2002 French Grand Prix

  2002 French Grand Prix

Race details
Race 11 of 17 in the 2002 Formula One season
Date	July 21, 2002
Official name	Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France
Location	Magny-Cours, France
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.411 km (2.641 mi)
Distance	72 laps, 305.886 km (190.069 mi)
Weather	Warm and sunny, Air Temp: 25°C
Pole position
Driver	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW
Time	1:11.985
Fastest lap
Driver	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:15.045 on lap 62
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Second	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes
Third	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The decisive moment of the race as Kimi Räikkönen runs wide, allowing Michael Schumacher to pass him for the lead.

This race allowed Michael Schumacher to clinch his fifth title, equaling Juan Manuel Fangio's 45-year-old record

The 2002 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Magny-Cours on July 21, 2002. It was the 11th race of the 2002 Formula One season and the race in which Michael Schumacher secured his 5th World Drivers' Championship title in record time, equalling Juan Manuel Fangio's record set over 40 years before. McLaren-Mercedes drivers Kimi Räikkönen and David Coulthard finished second and third respectively.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Lap	Gap
1	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:11.985	—
2	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:12.008	+0.023
3	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:12.197	+0.212
4	4	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:12.244	+0.259
5	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	1:12.424	+0.439
6	3	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:12.498	+0.513
7	15	Jenson Button	Renault	1:12.761	+0.776
8	14	Jarno Trulli	Renault	1:13.030	+1.045
9	16	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:13.188	+1.203
10	7	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	1:13.370	+1.385
11	12	Olivier Panis	BAR-Honda	1:13.457	+1.472
12	8	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	1:13.501	+1.516
13	11	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	1:13.506	+1.521
14	10	Takuma Sato	Jordan-Honda	1:13.542	+1.557
15	17	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:13.656	+1.671
16	24	Mika Salo	Toyota	1:13.837	+1.852
17	25	Allan McNish	Toyota	1:13.949	+1.964
18	23	Mark Webber	Minardi-Asiatech	1:14.800	+2.815
19	22	Alex Yoong	Minardi-Asiatech	1:16.798	+4.813
107% time: 1:17.023
DNQ	20	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Arrows-Cosworth	1:18.497	+6.512
DNQ	21	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows-Cosworth	1:19.843	+7.858
DNQ	9	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Honda	—	—

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	72	1:32:09.837	2	10
2	4	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	72	+1.104	4	6
3	3	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	72	+31.975	6	4
4	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	72	+40.675	1	3
5	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	72	+41.772	5	2
6	15	Jenson Button	Renault	71	+1 Lap	7	1
7	7	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	71	+1 Lap	10
8	23	Mark Webber	Minardi-Asiatech	71	+1 Lap	18
9	17	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar-Cosworth	70	+2 Laps	15
10	22	Alex Yoong	Minardi-Asiatech	68	+4 Laps	19
11	25	Allan McNish	Toyota	65	Engine	17
Ret	16	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar-Cosworth	52	Rear wing	9
Ret	14	Jarno Trulli	Renault	49	Engine	8
Ret	8	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	48	Mechanical	12
Ret	24	Mika Salo	Toyota	48	Engine	16
Ret	11	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	35	Engine	13
Ret	12	Olivier Panis	BAR-Honda	29	Accident damage	11
Ret	10	Takuma Sato	Jordan-Honda	23	Spin	14
DNS	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari		Ignition	3
DNQ	20	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Arrows-Cosworth
DNQ	21	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows-Cosworth
DNQ	9	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Honda		Injury

Notes

• Lap leaders: Juan Pablo Montoya 30 (1–23, 36–42), Michael Schumacher 14 (24–25, 29–35, 68–72), Kimi Räikkönen 21 (26, 43–49, 55–67), David Coulthard 7 (27–28, 50–54)
• Giancarlo Fisichella crashed in a Saturday practice session and was recommended by the doctors to sit out the race. A last minute attempt to have Heinz-Harald Frentzen drive in his place fell through due to legal technicalities.
• This victory handed Michael Schumacher his 5th World Championship, equalling the record set by Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio almost 50 years earlier. This is also the earliest that a World Championship has been clinched, with only 11 races of the season completed and 6 remaining.
• Räikkönen could have won the race, but whilst going into Adelaide hairpin in the closing stages, he locked up and ran wide after passing through the oil left by McNish's Toyota engine that had just given up on the same place, while Schumacher passed him to win.
• Schumacher's pass on Räikkönen was controversial for some time after the Grand Prix, as it was believed that Schumacher had made the pass under yellow flags from McNish's engine blow; this would have meant Schumacher would receive a penalty that would have certainly given Räikkönen the win. The FIA, however, ruled in favour of Schumacher and Ferrari.
• Both Arrows-Cosworth cars deliberately failed to qualify for the race due to financial issues. It would prove to be the team's penultimate showing at a Grand Prix weekend.
• Juan Pablo Montoya clinched a fifth consecutive pole position, a run stretching back to that year's Monaco Grand Prix; despite this, Montoya failed to win any of the five races. The Colombian driver had previously suffered consecutive retirements at the Monaco, Canadian and European events before finishing third at the British Grand Prix. In total Montoya would start seven races from pole position during the season, but was unable to secure a single victory.
• Last fastest lap: David Coulthard
• David Coulthard set the fastest lap of the French Grand Prix for the 5th consecutive year.
• Rubens Barrichello's car was left on its jacks, while the other cars started their warm-up laps.

Standings after the race

• Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher 96 2 Juan Pablo Montoya 34 3 Rubens Barrichello 32 4 Ralf Schumacher 32 5 David Coulthard 30

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 128 2 Williams-BMW 66 3 McLaren-Mercedes 47 4 Renault 15 5 Sauber-Petronas 10

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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2002 French Grand Prix.

• Official 2002 French Grand Prix results from FIA website and Formula1 website.