2002 Monaco Grand Prix

The 2002 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 26 May 2002 at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo. It was the seventh race of the 2002 Formula One World Championship, and the sixtieth Monaco Grand Prix.

2002 Monaco Grand Prix
Race 7 of 17 in the 2002 Formula One World Championship
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Race details
Date 26 May 2002
Official name LX Grand Prix de Monaco
Location Circuit de Monaco, Monaco
Course Street circuit
Course length 3.370 km (2.094 miles)
Distance 78 laps, 262.860 km (163.334 miles)
Weather Fine; air temperature 22 °C (72 °F)
Pole position
Driver Williams-BMW
Time 1:16.676
Fastest lap
Driver Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari
Time 1:18.023 on lap 68 (lap record)
Podium
First McLaren-Mercedes
Second Ferrari
Third Williams-BMW
Lap leaders

The 78-lap race was won by British driver David Coulthard, driving a McLaren-Mercedes. Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya took pole position in his Williams-BMW but was beaten off the line by Coulthard, who went on to lead every lap. German Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari with his brother, Ralf Schumacher, third in the other Williams-BMW. This race marked the last occasion during the 2002 season in which a team other than Ferrari would win as Ferrari would subsequently win all 10 of the remaining rounds in the 2002 season after this.

Qualifying report

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Juan Pablo Montoya emerged on top in qualifying. David Coulthard took pole position at the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix, only to stall on the grid, but was forced to settle for second this time, nearly four tenths of a second off the Colombian's pace. The championship leader and the last race victor, Michael Schumacher, could only set the third fastest time after suffering with an eye irritation throughout the session. Ralf Schumacher lined up fourth, ahead of Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari and Kimi Räikkönen's McLaren.

Throughout free practice, the Renault team, and in particular Jarno Trulli, had looked set to challenge the established front-runners, but the Italian would only line up in 7th position, one position ahead of team-mate Jenson Button. On their first appearance at Monaco, the Toyotas of Mika Salo and Allan McNish completed the top ten, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella's Jordan and Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Arrows. Sauber had a troubled session, with Felipe Massa and Nick Heidfeld lining up 13th and 17th respectively. The 1996 winner Olivier Panis was 18th for BAR, while Eddie Irvine lined up in 21st for Jaguar.[1]

Qualifying classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Lap Gap
1 6   Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:16.676
2 3   David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.068 +0.392
3 1   Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:17.118 +0.442
4 5   Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:17.274 +0.598
5 2   Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:17.357 +0.681
6 14   Jarno Trulli Renault 1:17.552 +0.876
7 4   Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.660 +0.984
8 15   Jenson Button Renault 1:18.132 +1.456
9 24   Mika Salo Toyota 1:18.234 +1.558
10 25   Allan McNish Toyota 1:18.292 +1.616
11 9   Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Honda 1:18.342 +1.666
12 20   Heinz-Harald Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth 1:18.607 +1.931
13 8   Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 1:19.006 +2.330
14 11   Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:19.252 +2.576
15 21   Enrique Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth 1:19.412 +2.736
16 10   Takuma Sato Jordan-Honda 1:19.461 +2.785
17 7   Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:19.500 +2.824
18 12   Olivier Panis BAR-Honda 1:19.569 +2.893
19 23   Mark Webber Minardi-Asiatech 1:19.674 +2.998
20 17   Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth 1:19.796 +3.120
21 16   Eddie Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth 1:20.139 +3.463
22 22   Alex Yoong Minardi-Asiatech 1:21.599 +4.923
107% time: 1:22.043
Sources:[2][3]

Race report

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Coulthard made the most of a sluggish start from Montoya to take the lead into Sainte-Devote for the first time, as Michael Schumacher held third position from his brother. Meanwhile, there was commotion behind, as Jacques Villeneuve's BAR failed to get off the grid with clutch problems. The Canadian would rejoin the race one lap down. There were also problems for Button, who incurred a drive-through penalty for jumping the start, despite the fact he then bogged down, and had dropped nine places to 17th by the end of the first lap. At the front, Coulthard remained in the lead, but unable to strengthen his advantage, with the top four rarely covered by more than a second. The Scot did gradually increase his advantage and by the time a dozen laps had been run, Coulthard's lead was up to just over a second, with Montoya holding off Michael Schumacher by a similar amount.

