Montoya finishes third in Belgium


Third for JPM!

By Andrew Hooper
September 2 2002

The 2002 Belgian GP would see BMW WilliamsF1 driver Juan Pablo MOntoya finished 3rd, with team-mate Ralf Schumacher, after a spin, finishing 5th. Juan Pablo was invloved in a race long fight with the McLaren drivers. The WilliamsF1 team consolidated their 2nd place in the constructors championship.

 

 

  
Belgian GP Review: Third for Montoya
 
The results of the Belgian Grand Prix would see both BMW WilliamsF1 drivers in the top six with Juan Pablo a fine third while Ralf, after making a mistake and having a slow pitstop, was fifth. These points allowed the WilliamsF1 team to maintain its second place in the constructors championship. As for the drivers championship both Ralf and Juan Pablo would lose ground to Rubens Barrichello.

Montoya finishes in thirdMichael Schumacher became the only man in history to secure ten victories in a season after yet another Ferrari victory in Spa-Francorchamps this afternoon. He would control the race. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello was second, consolidating his second place in the drivers' Championship over Juan-Pablo Montoya, who took third today after fighting off the challenge of McLaren's David Coulthard in the closing stages. In fifth was Ralf Schumacher, and collecting the final point was Eddie Irvine, the Irishman putting in a strong performance after starting the race from eighth.

The start of the Belgian Grand Prix would see Michael Schumacher ahead of Barrichello, Raikkonen, Montoya, Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher. Michael would immediately start to pull away from his team-mate. After lap one the order was Michael Schumacher, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Juan Pablo, Coulthard, Ralf, Trulli, Irvine, Button, Salo, de la Rosa, McNish, Fisichella, Villeneuve, Heidfeld, Massa, Sato, Panis, Webber, and Davidson.

With Michael already 2.5seconds ahead of Barrichello Raikkonen was to make a mistake in Pouhon, which would see Juan Pablo pass, moving into third some five seconds behind the lead Ferrari. Michael would set the fastest lap, been more than a second faster than Juan Pablo in third. Sauber's Felipe Massa would overtake his team-mate Heidfeld at the end of the straight. Minardi would lose the first of their cars with Webber retiring with technical problems.

At the front Michael was now three seconds ahead of Barrichello. After making a bad start Villeneuve was trying to make up places, closing following Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella.

After five laps the order was Michael Schumacher, Barrichello, Juan Pablo, Raikkonen, Coulthard, Ralf, Trulli, Irvine, Button, Salo, de la Rosa, McNish, Fisichella, Villeneuve, Massa, Heidfeld, Sato, Panis, and Davidson.

Ralf finishes in fifthMichael would continue to pull away from Barrichello, with the gap now 4.3 seconds. While Juan Pablo was already 13 seconds behind Michael. Villeneuve would finally pass Fisichella on the exit of La Source, he was followed by Massa who also passed the Italian. Michael would set a new fastest lap with a time of 1m:48.243.

The top ten after lap nine was Michael Schumacher, Barrichello (+6.3), Juan Pablo (+15.0), Raikkonen (+16.5), Coulthard (+17.3), Ralf (+19.7), Trulli (+20.7), Irvine (+24.0), Button (+24.8), and Toyota's Mika Salo (+27.7). Michael would set another lap record with a time of 1m:48.146. His lead of the race was looking very easy. Renault's Jenson Button would retire.

Villeneuve was still trying to move up the order, been behind Allan McNish. The order was Michael Schumacher, Barrichello, Juan Pablo, Raikkonen, Coulthard, Ralf, Trulli, Irvine, Salo, de la Rosa, McNish, Villeneuve, Massa, Fisichella, Heidfeld, Sato, Panis, and Davidson. Michael Schumacher was now over 10 seconds ahead of Barrichello. Another fastest lap for Michael Schumacher with a 1m:47.706.

Villeneuve would pass McNish at the end of the straight moving into eleventh. Sauber's Felipe Massa would pit, joined by Jordan's Takuma Sato, who had problems with the right rear and was stationary for sixteen seconds. Jaguar's Eddie would pit but it was a slow stop of eleven seconds.

Michael Schumacher would pit, stopping for 8.6 seconds. He would come out ahead of Montoya and the McLaren's, with Barrichello leading. Ralf would spin at Malmedy. He would continue but lost around six seconds. The Ferrari team would get ready for Barrichello. His stop would see his mechanics have a problem with the fuel nozzle seeing him stopped for 10.6 seconds. Barrichello would return behind the McLaren's.

