2002 Japanese Grand Prix

The 2002 Japanese Grand Prix was the 17th and final round of the 2002 Formula One World Championship. After the previous year's race, the track was shortened by from by realigning key turns to allow for wider run-off areas. The S-curves and Dunlop Curves were partially realigned and the retaining barriers were relocated back. Before the race, both the World Drivers' Championship and World Constructors' Championship were already won, with Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher having secured the World Drivers' Championship six rounds earlier at the and Ferrari took the World Constructors' Championship two races after that at the , with Williams too many championship points behind to be able to catch them. The main focus of attention was the battle for third place in the World Drivers' Championship with six points separating Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya, his teammate Ralf Schumacher and McLaren's David Coulthard, which would be determined in Suzuka. Following the on 29 September, most of the teams tested car and mechanical components, racing setups and tyres at various European circuits in preparation for the Japanese Grand Prix. The British American Racing (BAR), McLaren, Toyota and Williams all conducted three-day tests at Spain's Circuit de Barcelona. Alexander Wurz, McLaren's test driver, was quickest on the opening two days, breaking the track lap record on the second day. Williams test driver Antônio Pizzonia lapped fastest on the final day. Jordan's Takuma Sato tested for two days at the Silverstone Circuit in England, while Renault test driver Oliver Gavin did so for three days. Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer and Sauber tested for three day at Italy's Mugello Circuit. Luciano Burti spent three days testing Ferrari's Bridgestone tyres at Spain's Circuito de Jerez. Badoer finished Ferrari's race preparations with two days of wet-weather tyre testing at Italy's Fiorano Circuit. (pictured in 2007) returned to drive for Sauber after missing the to avoid a ten-place grid penalty. Michael Schumacher had the chance to be the first driver to finish on the podium at every round of the season, and could extend his record for wins in a season to 11. He stated that he hoped to win the Grand Prix so he could start the winter break with a win, adding, "I am definitely on a mission here. Rubens has confirmed second place in the championship now, so here the competition is open. I am going to go flat out. I am not here to make the racing interesting, I am here to win." McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen trained and acclimatised in Hawaii and said of the upcoming race, "I am looking forward to the Japanese Grand Prix, as the track offers a perfect combination of challenges. These include medium and high speed corners, gradient changes and sweeping straights, which make Suzuka exciting to drive and, hopefully, spectate at." Barrichello stated he had enjoyed the season and looked forward to performing decently in Japan. Montoya admitted he would be surprised if his team could compete with Ferrari at Suzuka. The weekend was the final race for Toyota's Mika Salo and Jaguar's Eddie Irvine. Felipe Massa returned to drive for Sauber after team owner Peter Sauber replaced him with Heinz-Harald Frentzen for the United States Grand Prix to avoid a ten-place grid penalty for colliding with Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa at the . The Arrows team missed its fifth consecutive Grand Prix due to financial problems that had persisted for three months. Because this was the season's final race, all of the teams were focused on working on their cars and did not introduce any major technical innovations to Suzuka. McLaren made use of upgraded rear end components for the first time. Honda provided BAR and Jordan with a more powerful engine. == Practice ==

Two one-hour practice sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday preceded the race. Conditions for the first practice session on Friday morning were sunny. Michael Schumacher posted the quickest lap time of 1:36.109 just before halfway through the session. His teammate Barrichello, the McLaren duo of Coulthard and Räikkönen, the Williams pair of Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, Irvine, Renault's Jarno Trulli, De la Rosa and Trulli's teammate Jenson Button completed the top ten. He veered to the left and spun into the tyre barrier, heavily damaging the vehicle's front and rear and covering the circuit with carbon fibre shards. Villeneuve was unhurt and exited his car unaided. Practice was stopped for ten minutes to allow marshals to clear the debris from the track. When Olivier Panis slowed to check on his teammate Villeneuve's condition, his engine stalled further across the track because he slowed down too much. Räikkönen set the day's fastest lap of 1:34.232, Although he admitted to feeling sore, Michael Schumacher set the first sub-1:33 lap of the weekend with a time of 1:32.978 with 15 minutes remaining. His teammate Barrichello was 0.710 seconds slower in second. Ralf Schumacher, the McLaren team of Coulthard and Räikkönen, Montoya, Trulli, Irvine, Fisichella and Massa rounded out the top ten. Michael Schumacher did not improve his lap time from the previous sesion, although he remained fastest overall. Ralf Schumacher moved from third to second place by 0.255 seconds on the fastest lap time. Following in the top ten were Räikkönen, Montoya, Coulthard, Barrichello, Irvine, Sato, Button and Massa. Panis stopped at the exit from under the bridge (crossover) with 20 minutes to go because of a possible gearbox fault. ==Qualifying==

