2002 French Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:France
Grand Prix:French
Date:21 July
Year:2002
Previous Round:2002 British Grand Prix
Next Round:2002 German Grand Prix
Official Name:LXXXVIII Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France
Race No:11
Season No:17
Location:Magny-Cours, France
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:2.641
Course Km:4.251[1]
Distance Laps:72
Distance Mi:190.069
Distance Km:305.886
Weather:Warm and sunny, Air Temp: 25°C
Pole Driver:Juan Pablo Montoya
Pole Team:Williams-BMW
Pole Time:1:11.985
Pole Country:Colombia
Fast Driver:David Coulthard
Fast Team:McLaren-Mercedes
Fast Time:1:15.045
Fast Lap:62
Fast Country:UK
First Driver:Michael Schumacher
First Team:Ferrari
First Country:Germany
Second Driver:Kimi Räikkönen
Second Team:McLaren-Mercedes
Second Country:Finland
Third Driver:David Coulthard
Third Team:McLaren-Mercedes
Third Country:UK

The 2002 French Grand Prix (formally the LXXXVIII Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France) was a Formula One motor race held at Magny-Cours on 21 July 2002. It was the eleventh race of the 2002 Formula One World Championship, last race on the original layout and the race in which Michael Schumacher secured his fifth World Drivers' Championship title, equalling Juan Manuel Fangio's record set over 40 years before. McLaren-Mercedes drivers Kimi Räikkönen and David Coulthard finished second and third respectively.

In a peculiar qualifying session, a heavy crash prevented Giancarlo Fisichella from qualifying for the race on medical grounds, whilst the cash-strapped Arrows, unable to reach an agreement with their sponsors, made a brief appearance in qualifying, only to have both their drivers deliberately set lap times slow enough for them to not qualify for the race.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Lap Gap
16 Juan Pablo MontoyaWilliams-BMW1:11.985
21 Michael SchumacherFerrari1:12.008+0.023
32 Rubens BarrichelloFerrari1:12.197+0.212
44 Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren-Mercedes1:12.244+0.259
55 Ralf SchumacherWilliams-BMW1:12.424+0.439
63 David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes1:12.498+0.513
715 Jenson ButtonRenault1:12.761+0.776
814 Jarno TrulliRenault1:13.030+1.045
916 Eddie IrvineJaguar-Cosworth1:13.188+1.203
107 Nick HeidfeldSauber-Petronas1:13.370+1.385
1112 Olivier PanisBAR-Honda1:13.457+1.472
128 Felipe MassaSauber-Petronas1:13.501+1.516
1311 Jacques VilleneuveBAR-Honda1:13.506+1.521
1410 Takuma SatoJordan-Honda1:13.542+1.557
1517 Pedro de la RosaJaguar-Cosworth1:13.656+1.671
1624 Mika SaloToyota1:13.837+1.852
1725 Allan McNishToyota1:13.949+1.964
1823 Mark WebberMinardi-Asiatech1:14.800+2.815
1922 Alex YoongMinardi-Asiatech1:16.798+4.813
107% time

1:17.023

DNQ20 Heinz-Harald FrentzenArrows-Cosworth1:18.497+6.512
DNQ21 Enrique BernoldiArrows-Cosworth1:19.843+7.858
DNQ9 Giancarlo FisichellaJordan-Honda

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
11 Michael SchumacherFerrari721:32:09.837210
24 Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren-Mercedes72+1.10446
33 David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes72+31.97564
46 Juan Pablo MontoyaWilliams-BMW72+40.67513
55 Ralf SchumacherWilliams-BMW72+41.77252
615 Jenson ButtonRenault71+1 lap71
77 Nick HeidfeldSauber-Petronas71+1 lap10 
823 Mark WebberMinardi-Asiatech71+1 lap18 
917 Pedro de la RosaJaguar-Cosworth70+2 laps15 
1022 Alex YoongMinardi-Asiatech68+4 laps19 
1125 Allan McNishToyota65Engine17 
Ret16 Eddie IrvineJaguar-Cosworth52Rear wing9 
Ret14 Jarno TrulliRenault49Engine8 
Ret8 Felipe MassaSauber-Petronas48Transmission12 
Ret24 Mika SaloToyota48Engine16 
Ret11 Jacques VilleneuveBAR-Honda35Engine13 
Ret12 Olivier PanisBAR-Honda29Collision damage11 
Ret10 Takuma SatoJordan-Honda23Spin14 
DNS2 Rubens BarrichelloFerrari Ignition3 
DNQ20 Heinz-Harald FrentzenArrows-Cosworth 107% rule 
DNQ21 Enrique BernoldiArrows-Cosworth 107% rule 
DNQ9 Giancarlo FisichellaJordan-HondaInjury

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Michael Schumacher96
12 Juan Pablo Montoya34
13 Rubens Barrichello32
4 Ralf Schumacher32
5 David Coulthard30
Source: [2]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Ferrari128
2 Williams-BMW66
3 McLaren-Mercedes47
4 Renault15
5 Sauber-Petronas10
Source:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Grand Prix de France. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2023-07-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20100915030608/http://www.fia.com/archive/F1/2002/011.html. 2010-09-15.
  2. Web site: France 2002 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 17 March 2019.