2002 Formula One World Championship

The 2002 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 56th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2002 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 2002 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a seventeen-race series that commenced on 3 March and ended on 13 October.

Michael Schumacher won his third title in a row with Ferrari, setting the record of finishing on the podium in every race.

Defending champions Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari were again awarded the World Drivers' Championship and World Constructors' Championship, respectively.[1] Schumacher finished first or second in every race except for the Malaysian Grand Prix, where he finished third, thus achieving a podium position in every race. He won a then-record eleven Grands Prix, surpassing the previous record of nine wins, jointly held by himself (1995, 2000 and 2001) and Nigel Mansell (1992). He also set the record for the largest number of races remaining on the calendar when the Drivers' Championship was clinched, securing the title with six races to go in the season.

Schumacher took the trophy home by a then-record 67-point margin over teammate Rubens Barrichello, beating his own record from the previous year (58 points over David Coulthard) and also collected the highest points total in a season thus far (144 points), again beating his own record (123 points in 2001). With their two drivers, Ferrari secured the Constructors' Championship with a points total that equalled the combined sum of points attained by all other constructors collectively. This domination, coupled with a resulting decline in viewing figures, resulted in a major overhaul of the championship's sporting regulations for the following season.

Teams and drivers edit

The finish of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2002 FIA Formula One World Championship.

EntrantConstructorChassisEngineTyreNo.DriverRounds
Scuderia Ferrari MarlboroFerrariF2001B
F2002
Ferrari 050
Ferrari 051
B1 Michael SchumacherAll
2 Rubens BarrichelloAll
West McLaren MercedesMcLaren-MercedesMP4-17Mercedes FO110MM3 David CoulthardAll
4 Kimi RäikkönenAll
BMW WilliamsF1 TeamWilliams-BMWFW24BMW P82M5 Ralf SchumacherAll
6 Juan Pablo MontoyaAll
Sauber PetronasSauber-PetronasC21Petronas 02AB7 Nick HeidfeldAll
8 Felipe Massa1–15, 17
Heinz-Harald Frentzen16
DHL Jordan HondaJordan-HondaEJ12Honda RA002EB9 Giancarlo FisichellaAll
10 Takuma SatoAll
Lucky Strike BAR HondaBAR-Honda004Honda RA002EB11 Jacques VilleneuveAll
12 Olivier PanisAll
Mild Seven Renault F1 TeamRenaultR202Renault RS22M14 Jarno TrulliAll
15 Jenson ButtonAll
Jaguar Racing F1 TeamJaguar-CosworthR3
R3B
Cosworth CR-3
Cosworth CR-4
M16 Eddie IrvineAll
17 Pedro de la RosaAll
Orange ArrowsArrows-CosworthA23Cosworth CR-3B20 Heinz-Harald Frentzen1–12
21 Enrique Bernoldi1–12
KL Minardi AsiatechMinardi-AsiatechPS02Asiatech AT02M22 Alex Yoong1–12, 15–17
Anthony Davidson13–14
23 Mark WebberAll
Panasonic Toyota RacingToyotaTF102Toyota RVX-02M24 Mika SaloAll
25 Allan McNishAll
Sources:[2][3][4]

All engines were 3.0 litre, V10 configuration.[2]

Team changes edit

Prost Grand Prix left F1 before the 2002 season.
Toyota joined F1 as a full works team.
Benetton was rebranded as Renault, the name of its new owner.
  • The Prost team was placed into receivership in November 2001, and was liquidated by the receivers in January 2002. This ended the long history of the team which had competed as Ligier from 1976 to 1996 and as Prost Grand Prix from the following year.[5] The absence of Prost meant that the car numbers 18 and 19 were left unoccupied for the season. Phoenix Finance bought the remains of Prost Grand Prix and attempted to enter Formula One starting at the Malaysian Grand Prix with former Minardi drivers Gastón Mazzacane and Tarso Marques. However, their entry was rejected by the FIA for not purchasing all of the Prost team. They still attempted to race at Malaysia, but race officials prevented them from competing in the event, even with a court appeal.[6][7]
  • Japanese auto maker Toyota entered the championship as a full works team, after much development work in 2001.[8]
  • The Benetton team had been sold to Renault in 2000,[9] and was renamed Renault F1 for 2002.[10] The team did not substantially change apart from the name, as Benetton had been running a car with Renault engines since 1995.
  • Asiatech, who had supplied engines to Arrows in 2001, switched their supply to Minardi for 2002. This replaced Minardi's Cosworth engines (rebadged as European) from the previous season.[11] Completing what was effectively a straight swap, Arrows signed a deal with Cosworth to use their engines for 2002.[12]