(pictured in 2005), the 2000 Formula One Drivers' Champion. 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. Michael Schumacher was fastest after his first flying lap, then lowered his time to 1:31.317 to clinch his seventh pole position of the season and 50th overall. He believed he might have lapped faster after adjusting his racing setup for his final run. Barrichello was 0.432 seconds slower than his teammate; where he ran wide at turn three and rode the kerbing. Fisichella, his teammate, finished eighth despite minor troubles with the automatic shifter downchange mechanism and minor balancing issues through the esses behind the pit lane. Villeneuve was ninth and was baulked by Montoya during a run. McNish was 18th. McNish smashed through the tire wall and metal barrier at great speed, destroying the barrier and a substantial portion of the Toyota's rear, which rested on the outside grass bank. The car vaulted the barrier, McNish exited the Toyota unaided but had a limp. the fact that he escaped major harm because he crashed backwards was credited to safety measures adopted following the fatalities of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. The Minardi team completed the starting order. Webber took 19th on the prime Michelin tyre compound, while teammate Yoong claimed 20th on the option compound despite minor oversteer in the high-speed corners during his final two runs. Qualifying classification == Warm-up ==

On race morning, teams had a 30-minute warm-up session to fine-tune their cars for the race in sunny weather. Michael Schumacher set the pace with his first quick lap before dropping to 1:36.249. He was 0.401 seconds quicker than his teammate Barrichello, followed by the McLaren duo of Räikkönen and Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, Trulli, Massa, Fisichella, Salo, and Villeneuve. Fisichella lost control of his car's rear; Ralf Schumacher raced wide, took too much kerb, and lost control of his car's rear at the Degner Curve. ==Race==

The 53-lap race began before a crowd of 155,000 spectators at 14:30 local time. The conditions on the grid were dry and sunny with the air temperature between and the asphalt temperature between . Fisichella's engine failed during a reconnaissance lap 20 minutes before the start, preventing him from reaching the starting grid. He returned to the pit lane to drive his teammate Sato's spare Jordan car setup, which lacked the more powerful Honda engine. Jordan mechanics on the grid tried to tailor the backup vehicle to Fisichella's preferences. When the lights went out to start the race, Michael Schumacher made a clean getaway to maintain his pole position advantage entering the first corner's braking area. who attempted to draw alongside him on the inside into turn one. Ralf Schumacher made a quick start, passing Räikkönen on the outside for fourth into turn one. After them came Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, Räikkönen, and Montoya. He went off the racing line and entered the McLaren garage to retire. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and Barrichello were lapping almost a second faster than Ralf Schumacher, His retirement elevated Räikkönen to third, Montoya to fourth, Sato to fifth and Button to sixth. Barrichello noted that he had to be cautious because the Ferrari bottomed out a lot in the opening laps of the race, but added that he was thrilled for himself and Ferrari. He and Michael Schumacher had become Formula One's most successful partnership, "as we have had such a great season, and I have two wins from the last three races, it is just a great achievement for me." Sato was the first Japanese driver to score a championship point in Japan since Aguri Suzuki took third for Lola-Lamborghini and Satoru Nakajima placed sixth for Tyrrell at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix. Sato said, "That was incredible! One point was what I was after, but I scored two, which is excellent for the team. The crowd was unbelievable, waving at me on every single lap. I saw everything! This is one of the best feelings in my life." Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt described the race as a "dream finale to a dream season" and that in compiling his own shortlist of Ferrari's achievements in the 2002 season, he said, "We could not ask for more." FIA president Max Mosley highlighted the Grand Prix as an example of the requirement to rewrite the Formula One sporting regulations following Michael Schumacher's win. He questioned why Europeans would watch the race on television early in the morning after Schumacher's pole position run in qualifying. Coulthard expressed his desire to have concluded the season with a podium, which he believe could have been achieved. He defeated runner-up Barrichello by 67 championship points, setting a record. Montoya finished fourth, securing third place with 50 championship points, while Ralf Schumacher finished fourth with 42. Ferrari scored 221 championship points in the World Constructors' Championship, as many as the other ten teams combined. Williams was second with 92 championship points, while McLaren was third with 65. Race classification Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold. == 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==