2002 Monaco Grand Prix

2002 Monaco Grand Prix
Race 7 of 17 in the 2002 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Race details
Date	26 May 2002
Official name	LX Grand Prix de Monaco
Location	Circuit de Monaco, Monaco
Course	Street circuit
Course length	3.370 km (2.094 miles)
Distance	78 laps, 262.860 km (163.334 miles)
Weather	Fine; air temperature 22 °C (72 °F)
Pole position
Driver	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW
Time	1:16.676
Fastest lap
Driver	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Time	1:18.023 on lap 68 (lap record)
Podium
First	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Second	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Third	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW
Lap leaders

The 2002 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 26 May 2002 at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo. It was the seventh race of the 2002 Formula One World Championship, and the sixtieth Monaco Grand Prix.

The 78-lap race was won by British driver David Coulthard, driving a McLaren-Mercedes. Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya took pole position in his Williams-BMW but was beaten off the line by Coulthard, who went on to lead every lap. German Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari with his brother, Ralf Schumacher, third in the other Williams-BMW. This race marked the last occasion during the 2002 season in which a team other than Ferrari would win as Ferrari would subsequently win all 10 of the remaining rounds in the 2002 season after this.

Qualifying report

Juan Pablo Montoya emerged on top in qualifying. David Coulthard took pole position at the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix, only to stall on the grid, but was forced to settle for second this time, nearly four tenths of a second off the Colombian's pace. The championship leader and the last race victor, Michael Schumacher, could only set the third fastest time after suffering with an eye irritation throughout the session. Ralf Schumacher lined up fourth, ahead of Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari and Kimi Räikkönen's McLaren.

Throughout free practice, the Renault team, and in particular Jarno Trulli, had looked set to challenge the established front-runners, but the Italian would only line up in 7th position, one position ahead of team-mate Jenson Button. On their first appearance at Monaco, the Toyotas of Mika Salo and Allan McNish completed the top ten, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella's Jordan and Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Arrows. Sauber had a troubled session, with Felipe Massa and Nick Heidfeld lining up 13th and 17th respectively. The 1996 winner Olivier Panis was 18th for BAR, while Eddie Irvine lined up in 21st for Jaguar.

Qualifying classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Lap	Gap
1	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:16.676
2	3	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:17.068	+0.392
3	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:17.118	+0.442
4	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	1:17.274	+0.598
5	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:17.357	+0.681
6	14	Jarno Trulli	Renault	1:17.552	+0.876
7	4	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:17.660	+0.984
8	15	Jenson Button	Renault	1:18.132	+1.456
9	24	Mika Salo	Toyota	1:18.234	+1.558
10	25	Allan McNish	Toyota	1:18.292	+1.616
11	9	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Honda	1:18.342	+1.666
12	20	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Arrows-Cosworth	1:18.607	+1.931
13	8	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	1:19.006	+2.330
14	11	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	1:19.252	+2.576
15	21	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows-Cosworth	1:19.412	+2.736
16	10	Takuma Sato	Jordan-Honda	1:19.461	+2.785
17	7	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	1:19.500	+2.824
18	12	Olivier Panis	BAR-Honda	1:19.569	+2.893
19	23	Mark Webber	Minardi-Asiatech	1:19.674	+2.998
20	17	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:19.796	+3.120
21	16	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:20.139	+3.463
22	22	Alex Yoong	Minardi-Asiatech	1:21.599	+4.923
107% time: 1:22.043
Sources:

Race report

Coulthard made the most of a sluggish start from Montoya to take the lead into Sainte-Devote for the first time, as Michael Schumacher held third position from his brother. Meanwhile, there was commotion behind, as Jacques Villeneuve's BAR failed to get off the grid with clutch problems. The Canadian would rejoin the race one lap down. There were also problems for Button, who incurred a drive-through penalty for jumping the start, despite the fact he then bogged down, and had dropped nine places to 17th by the end of the first lap. At the front, Coulthard remained in the lead, but unable to strengthen his advantage, with the top four rarely covered by more than a second. The Scot did gradually increase his advantage and by the time a dozen laps had been run, Coulthard's lead was up to just over a second, with Montoya holding off Michael Schumacher by a similar amount.

