2002 Hungarian Grand Prix

(pictured in 2015), where the Hungarian Grand Prix was held The 2002 Hungarian Grand Prix was the 13th of 17 races of the 2002 Formula One World Championship and the event's 17th running since its first Formula One race in 1986. It took place over 77 laps at the 16-turn 3.975 km (2.470 mi) Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary on 18 August. Going into the event, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher had already won the season's World Drivers' Championship, having taken the title two races earlier at the . Michael Schumacher led the championship with 106 championship points, ahead of Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya with 40 championship points. Although the World Drivers' Championship was decided, the World Constructors' Championship was not. Ferrari led with 141 championship points while Williams were second with 76 championship points and McLaren were third on 49 championship points. Michael Schumacher won nine of the season's 12 races. With five rounds still to run, He added he was "really looking forward" to the Hungarian Grand Prix, and could drive the rest of the season unpressured. Barrichello, who was involved in a four-way battle for second in the championship, said being the runner-up would be a plus, "Fighting for second right now and having all the support of the team to be able to do that, is good. I would welcome it." Williams's Ralf Schumacher stated that the motivation was to close the gap with Ferrari before the season ended rather than to finish second in the championship. Nonetheless, he thought the race will demonstrate Williams' future strength. (pictured in 2007) made his Formula One debut in place of Alex Yoong at Minardi. Ten constructors represented by a racing team entered two drivers each for the Grand Prix. The Arrows squad was in talks about possible investment into the team to help them overcome their financial troubles, with owner Tom Walkinshaw negotiating with shareholders Morgan Grenfell to allow this. The team was thus instructed to skip the Hungarian Grand Prix but faced possible sanctions by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; Formula One's administrative body) for violating the Concorde Agreement. Minardi team owner Paul Stoddart replaced regular driver Alex Yoong with Anthony Davidson, British American Racing's (BAR) test driver, on a two-race contract after Yoong failed to qualify for three Grands Prix and was put through a rigorous testing program to help improve his qualifying performances. The team had planned to sign Justin Wilson, the 2001 International Formula 3000 champion, but Wilson was too tall to fit into the PS02 car in accordance with FIA safety requirements that require drivers to exit their cars within five seconds of an emergency during a seat fitting at the team headquarters in Faenza, Italy. There was a three-week break following the preceding , and no in-season testing was permitted per team agreement, though Ferrari shookdown their three F2002 cars with test driver Luca Badoer at Italy's Fiorano Circuit and some other teams used straight-line test tracks to confirm wind tunnel data. Teams concentrated on heat dissipation, a major issue at the Hungaroring because of the hot temperatures and the start/finish straight. Ferrari brought traction control system updates while McLaren delayed the debut of the revised version of the rear axle, already tested heavily by their test driver Alexander Wurz. BAR fitted a new front wing, the final component in the 004 car's aerodynamic upgrade, which was overseen by technical director Geoff Willis. Renault introduced a new qualifying engine and a new rear wing. == Practice ==

Two one-hour practice sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday preceded the race. Despite rainfall, the first practice session on Friday morning was held on a dry circuit. Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap time of 1:16.755 with two minutes remaining. His teammate Barrichello, Sauber's Felipe Massa, BAR's Jacques Villeneuve, Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella, Villeneuve's teammate Olivier Panis, McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen, Massa's teammate Nick Heidfeld, Räikkönen's teammate David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher followed in the top ten. Davidson's driveshaft failed, causing his rear wheels to lock and spin at turn six. it was cloudy and light rain fell on the track halfway through the session but not enough to wet the racing surface. Michael Schumacher lowered his lap time to 1:16.346 as track conditions improved to stay fastest. Positions two to ten were occupied by his teammate Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher, Räikkönen, the Jordan pair of Fisichella and Takuma Sato, Coulthard, Massa, Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa and Renault's Jenson Button. He struck a high-mounted kerb, splitting the McLaren's left-rear tyre off the rim and the engine overheated when he restarted to return slowly to the pit lane. He blocked De la Rosa, who damaged his nose cone entering the pit lane. The cooling system was topped up, allowing Coulthard to continue driving. Heidfeld's left-rear tyre clouted the turn four kerb, losing control of his car's rear at the exit of the fast left-hand corner. In dry conditions, the only driver to lap within the 1:14 range. His teammate Barrichello, Panis, Massa, Fisichella, Räikkönen, Heidfeld, Villeneuve, Button and Coulthard rounded out the top ten. Unlike the preceding three sessions, fewer drivers ran off the circuit. Michael Schumacher's lap time increased slightly from the previous session to a 1:14.308, ahead of his teammate Barrichello, Räikkönen, Montoya, Massa, Panis, Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher, Heidfeld and Renault's Jarno Trulli in positions two to ten. Fisichella almost hit the turn two outside tyre wall but continued without damage to his car after going through the gravel trap. == Qualifying ==

