2002 Malaysian Grand Prix

The 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 17 March 2002 at the Sepang International Circuit and was the second round of the 2002 Formula One season. The Grand Prix is notable for the first lap collision between Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya and Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher, which led to Montoya being given a drive-through penalty. This decision led to much criticism for the Malaysian stewards, with Schumacher commenting that the decision was "overly harsh" on Montoya.

The Grand Prix was won by the Williams-BMW of German Ralf Schumacher, who commented that it was "almost a perfect race". He was followed by teammate Montoya, and following them in third was Ralf's brother, Michael Schumacher. The race was followed by a decision by the FIA to give stewards more powers over the punishments of drivers who are involved in incidents which are deemed "avoidable". Also it would be Williams' only victory (and double) of the season, and one of only two races of the season that Ferrari failed to win (the other being the Monaco Grand Prix, won by McLaren's David Coulthard). The race was the only during the 2002 season that Michael Schumacher stood on the podium without being first or second.

The 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix, the second round of seventeen in the 2002 Formula One World Championship, was held at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia on 17 March 2002,^[1] the fourth time a Formula One Grand Prix was taking place at Sepang.^[3] A race sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's governing body, had been held in Malaysia since the 1960s, with the first editions being run in Singapore, then part of the Malaysian Federation, before moving to the Shah Alam Circuit. With the arrival of the Formula One Grand Prix in 1999, the race was moved to the purpose-built Sepang International Circuit, where all editions were held until 2017.^[4] The track underwent safety changes with the installation of 18 additional safety fences to further protect trackside workers for protection.^[5]

After his victory at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with ten championship points, ahead of Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya with six and McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen with four. Jaguar's Eddie Irvine and Minardi's Mark Webber were in fourth and fifth positions with three and two championship points, respectively.^[6] In the World Constructors' Championship, Ferrari led from Williams in second place and McLaren in third position with ten championship points.^[6]

Following the Australian Grand Prix on 3 March,^[7] six teams conducted in-season testing sessions at various European racing circuits in preparation for the Malaysian Grand Prix.^[8] Ferrari test driver Luciano Burti tested mechanical components and tyres supplied by Bridgestone on a F2001 chassis for four days at the Fiorano Circuit in Italy.^[8][9] Williams and Renault spent three days at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire,^[10][11] joined by British American Racing (BAR) who were focusing on aerodynamic and engine development on the second and third days.^[8][12] Toyota conducted a two-day test of electrical and mechanical components on its TF102 car with test driver Stéphane Sarrazin at Circuit Paul Ricard in Southern France,^[13] while Jean Alesi spent three days at the same track testing tyres for Michelin in a McLaren MP4-16B car.^[8][14] The Arrows, Jaguar, Jordan, Minardi and Sauber teams did not test.^[8]

Ferrari had won all three Formula One races held at Sepang since it debuted in 1999.^[15] Michael Schumacher, the pre-race favourite of most bookmakers for victory,^[16] said he was certain he could content for the race win considering he finished first in Australia with a year-old car.^[15] Montoya said coming second in Australia helped him cement "a good start to the season" for himself, adding he was taking a step-by-step approach, "I'm not going to rush into things. Our target is to improve on last year's position and of course to be more consistent" after retiring in Sepang the previous year.^[17] His teammate Ralf Schumacher urged drivers to be extra careful to avoid a multi-car accident as observed on the opening lap in Australia. He planned to prevent his brother from winning in Malaysia again and hoped for no monsoon conditions.^[18] Renault's Jenson Button was more optimistic, reckoning he could secure a podium result.^[19]

The Grand Prix featured eleven teams of two drivers (each representing a different constructor), with no changes to the season entry list.^[20] Phoenix Finance unsuccessfully attempted to enter the Grand Prix with two 2001-spec Prost AP04 cars with drivers Tarso Marques and Gastón Mazzacane after the FIA ruled it had not purchased Prost Grand Prix's entry.^[21][22] The hot and humid Malaysian climate required teams to install additional openings on their cars to improve the cooling of their internal components.^[23] Ferrari again sent two F2001B cars and opened additional vents on their sides.^[23] Ralf Schumacher drove the Williams FW24 car following repairs to it after sustaining damage on the first lap of the preceding Australian Grand Prix due to production limitations prompting such a decision to avoid using a year-old chassis.^[15][24] Renault used a more powerful qualifying engine during the race itself and installed a new rear wing and extractor profile.^[23] The Jaguar team received a new engine and aerodynamic updates for their R3 cars.^[25]

Two one-hour practices on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday preceded the race.^[26] The Friday morning session saw the two Ferrari cars of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello fastest, the closest car to the Ferraris was Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, who was over one and a half seconds slower. McLaren got the better of Ferrari for the second session with Kimi Räikkönen fastest and his teammate David Coulthard was just over half a second behind him, while the Ferrari of Schumacher was over a second slower than Räikkönen's McLaren in third.

