By Greig Murray
April 29 2002

The 2002 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola ended with a glorious 1-2 finish for Ferrari in front of the passionate Tifosi. Michael Schumacher led from start to finish as Rubens Barrichello came home second.

After securing the front row in yesterday's qualifying position Ferrari have given themselves the best possible chance of securing the maximum points from the San Marino GP. With Rubens Barrichello looking very quick and Michael Schumacher just brilliant as usual the Tifosi in the stands are hopeful to cheer home both cars in formation finish. Imola is not an easy place to overtake on, ,making a good start from the line ever more important. After the quick getaway in Brazil the F2002 has shown it is capable of getting the power down from a standing start and that's what Michael and Rubens will be aiming to do as they look to keep the two Williams drivers behind.

The weather has been very miserable all weekend in Imola and once again the clouds are hanging over the Italian circuit and most teams including Ferrari are prepared for at least a shower of rain at some point in the race. The start would be a good one for Michael Schumacher who led away on the opening lap, not so good for Rubens Barrichello who lost his second place to R Schumacher who made a good start from third place. As the pace settled down in the opening laps Michael Schumacher was pulling away from Ralf who was watching his mirrors as Barrichello lined up a move on him to reclaim his second position.

But Imola is no place to overtake and Rubens had to wait until the first round of pitstops before he could take Ralf and unleash his true speed. Michael and Rubens both stopped within a lap of each other and no problems in the pitlane had Ferrari in first and second with only reliability standing in the way of a glorious win. Schumacher and Barrichello continued to lead the field right up to the second pitstops. Ferrari had a replacement steering wheel ready for Michael Schumacher, but when he stopped there seem to be no problem, but it appears things are not all well with the no1 F2002. Rubens Barrichello suffered a small delay in his second stop as the rear left wheel failed to go on properly costing him about 6 seconds, but no loss of place for the Brazilian.

And that was basically it, the rain never arrived, a challenge from Williams never arrived, and Ferrari waltzed to a brilliant 1-2 victory in front of the delighted Tifosi. Michael Schumacher extends his lead in the drivers title, Rubens Barrichello scores his first points of the season, and Ferrari take over the lead of the constructor's title, overall a perfect weekend for Ferrari.

1. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1h29'10"789 205.613 Km/h
2. BARRICHELLO Ferrari B + 0'17"907 204.927 Km/h
3. R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M + 0'19"755 204.857 Km/h
4. MONTOYA Williams BMW M + 0'44"725 203.909 Km/h
5. BUTTON Renault M + 1'23"395 202.458 Km/h
6. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1 lap(s)
7. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1 lap(s)
8. MASSA Sauber Petronas B 1 lap(s)
9. TRULLI Renault M 1 lap(s)
10. HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1 lap(s)
11. WEBBER Minardi Asiatech M 2 lap(s)
12. BERNOLDI Arrows Cosworth B 12 lap(s)
13. IRVINE Jaguar Cosworth M 17 lap(s)
14. RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 18 lap(s)
15. PANIS BAR Honda B 18 lap(s)
16. DE LA ROSA Jaguar Cosworth M 32 lap(s)
17. SALO Toyota M 36 lap(s)
18. FRENTZEN Arrows Cosworth B 37 lap(s)
19. FISICHELLA Jordan Honda B 43 lap(s)
20. SATO Jordan Honda B 57 lap(s)
21. MCNISH Toyota M 62 lap(s)