2002 German F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: German Grand Prix
Track: Hockenheimring

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

Michael SCHUMACHER won his 62nd F1 World Championship race at the 2002 German F1 GP, his first home victory since 1995. The Ferrari driver started from pole and won at the newly-shortened Hockenheim by 10.503 seconds from Juan-Pablo Montoya. It was the 157th win for the Ferrari F1 team, Schumachers 9th win of the season and his first as a five-time World Champion.

Pole and win on a redesigned Hockenheim

Hockenheim on 28 July 2002 was raced on a shorter, more traditionally-shaped circuit after the removal of the long forest sections that had defined the German Grand Prix for decades. Michael Schumacher took pole with a 1:14.389 lap, Ralf Schumacher second, Barrichello third and Montoya fourth. The redesigned Hockenheim had been controversial in the paddock, but Schumacher was the master of adapting to any layout.

Race day: Schumacher first home win in seven years

Schumacher led the opening 26 laps, was briefly headed by Ralf Schumacher during the stops, and then took control from lap 31 to the flag. His winning margin over Montoya was 10.503 seconds. Crucially, it was Michael Schumachers first Grand Prix victory in Germany since 1995 (Nurburgring). He had failed to win at Hockenheim in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, a curious streak for the German driver at his home race. Fifty thousand fans in the grandstands finally saw Michael win the German GP as a Ferrari driver.

Williams-BMW 2-3 in front of home fans, McLaren struggle

Juan-Pablo Montoya took second for Williams-BMW at 10.503 seconds, Ralf Schumacher third at 14.466 seconds and Barrichello fourth. Coulthard scored the fifth-place points for McLaren, Nick Heidfeld the final point for Sauber. Kimi Raikkonen retired from another race that could have delivered more, an engine failure ending his afternoon. Michael Schumacher also set the fastest lap of the race on lap 44 with a 1:16.462.

Championship: Schumacher unstoppable

After twelve races Schumacher had won nine of them and never finished lower than third. His championship points tally of 100 was more than double his nearest challenger. In terms of dominance, it was already the most crushing season of the modern era, and there were still five races to run. Hungary in two weeks would be another Ferrari-friendly track.

Classification 2002 German F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	1	MichaelSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari F2002Ferrari 051	1	67	62	1:27:52.078	10
2	6	Juan-PabloMontoya	Williams	Williams FW24BMW P82	4	67	1	1:28:02.581+10.503s	6
3	5	RalfSchumacher	Williams	Williams FW24BMW P82	2	67	4	1:28:06.544+14.466s	4
4	2	RubensBarrichello	Ferrari	Ferrari F2002Ferrari 051	3	67		1:28:15.273+23.195s	3
5	3	DavidCoulthard	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17Mercedes FO 110	9	66		+1 lap	2
6	7	NickHeidfeld	Sauber	Sauber C21Petronas 02A	10	66		+1 lap	1
7	8	FelipeMassa	Sauber	Sauber C21Petronas 02A	14	66		+1 lap
8	10	TakumaSato	Jordan	Jordan EJ12Honda RA002E	12	66		+1 lap
9	24	MikaSalo	Toyota	Toyota TF102Toyota RVX-02	19	66		+1 lap
DNF	9	GiancarloFisichella	Jordan	Jordan EJ12Honda RA002E	6	59		Engine
DNF	4	KimiRäikkönen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/17Mercedes FO 110	5	59		Spin
DNF	16	EddieIrvine	Jaguar	Jaguar R3BCosworth CR-4	16	57		Brakes
DNF	21	EnriqueBernoldi	Arrows	Arrows A23Cosworth CR-3	18	48		Engine
DNF	12	OlivierPanis	BAR	BAR 004Honda RA002E	7	39		Engine
DNF	14	JarnoTrulli	Renault	Renault R202Renault RS22	8	36		Spin
DNF	11	JacquesVilleneuve	BAR	BAR 004Honda RA002E	11	27		Gearbox
DNF	15	JensonButton	Renault	Renault R202Renault RS22	13	24		Engine
DNF	25	AllanMcNish	Toyota	Toyota TF102Toyota RVX-02	17	23		Engine
DNF	23	MarkWebber	Minardi	Minardi PS02Asiatech AT02	21	23		Hydraulics
DNF	20	Heinz-HaraldFrentzen	Arrows	Arrows A23Cosworth CR-3	15	18		Hydraulics
DNF	17	Pedrode la Rosa	Jaguar	Jaguar R3BCosworth CR-4	20	0		Transmission
DNQ	22	AlexYoong	Minardi	Minardi PS02Asiatech AT02		0		107% rule

Fastest lap: 1:16.462 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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