By Greig Murray
April 29 2002

The 2002 Formula One season got underway with a Michael Schumacher victory, with poor Rubens being the victim of a terrible attack by R Schumacher it was left to Michael to give the Ferrari team 10 well deserved points, it was a race of drama!

Ferrari were busy on the grid making sure everything was perfect on the F2001B's before the lights went green and it looked as if Michael Schumacher was still making some small set-up changes just prior to the race start. Pole sitter Rubens Barrichello was looking very relaxed as he talked to this race engineer, the Brazilian will be hoping to keep his lead going into turn 1 and from there he can try and dictate the race. The rain is not yet falling but the constant threat of a downpour is hanging over the circuit. However the track is dry for the start of the race.

And as the lights go green the action was to begin right away. Both Ferrari's are slow of the line with R Schumacher in the Williams passing Michael and hassling Rubens, turn 1 was soon to become carnage as Ralf plows right into the back of Rubens as he appears to totally misjudge the situation and drive right over the top of the F2001. Michael has to take to the grass to avoid any impact and he will end lap 1 in 4th place. Rubens is out of the race as the marshalls bizarrely opt for the safety car rather than throwing the red flag on the race. As the safety car laps the race is missing 9 cars due to the first lap accident and Arrows never even started the race!

Lap 4 and the racing gets going as the track is now clear with Coulthard leading ahead of Trulli with Montoya in third. But Montoya was soon to give up that position as he seems to have a problem and Schumacher is already up behind Trulli in the Benetton who adopts a defensive line to try and prevent the Ferrari passing, Schumacher has a look down the inside at turn 1 looks his front wheels and stays in 3rd place. Schumacher again has another go at turn 1 and once again he does not have the pace to make it stick and he has to back out allowing Montoya a sniff of re-gaining the 3rd place, but Schumacher holds him off while he once again pushes Trulli and the pressure was to get to the Italian as he spins his Renault on the exit of turn 2 giving Michael the chance to catch Coulthard 6 seconds down the road. And the safety car is back out due to Trulli's spin and this will take away all advantage DC had.

We had a comedy moment as the race was about to re-start. Coulthard in his eagerness to get a good start goes off track and his moment of madness must have had Michael laughing cause he allowed JPM to sneak up behind him on the pit straight and the Colombian takes the lead of the race. Schumacher is soon to be on the gearbox of the Williams but with his car set-up to cope with the forecasted rain he appears to not have the speed to pass him in a straight line. Schumacher continues to harass and press the Williams as it struggles to cope with the Ferrari in the corners. Montoya is defending well but the pressure from Michael is immense. And Schumacher plays it well as he pushes Montoya all way into turn 1 and as Montoya worries about defending Michael is passing him and into the lead of the race, great stuff from Michael.

Schumacher proves what the rest know as he now has a clear track and within two laps he has pulled out a gap of 5 seconds already. Fastest lap after fastest lap is reeled of from Michael as he simply waltzes away from Montoya in 2nd who now has Kimi Raikkonen on his tail.

Meanwhile a bitterly unhappy Rubens Barrichello has to watch this domination from the pits and he is not happy with R Schumacher, who was firmly to blame for the first lap accident said Rubens. "I think if I was not there then he would not have made the corner, I moved across and left enough room I didn't get in his way if he wanted to pass on the outside he should have moved but he just never braked." Schumacher continues to be in a class of his own as he begins to think about stopping for fuel, he begins to ease his pace a little and take in the scenery on another cruise for the German.

Schumacher is in for his one and only scheduled stop and the Ferrari mechanics done their usual great job with a stop of 10.5 seconds the German was back on his way and still in lead of the race. The rest of the race was a formality for Michael as he reeled of the remaining laps at his leisure. It was a difficult time for Michael in the opening laps but he was patient as well as being aggressive and once he was in the lead it was all over for the rest. 5 laps to go and Michael has really dropped the pace, and he cruises to the flag to take his maiden win of the 2002 season. It was a race full of drama in the opening laps and had Ralf not attacked Rubens then this would have been a Ferrari 1-2.

1. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1h35'36"792
2. MONTOYA Williams BMW + 0'18"628
3. RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes + 0'25"067
4. IRVINE Jaguar Cosworth 1 lap(s)
5. WEBBER Minardi Asiatech 2 lap(s)
6. SALO Toyota 2 lap(s)
7. YOONG Minardi Asiatech 3 lap(s)
8. DE LA ROSA Jaguar Cosworth 5 lap(s)
9. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 25 lap(s)
10. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 31 lap(s)
11. FRENTZEN Arrows Cosworth 42 lap(s)
12. BERNOLDI Arrows Cosworth 43 lap(s)
13. SATO Jordan Honda 46 lap(s)
14. TRULLI Renault 50 lap(s)
15. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 58 lap(s)
16. R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 58 lap(s)
17. FISICHELLA Jordan Honda 58 lap(s)
18. MASSA Sauber Petronas 58 lap(s)
19. HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas 58 lap(s)
20. BUTTON Renault 58 lap(s)
21. PANIS BAR Honda 58 lap(s)
22. MCNISH Toyota 58 lap(s)