The 2002 Spanish Grand Prix (formally the Gran Premio Marlboro de España 2002) was a Formula One motor race held on 28 April 2002 at the Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló, Catalonia, Spain. It was the fifth round of the 2002 Formula One World Championship and was held before 100,000 spectators. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher won the 65-lap race from pole position. Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya finished in second and McLaren's David Coulthard was third.
Heading into the race, Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship and his team Ferrari led the World Constructors Championship. He started on pole position after setting the quickest lap time in the one-hour qualifying session, and he led every lap of the race to win his fourth race of the season and 57th of his career. Montoya finished second 35.630 seconds behind, despite a botched second scheduled pit stop, and Coulthard finished third, another 6.993 seconds back, his second podium of the season.
Michael Schumacher's lead in the World Drivers' Championship increased to 21 championship points following the race. Montoya's second-place finish moved him past his teammate Ralf Schumacher, who retired from the Grand Prix. Ferrari extended their World Constructors' Championship lead over Williams to seven championship points with twelve races remaining in the season.
Background
thumb|left|The [[Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya|Circuit de Catalunya (pictured in 2007), where the Grand Prix was held]]
The 2002 Spanish Grand Prix was the fifth round of seventeen in the 2002 Formula One World Championship and took place on 28 April 2002 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló, Catalonia, Spain, Heading into the race, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 34 championship points, followed by the Williams pair of Ralf Schumacher (20) and Juan Pablo Montoya (17). Renault's Jenson Button was fourth with 8 championship points and Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was fifth on 6. Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 40 championship points, three ahead of Williams in second. McLaren were third with nine championship points, followed by Renault on nine and Jaguar with three. The Arrows, British American Racing (BAR), Jaguar, Jordan, Minardi, Renault, Sauber and Williams teams spent three days testing at Northamptonshire's Silverstone Circuit. McLaren and Toyota spent three days at Italy's Mugello Circuit, Ferrari also tested for three days at Italy's Monza Circuit, and also spent a day at their private test facility, the Fiorano Circuit.
Michael Schumacher, the pre-race favourite, had won three of the past four races in the 2002 season and had won the Spanish Grand Prix three times in 10 entries. He stated that Ferrari would be focused on the race in Spain and would take a race-by-race approach, despite him scoring eight more championship points than at this point last season. Michael Schumacher added Ferrari were confident the potential of the F2002 would be demonstrated more in Spain. Despite being 17 championship points behind Michael Schumacher, Montoya maintained a positive attitude, "We still have a chance at fighting back. It is a matter of who can evolve the car quicker. I don't know if I can beat Michael here but you never know." Coulthard finished sixth in the San Marino Grand Prix, but he was looking forward to racing in Spain after three days of testing at Mugello.
There were eleven teams (each representing a different constructor) with two drivers each for the Grand Prix, with no changes from the season entry list. Ferrari updated their F2002 cars with new torsion bars, modified the screens behind the front wheels, and introduced new front and rear wings. McLaren improved the MP4-17's rear suspension layout while Williams received a more powerful BMW engine and a new rear wing. Cosworth and Honda both introduced new improved versions of their engines; Jaguar used the more powerful Cosworth engine in the race, while Arrows used the old engine specification.
Practice
Two one-hour practice sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday preceded the race. The first practice session on Friday morning was held in sunny and humid weather. The Ferraris led practice due to the track's fast, long bends, while McLaren and Williams were behind due to car balance concerns. Michael Schumacher was fastest with a lap time of 1:20.681, 0.061 seconds faster than teammate Barrichello. Sauber's Felipe Massa, McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen, Renault's Jarno Trulli, Arrows's Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Coulthard, Massa's teammate Nick Heidfeld, Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella and Arrows's Enrique Bernoldi completed the top ten. Some drivers lost control of their cars and went off the circuit during the session. He was not allowed to continue with the session since the usage of spare cars was prohibited before qualifying. Michael Schumacher set the day's fastest lap time of 1:20.380. Frentzen was second-fastest, 0.070 seconds slower. Button, Barrichello, BAR's Olivier Panis, Bernoldi, Räikkönen, Fisichella, Massa and Trulli rounded out the top ten. At the first chicane, Michael Schumacher raced wide towards the gravel trap's edge, but he returned to the race circuit and continued. Two-thirds through practice, Barrichello set the quickest lap of 1:18.048. The wing folded under Webber's car and shattered, leaving carbon fibre debris on the start/finish straight. The session was immediately halted for eight minutes to allow marshals to clear the track of debris from Webber's car.
