Schumacher started second, led only the final five laps and still clinched his fifth title, matching Juan Manuel Fangio's long-standing record.
The 2002 French Grand Prix, held at Magny-Cours on 21 July 2002, was won by Michael Schumacher of Ferrari from second on the grid. Raikkonen finished second and Coulthard third. The win secured Schumacher's fifth world drivers' championship and equalled Juan Manuel Fangio's record.
Michael Schumacher won the 2002 French Grand Prix from second on the grid, and the result gave him his fifth world drivers' championship. He led only the final five laps, yet the win equalled the record of Juan Manuel Fangio, which had stood since 1957.
Who won the 2002 French Grand Prix?
Michael Schumacher won the 72-lap race for Ferrari after starting second. Kimi Raikkonen finished second for McLaren and David Coulthard third. The win was Schumacher's eighth of the season and his 61st in Formula One, and it secured the drivers' title with a race still to run.
Schumacher had won seven of the first ten races and had finished on the podium in every one of them. Nobody could overtake his points total with six races left, so the win sealed the title. That consistency left Barrichello and Montoya needing a great deal from the final rounds, and in France neither could match it. Schumacher himself said he would compete normally, without expecting to win the title in France.
Schumacher started second, led only the final five laps and still clinched a title that had stood with Fangio since 1957.
Why did the French race decide the title?
Only Schumacher, his Ferrari teammate Barrichello and Williams' Montoya could still take the title at Magny-Cours, and Schumacher led by 54 points going in. If he won and both Barrichello and Montoya finished lower than third, the championship would be his, so the arithmetic favoured him from the outset.
Ferrari also led the constructors' table by 57 points over Williams. Schumacher had said he would try to win the championship there, but he added that it mattered little whether the title came in France or at another race, since the German round would follow.
Why was the race moved to July?
The race swapped places with the British Grand Prix to avoid a clash with the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea. It was the eleventh round of seventeen, and it marked the eleventh anniversary of Magny-Cours hosting its first Formula One race, in 1991.
The track measures 4.251 km (2.641 mi) and runs clockwise through Burgundy. Ferrari had been the only team with a confirmed lead in the constructors' table going into the event, and its rivals knew the weekend would test every element of their cars.
What did the teams change before the race?
Ferrari reworked the rear end of its F2002, joining the rear wing mounting to the deformable structure above the gearbox. Williams introduced large openings in the FW24's sidepods to help cooling, because the race was expected to be hot, and Renault debuted a revised engine together with an aperture in the right side of the R202 to cool its oil radiator.
Brawn, Ferrari's technical director, said the team was worried about a mechanical failure in the race, and the high temperatures expected on the day made that worry sharper. Every team had to weigh cooling against drag in the same way.
After the British Grand Prix on 7 July, the teams tested aerodynamic and mechanical parts, racing set-ups and tyres. Arrows, Jordan, Renault, Sauber and Williams spent four days at Ricardo Tormo in Spain, while BAR, Jaguar, Toyota and Williams tested over four days at Monza.
Ferrari tested at two Italian circuits. Badoer, Burti and Schumacher spent five days at Fiorano, and Badoer also tested at Mugello. Minardi was the only team that did not test, because it remained at its factory.
Was Arrows able to race at all?
Arrows' participation was in doubt because the team owed money to its engine supplier, Cosworth, and was attempting to sell the team to Red Bull. Tom Walkinshaw moved the transporters from Leafield to France on 16 July, and a new payment plan with Cosworth secured the engines.
Arrows did not take part in Friday practice, because Walkinshaw kept the two cars in the pit lane while he negotiated with shareholders at Morgan Grenfell over new investors. The team made a token appearance in qualifying later in the weekend, with Frentzen and Bernoldi each completing three laps before leaving the track. The appearance was made to meet contractual agreements with Formula One and to avoid FIA fines for missing rounds, after one installation lap in the closing minutes of the final practice session.
What happened in the Friday practice sessions?
Barrichello set the fastest time of the first Friday session at 1:15.056, 31 minutes in. Coulthard, Michael Schumacher, the Williams pair and Raikkonen completed the top half of the order, and Sato cut across Salo at the Imola turn, damaging Salo's front suspension.
Coulthard was fastest in the second Friday session at 1:14.025, 0.072 seconds ahead of Raikkonen. Trulli spun at the Nurburgring chicane on his first run and hit the tyre barrier, which ended his session early. Montoya and Sato both removed components after excursions into the gravel. Salo returned slowly to the pit lane with front suspension damage, and Toyota's checks found the steering was also affected, but he carried on.
How fast was the Saturday running?
Michael Schumacher was fastest in the Saturday morning session at 1:12.974, the only driver to go under 1:13, with Barrichello 0.529 seconds slower. He remained fastest in the final session, despite losing control of his Ferrari's rear towards the Adelaide hairpin, while Raikkonen was second and Coulthard third. Barrichello, Button, Montoya, Ralf Schumacher, Irvine, Heidfeld and Trulli filled out the top ten behind them.