However, the top Williams was having problems keeping pace with the lead car, and was gradually dropping back, delaying Schumacher in the process. The German was the first of the front-runners to stop - doing so on lap 44, and therefore removing the slower Montoya from his path, before, ironically the Colombian was forced out with engine failure later that lap. Schumacher had clearly been delayed by the slower Williams, as he emerged from the pits to set the fastest lap of the race and close in on Coulthard. With the Scot's tyres much more worn than Schumacher's, the McLaren team had no choice but to call in Coulthard early, with the Scot rejoining with a one-second advantage. Now armed with new tyres himself, Coulthard had the measure of Schumacher, and although the pair circulated nose-to-tail for the remainder of the race, Coulthard recorded his first victory for over a year, while Michael Schumacher's second position extended his championship lead to 33 points.

There was plenty of action further down the field, with Ralf Schumacher taking third, despite a late pit-stop to replace a damaged tyre. Trulli followed up his promising times earlier in the weekend by holding off the Jordan of Giancarlo Fisichella for fourth position. Behind Fisichella, Heinz-Harald Frentzen took sixth place, although had it not been for a fuel rig problem that necessitated an extra pit-stop, he could well have taken fourth. Rubens Barrichello's disappointing weekend ended with seventh position, after making a second pit-stop to repair damage caused by smashing into Räikkönen at the chicane, in a move that put the McLaren driver out of the race. Barrichello received a 10-second stop-go penalty for causing the accident. Nick Heidfeld took eighth, ahead of the Jaguars of Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa. Minardi's Mark Webber had been on target for a top ten finish, only to have to make a late pit-stop which dropped him to eleventh. Enrique Bernoldi was the twelfth and last finisher, despite damaging his car in a clash with Massa and incurring a drive-through penalty for cutting the chicane.

Allan McNish spun his Toyota into the tyres at Sainte-Devote on lap 15. Takuma Sato clattered into the barriers before the chicane on lap 22 while trying to let his Jordan team-mate Fisichella past. Minardi's Alex Yoong was another driver to clash with the barriers, and although he made it back to the pits, his suspension was too damaged for him to continue. Panis and Button collided at Sainte-Devote on lap 51 and were forced out with accident damage, Panis subsequently admitting he had not seen the Renault on the inside of him. More spectacular was the shunt that ended Massa's race after his Sauber was badly damaged after a confrontation with the Sainte-Devote tyre wall. Jacques Villeneuve had earlier departed with an engine failure, while Toyota's Mika Salo was the final retirement of the day after brake failure forced him into the barriers.

Race classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	M	78	1:45:39.055	2	10
2	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	B	78	+ 1.050	3	6
3	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	M	78	+ 1:07.450	4	4
4	14	Jarno Trulli	Renault	M	77	+ 1 Lap	6	3
5	9	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Honda	B	77	+ 1 Lap	11	2
6	20	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Arrows-Cosworth	B	77	+ 1 Lap	12	1
7	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	B	77	+ 1 Lap	5
8	7	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	B	76	+ 2 Laps	17
9	16	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar-Cosworth	M	76	+ 2 Laps	21
10	17	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar-Cosworth	M	76	+ 2 Laps	20
11	23	Mark Webber	Minardi-Asiatech	M	76	+ 2 Laps	19
12	21	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows-Cosworth	B	76	+ 2 Laps	15
Ret	24	Mika Salo	Toyota	M	69	Brakes/Accident	9
Ret	8	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas	B	63	Accident	13
Ret	12	Olivier Panis	BAR-Honda	B	51	Collision	18
Ret	15	Jenson Button	Renault	M	51	Collision	8
Ret	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	M	46	Engine	1
Ret	11	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	B	44	Engine	14
Ret	4	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	M	41	Collision damage	7
Ret	22	Alex Yoong	Minardi-Asiatech	M	29	Accident	22
Ret	10	Takuma Sato	Jordan-Honda	B	22	Accident	16
Ret	25	Allan McNish	Toyota	M	15	Accident	10
Sources:

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Michael Schumacher	60
1	2	Ralf Schumacher	27
1	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	27
1	4	David Coulthard	20
1	5	Rubens Barrichello	12
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

	Pos	Constructor	Points
	1	Ferrari	72
	2	Williams-BMW	54
	3	McLaren-Mercedes	24
	4	Renault	11
	5	Sauber-Petronas	8
Source:

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