Like the Friday sessions, the Saturday sessions were split into two separate sessions, although both sessions were held during the morning. The Ferraris were fastest in the first session, although this time the closest non-Ferrari driver, which was Räikkönen, was under a second behind them. The Williams of Montoya was fastest in the final practice session before qualifying with Räikkönen second fastest and Montoya's teammate, Ralf Schumacher, third fastest.

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.^[26] The session saw Michael Schumacher take his first pole position of the 2002 season, with only the next three drivers being under a second slower than Schumacher's time, the closest being Juan Pablo Montoya who was under a quarter of a second slower. Schumacher's teammate, Barrichello and Montoya's teammate, Ralf Schumacher, were third and fourth respectively.

Before the parade lap, the Arrows of Heinz-Harald Frentzen stalled on the grid for the second time in succession. The German got his car running and managed retain his grid position.

The start of the race saw Michael Schumacher immediately cut Montoya, making the Colombian brake and avoid a collision, this allowed Barrichello to get alongside Montoya coming into the first corner. Montoya however managed to out-brake the Brazilian into the first corner and thus was alongside Schumacher going through the corner. As the Williams and Ferrari travelled through the corner, Schumacher's Ferrari started to experience understeer and went into Montoya's car, taking the Ferrari front wing off. The incident left Montoya going wide and going off the track for a brief moment.

This left Barrichello in the lead with Schumacher's Ferrari, minus a front-wing, in second place and his brother Ralf in third. Michael Schumacher came into the pits for a new nose, promoting Ralf to second. The second lap saw a collision between the two Jordans of Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato, when the latter ran into the back of the former. "I am really sorry about what happened," said Sato after the race, "I apologized to Giancarlo immediately after the race and he took it very well which I think says a lot of good things about his character" he added.^[28] On lap 7, Montoya was given a drive through penalty which cost the Colombian 20 seconds to Barrichello's lead; it was the first drive through penalty given in Formula One as it had only been added to the list of penalties available to the stewards earlier in February that year.^[28]

The race at the front was between Barrichello; Ralf Schumacher and the two McLarens of Räikkönen and Coulthard. The two McLarens soon dropped out, both retirements were due to an engine failure. This left the Ferrari and the Williams to battle for the lead, albeit on different strategies, with Barrichello on two stops and Ralf on one-stop. Barrichello was 21 seconds ahead but rejoined 5 seconds behind after his second stop on lap 35. He then closed in on Ralf at a second a lap, and was just 1.2 seconds behind when his engine failed on lap 39, leaving Ralf over 30 seconds ahead of the field with Button second, with Montoya and Schumacher third and fifth in their recovery drives, with Heidfeld between them.

Montoya got past Button, despite the Brit's defensive driving and moved up into second behind his teammate. The Williams pair went on to finish first and second, making it the first Williams 1–2 since the 1996 Portuguese Grand Prix.

Button, who was now demoted to third, look on course to take his first podium finish of his F1 career, but a suspension problem gave the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher the last podium finish, leaving Button to take fourth place, his first points scoring finish for his new team, Renault. The final two points positions are taken by the two Saubers of Heidfeld and Massa; it was the first points scoring finish for Massa.

The decision to penalise Montoya was met with a host of criticism. The head steward at the event, Nazir Hoosein, had a history of making strange decisions; he was head steward at the 1998 British Grand Prix, where Michael Schumacher won the race in the pitlane and after which Hoosein lost his license to be a steward for a year.^[28]

Michael Schumacher later commented that he thought it was "overly harsh" on Montoya for the incident,^[28] while Montoya himself commented that it was "very unfair" and that he "gave Michael room" and commented that Schumacher "understeered and touched him" before adding that "it was a racing incident".^[28]

Championship wise, Michael Schumacher's lead in the Drivers' Championship decreased by two points while the Williams team moved up to take the lead in the Constructors' Championship with 22 points to Ferrari's 14.

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