2002 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the 2002 Grande Prêmio do Brasil ) [ 3 ] was a Formula One motor race held before 120,000 spectators on 31 March 2002 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo , Brazil. It was the third round of seventeen in the 2002 Formula One World Championship and the only one to take place in South America. Ferrari 's Michael Schumacher won the 71-lap race from second position. Williams 's Ralf Schumacher finished in second and McLaren 's David Coulthard was thi...

Michael Schumacher's victory was his second of the season and 55th of his career, extending his World Drivers' Championship lead to eight championship points over Ralf Schumacher in second and ten over Montoya in third. With fourteen races remaining in the season, Ferrari decreased Williams' World Constructors' Championship lead to six points.

The 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix was the third round of seventeen in the 2002 Formula One World Championship . It was held on 31 March 2002 at the 4.309 km (2.677 mi) anti-clockwise Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo , Brazil. [ 1 ] It was the season's only event in South America. [ 4 ] The Grand Prix featured eleven teams of two drivers (each representing a different constructor ), with no changes to the season entry list . [ 5 ] Phoenix Finance did not file an entry application to the event ...

Following the Malaysian Grand Prix on 17 March, nine of the eleven teams tested aerodynamic and mechanical components, spare cars, racing setups and tyres on their cars for four days at Spain's Circuit de Catalunya from 19 to 22 March as preparation for the Brazilian Grand Prix. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] Jaguar focused on chassis development to decide whether to race their previous chassis, the R2 , or develop the R3 car with their test team, which performed poorly. [ 11 ] Ultimately, Jaguar decided to keep ...

Ferrari's main 2002 car, the F2002 , was launched that weekend; the team had previously used a modified version of their 2001 car, the F2001 , for the first two rounds. [ 16 ] Originally scheduled to debut in the first race in Australia , problems with its performance forced the team to develop the car, delaying its debut. Michael Schumacher received one F2002 chassis, while teammate Barrichello used a modified F2001. [ 17 ] The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; Formula One's gover...

Michael Schumacher stated that with the F2002 car, he was more optimistic about winning the Grand Prix than he had ever been, but that gaining championship points early in the season was critical. [ 20 ] Ralf Schumacher stated that he was convinced Williams would beat Ferrari in Brazil after testing in Spain. [ 21 ] His teammate, Montoya, had led the Grand Prix the previous year and appeared to be on his way to his first career victory until the rear of his car was hit by Arrows' lapped Jos Vers...

Barrichello, eighth, had a gear selection issue. [ 47 ] [ 52 ] The penalty issued on Barrichello did not affect his starting position because his time was fast enough to put him ahead of ninth-placed Heidfeld. [ 57 ] A water leak in Heidfeld's race car's engine while it was being warmed up forced him to drive the spare Sauber car, which had a recurring brake issue. Salo secured tenth for the second consecutive event. [ 47 ] [ 52 ] De La Rosa qualified 11th, ahead of teamamte Irvine for the secon...

Bernoldi crashed against the tyre barrier at the bottom of the hill at the Senna S chicane with two minutes remaining. [ 63 ] [ 64 ] This caused the rear of his car to catch fire when the oil tank was ruptured, necessitating a red flag as the FIA medical car was deployed to the scene. [ 65 ] [ 66 ] Drivers swerved to avoid the detached wheels from Bernoldi's car, [ 64 ] which was stationary on the track, [ 60 ] but they were not warned by yellow flags . [ 66 ] As medical car driver and former Fo...

Ferrari feared Michael Schumacher had a puncture from the incident, but this was not the case. [ 79 ] Montoya remained on the track, but the incident moved his teammate Ralf Schumacher to second, and the fast-starting Renaults of Trulli and Button to third and fourth, respectively. [ 72 ] [ 76 ] For the second straight race, Montoya had an unscheduled pit stop for a replacement front wing and debris removal, [ 71 ] [ 78 ] ending his chance at victory. [ 72 ] When the first lap ended, Michael Sch...