However, the top Williams was having problems keeping pace with the lead car, and was gradually dropping back, delaying Schumacher in the process. The German was the first of the front-runners to stop - doing so on lap 44, and therefore removing the slower Montoya from his path, before, ironically the Colombian was forced out with engine failure later that lap. Schumacher had clearly been delayed by the slower Williams, as he emerged from the pits to set the fastest lap of the race and close in on Coulthard. With the Scot's tyres much more worn than Schumacher's, the McLaren team had no choice but to call in Coulthard early, with the Scot rejoining with a one-second advantage. Now armed with new tyres himself, Coulthard had the measure of Schumacher, and although the pair circulated nose-to-tail for the remainder of the race, Coulthard recorded his first victory for over a year, while Michael Schumacher's second position extended his championship lead to 33 points.

There was plenty of action further down the field, with Ralf Schumacher taking third, despite a late pit-stop to replace a damaged tyre. Trulli followed up his promising times earlier in the weekend by holding off the Jordan of Giancarlo Fisichella for fourth position. Behind Fisichella, Heinz-Harald Frentzen took sixth place, although had it not been for a fuel rig problem that necessitated an extra pit-stop, he could well have taken fourth. Rubens Barrichello's disappointing weekend ended with seventh position, after making a second pit-stop to repair damage caused by smashing into Räikkönen at the chicane, in a move that put the McLaren driver out of the race. Barrichello received a 10-second stop-go penalty for causing the accident.[4] Nick Heidfeld took eighth, ahead of the Jaguars of Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa. Minardi's Mark Webber had been on target for a top ten finish, only to have to make a late pit-stop which dropped him to eleventh. Enrique Bernoldi was the twelfth and last finisher, despite damaging his car in a clash with Massa and incurring a drive-through penalty for cutting the chicane.

Allan McNish spun his Toyota into the tyres at Sainte-Devote on lap 15. Takuma Sato clattered into the barriers before the chicane on lap 22 while trying to let his Jordan team-mate Fisichella past. Minardi's Alex Yoong was another driver to clash with the barriers, and although he made it back to the pits, his suspension was too damaged for him to continue. Panis and Button collided at Sainte-Devote on lap 51 and were forced out with accident damage, Panis subsequently admitting he had not seen the Renault on the inside of him. More spectacular was the shunt that ended Massa's race after his Sauber was badly damaged after a confrontation with the Sainte-Devote tyre wall. Jacques Villeneuve had earlier departed with an engine failure, while Toyota's Mika Salo was the final retirement of the day after brake failure forced him into the barriers.

Race classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 3   David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes M 78 1:45:39.055 2 10
2 1   Michael Schumacher Ferrari B 78 + 1.050 3 6
3 5   Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 78 + 1:07.450 4 4
4 14   Jarno Trulli Renault M 77 + 1 Lap 6 3
5 9   Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Honda B 77 + 1 Lap 11 2
6 20   Heinz-Harald Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth B 77 + 1 Lap 12 1
7 2   Rubens Barrichello Ferrari B 77 + 1 Lap 5  
8 7   Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas B 76 + 2 Laps 17  
9 16   Eddie Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth M 76 + 2 Laps 21  
10 17   Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth M 76 + 2 Laps 20  
11 23   Mark Webber Minardi-Asiatech M 76 + 2 Laps 19  
12 21   Enrique Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth B 76 + 2 Laps 15  
Ret 24   Mika Salo Toyota M 69 Brakes/Accident 9  
Ret 8   Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas B 63 Accident 13  
Ret 12   Olivier Panis BAR-Honda B 51 Collision 18  
Ret 15   Jenson Button Renault M 51 Collision 8  
Ret 6   Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW M 46 Engine 1  
Ret 11   Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda B 44 Engine 14  
Ret 4   Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes M 41 Collision damage 7  
Ret 22   Alex Yoong Minardi-Asiatech M 29 Accident 22  
Ret 10   Takuma Sato Jordan-Honda B 22 Accident 16  
Ret 25   Allan McNish Toyota M 15 Accident 10  
Sources:[3][5][6]

Championship standings after the race

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

References

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  1. ^ "Grand Prix de Monaco (Monaco) 2002 review". Car Enthusiast. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  2. ^ "2002 Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying". The Auto Channel. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Grand Prix of Monaco". FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  4. ^ "2002 Monaco GP". Chicane F1. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Grand Prix Results: Monaco GP, 2002". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  6. ^ "2002 Monaco Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Monaco 2002 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.


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