2nd & 3rd for WilliamsF1 in Germany.


Ralf finishes 3rd

By Andrew Hooper
July 28 2002

After the frustrations of the last few races the German Grand Prix would go some way to reversing these when Juan Pablo would finish 2nd and Ralf 3rd. The order would have been the reverse had it not been for a problem with Ralf's car requiring a pit stop late in the race.

 

 

 
German GP Review: Ten valuable points
 
The 2002 German Grand Prix would see the BMW WilliamsF1 team come away with ten valuable points with a second and third place for Juan Pablo and Ralf respectively. It was a race where both drivers ran competitively, especially Ralf who took the fight to the race winner Michael Schumacher.

Ralf SchumacherThe race would be run under sunny weather. For Rubens Barrichello he would have problems with his car even before the race started . He had some problems on the grid and the car was changed in a last minute effort, 16 seconds before the pit exit was closed.

The start of the race would see Michael ahead of Ralf, then Barrichello, Raikkonen and Montoya. Arrows driver Frentzen would stall on the grid. Jaguar's Pedro De la Rosa would have a moment going off the track but coming back on slowly. After two laps the top ten was Michael Schumacher, Ralf, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Montoya, Trulli, Coulthard, Fisichella, Panis, and Button. There were battles going on between Ralf and Barrichello and Raikkonen and Montoya.

Michael was to pull away a slowly again showing that come the race his Ferrari seems to have the upper hand. Frentzen would finally get back into the race after two laps. Webber went past Mika Salo although the Minardi driver had a disastrous start and nearly stalled. Heidfeld would pass Button at the hairpin. After five laps the top six were Michael Schumacher, Ralf (4.0), Barrichello (5.2), Raikkonen (7.7), Montoya (8.8), and Trulli (12.8).

jaguar's Eddie Irvine would spin at the hairpin and come back in nineteenth place. Renault's Jenson Button would drop down the order been in fourteenth. The order was Michael Schumacher, Ralf (4.9), Barrichello (6.2), Raikkonen (13.6), Montoya (14), Trulli (21.7), Coulthard, Fisichella, Panis, Massa (24.5), Heidfeld, Villeneuve, Sato, Bernoldi, McNish (33.8), Webber, Salo, Irvine, Button (40.9), and Frentzen (3 laps).

Michael would nearly spin in corner 1, but there was a battle for some corners between Montoya and Raikkonen. Montoya would finally move into fourth, while Coulthard would pass Trulli and move up into sixth. Massa would move in seventh as he overtook the slow Jarno Trulli. At the front things were tightening up again as Michael Schumacher has lost a few tenths to Ralf.

On lap fifteen Ralf would set the fastest lap and there was only 3.7 secs between himself and Michael. Fisichella would also pass Trulli, Heidfeld too. Sato and Panis would also overtake Trulli, forcing Trulli to pits for a new set of tyres. The top six were Michael Schumacher (18 laps), Ralf (3.3), Barrichello (4.7), Montoya (19.6), Raikkonen (32.2), and Coulthard (40.0). Barrichello would nearly overtake Ralf when they were lapping a Renault.

Sauber's Filepe Massa would pit followed by Sato and team-mate Heidfeld. Smoke could be seen coming from Villeneuve's rear, but he's still able to keep running. Ralf would post another fastest lap, been only 3.8 secs. behind his brother. Toyota's Allan McNish would pits but he would stall his car with no hydraulic pressure. Villeneuve and Bernoldi would also pit. Button would retire.

Barrichello would pit, stationary for 8.6 secs. He is joined by Raikkonen, 9.2 secs, and Michael Schumacher shortly after. Michael stops for 8.4 secs and is back on the track ahead of Barrichello. Both WilliamsF1 drivers were yet to stop. Ralf would set another fastest lap of 1m:16.642. Ralf would pit, but he was held up by the struggling Villeneuve, who enters the pits slowly with some problem. Ralf was back on the track in second, just ahead of Barrichello. Coulthard would pit, joined by Juan Pablo.

Juan Pablo MontoyaAfter thirty one laps the top six was Michael Schumacher, Ralf (3.9), Barrichello (6.3), Montoya (18.2), Raikkonen (44.2), and Coulthard (54.5). Villeneuve would finally retire.

With thirty five laps left Trulli would receive a drive through penalty for ignoring blue flags when Ralf Schumacher was behind him. For McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen he would suffer a blown tyre, nearly spinning in the hairpin and tried to get back into the pits. Trulli would spin off and into retirement while Raikkonen would get back to his pit and get a new set of tyres and fuel and he was back in the race. Panis was now sixth while Heidfeld was seventh.

But Panis would spin with some failure on his car and Heidfeld was now up to sixth. Michael Schumacher was leading by s 7.4 secs ahead of his brother. Behind them Barrichello (9.3), then Montoya (18.9), Coulthard (61), Heidfeld (1 lap), Massa, Sato, Salo, Fisichella, Bernoldi, Irvine, and Raikkonen.

With a lap of 1m:16.4 Michael Schumacher was clearly pushing in order to stay in the lead. Heidfeld would make his next stop, stationary for 9.1 secs. Sato would pit as well. As the Ferrari team readied itself for a stop by Michael Schumacher, Barrichello would pit for 21 secs as there was a problem with his fuel rig. Michael would stop for 8.5 secs.

Ralf would pit for 7.8 secs as he only takes fuel, but no new tyres. He would return to the track in third as Montoya had yet to make his final stop. Montoya would pit for 7.4 secs coming back out in third position. Bernoldi would retire with a blown engine. Heidfeld would have an off in the stadium section, but he would retain sixth. With fifteen laps to run the order was Michael Schumacher, Ralf (9.1), Montoya (22.6), Barrichello (28.2), Coulthard (70.2), and Heidfeld (1 lap).

Ralf SchumacherMichael would extend his lead out to 10 secs ahead of his brother. Jaguar's Eddie Irvine would slowly get back into his garage to retire, while Fisichella would retire with a blown engine. But the WilliamsF1 would get ready for another pit stop, with Ralf coming in. This was not planned as there was no tyre change, no fuel, but they had to work on the water pressure on Ralf's car. Ralf would come back out in third behind Montoya.

So as the final laps counted down the top six was Michael Schumacher leading Montoya, Ralf, Barrichello, Coulthard and Heidfeld. And that was how the race would finish with Michael Schumacher scoring his ninth race victory of the season. For the BMW WilliamsF1 team it was an encouraging race as both drivers were able to get onto the podium and more importantly their rivals McLaren struggled this weekend with only Coulthard scoring two points against WilliamsF1's ten.

 
Driver Team (Tyres) Time Stops

01. M Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:27:52.078 2
02. J Montoya BMW-Williams (M) +10.503 2
03. R Schumacher BMW-Williams (M) +14.466 3
04. R Barrichello Ferrari (B) +23.195 2
05. D Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) +1 lap 2
06. N Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) +1 lap 2
07. F Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) +1 lap 2
08. T Sato Jordan-Honda (B) +1 lap 2
09. M Salo Toyota (M) +1 lap 2

Retirements Reason Lap
P de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) Technical 01
H Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth (B) Hydraulics 20
A McNish Toyota (M) Hydraulics 24
M Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) Technical 24
J Button Renault (M) Technical 25
J Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) Technical 27
J Trulli Renault (M) Crash 38
O Panis BAR-Honda (B) Technical 40
E Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth (B) Engine 50
E Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) Brakes 60
G Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) Engine 60
K Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) Crash 60

Fastest laps Time Lap
M Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:16.462 44
R Schumacher BMW-Williams (M) 1:16.513 47
J Montoya BMW-Williams (M) 1:16.693 33
R Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:16.845 45
D Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:17.530 43
K Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:17.895 24
G Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 1:18.053 44
N Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:18.062 46
J Trulli Renault (M) 1:18.280 35
O Panis BAR-Honda (B) 1:18.405 27
T Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 1:18.448 43
M Salo Toyota (M) 1:18.497 45
F Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:18.562 44
E Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:18.859 16
E Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth (B) 1:19.084 43
J Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:19.400 22
M Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) 1:19.485 22
A McNish Toyota (M) 1:19.587 17
J Button Renault (M) 1:19.695 23
H Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth (B) 1:19.995 16
 
 
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