Ralf would pit, stopping for 8.6 seconds. Juan Pablo and Raikkonen would pit at the same time, with the WilliamsF1 driver returning to the track ahead of the Finn. Minardi would lose their second driver when Anthony Davidson spun off in Pouhon, going off into the gravel. Coulthard would pit, coming out ahead of Raikkonen.

Michael Schumacher was 15 seconds ahead of Rubens Barrichello, been nearly a second per lap faster than the Brazilian. After twenty three laps the order was Michael Schumacher, Barrichello (+19.0), Juan Pablo (+43.4), Coulthard (+45.2), Raikkonen (+47.6), Trulli (+54.9), Ralf (+56.4), Irvine (+66.6), Salo (68.2), de la Rosa (+71.1), Villeneuve (+78.1), McNish (+81.9), Massa (+82.6), Heidfeld (+83.2), Fisichella (+85.4), Panis (+85.9), and Sato (+99.3).

With eighteen laps to go Ralf was behind Jarno Trulli, but it will be difficult to pass the Italian. The second round of pitstop would start with Takuma Sato in the pits. Juan Pablo, Coulthard and Raikkonen were all within 5 seconds. Michael Schumacher would pit stopping for 8.8 seconds. Barrichello would take the lead just ahead of Michael.

Sixth place for IrvineJuan Pablo was 2.7 seconds ahead of Coulthard, who was also 2.7 seconds ahead of Raikkonen. This should be sufficient time for Montoya and Coulthard to maintain their positions. 8.6 second stop for Barrichello and he would come out in second position.

Ralf would pit coming back out in ninth position. His pit stop would be slow as he tried to leave the pits with his launch control not working properly. Fastest on the exit of Eau Rouge was Michael Schumacher with 319,4 km/h, such was his control of the race. Montoya would pit, stopping for 7.2 seconds. A stop of 8.2 seconds for Raikkonen would see him come out several seconds behind Montoya. Coulthard's stop of 6.2 seconds saw him come out just behind Montoya.

Raikkonen would retire with 8 laps to go with an engine failure, the Mercedes engine blowing up on the long straight. Trulli would also retire with technical problems, which means both Renaults were out of the race. This was good news for Eddie Irvine, who found himself in sixth position. So the order was, after thirty seven laps, Michael Schumacher, Barrichello, Juan Pablo, Coulthard, Ralf, Irvine, Salo, de la Rosa, Fisichella, Villeneuve, Massa, McNish, Heidfeld, Panis, and Sato.

Michael Schumacher - winner Belgian GPJaguar's de la Rosa retired with suspension failure, parking his car next to Raikkonen's McLaren. Fisichella would suffer an engine failure on the long straight, retiring from eighth. There would be another engine failure, this time for BAR's Olivier Panis, making it four Honda engine's to fail over the weekend.

With three laps to go the order was Michael Schumacher, Barrichello, Juan Pablo, Coulthard, Ralf, Irvine, Salo, Villeneuve, McNish, Heidfeld, and Sato. Barrichello was over twenty seconds behind Michael Schumacher but in the closing stages of the race this was now just nine seconds as the German cruised to victory. With one lap to go the lead was down to six seconds.

Michael would cross the finish line to win the Belgian Grand Prix and his 10th of the year, Barrichello was second, with Juan Pablo third ahead of Coulthard. Ralf would cross the line in fifth, with Eddie Irvine gets a point for Jaguar.
 
Driver Team (Tyres) Time Stops

01. M Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:21:20.634 2
02. R Barrichello Ferrari (B) +1.977 2
03. J Montoya BMW-Williams (M) +18.445 2
04. D Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) +19.357 2
05. R Schumacher BMW-Williams (M) +56.440 2
06. E Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) +77.370 2
07. M Salo Toyota (M) +77.809 2
08. J Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) +79.855 2
09. A McNish Toyota (M) + 1 lap 2
10. N Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) + 1 lap 2
11. T Sato Jordan-Honda (B) + 1 lap 2
12. O Panis* BAR-Honda (B) + 5 laps 2

Retirements Reason Lap
M Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) Technical 04
J Button Renault (M) Technical 10
A Davidson Minardi-Asiatech (M) Spin 18
K Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) Engine 35
J Trulli Renault (M) Technical 35
P de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) Suspension 37
F Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) Technical 37
G Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) Engine 38

Fastest laps Time Lap
M Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:47.176 15
 
 
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