoined the circuit in 21st.[74][79]

Sato collided with the rear of his teammate Fisichella's car at turn two on lap two while they were battling Salo.[79][82] The impact severed Sato's front wing and Fisichella's rear wing.[5][77] Both drivers made pit stops for repairs on the same lap, with Fisichella overshooting the Jordan pit stall because his rear wing took longer to install.[73][76] Fisichella exited his car, assuming the damage was irreversible, but after installing the rear wing, he rejoined the Grand Prix.[5] Barrichello slowly pulled away from Ralf Schumacher. Montoya advanced to seventh by overtaking Salo and Trulli on lap three, before Salo passed Trulli for eighth on lap four.[76] McNish passed Bernoldi for tenth place on lap six. On the following lap, Montoya slipstreamed past Button on the inside into turn one for sixth.[71][74]

The stewards awarded Montoya a drive-through penalty on lap eight for "causing an avoidable collision," the first time such a penalty had been levied on a Formula One driver since the FIA introduced it to replace the ten-second stop-and-go penalties.[76][78][82] He took the penalty two laps later and fell to ninth,[74] losing approximately 20 seconds.[26] Trulli entered the pit lane on lap ten with overheating. The sidepods were cleared, but the car continued to overheat and lose power. He was pushed into the garage and retired to prevent more damage to the Renault. Panis pulled over onto the grass after his clutch failed, forcing him to retire on the same lap. By lap 13, Michael Schumacher had moved to 12th place after passing Irvine and Villeneuve. Coulthard began slowing due to a worsening misfire, causing his engine to run on nine cylinders on the same lap, and he was passed by Heidfeld on the pit lane straight the next lap for fourth. He then dropped behind Button and Salo before being summoned to the garage by Mercedes technicians to retire on lap 15.[71][80][83] Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher passed Massa for 11th place before battling Bernoldi for tenth, overtaking him two laps later.[71][74]

The first round of pit stops commenced on lap 20.[73] Ralf Schumacher ran a one-stop plan whereas Barrichello used a two-stop strategy.[76] Heidfeld and Michael Schumacher made their first pit stops for fuel and tyres.[73] Barrichello made his first pit stop from the lead at the conclusion of the next lap. The stop lasted 6.6 seconds because his team were short filling him and he rejoined the race in third, behind Räikkönen.[71][77] Bernoldi stopped on the circuit at turn nine with a fuel pick-up issue that forced him to retire on lap 22.[71][80] This prompted the waving of yellow flags,[77] as marshals moved Bernoldi's car off the track.[74] Barrichello was chasing Räikkönen for second place when Räikkönen's engine failed, sending smoke billowing from the back of his McLaren as he braked for the final turn on lap 25. Räikkönen entered the garage and retired.[71][80] This promoted the yet-to-stop Button to third.[84]

Michael Schumacher regained a points-paying place on lap 27 after Salo entered the garage to address an electrical fault with the traction control system following his first pit stop. Montoya overtook Heidfeld for fourth on that lap.[71][80] Irvine collided with Yoong's car's rear on lap 28 while attempting to lap him. Irvine's front wing folded under the Jaguar and he ran onto the grass before entering the pit lane for a replacement front wing.[71][74] Ralf Schumacher made his only pit stop of the event on lap 31.[76] The 11-second stop saw scrubbed tyres installed onto his car, falling to second behind Barrichello.[74] One lap later,[71] Yoong retired at the side of the track, having lost the use of three gears.[80] Lap 33 saw Irvine enter the garage to retire with a loss in hydraulic pressure preventing him from engaging the clutch.[71][83]

Barrichello made his second pit stop for fuel and tyres on lap 35.[73][76] The stop lasted 10.6 seconds and Ralf Schumacher returned to the lead.[74] Michael Schumacher slipstreamed past Heidfeld the outside entering turn one for fifth on the next lap.[73][74] On lap 37, Webber spun into the gravel trap because of a technical issue unrelated to the engine and retired.[71][80][84] Heidfeld made his second pit stop from fifth on that lap, rejoining the track in sixth.[74][84] Michael Schumacher overtook Button braking for the final turn on lap 38.[71][73] Montoya set a new race lap record and the race's fastest lap of 1:38.049 on that lap before his second pit stop to end lap 39.[73][76] The stop lasted 7.8 seconds and he fell to fourth, behind Button.[71] Barrichello was running second when he pulled over to the side of the track with smoke billowing from his engine on lap 40.[77][79] Two laps later, Michael Schumacher made his third and final pit stop, dropping to fourth.[84]

Ralf Schumacher secured the fourth victory of his career by 39.7 seconds over his teammate Montoya in the first one-two finish for Williams since 1996.

After all scheduled pit stops were completed, Ralf Schumacher led by about 50 seconds from Button in second, who was followed by Montoya, Michael Schumacher, Heidfeld, and Massa. The focus shifted to Button and Montoya's duel for second.[73] Montoya closed up to Button due to his powerful BMW engine and Button began defending second.[74][77] On lap 44, Montoya attempted to pass at the end of the pit lane straight for second, but Button held on by keeping on the outside through the first two turns. He tried again at the entry to turn three and was successful this time.[73][76] As Ralf Schumacher was more than 40 seconds ahead of his teammate Montoya and Button 16.9 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher, the Williams drivers were conservative, and Ferrari's streak of 37 consecutive podium finishes appeared to be over.[76][84] However, with two laps remaining, Button suffered a suspected anti-roll bar bracket failure, forcing him to slow since the car was cornering on three wheels and the weight transferred uncontrollably across the axles.[73][80][85] This cost Button 14 seconds over the final two laps, and Michael Schumacher overtook him for third on braking at turn four on the final lap, preventing Button from clinching his first podium.[79][80]