Mid-season changes edit

  • The Arrows team suffered financial collapse after the German Grand Prix, and did not take part in any of the remaining races. An attempt to register for the 2003 season was rejected by the FIA.[13]

Driver changes edit

The 2002 season featured several driver line-up changes before the season and more changes during the season proper.

  • With three races left to go in the 2001 season, 1998 and 1999 World Champion Mika Häkkinen announced that he was not intending to drive in F1 in 2002. Denying any claim of retirement, he stated that he needed a sabbatical and would return to McLaren at a later time.[14] Häkkinen later officially left McLaren and retired from F1 at the end of 2001,[15] eventually returning to racing in DTM in 2005,[16] despite being linked with the Williams team for a Formula One comeback.[17] Häkkinen's seat at McLaren was taken by his fellow Finn 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, after he was released by Sauber. Räikkönen was replaced at Sauber by the 2001 Euro Formula 3000 champion Felipe Massa.[18]
  • Midway through 2001, Giancarlo Fisichella announced his intention to leave Benetton after 2001 to drive for Jordan.[19] Benetton, renamed as Renault, replaced Fisichella with Jordan driver Jarno Trulli,[20] meaning that Fisichella and Trulli had swapped seats at the two teams. Jordan completed an all-new lineup for 2002 with BAR test driver Takuma Sato,[21] whose position in the large test driver pool at BAR was taken by compatriot Ryo Fukuda.[22] Jean Alesi, who had driven for Jordan at the end of the 2001 season, did not seriously pursue an F1 drive for 2002 and instead signed up a drive with Mercedes in the DTM series.[23] Ricardo Zonta, realising that he had no future at Jordan, left his reserve seat there to drive in the Telefonica World Series, later returning to F1 in 2003 as a test driver for Toyota.[24]
  • Heinz-Harald Frentzen, without a drive after the collapse of Prost, joined the Arrows team for 2002. This was his third different team within two seasons, after having been dumped by Jordan mid-season in 2001 and subsequently joining Prost until that team's collapse.[25] Despite being under contract for another season, Jos Verstappen lost his Arrows seat to Frentzen, and the Dutchman was unable to secure a drive at another team. He later resurfaced at Minardi in 2003.[26]
  • Fernando Alonso left Minardi after an impressive 2001 campaign, and signed on with Renault as a test driver.[27] Alonso's seat was taken over by Benetton test driver, and International Formula 3000 series runner-up, Mark Webber.[28]
  • For their first season in Formula One, Toyota employed Mika Salo (formerly with Sauber in 2000) and debutant Allan McNish, who had previously driven a Toyota GT-One at Le Mans.[8]
  • Luciano Burti, who had driven for both Jaguar and Prost in 2001, left the struggling Prost team before their collapse in order to join Luca Badoer in a test role at Ferrari.[29] Tomáš Enge, who had filled in for the injured Burti at Prost in 2001, was dropped by the team at the end of the 2001 season for financial reasons, and he returned to International Formula 3000 for 2002.[30]
  • Antônio Pizzonia was signed to become a Williams test driver alongside Marc Gené.[31] Pizzonia had been driving a Williams sponsored car in the International F3000 series in 2001, and he continued that drive in 2002 along with his test duties at Williams.
  • André Lotterer, who drove for the Jaguar Junior Team in the British Formula 3 series in 2001, was signed as a test driver for Jaguar's Formula One team for 2002.[32]

Mid-season changes edit

  • Heinz-Harald Frentzen decided to leave Arrows following the German Grand Prix due to the uncertain future of that team.[33] Arrows collapsed several days later and did not take part in the rest of the season, which also left Enrique Bernoldi without a drive. Frentzen signed with Sauber for the 2003 season,[25] and stood in for Felipe Massa in the United States Grand Prix, for which the Brazilian had incurred a 10-position penalty from the previous race in Monza, thereby eliminating Massa's penalty.[34]
  • BAR test driver Anthony Davidson made his Formula One debut when he replaced Alex Yoong at Minardi for the Hungarian and Belgian Grands Prix. The team suspended the Malaysian after he failed to qualify for the third occasion in 2002.[35] Minardi had planned to replace Yoong with Justin Wilson, but Wilson was too tall to fit into the car in accordance with the safety requirements.[36]

