2002 F1 Season
17 races · Ferrari F2002
The 2002 season is, in raw numbers, one of the most dominant in history. The Ferrari F2002 was a brutal technological leap, and Michael Schumacher took it to another level: he stood on the podium at all seventeen races and won eleven of them.
He sealed the title at the French Grand Prix, the eleventh round, the earliest clinch ever achieved in a season. Such superiority, though, sparked concern for the spectacle, and one episode made it worse: in Austria, Ferrari ordered Rubens Barrichello to hand the win to Schumacher just before the line, drawing public outrage and boos on the podium.
That team-orders controversy was so notorious that the FIA eventually banned them, and fan boredom pushed rule changes for the seasons that followed.
Drivers' Champion
Michael Schumacher
Ferrari F2002
Constructors' Champion
Ferrari
17 races
Key moment
"Barrichello lets Schumacher past in Austria before the finish line, the most controversial moment of the year."
The 2002 grid, car by car
The 11 teams that raced in 2002, ordered by how good we rate the car. It is our own judgement, not an official figure: what it is worth is that the same yardstick is applied to every season since 1988, so you can compare eras.
| # | Team | Our rating | Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ferrari | 99 | Michael Schumacher · Rubens Barrichello |
| 2 | Williams | 94 | Juan Pablo Montoya · Ralf Schumacher |
| 3 | McLaren | 91 | Kimi Räikkönen · David Coulthard |
| 4 | Renault | 85 | Jenson Button · Jarno Trulli |
| 5 | Sauber | 83 | Felipe Massa · Nick Heidfeld |
| 6 | Jordan | 82 | Giancarlo Fisichella · Takuma Sato |
| 7 | Jaguar | 81 | Eddie Irvine · Pedro de la Rosa |
| 8 | BAR | 80 | Jacques Villeneuve · Olivier Panis |
| 9 | Toyota | 74 | Mika Salo · Allan McNish |
| 10 | Arrows | 73 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen · Enrique Bernoldi |
| 11 | Minardi | 71 | Mark Webber · Alex Yoong |
How 2002 actually ended
The official final standings, from Australian Grand Prix to Japanese Grand Prix. This is the real result, not the simulation above.
| Driver | Points | Wins | Podiums | Poles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Michael SchumacherFerrari | 144 | 11 | 17 | 7 |
| 2Rubens BarrichelloFerrari | 77 | 4 | 10 | 3 |
| 3Juan Pablo MontoyaWilliams | 50 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| 4Ralf SchumacherWilliams | 42 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 5David CoulthardMcLaren | 41 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 6Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren | 24 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 7Jenson ButtonRenault | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8Jarno TrulliRenault | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Schumacher took it by 67 points with 11 wins and 7 poles across 17 races. 4 different drivers won that season, and the last Grand Prix went to Michael Schumacher.
Official FIA standings via Jolpica (formerly Ergast).
What if 2002 had been raced 100 times?
We took the real 2002 grid (every car with its performance and reliability, every driver with his rating) and re-ran the full 17-race championship 100 times.
| Driver | Avg. finish | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Schumacherreal championFerrari | P1 | 100% |
| Rubens BarrichelloFerrari | P2.1 | 0% |
| Juan Pablo MontoyaWilliams | P3.4 | 0% |
| Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren | P4 | 0% |
| Ralf SchumacherWilliams | P4.7 | 0% |
| David CoulthardMcLaren | P5.9 | 0% |
Michael Schumacher wins 100% of the simulated championships. Runner-up Rubens Barrichello manages 0%: with that machinery, the real result was very nearly the only one available.
Tags
Year
2002
Races
17
Winning car
Ferrari F2002
What if Senna, Hamilton or Alonso had driven the 2002 championship-winning car?
Drivers of 2002
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