qualified on pole position for the third time in the season and went on to win the race the following lap, leading all but one lap Each driver was allowed twelve laps during Saturday's one-hour qualifying session, with starting positions determined by the drivers' quickest laps. During this session, the 107% rule was in effect, requiring each driver to remain within 107% of the quickest lap time in order to qualify for the race. and track temperatures gradually increased. Between sessions, dust was blown onto the track, causing drivers to wait for one another to enter the circuit to clean the racing line. His first run was halted when Button spun his Renault in front of him at turn 11. His teammate Michael Schumacher was 0.059 seconds slower in second, qualifying ahead of him for the fourth time in the season after Schumacher made an minor mistake at turn 12. He took three of his four runs, Williams occupied the grid's second row. Ralf Schumacher was second early on, Räikkönen was hampered by traffic on his fastest lap and made a mistake on a run. De la Rosa was only able to complete one clean run due to traffic, but Irvine's car had several issues and he was baulked by at least three drivers. The Toyota pair of Mika Salo and Allan McNish secured 17th and 18th. Salo lacked downforce and grip while McNish's car balance issues led to further understeer on each run after losing three-tenths of a second towards the end of his first quick lap. Minardi's Mark Webber in 19th and his teammate Davidson in 20th completed the starting order. Webber felt he had exploited the most out of his car. Davidson set his quickest lap on his second run, but ran wide on his third and his last run was hampered by traffic. Qualifying classification == Warm-up ==

On race morning, a half-hour warm-up session was held in hot and sunny weather. Drivers did installation laps in their race and spare cars. His teammate Barrichello, Räikkönen, Fisichella, Sato, Ralf Schumacher, Heidfeld, Coulthard, Massa and Button followed in the top ten. where he abandoned the Ferrari. Michael Schumacher missed 18 minutes while adjusting the engine electronics mapping. Sato ran off the circuit but avoided hitting the wall, while Salo had an oil leak in his Toyota. == Race ==

The 77-lap race commenced at 14:00 local time. it was dry, hot and sunny for the race. The air temperature was between and the asphalt temperature was between . Teams installed additional cooling precautions to keep the drivers and engines cool. When the red lights went out to begin the race, Barrichello made a brisk start on the track's clean side and held the lead into the first turn. His teammate Michael Schumacher was on the dirtier side but held off the fast-starting Ralf Schumacher on the outside to keep second. Montoya made a slow getaway from fourth, Although Montoya's car suffered damage, causing some understeer, followed by Ralf Schumacher, Fisichella, Massa and Button. Ralf Schumacher was more than 20 seconds behind but ahead of Fisichella, Massa and Räikkönen by lap 40. Ferrari's one-two finish sealed the team's fourth consecutive World Constructors' Championship as Williams could not overtake their championship points total in the final four races. Ralf Schumacher finished third, 13 seconds behind. Räikkönen finished fourth, too far behind Ralf Schumacher to challenge for third. Michael Schumacher stated that Ferrari were taking precautions because of the ease of making mistakes on track, "we just drove home safely, didn't force anything and that means that you can easily go two or three seconds slower and to do this time, I needed this sort of gap because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do the time." Todt added Ferrari were not to blame for their dominance in Formula One and that "you have some stupid people who may find we are to blame, but that's up to them." Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo praised the marque's staff and called their fourth successive Constructors' Championship victory "the greatest moment in the history of our company" and that it gave them "the greatest satisfaction and is a reward for everyone's hard work." (pictured in 2009) received a 25-second time penalty from the stewards for an unsafe pit stop release. Following the race, the stewards imposed a 25-second time penalty on Salo for violating FIA sporting regulations by entering De la Rosa's path in the pit lane. This dropped Salo from 13th to 15th. Coulthard claimed Montoya was given too much publicity, and that the latter could not abide being overtaken by other drivers in battle, preferring to hit another driver or run off the circuit, "that to him seems to be okay, that's acceptable because you're not giving up your place. People say that he has big balls, but maybe it's a case of big balls and a small brain." Montoya retorted two weeks later at the , "I think he should try and concentrate more on doing his job and trying to beat Kimi [Raikkonen] than talking about somebody else. That's what I think." McLaren team principal Ron Dennis stated that the team's improved performance in the race compared to qualifying was due to increased air temperatures, allowing them to extract the maximum performance from their Michelin tyres. Dennis complimented both Coulthard and Räikkönen's performances as "excellent". Button admitted to making a mistake when he spun off the track. == Championship standings after the race ==

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. • Bold text and an asterisk indicates the 2002 World Champions. ==References==