Fisichella's engine failed on lap eight, despite the fact that his underpowered Honda engine had been detuned to enhance reliability, and he became the race's first retirement at turn ten. [ 74 ] [ 80 ] [ 81 ] That lap, Frentzen overtook Irvine for 13th after Irvine had lost 12th to Villeneuve. [ 72 ] Sato passed Panis for 16th but lost control of his car and Panis retook the position on lap nine. [ 78 ] [ 80 ] Barrichello closed up to race leader Michael Schumacher, [ 70 ] as Villeneuve overtoo...

Montoya returned to the top ten on lap 30 by overtaking De La Rosa for tenth, and the following lap he passed Irvine on the start/finish straight for ninth. [ 70 ] [ 80 ] However, he was lapping slower than teammate Ralf Schumacher, who was gradually gaining on Michael Schumacher as his Michelin tyres began to outperform the Ferrari's Bridgestones. This was until Michael Schumacher gradually pulled away from Ralf Schumacher midway through the race with a string of consecutive fastest laps . [ 72...

McNish's handling deteriorated due to oversteer, and he lost control of his Toyota when a rear wheel locked while braking for turn four on the following lap. [ 80 ] [ 81 ] He retired from the race. [ 72 ] During lap 44, Webber bumped Massa in the rear, sending him spinning into the tarmac run-off area. Massa retired after the incident, while Webber entered the pit lane. [ 70 ] [ 80 ] Ralf Schumacher made his only pit stop on that lap. He was stationary for 9.4 seconds because he conserved fuel a...

Ralf Schumacher began to close the gap on Michael Schumacher after adjusting his front wing during his pit stop and using scraped front tyres. [ 72 ] [ 81 ] He closed the distance to 1.5 seconds by the 53rd lap and then to six-tenths of a second four laps later. [ 70 ] On lap 58, Michael Schumacher locked his wheel exiting turn one but remained the race leader despite Ralf Schumacher's continuous pressure. [ 76 ] [ 80 ] Nevertheless, Michael Schumacher lapped half-a-second faster than Ralf Schum...

At the front, Michael Schumacher fought off Ralf Schumacher in the final laps to claim his second victory out of three races in the season and 55th of his career. [ a ] [ 68 ] Ralf Schumacher was unable to affect a pass finished 0.588 seconds adrift in second. [ 82 ] [ 83 ] Coulthard took third, scoring his first championship points of the season. [ 73 ] [ 85 ] Button drove an understeering Renault, which was changed with a minor front wing adjustment at his pit stop, but scored his second conse...

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in the subsequent press conference. [ 25 ] Michael Schumacher said he was not expecting Ferrari to deliver a good performance and had been expecting to "keep the lap time but we sort of stayed more consistent where the Williams would tend to go faster and faster towards the end of the stint, which luckily didn't happen." [ 87 ] Ralf Schumacher claimed he enjoyed the battle with his brother at Interlagos...

The collision between Montoya and Michael Schumacher was similar to that of the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks earlier. [ 85 ] Montoya commented, "I thought he was a fair guy to race with but he is not" and admitted disappointment, adding he was angry Michael Schumacher was not penalised for the manoevure. [ 88 ] The FIA did not sanction Montoya for the comments. [ 89 ] Michael Schumacher thought Montoya had behaved well, leaving him room, and maintained he had no idea what had happened in the i...

Button said he Renault helped him over the radio in helping him beat Montoya to finish in fourth, adding, "I don't think he could get close enough to me, though, and I have had so many moments like that in F1 that you just relax and push as hard as you can. It's good to be able to hold off a Williams like that." [ 86 ] Salo said finishing in sixth was "quite amazing for the new car" but admitted the heat caused him to become tired towards the end of the race. [ 92 ] Barrichello said he was disap...

Michael Schumacher's victory extended his World Drivers' Championship lead to 24 points, eight more than Ralf Schumacher in second place. Montoya was demoted to third place with 14 championship points, while Button rose to fourth with six. [ 8 ] Ferrari reduced Williams' World Constructors' Championship lead to six championship points. McLaren stayed third with eight championship points, but Renault surpassed Jaguar to claim fourth place with fourteen races remaining in the season. [ 8 ]

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .

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