2002 Malaysian Grand Prix

The 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix (officially the 2002 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix ) [ 3 ] was a Formula One motor race held before 92,000 spectators at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang , Selangor , Malaysia on 17 March 2002. It was the second round of 17 in the 2002 Formula One World Championship and the fourth Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix . Williams driver Ralf Schumacher won the 56-lap race after starting from fourth position. His teammate Juan Pablo Montoya finished in second, ah...

Ralf Schumacher's and Montoya's one-two finish promoted Williams to the lead of the World Constructors' Championship by eight championship points over Ferrari. Michael Schumacher's lead in the World Drivers' Championship was reduced to two championship points over Montoya and four over race winner Ralf Schumacher with 15 races remaining in the season.

The 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix , the second round of seventeen in the 2002 Formula One World Championship , was held at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang , Selangor , Malaysia on 17 March 2002, [ 1 ] the fourth time a Formula One Grand Prix was taking place at Sepang. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's governing body, had sanctioned a race in Malaysia since the 1960s, with the initial events staged in Singapore , then part of the Malaysian Feder...

After winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix , Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with ten championship points , ahead of Williams ' Juan Pablo Montoya with six and McLaren 's Kimi Räikkönen with four. Jaguar 's Eddie Irvine and Minardi 's Mark Webber were in fourth and fifth positions with three and two championship points, respectively. [ 8 ] Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with Williams second and McLaren third with ten championshi...

Following the Australian Grand Prix on 3 March, [ 9 ] six teams held in-season testing sessions at various European racing courses ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix. [ 10 ] Luciano Burti , Ferrari's test driver , spent four days testing mechanical components and Bridgestone tyres on a F2001 chassis at Italy's Fiorano Circuit . [ 10 ] [ 11 ] Williams and Renault spent three days at Northamptonshire 's Silverstone Circuit , [ 12 ] [ 13 ] joined by British American Racing (BAR) concentrating on aer...

The Grand Prix featured eleven teams of two drivers (each representing a different constructor ), with no changes to the season entry list . [ 27 ] Phoenix Finance unsuccessfully attempted to enter the Grand Prix with two 2001-spec Prost AP04 cars with drivers Tarso Marques and Gastón Mazzacane after the FIA ruled it had not purchased Prost Grand Prix 's entry. [ 28 ] [ 29 ] Toyota's Mika Salo had a severe case of flu, meaning Ryan Briscoe , Toyota's test driver, was on standby to replace him. H...

An overnight rainstorm left moist patches off the racing line and lowered grip levels for Saturday morning's third practice session. [ 49 ] The forest fires' haze made it humid and overcast. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] Most drivers did not enter the circuit after halfway through, when more grip was available. [ 49 ] [ 50 ] Barrichello led with a 1:36.974 lap set late in the session. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] His teammate Michael Schumacher, Räikkönen, Montoya, Button, Ralf Schumacher, Coulthard, Fisichella and the Sauber...

As the circuit temperature increased, it remained hot with a slight hazy mist during the final practice session. [ 52 ] [ 53 ] Several drivers lost control of their cars on the damp track surface. [ 53 ] Montoya recorded the quickest lap time of 1:36.556 27 minutes into the session. Räikkönen was second with a lap set with 16 minutes remaining. [ 54 ] [ 55 ] Ralf Schumacher, Barrichello, Coulthard, Michael Schumacher, Button, Fisichella, Massa and Heidfeld rounded out the top ten. [ 54 ] Coultha...

Fisichella, ninth, made driver errors on his final run, preventing him from lapping faster. [ 59 ] Salo took tenth, Toyota's first top ten qualifying result in their second Grand Prix. [ 62 ] Frentzen qualified 11th after being dissatisfied with the balance of his Arrows A23 car. [ 59 ] Trulli was unable to locate a suitable car balance, leaving him in 12th. BAR's Jacques Villeneuve , 13th, was two-tenths of a second faster than in practice, reporting that the car was not quick in either the cor...

At the front, Michael Schumacher went across to the right, into Montoya's path on the inside line, headed into the right-hand Selangor S turn. Montoya drew alongside Michael Schumacher on the inside due to his car's powerful BMW engine , and he appeared to push Schumacher to the outside kerbing entering the corner. Michael Schumacher then understeered off the kerbing, pushing Montoya to the outside. [ 76 ] [ 77 ] [ 78 ] Michael Schumacher collided with Montoya, breaking his front wing against Mo...

Sato collided with the rear of his teammate Fisichella's car at turn two on lap two while they were battling Salo. [ 79 ] [ 82 ] The impact severed Sato's front wing and Fisichella's rear wing. [ 5 ] [ 77 ] Both drivers made pit stops for repairs on the same lap, with Fisichella overshooting the Jordan pit stall because his rear wing took longer to install. [ 73 ] [ 76 ] Fisichella exited his car, assuming the damage was irreversible, but after installing the rear wing, he rejoined the Grand Pri...

The stewards awarded Montoya a drive-through penalty on lap eight for "causing an avoidable collision," the first time such a penalty had been levied on a Formula One driver since the FIA introduced it to replace the ten-second stop-and-go penalties. [ 76 ] [ 78 ] [ 82 ] He took the penalty two laps later and fell to ninth, [ 74 ] losing approximately 20 seconds. [ 26 ] Trulli entered the pit lane on lap ten with overheating. The sidepods were cleared, but the car continued to overheat and lose ...

The first round of pit stops commenced on lap 20. [ 73 ] Ralf Schumacher ran a one-stop plan whereas Barrichello used a two-stop strategy. [ 76 ] Heidfeld and Michael Schumacher made their first pit stops for fuel and tyres. [ 73 ] Barrichello made his first pit stop from the lead at the conclusion of the next lap. The stop lasted 6.6 seconds because his team were short filling him and he rejoined the race in third, behind Räikkönen. [ 71 ] [ 77 ] Bernoldi stopped on the circuit at turn nine wit...

Michael Schumacher regained a points-paying place on lap 27 after Salo entered the garage to address an electrical fault with the traction control system following his first pit stop. Montoya overtook Heidfeld for fourth on that lap. [ 71 ] [ 80 ] Irvine collided with Yoong's car's rear on lap 28 while attempting to lap him. Irvine's front wing folded under the Jaguar and he ran onto the grass before entering the pit lane for a replacement front wing. [ 71 ] [ 74 ] Ralf Schumacher made his only ...

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in the subsequent press conference. [ 35 ] Ralf Schumacher described the Grand Prix as "almost the perfect race" but admitted to being "certainly a bit lucky" when his teammate Montoya and Michael Schumacher collided on the opening lap. [ 88 ] Montoya said that finishing in second was "pretty good" considering his start to the race but thought he was slightly unlucky, adding, "After the start, I thought...

Coulthard was disappointed to retire from the Grand Prix but urged McLaren to remain focused, "I know we have a package which is capable of winning races, but we just need a bit of reliability." [ 94 ] Mercedes-Benz motorsport head Norbert Haug said the manufacturer would thoroughly analyse the reason for the engine failures to prevent them from reoccurring. [ 94 ] The result reduced Michael Schumacher's World Drivers' Championship lead to two points over Montoya but Ralf Schumacher's victory mo...

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .

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

2°45′39.2″N 101°44′16.2″E  /  2.760889°N 101.737833°E  / 2.760889; 101.737833