The Saturday sessions were not without incident. Giancarlo Fisichella's front wing collapsed over the kerbs at the exit of the Estoril corner, leaving him without front downforce. He struck the outside tyre barrier, and the impact left him with a concussion, a cut finger and a stiff neck.
How did Fisichella's crash keep him out of the race?
The crash came about 15 minutes into the final practice session, and the marshals took 26 minutes to repair the tyre wall. Sid Watkins, the FIA doctor, examined Fisichella at the circuit's medical centre before flying him to Nevers for a brain scan.
Hospital scans showed no serious injury, but Watkins judged Fisichella unfit to race because of the risk of another major accident from the forces he had experienced. Jordan's only qualifier was therefore Takuma Sato, who had been given the Jordan car after Fisichella withdrew.
Qualifying top ten
| Position | Driver | Qualifying note |
|---|---|---|
| Pole | Juan Pablo Montoya | 1:11.985, fifth successive pole and sixth of the season |
| Second | Michael Schumacher | 0.023 seconds behind, after a cut chicane invalidated a run |
| Third | Rubens Barrichello | Car modified between sessions |
| Fourth | Kimi Raikkonen | His best qualifying result at that point |
| Fifth | Ralf Schumacher | Drove an unbalanced car |
| Sixth | David Coulthard | Minor oversteer that improved during qualifying |
| Seventh | Jenson Button | Spent most of qualifying correcting oversteer |
| Eighth | Jarno Trulli | Unable to push due to discomfort in the car |
| Ninth | Eddie Irvine | His best of 2002 and Jaguar's first top-ten start of the season |
| Tenth | Nick Heidfeld | The last Bridgestone runner in the top ten |
How did the grid take shape?
Montoya and the two Ferraris battled at the front in hot, sunny weather, and the Michelin-shod cars appeared to have the edge in those conditions. Montoya secured his fifth successive pole with a lap of 1:11.985, the only driver under 1:12, though he ran wide at the final turn of his last quick lap. Schumacher then lost time on his final run, and an earlier run had been invalidated for cutting the Nurburgring chicane.
Raikkonen made an error at the final corner, which left him fourth, while Barrichello took third after adjusting his car between sessions. Ralf Schumacher drove an unbalanced car and could not improve when he slid on the entry to the start-finish straight.
Panis, Massa and Villeneuve lined up 11th to 13th, while Sato finished 14th and De la Rosa 15th after a loss of hydraulic pressure affected his throttle control. Webber was 18th and Yoong 19th, after Yoong's car lost fuel delivery on his last runs.
Could Frentzen have replaced Fisichella?
Jordan's sponsor Deutsche Post wanted a German driver in the race, and it pressed for Frentzen to step in for Fisichella. The FIA would have allowed the change under force majeure, provided all the teams agreed and there were no contractual concerns, but Frentzen would have started from the back row.
Frentzen's lawyer advised him not to join Jordan, because his management was worried about the legal consequences that might follow from Walkinshaw. The idea was dropped, and Jordan's car went to Sato.
What happened on race morning?
The half-hour warm-up took place in dry, fine weather. Following Fisichella's withdrawal and Arrows' failure to qualify, 19 cars were scheduled to start. Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap at 1:14.174, and Barrichello was 0.714 seconds slower. Trulli, Massa, Heidfeld, Button, Raikkonen, Irvine, Coulthard and Panis completed the top ten, while Sato's car stalled at the pit lane exit after a launch control failure. Ralf Schumacher spun twice during the session, at the Chateau d'Eau turn and at the Adelaide hairpin.
Schumacher chose to start in the spare Ferrari, because he believed it handled better than his race car. Barrichello's car then remained on its front jack on the grid after an electrical failure that a steering wheel replacement and a mechanics' restart could not fix, and the car was pushed into the pit lane. He did not start, and the grid was reduced to 19 cars.
How did the race unfold?
Montoya led the opening 23 laps before the first round of pit stops. Michael Schumacher took the lead at that point, but he was handed a drive-through penalty after crossing the white line at the pit exit, and Montoya regained the lead until a delayed second stop put Raikkonen in front.
Raikkonen led until he ran over oil dropped by McNish's Toyota on lap 68. That gave Michael Schumacher the chance to pass, and he led the final five laps to win from second on the grid.
Why did the fifth title matter so much?
The title equalled the record of Juan Manuel Fangio, who won his fifth championship in 1957. Schumacher was praised by former champions Jody Scheckter and Niki Lauda, and he also received congratulations from the world leaders Gerhard Schroeder, Silvio Berlusconi and Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
The result also confirmed how completely the season had run in Ferrari's favour. Montoya moved from third to second in the drivers' standings, and Ferrari extended its constructors' lead over Williams to 62 points, a margin that the German round would test.
What did the result do to the standings?
Schumacher's win left the drivers' table with him far ahead of the field, and Montoya's second place in the standings showed how much ground the Williams driver still had to make up. Ferrari's constructors lead over Williams grew to 62 points, and the teams entered the German round with that margin in place.