2002 Austrian F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Austrian Grand Prix
Track: Red Bull Ring

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

Michael Schumacher won his 58th F1 World Championship race at the 2002 Austrian F1 GP after Ferrari team orders on the final lap moved teammate Rubens Barrichello aside. The Ferrari driver took the win at the A1-Ring by 0.182 seconds. It was the 152nd win for the Ferrari F1 team and Schumachers 5th win of the season, but the manner of it prompted an FIA investigation and a rule change on team orders.

Barrichello pole and dominant

The A1-Ring on 12 May 2002 belonged to Rubens Barrichello all weekend. The Brazilian took pole with a 1:08.082 lap, Ralf Schumacher alongside him and Michael Schumacher third. Come race day Barrichello made his best start of the season, led every lap of the first stint, and dominated the middle stint too. He was, by any measure, the fastest Ferrari driver at the A1-Ring in 2002. Michael was second, following in the wake of a teammate driving the race of his year.

The final-lap team order that changed F1

On the final lap, with Barrichello leading Schumacher by roughly a second, Ferrari team principal Jean Todt broke radio silence and instructed Barrichello to move over. Barrichello, professionally furious, complied at the exit of the final corner and Schumacher crossed the line 0.182 seconds ahead. The A1-Ring crowd booed. The podium ceremony was chaotic. Schumacher pushed Barrichello onto the top step, an attempt at contrition that only made things worse. It was one of the most controversial finishes in F1 history.

FIA investigation and rule change

The FIA fined Ferrari 1,000,000 US dollars for the podium ceremony infringement (not for the team order itself, which was not against the sporting regulations at the time). The following year, article 39 of the F1 Sporting Regulations was amended to ban team orders that interfere with a race result, a rule that would be tested repeatedly and eventually rescinded in 2010. Ferrari and Schumacher took the flak. Barrichello took the eventual apology from Schumacher and Todt privately. The reputational cost lasted a decade.

Race result and championship: Ferrari 1-2, McLaren fade

Behind the two red cars, Juan-Pablo Montoya took third for Williams-BMW, Ralf Schumacher fourth, Giancarlo Fisichella a fine fifth for Jordan-Honda and David Coulthard sixth for McLaren. Schumachers 10 points and Barrichellos 6 combined to move Ferrari clear of the field, and Schumacher's lead over Montoya in the drivers championship was now 27 points with 11 races still to run. Michael also set the fastest lap of the race on lap 68 with a 1:09.298.

Classification 2002 Austrian F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	1	MichaelSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari F2002Ferrari 051	3	71	2	1:33:51.562	10
2	2	RubensBarrichello	Ferrari	Ferrari F2002Ferrari 051	1	71	69	1:33:51.744+0.182s	6
3	6	Juan-PabloMontoya	Williams	Williams FW24BMW P82	4	71		1:34:09.292+17.730s	4
4	5	RalfSchumacher	Williams	Williams FW24BMW P82	2	71		1:34:10.010+18.448s	3
5	9	GiancarloFisichella	Jordan	Jordan EJ12Honda RA002E	15	71		1:34:41.527+49.965s	2
6	3	DavidCoulthard	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17Mercedes FO 110	8	71		1:34:42.234+50.672s	1
7	15	JensonButton	Renault	Renault R202Renault RS22	13	71		1:34:42.791+51.229s
8	24	MikaSalo	Toyota	Toyota TF102Toyota RVX-02	10	71		1:35:00.987+1:09.425
9	25	AllanMcNish	Toyota	Toyota TF102Toyota RVX-02	14	71		1:35:01.280+1:09.718
10	11	JacquesVilleneuve	BAR	BAR 004Honda RA002E	17	70		Engine
11	20	Heinz-HaraldFrentzen	Arrows	Arrows A23Cosworth CR-3	11	69		+2 laps
12	23	MarkWebber	Minardi	Minardi PS02Asiatech AT02	21	69		+2 laps
DNF	14	JarnoTrulli	Renault	Renault R202Renault RS22	16	44		Fuel pressure
DNF	22	AlexYoong	Minardi	Minardi PS02Asiatech AT02	22	42		Engine
DNF	16	EddieIrvine	Jaguar	Jaguar R3Cosworth CR-4	20	38		Hydraulics
DNF	7	NickHeidfeld	Sauber	Sauber C21Petronas 02A	5	27		Collision
DNF	10	TakumaSato	Jordan	Jordan EJ12Honda RA002E	18	26		Collision
DNF	12	OlivierPanis	BAR	BAR 004Honda RA002E	9	22		Engine
DNF	8	FelipeMassa	Sauber	Sauber C21Petronas 02A	7	7		Suspension
DNF	4	KimiRäikkönen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17Mercedes FO 110	6	5		Engine
DNF	21	EnriqueBernoldi	Arrows	Arrows A23Cosworth CR-3	12	2		Collision
DNF	17	Pedrode la Rosa	Jaguar	Jaguar R3Cosworth CR-4	19	0		Throttle

Fastest lap: 1:09.298 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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