European GP - Nürburgring 23 June 2002

If people expected racing at the European GP, racing they got right at the start. Pole-sitter Montoya made a bad start and team mate R. Schumacher leapt into the lead, while on the second row Barrichello fended off team mate M. Schumacher and the two McLaren to place himself behind Montoya, whom he then overtook for second place. With barely half of the first lap gone, the Brazilian stormed past R. Schumacher and raced off leaving the pack behind. M. Schumacher was not prepared to let his team mate get too much of an advantage and, having gone past an off-pace Montoya, by the end of lap two he had also passed his younger brother and was chasing Barrichello. The two Ferrari pulled their usual trick and disappeared in the distance, leaving the rest of the pack to scrap for the remaining four points positions. . It was clear from Ferrari’s pace that they had opted for a two-stop strategy while their competitors had gone for a one-stopper, but by lap 21 they had well over the required 30 seconds for a safe pit stop. In fact, M. Schumacher could even afford to make a mistake on lap 22 and take a trip out of the tarmac, go for his scheduled pit stop and still rejoin some 10 seconds ahead of R. Schumacher in third place. It also meant that Barrichello, who was marginally slower than his team mate, had no problems retaining the lead. For most of the GP the two Ferrari lapped faster than some teams had done in qualifying. Montoya, meanwhile, back in fourth place was being closely followed by Coulthard, who had every intention of staking a claim on a higher finisher than fifth place. The Scot saw his chance and went for it, entering the new turn one hairpin on the outside of Montoya. The Colombian, on tired bold tyres, braked too late and span, hitting Coulthard’s front right wheel and causing the front suspensions to collapse in both cars. The two drivers parked their cars out of the way and as soon as Coulthard was out of the car, he expressed his feelings towards Montoya’s performance, whom he blamed for the accident, with a sarcastic slow clap. Later on in the pits, as the McLaren driver was being interviewed about the accident, Montoya barged in and tried to put forward his view of the event. It is likely that the two drivers will find it difficult to agree exactly what happened. There was no other notable event for the rest of the race, with the exception of the performance of Yoong, who managed the almost impossible mission of spinning in the pit lane, fortunately without involving anybody else. The two Ferrari gracefully glided to the chequered flag with Barrichello in front and M. Schumacher behind, the only doubt in everybody’s mind being whether the Brazilian would again be asked to move aside for his more points-endowed team mate. Ferrari thought better than that, possibly also in view of the impending FIA World Council hearing on Wednesday, and gave the opposite team order: the two drivers were not to race each other to make sure that they both got to the end. Cynics will say that it still was team orders, though the crowd at large seemed happy with Barrichello’s victory on German soil in front of German M. Schumacher. Barrichello seemed to be very happy about his second career win too and was caught radioing the team to thank them for allowing him to win. So, Barrichello crossed the finishing line first with the blessing of Jean Todt and Ross Brawn and with M. Schumacher in tow. The driver on the third step of the podium, Räikkönen, finished an embarrassing 46 seconds behind. R. Schumacher, Button and Massa completed the points positions. Even though M. Schumacher and Ferrari have not yet mathematically sealed the Championship, it is hard to envisage any serious competition coming from any of the other teams. Ferrari have also tested a new evolution engine, rumoured to be almost a second a lap faster than their current one and expected to debut at the British GP. Next appointment is at Silverstone on 7 July.

Images from Raisport and Il Corriere della Sera