Ralf Schumacher was unaffected by mechanical issues and other drivers' battles;[81] he led the rest of the race, securing his fourth career victory and first since the 2001 German Grand Prix.[86] Montoya finished second, 39.700 seconds behind, helping Williams to its first one-two result since the 1996 Portuguese Grand Prix.[85] Michael Schumacher took the final podium result in third. Button secured fourth position and was the final driver on the lead lap.[76] Heidfeld finished fifth and Massa completed the points-scorers in sixth,[86] Massa earning his maiden championship point.[73] McNish finished seventh when the Toyota pit crew mixed up his final set of tyres and used a set of worn tyres instead.[78][79] Villeneuve finished eighth owing to a lack of grip and steering issues.[83] Sato was ninth, registering his first Formula One finish.[87] De La Rosa (after his front wing was removed in a collision with Panis while battling for 14th position early in the race), Frentzen, Salo and Fisichella were the final four finishers.[76][82] A total of 13 out of the 22 starters finished the Grand Prix,[86] and nine drivers did not finish.[72]

Post-race

[edit]

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in the subsequent press conference.[35] Ralf Schumacher described the Grand Prix as "almost the perfect race" but admitted to being "certainly a bit lucky" when his teammate Montoya and Michael Schumacher collided on the opening lap.[88] Montoya said that finishing in second was "pretty good" considering his start to the race but thought he was slightly unlucky, adding, "After the start, I thought my race was over. I will try to push and try to get one or two points and here I am with six. It's pretty good."[88] Michael Schumacher commented on his third-place result, "All you can say is that we came with the old car to the first two races and we weren't expecting to have 14 points in our account, plus what happened today, to get four points, so that's pretty much fine. I'm quite happy and relaxed with that situation and not too unhappy."[88]

After the race, the decision to penalise Montoya for his first-lap collision with Michael Schumacher sparked discussion.[89] Montoya chastised the stewards for overreacting to criticism following the multi-car accident at the start of the preceding Australian Grand Prix, and downplayed the Malaysian crash as "a racing incident".[89] He also said that he thought the penalty was "very unfair" and that he gave Michael Schumacher some space.[88] Michael Schumacher felt that if Montoya had opened up more, there would have been no collision, but he thought the penalty issued by Montoya was "harsh".[89] Ralf Schumacher also felt that it was unfair to penalise his teammate.[89] According to Williams technical director Patrick Head, Montoya was half a car length ahead of Michael Schumacher and thought the penalty was slightly severe. Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn argued there was no space given to Michael Schumacher.[90]

Jenson Button (pictured in 2007) was on course to achieve his first podium result until a suspected anti-roll bar bracket failure slowed him two laps from the end of the race.

Button said had he been running fourth throughout the race, finishing fourth would have been satisfactory but that him losing a podium result was "very hard to take."[78] Heidfeld said finishing fifth was a positive result for Sauber after being eliminated in the pileup in Australia.[91] Massa was delighted to score his first championship point in his second Grand Prix start, saying, I thought if I finished I could score a point, and though this circuit was very difficult in the circumstances today, that's how it worked out."[91] Sato apologised to his teammate Fisichella for their collision on the second lap.[87] Fisichella accepted his teammate's apology and Jordan team owner Eddie Jordan praised the maturity of both drivers following the incident.[92] McNish did not believe Toyota made a rookie mistake in providing the wrong tyres for his car during his final pit stop, attributing it on his teammate Salo's surprise early pit stop.[93]

Coulthard was disappointed to retire from the Grand Prix but urged McLaren to remain focused, "I know we have a package which is capable of winning races, but we just need a bit of reliability."[94] Mercedes-Benz motorsport head Norbert Haug said the manufacturer would thoroughly analyse the reason for the engine failures to prevent them from reoccurring.[94] The result reduced Michael Schumacher's World Drivers' Championship lead to two points over Montoya but Ralf Schumacher's victory moved him to third place.[8] With 15 races remaining in the season, Williams took the lead in the World Constructors' Championship, eight points ahead of Ferrari.[8]

Race classification

[edit]

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold.

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 56 1:34:12.912 4 10
2 6 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 56 +39.700 2 6
3 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 56 +1:01.795 1 4
4 15 United Kingdom Jenson Button Renault 56 +1:09.767 8 3
5 7 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 55 +1 Lap 7 2
6 8 Brazil Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 55 +1 Lap 14 1
7 25 United Kingdom Allan McNish Toyota 55 +1 Lap 19  
8 11 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 55 +1 Lap 13  
9 10 Japan Takuma Sato Jordan-Honda 54 +2 Laps 15  
10 17 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth 54 +2 Laps 17  
11 20 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth 54 +2 Laps 11  
12 24 Finland Mika Salo Toyota 53 +3 Laps 10  
13 9 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Honda 53 +3 Laps 9  
Ret 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 39 Engine 3  
Ret 23 Australia Mark Webber Minardi-Asiatech 34 Electrical 21  
Ret 16 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth 30 Hydraulics 20  
Ret 22 Malaysia Alex Yoong Minardi-Asiatech 29 Gearbox 22  
Ret 4 Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 24 Engine 5  
Ret 21 Brazil Enrique Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth 20 Fuel Pressure 16  
Ret 3 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 15 Engine 6  
Ret 12 France Olivier Panis BAR-Honda 9 Clutch 18  
Ret 14 Italy Jarno Trulli Renault 9 Overheating 12  
Sources:[2][95]

Championship standings after the race

[edit]
For full season standings, see 2002 Formula One World Championship § Results and standings.

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

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