Regulation changes edit

For 2002, there were only minor changes in the technical regulations.[37]

  • For safety reasons, the rear view mirrors and rear lights had to be made larger and the rear crash structure was subjected to increased impact tests.
  • Data transfer between the car on track and the crew in the garage could now occur both ways. This would allow the team to adjust settings in the car's electronics during the race, without the driver having to use the buttons on his steering wheel.

Season calendar edit

RoundGrand PrixCircuitDate
1Australian Grand Prix Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne3 March
2Malaysian Grand Prix Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur17 March
3Brazilian Grand Prix Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo31 March
4San Marino Grand Prix Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola14 April
5Spanish Grand Prix Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló28 April
6Austrian Grand Prix A1-Ring, Spielberg12 May
7Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo26 May
8Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal9 June
9European Grand Prix Nürburgring, Nürburg23 June
10British Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone7 July
11French Grand Prix Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours21 July
12German Grand Prix Hockenheimring, Hockenheim28 July
13Hungarian Grand Prix Hungaroring, Mogyoród18 August
14Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot1 September
15Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza15 September
16United States Grand Prix Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway29 September
17Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka13 October
Sources:[38][39]

Results and standings edit

Grands Prix edit

RoundGrand PrixPole positionFastest lapWinning driverWinning constructorReport
1 Australian Grand Prix Rubens Barrichello Kimi Räikkönen Michael Schumacher FerrariReport
2 Malaysian Grand Prix Michael Schumacher Juan Pablo Montoya Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMWReport
3 Brazilian Grand Prix Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Michael Schumacher FerrariReport
4 San Marino Grand Prix Michael Schumacher Rubens Barrichello Michael Schumacher FerrariReport
5 Spanish Grand Prix Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher FerrariReport
6 Austrian Grand Prix Rubens Barrichello Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher FerrariReport
7 Monaco Grand Prix Juan Pablo Montoya Rubens Barrichello David Coulthard McLaren-MercedesReport
8 Canadian Grand Prix Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Michael Schumacher FerrariReport
9 European Grand Prix Juan Pablo Montoya Michael Schumacher Rubens Barrichello FerrariReport
10 British Grand Prix Juan Pablo Montoya Rubens Barrichello Michael Schumacher FerrariReport
11 French Grand Prix Juan Pablo Montoya David Coulthard Michael Schumacher FerrariReport
12 German Grand Prix Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher FerrariReport
13 Hungarian Grand Prix Rubens Barrichello Michael Schumacher Rubens Barrichello FerrariReport
14 Belgian Grand Prix Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher FerrariReport
15 Italian Grand Prix Juan Pablo Montoya Rubens Barrichello Rubens Barrichello FerrariReport
16 United States Grand Prix Michael Schumacher Rubens Barrichello Rubens Barrichello FerrariReport
17 Japanese Grand Prix Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher FerrariReport
Source:[40]

Scoring system edit

Points were awarded to the top six finishers [41] at each race.

Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th 
Points1064321

World Drivers' Championship standings edit

Pos.DriverAUS
MAL
BRA
SMR
ESP
AUT
MON
CAN
EUR
GBR
FRA
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
USA
JPN
Points
1 Michael Schumacher13P11P1PF1F212F111PF2F1PF22P1PF144
2 Rubens BarrichelloRetPRetRet2FDNS2P7F312FDNS41P21F1F277
3 Juan Pablo Montoya22F5PF423RetPRetPFRetP3P4P2113RetP4450
4 Ralf SchumacherRet12311437485335Ret161142
5 David CoulthardRetRet363612Ret103F55473Ret41
6 Kimi Räikkönen3FRet12RetRetRetRet43Ret2Ret4RetRetRet324
7 Jenson ButtonRet445127Ret155126RetRetRet58614
8 Jarno TrulliRetRetRet910Ret468RetRetRet8Ret45Ret9
9 Eddie Irvine4Ret7RetRetRet9RetRetRetRetRetRet631098
10 Nick HeidfeldRet5Ret104Ret812767691010977
11 Giancarlo FisichellaRet13RetRetRet555Ret7DNQRet6Ret87Ret7
12 Jacques VilleneuveRet8107710RetRet124RetRetRet896Ret4
13 Felipe MassaRet6Ret85RetRet969Ret77RetRetRet4
14 Olivier PanisRetRetRetRetRetRetRet895RetRet1212612Ret3
15 Takuma SatoRet99RetRetRetRet1016RetRet81011121152
16 Mark Webber5Ret1111DNS12111115Ret8Ret16RetRetRet102
17 Mika Salo6126Ret98RetRetRetRetRet9157111482
18 Heinz-Harald FrentzenDSQ11RetRet61161313RetDNQRet132
19 Allan McNishRet7RetRet89RetRet14Ret11Ret149Ret15DNS0
20 Alex Yoong7Ret13DNQDNSRetRet14RetDNQ10DNQ13RetRet0
21 Pedro de la Rosa8108RetRetRet10Ret11119Ret13RetRetRetRet0
22 Enrique BernoldiDSQRetRetRetRetRet12Ret10RetDNQRet0
 — Anthony DavidsonRetRet0
Pos.DriverAUS
MAL
BRA
SMR
ESP
AUT
MON
CAN
EUR
GBR
FRA
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
USA
JPN
Points
Sources:[41][1]
Key
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenOther points position
BlueOther classified position
Not classified, finished (NC)
PurpleNot classified, retired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
BlankDid not practice (DNP)
Excluded (EX)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Withdrawn (WD)
Did not enter (empty cell)
AnnotationMeaning
PPole position
FFastest lap



Notes:

  • † – Driver did not finish the Grand Prix but was classified, as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

World Constructors' Championship standings edit

Scuderia Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship.
BMW Williams placed second.
McLaren-Mercedes finished third.
Pos.ConstructorNo.AUS
MAL
BRA
SMR
ESP
AUT
MON
CAN
EUR
GBR
FRA
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
USA
JPN
Points
1 Ferrari113P11P1PF1F212F111PF2F1PF22P1PF221
2RetPRetRet2FDNS2P7F312FDNS41P21F1F2
2 Williams-BMW5Ret12311437485335Ret161192
622F5PF423RetPRetPFRetP3P4P2113RetP44
3 McLaren-Mercedes3RetRet363612Ret103F55473Ret65
43FRet12RetRetRetRet43Ret2Ret4RetRetRet3
4 Renault14RetRetRet910Ret468RetRetRet8Ret45Ret23
15Ret445127Ret155126RetRetRet586
5 Sauber-Petronas7Ret5Ret104Ret8127676910109711
8Ret6Ret85RetRet969Ret77RetRet13Ret
6 Jordan-Honda9Ret13RetRetRet555Ret7DNQRet6Ret87Ret9
10Ret99RetRetRetRet1016RetRet8101112115
7 Jaguar-Cosworth164Ret7RetRetRet9RetRetRetRetRetRet631098
178108RetRetRet10Ret11119Ret13RetRetRetRet
8 BAR-Honda11Ret8107710RetRet124RetRetRet896Ret7
12RetRetRetRetRetRetRet895RetRet1212612Ret
9 Minardi-Asiatech227Ret13DNQDNSRetRet14RetDNQ10DNQRetRet13RetRet2
235Ret1111DNS12111115Ret8Ret16RetRetRet10
10 Toyota246126Ret98RetRetRetRetRet9157111482
25Ret7RetRet89RetRet14Ret11Ret149Ret15DNS
11 Arrows-Cosworth20DSQ11RetRet61161313RetDNQRet2
21DSQRetRetRetRetRet12Ret10RetDNQRet
Pos.ConstructorNo.AUS
MAL
BRA
SMR
ESP
AUT
MON
CAN
EUR
GBR
FRA
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
USA
JPN
Points
Sources:[41][1]

Notes:

  • † – Driver did not finish the Grand Prix but was classified, as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.
  • Official FIA Championship classifications listed the Constructors' Championship results as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, BMW WilliamsF1 Team, West McLaren Mercedes, etc.[1]

References edit

External links edit