Spanish GP - Barcelona 28 April 2002

Barrichello had wanted to believe that it could be his lucky day, but the tables were turned on him before the race even started. The Brazilian could not find first gear when the parade lap started and was unceremoniously pushed back into the pits after seeing the tail of the last-placed car turn the corner leaving him stranded on the grid. The Ferrari mechanics worked frantically trying to get Barrichello’s car going, but it just was not to be. The unlucky Brazilian sat in his car listening to the other drivers complete the first few laps, then he laconically stepped out of the car and of a race he had not even started. To add insult to Barrichello’s injury, back on the track his team mate M. Schumacher was doing exactly what the unlucky Brazilian had hoped of doing. The current World Champion had easily leapt into the lead from pole position and was effortlessly disappearing from the other drivers’ view, his car clearly in a different league from everybody else’s. He was to hold that position until victory, keeping in front of everybody else even in the delicate times of the pit stops. There was no story to the Spanish GP, M. Schumacher went there to win and that’s just what he did, aided by what is possibly the best car by far that has ever been on a Formula 1 circuit. So far. Behind him, several small dramas and battles took place. R. Schumacher had taken second place behind his brother at the start, but soon found himself having to fight off the attacks on his positions by Montoya. The German tried too hard to keep his aggressive team mate at bay but braked too late at the Campsa corner on lap 29 and ended up on the grass, letting Montoya through and damaging the underside of his own car. R. Schumacher went back to the pits for a new nosecone, but that did not solve his problem and he found himself relegated further and further down the field, until his car gave up and he retired from 11th place on lap 63. Montoya went on to finish second. The Colombian was part of some drama in his second pit stop, when his lollypop man mistook a signal from another mechanic that the car was clear to go and raised the lollypop. He immediately realized that he had made a mistake and slammed the sign down on the car, but Montoya had already started moving and ran over the unlucky mechanic’s foot. Fortunately there were no serious consequences. The lollypop man suffered only superficial bruising and the whole accident did not delay Montoya’s pit stop too much. Another notable casualty of the Spanish GP was Räikkönen, who could only manage four laps before his rear wing fell off in a manner reminiscent of the Minardi team’s accidents in practice and qualifying. The Finn’s misfortune meant that the other McLaren driver, Coulthard, could finish on the lowest step of the podium, a meager consolation for a team that was still vying for the Championship last year. Jarno Trulli appeared for a while to be in line for the fourth place, but throttle problems denied him his prize. The unlucky Italian retired on lap 63 with a broken engine, having seen his team mate Button go out of the race with hydraulic problems barely three laps earlier. Trulli’s back luck meant a very good result for the Sauber team, with both drivers finishing in the points in fourth (Heidfeld) and fifth (Massa) places. Frentzen brought home a much needed point for the Arrows team by finishing in sixth place. It was a race to forget for at least three teams. Paul Stoddart took the decision that his Minardi team should not take part in the race for safety reason, after both drivers suffered detached and broken rear and front wings on Saturday and Sunday morning. Minardi’s Alex Yoong had already missed the San Marino GP two weeks earlier after failing to qualify within 107% of pole time. The deeply troubled Jordan team also failed to score a finish in Spain, with Fisichella taken out by hydraulics problems on lap five and Sato spinning out of the race on lap 11. Jordan has recently reduced headcount by 15%, including the whole of. the team working on the development of next year’s car. Jaguar also failed to score any points, with Irvine retiring on lap42 with hydraulics problems and his team mate De La Rosa spinning out of the race as early as lap two. Irvine said that he finds the car very difficult to drive. BAR, on the other hand, could celebrate an encouraging finish for Villeneuve, who just missed the points position, finishing in seventh place. Next appointment is in Austria on 12 May.

Images from Raisport and Il Corriere della Sera