It became slightly warmer for the final session. Heidfeld went second-quickest with 15 minutes remaining. In positions three to ten were Michael Schumacher, Coulthard, Button, Frentzen, Räikkönen, Massa, Panis and Bernoldi. After modifying his Ferrari in the garage after his opening two runs, Michael Schumacher took his third pole position of five races in the season and 46th of his career, setting a new track lap record of 1:16.364 shortly before qualifying ended, lapping almost two seconds faster than his pole lap from 2001. Barrichello led after his first two runs, holding pole until his teammate's final lap, starting second. Williams took the second row following overnight work and testing of changes in the morning free practice sessions. Ralf Schumacher led early on before falling to third after Williams modified his car. His fastest time on his last run in the final minute placed him fourth. The FIA regulations mandated that he begin from the back of the starting grid.
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Notes
- – Eddie Irvine was dropped to the rear of the grid after a fuel analysis revealed that the fuel was not the same as that approved for use two weeks before the Grand Prix. Barrichello led with a 1:20.229 lap set shortly before warm-up ended. Heidfeld, Michael Schumacher, Massa, Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher, Bernoldi, Panis, Sato and Button occupied positions second through tenth. He braked for turn one and spun into the gravel trap close to the barrier at high speed due to the lack of downforce. Webber was unhurt and warm-up restarted after nearly five minutes.
Race
The 65-lap race began before 100,000 spectators at 14:00 local time. It took place in bright, dry and overcast conditions ranging from and the track temperature was between . Following the Minardi team's withdrawal, 20 cars were scheduled to start, but Barrichello's Ferrari was stationary on the grid at the start of the formation lap due to a gearbox selection fault. Although the engine was running, marshals pushed the Ferrari into the pit lane, but Ferrari were unable to rectify the problem and Barrichello failed to start the event since switching to a spare car was prohibited during the race.
thumb|right|upright|[[Kimi Räikkönen retired from the Grand Prix when his rear wing failed due to fatigue-related lower wing element failure on lap four.]]
When the race began, Michael Schumacher, in the spare Ferrari due to hydraulic troubles in warm-up, maintained the race lead into the first corner, holding off Ralf Schumacher on the inside. Button made a quick start, passing Räikkönen for fourth, but the latter recaptured the position on the outside at the first corner. His teammate Trulli moved from ninth to seventh by the conclusion of lap one, At the conclusion of the first lap, Michael Schumacher led Ralf Schumacher by 1.5 seconds. who served to avoid being decapitated.
Fisichella retired in the garage on lap six due to him losing hydraulic pressure. This promoted Montoya to second and Button to third. praised the Bridgestone tyres for being consistent during the race and said it was the correct circuit for the Ferrari, adding, "The guys in our team have done a tremendous job over the winter and again, this circuit shows what our engineers have done." Montoya said Williams battled with pace during the race weekend because the Ferrari was too fast for him, but he was pleased to finish second, "It was clearly a difficult race for us. I think we made the best of what we had." He told The Times, "I'm mad with myself. I wanted to stop the car but instinctively put my foot out and you don't stop a racing car with your foot." Ralf Schumacher expressed his displeasure over making an error that damaged his car and dropped him out of contention for a strong result. Barrichello said "I don't think it's bad luck...it's something that could happen to me or to Michael. It happened to me" after retiring for the fourth time in five races while his teammate Michael Schumacher expressed sympathy for Barrichello, "Everything that has gone wrong this year so far has gone wrong for him. You can't really think it will always go that way. You know that one day it's going to hit you." Head commented Michael Schumacher had "lady luck on his side" and added Barrichello was "like a magnet for bad luck." Massa, his teammate, hailed it "a fabulous race" for himself after finishing fifth and earning his second championship point in five Grands Prix. He was ecstatic, saying, "That was great! The team has done a superb job all weekend so they thoroughly deserve this point."
The result increased Michael Schumacher's lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 21 championship points. Montoya finishing second moved him ahead of his teammate Ralf Schumacher for second. Coulthard's third-place finish put him up to fourth, while Button fell to fifth after retiring from the race.
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;Notes
- – Minardi withdrew Mark Webber and Alex Yoong on the grounds of safety due to separate wing failures on their cars.
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;Constructors' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"
|-
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Constructor
! scope="col" | Points
|-
| align="left"| 10px
| align="center"| 1
| Ferrari
| align="left"| 50
|-
| align="left"| 10px
| align="center"| 2
| Williams-BMW
| align="left"| 43
|-
| align="left"| 10px
| align="center"| 3
| McLaren-Mercedes
| align="left"| 13
|-
| align="left"| 10px
| align="center"| 4
| Renault
| align="left"| 8
|-
| align="left"| 10px 1
| align="center"| 5
| Sauber-Petronas
| align="left"| 8
|-
!colspan=4|Sources: