2002 Spanish F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Spanish Grand Prix
Track: Catalunya Circuit

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

Michael Schumacher won his 57th F1 World Championship race at the 2002 Spanish F1 GP. The Ferrari driver started from pole and led every one of the 65 laps at Barcelona, finishing 35.630 seconds clear of Juan-Pablo Montoya. It was the 151st win for the Ferrari F1 team and Schumachers 4th win of the season, a total demonstration of Ferrari superiority.

Schumacher pole, and the tone is set

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 28 April 2002 opened with Michael Schumacher taking his 45th career pole with a 1:16.364 lap, Rubens Barrichello alongside (though Barrichello would start from the pit lane after a Saturday morning gearbox change forced a rebuild). Ralf Schumacher was third, Montoya fourth, Raikkonen fifth. Barcelonas long, high-load fast corners tend to reward the most dominant car, and in 2002 that was the Ferrari F2002 in its full flow.

Lights-to-flag with lap-record fastest lap

Michael Schumacher led all 65 laps, a lights-to-flag win as pure and undramatic as it gets. He also set the fastest lap of the race on lap 49 with a 1:20.355 that was quicker than his pole time set on Saturday, a rare mid-race lap-record for a driver who had done nothing but lead. Montoya was second at 35.630 seconds, Coulthard third for McLaren.

Sauber breakthrough, Barrichello DNF

The story of the midfield was Sauber, with Nick Heidfeld fourth and Felipe Massa fifth, Peter Sauber taking eight points from a single race in his teams strongest showing of the season. Heinz-Harald Frentzen took the final point for Arrows in the teams penultimate F1 season. Rubens Barrichello ran into engine trouble mid-race from the pit lane start and retired. Ralf Schumacher was also out with electrical issues, Montoya scoring for Williams alone.

Championship: Schumacher 44, Montoya 20, Ralf 16

After five races Schumacher had 44 points, Montoya 20, Ralf 16. Ferraris grip on the championship was tightening every weekend. Sauber, remarkably, were now fourth in the constructors on 10 points, ahead of McLaren. The season had settled into a pattern of Ferrari winning, Williams-BMW picking up the podiums and Sauber quietly scoring more than expected.

Classification 2002 Spanish F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	1	MichaelSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari F2002Ferrari 051	1	65	65	1:30:29.981	10
2	6	Juan-PabloMontoya	Williams	Williams FW24BMW P82	4	65		1:31:05.611+35.630s	6
3	3	DavidCoulthard	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17Mercedes FO 110	7	65		1:31:12.604+42.623s	4
4	7	NickHeidfeld	Sauber	Sauber C21Petronas 02A	8	65		1:31:36.678+1:06.697	3
5	8	FelipeMassa	Sauber	Sauber C21Petronas 02A	11	65		1:31:48.954+1:18.973	2
6	20	Heinz-HaraldFrentzen	Arrows	Arrows A23Cosworth CR-3	10	65		1:31:50.411+1:20.430	1
7	11	JacquesVilleneuve	BAR	BAR 004Honda RA002E	15	64		+1 lap
8	25	AllanMcNish	Toyota	Toyota TF102Toyota RVX-02	19	64		+1 lap
9	24	MikaSalo	Toyota	Toyota TF102Toyota RVX-02	17	64		+1 lap
10	14	JarnoTrulli	Renault	Renault R202Renault RS22	9	63		Engine
11	5	RalfSchumacher	Williams	Williams FW24BMW P82	3	63		Engine
12	15	JensonButton	Renault	Renault R202Renault RS22	6	60		Hydraulics
DNF	12	OlivierPanis	BAR	BAR 004Honda RA002E	13	43		Exhaust
DNF	16	EddieIrvine	Jaguar	Jaguar R3Cosworth CR-4	22	41		Hydraulics
DNF	21	EnriqueBernoldi	Arrows	Arrows A23Cosworth CR-3	14	40		Hydraulics
DNF	10	TakumaSato	Jordan	Jordan EJ12Honda RA002E	18	10		Spin
DNF	9	GiancarloFisichella	Jordan	Jordan EJ12Honda RA002E	12	5		Hydraulics
DNF	4	KimiRäikkönen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17Mercedes FO 110	5	4		Rear wing
DNF	17	Pedrode la Rosa	Jaguar	Jaguar R3Cosworth CR-4	16	2		Spin
DNS	2	RubensBarrichello	Ferrari	Ferrari F2002Ferrari 051	2	0		Gearbox
DNS	22	MarkWebber	Minardi	Minardi PS02Asiatech AT02	20	0		Safety
DNS	23	AlexYoong	Minardi	Minardi PS02Asiatech AT02	21	0		Safety

Fastest lap: 1:20.355 min. by Michael Schumacher

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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