2002 Monaco F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Monaco Grand Prix
Track: Monaco Circuit

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

David COULTHARD won his 12th F1 World Championship race at the 2002 Monaco F1 GP. The McLaren driver started from 2nd on the grid and won the streets of Monte Carlo by 1.050 seconds from Michael Schumacher. It was the 135th win for the McLaren F1 team and Coulthards 2nd career Monaco victory, a rare McLaren answer in a Ferrari-dominated season.

Montoya pole, Coulthard second on the grid

Monaco on 26 May 2002 opened with Juan-Pablo Montoya taking his second pole of the season with a 1:16.676 lap, David Coulthard alongside in the McLaren. Michael Schumacher qualified third and Ralf Schumacher fourth. Monaco has always rewarded qualifying position, and Montoyas lap put Williams-BMW at the front of a grid on a circuit where overtaking is almost impossible.

Coulthard leads every lap, Schumacher chases

Coulthard passed Montoya at the start (Montoya later retired with engine failure on lap 46) and led every one of the 78 laps to the flag. Michael Schumacher moved up to second by mid-race and did what he could to stay in touch, closing to within a second at the end but with nowhere to pass on Monacos narrow streets. Coulthard drove a mistake-free race and won by 1.050 seconds, his second Monaco victory after 2000. Ralf Schumacher took third for Williams-BMW despite finishing over a minute behind.

Barrichello puncture, McLaren revival

Rubens Barrichello ran into contact and a puncture during the race and finished seventh, out of the points. Jarno Trulli scored his first Renault podium finish attempt with fourth, Fisichella took fifth for Jordan and Heinz-Harald Frentzen the final point for Arrows. Kimi Raikkonens McLaren retired with electrical problems while running in the top four, a rare on-pace showing for the young Finn spoiled by mechanical trouble.

Championship: Schumacher lead intact, McLaren finally on the board with a win

Schumachers second place gave him 54 points, comfortably ahead of Montoyas 23 and Ralfs 20. Coulthards win moved him to 14 points and gave McLaren their first victory of 2002 in what was becoming a difficult campaign for the Woking team. Ferraris consecutive-win streak was broken but their championship lead was not remotely under threat.

Classification 2002 Monaco F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	3	DavidCoulthard	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17Mercedes FO 110	2	78	78	1:45:39.055	10
2	1	MichaelSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari F2002Ferrari 051	3	78		1:45:40.105+1.050s	6
3	5	RalfSchumacher	Williams	Williams FW24BMW P82	4	78		1:46:46.505+1:07.450	4
4	14	JarnoTrulli	Renault	Renault R202Renault RS22	7	77		+1 lap	3
5	9	GiancarloFisichella	Jordan	Jordan EJ12Honda RA002E	11	77		+1 lap	2
6	20	Heinz-HaraldFrentzen	Arrows	Arrows A23Cosworth CR-3	12	77		+1 lap	1
7	2	RubensBarrichello	Ferrari	Ferrari F2002Ferrari 051	5	77		+1 lap
8	7	NickHeidfeld	Sauber	Sauber C21Petronas 02A	15	76		+2 laps
9	16	EddieIrvine	Jaguar	Jaguar R3Cosworth CR-4	19	76		+2 laps
10	17	Pedrode la Rosa	Jaguar	Jaguar R3Cosworth CR-4	17	76		+2 laps
11	23	MarkWebber	Minardi	Minardi PS02Asiatech AT02	20	76		+2 laps
12	21	EnriqueBernoldi	Arrows	Arrows A23Cosworth CR-3	21	76		+2 laps
DNF	24	MikaSalo	Toyota	Toyota TF102Toyota RVX-02	9	69		Brakes
DNF	8	FelipeMassa	Sauber	Sauber C21Petronas 02A	13	63		Accident
DNF	12	OlivierPanis	BAR	BAR 004Honda RA002E	18	51		Collision
DNF	15	JensonButton	Renault	Renault R202Renault RS22	8	51		Collision
DNF	6	Juan-PabloMontoya	Williams	Williams FW24BMW P82	1	46		Engine
DNF	11	JacquesVilleneuve	BAR	BAR 004Honda RA002E	14	44		Mechanical
DNF	4	KimiRäikkönen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17Mercedes FO 110	6	41		Collision
DNF	22	AlexYoong	Minardi	Minardi PS02Asiatech AT02	22	29		Accident
DNF	10	TakumaSato	Jordan	Jordan EJ12Honda RA002E	16	22		Spin
DNF	25	AllanMcNish	Toyota	Toyota TF102Toyota RVX-02	10	15		Accident

Fastest lap: 1:18.023 min. by Rubens Barrichello

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.

Related topics