Great Britain GP - Silverstone 7 July 2002

The British GP was blessed by the usual kind of weather that you get in Britain and had the dubious honour of being the first wet GP of the season. As it usually does, the rain brought mayhem and rapid changes in pit and tyre strategies for all teams, though nobody was quite prepared for McLaren's unusual choice of putting slicks on Coulthard's and Räikkönen's cars moments before the sky opened up and poured gallons of water on the track. The first emotion of the race was offered by Ferrari, when Barrichello's engine went out like a light just as the parade lap was about to start. One of his mechanics jumped out on the track to help him, but then came rapidly back to his senses as the other cars stormed around the Brazilian and moved back to the wall with the others. With all cars gone Barrichello's engine was restarted and the Brazilian joined the grid in the last position, 21st rather than 22nd because Alex Yoong had failed to qualify within 107% of the pole time. Though this setback meant that Barrichello had few chances of winning, he nonetheless managed to move up to second place within 19 laps, not a mean feat. The top spot was occupied, unsurprisingly, by M. Schumacher. The German had settled behind Montoya at the start, but had never given up looking for an opening. The Colombian had every intention to keep the lead and had made sure that every door was closed until lap 19, when he made a mistake and the German took full advantage of it, going into the lead. When M. Schumacher goes into the lead he tends to stay there and so was at the British GP. The Ferrari ace happily ran away leaving Montoya behind. Meanwhile the rain had made its appearance and wet and dry spots alternated on the track, making driving - and tyre choice - difficult, especially for those drivers on Michelin. On lap 13 Räikkönen and R. Schumacher went into the pits for wet tyres, but the mechanics of neither team were ready for them. Coulthard decided to stay out and chance the rain on Michelin dry tyres - a mistake that cost him dearly. When he finally managed to get to the pits the mechanics weren't ready for him because of interference in the radio communication that was blamed on the digital TV broadcast. That cost him precious time and wrong information later meant that he was on the wrong type of tyre most of the time. Things did not go much better for his team mate Räikkönen, who had a long wait in the pits too for much the same reason and then ended up retiring with a blown engine on lap 46. R. Schumacher had a bad day too when the fuel rig decided not to work for him confining him down to 8th place and out of the points. His team mate Montoya fared rather better, starting in the lead and then giving way to M. Schumacher. Later on in the race, after Barrichello had gone in front of him on lap 19, Montoya never ceased fighting. On lap 42 the Colombian took advantage of a lapse of concentration of the Brazilian and leapt back into second place. An incensed Barrichello stuck to the Williams' tail, but it was only on lap 46 that he was able to exploit Ferrari's superior performance to retake the second place and ensure a Ferrari double. BAR, helped by the Bridgestone tyres, enjoyed the team's best race this season, with both drivers finishing in the points to put the team into the Championship tables. Of the other teams, Arrows will want to forget the British GP. After the engine bill debacle that had threatened to keep the cars out of the race, Arrows had to suffer the retirement of both drivers. Ironically Frentzen retired because of engine failure. Heidfeld had a mostly quiet race and brought home a nice point for Sauber. Fisichella, who had qualified 17th ran a very good race to finish 7th, while his team mate Sato retired with a blown engine. All in all the British GP offered more racing and fighting than most of the other GPs this season, with the good old British weather adding that extra bit of spice and unpredictability to the mix. Next appointment is in France in two weeks time.

Images from Raisport and Il Corriere della Sera