The 2002 Hungarian GP Review
By Pablo Elizalde, Spain
Atlas F1 News Editor
The Hungarian Grand Prix was another demonstration of superiority from the Ferrari team, although this time the winner was Rubens Barrichello, who led teammate Michael Schumacher to their fifth one-two finish of the season and the Italian squad's fourth consecutive Constructors' Championship. Atlas F1's Pablo Elizalde reviews the entire weekend's events from the 13th round of the Championship
Just like the vast majority of this year's races, the Hungarian Grand Prix served to enhance even further the general - and most likely correct - belief that Ferrari's dominance of the sport is likely to continue, at least in the near future. And the Hungarian race proved just that, with Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher so far ahead of their rivals that it is hard to imagine a different race winner in a foreseeable future.
Eleven wins in 13 races, and an amazing run of 49 consecutive podium finishes tell the story of a supremacy that resembles that of McLaren in 1988, when the Woking-based team won 15 out of the 16 races. At least that year, the epic battles between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost guaranteed excitement almost in every race, even if it was one lap ahead of the rest of the field.
This year the fans have not been so lucky, and with Ferrari not willing to allow Barrichello and Schumacher to fight each other, Sunday's race was probably - although certainly not surprisingly considering it was the Hungaroring - an example of an F1 that has seen better days.
In a season with little racing and too much talk about politics and financial problems, the sport could surely do with more excitement, but as Ferrari boss Jean Todt said after Sunday's race, the Italian squad are just doing their job as best as they can, and that, at the moment, implies races like the Hungarian Grand Prix.
"I think what Ferrari is achieving is not really to be blamed," said Frenchman Todt. "But you have some stupid people who may find that it's to be blamed. It's up to them. I don't want to be in their position. I prefer to be in my position."
>From Ferrari's point of view, the event was just another cakewalk that put Rubens Barrichello's charge toward the runner-up spot back on track, and deservedly so following his run of misfortunes. Barrichello's second victory of the season was the just reward for the past three races, where the unlucky Brazilian was hit by all of Ferrari's problems while Michael Schumacher continued with his record-breaking run.
This time nothing went wrong for Barrichello, and with Schumacher knowing that he shouldn't overtake his teammate right from the start of the race, the Brazilian driver returned to second place in the drivers' standings, in the meantime helping Ferrari clinch an unprecedented 12th Constructors' Championship and their fourth crown in a row.
Such an extended demonstration of power was only seen from 1988 to 1991, when McLaren ruled the sport. Their boss Ron Dennis knows all too well that those streaks always end, although judging by Ferrari's current form it must be surely hard for other teams to remain positive. Especially considering their level of stability, set to continue in years to come.
"There is nothing more certain than that Ferrari will be beaten," Dennis said at the weekend. "That is absolutely certain. It is only a question of when. If you look at the history, I think you'll see we sustained a very strong position for six years, something like that. It has been done."
Hungary showed, however, that if someone is to beat Ferrari, it is not likely to happen this year, and once more Williams and McLaren were left to fight for the "best of the rest" positions, again with mixed fortunes for both outfits.
Williams were once again the ones to hold the upper hand during qualifying, albeit very far from the dominant Ferraris. Ralf Schumacher was, for the second race in succession, the Italian squad's main threat as teammate Juan Pablo Montoya languished both in qualifying and even more in the race, his die hard attitude costing him some very valuable points once again.
At the end of the day, both Williams drivers were surpassed by Barrichello in the standings and hoping to edge closer to Ferrari on circuits like Spa or Monza where they are supposed to shine. Although as McLaren showed at the Hungaroring, expectations are often hard to fulfil, and on a track where they had predicted they would be able to fight for the win, the Woking-based team had to settle to fight for the non-podium positions.
Both David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen paid the price for a dismal qualifying performance - their worst of the season - on a circuit where overtaking proves to be virtually impossible. However, as usual this year, both men raised their game in the race and especially Raikkonen, who completed perhaps the only real overtaking manoeuvre of the event - put on a great performance as he fought his way up to fourth.
Had they not struggled in qualifying for reasons that even the team themselves failed to explain, both men from the Woking team would have certainly fought for the podium and not to beat the other two drivers who stood out during the dullest race of the year.
Giancarlo Fisichella in the improving Jordan - that will be powered by Ford in 2003 - and Felipe Massa in the Sauber shone during most of the weekend, but only the Italian's efforts were rewarded with a point that, seeing the form of the top three teams, is perhaps more valuable that in past years.
Anthony Davidson also stood out over the weekend, the young Briton making his debut with the Minardi team standing in for Malaysian Alex Yoong, doing a respectable job at the bottom of a grid with only 20 cars following the no-show of the Arrows team, who continue talks to secure that the Grand Prix field is not reduced even further.
Qualifying
Never since he joined Formula One in 1991 had Michael Schumacher been outqualified so many times in a single season, which goes to show that is not only the almost unbeatable Ferrari F2002 that is helping teammate Rubens Barrichello look better than any other partner the German five-time champion has had.
With a superb effort at the very slippery Hungaroring circuit, the Brazilian emerged ahead of Schumacher for the fourth time in 13 races this year, scoring his third pole position of 2002 and confirming the dominance of the Italian squad in all of the practice sessions.
Schumacher had topped the times in all four sessions on Friday and Saturday, but the German was unable to keep his quick teammate at bay in the all-important qualifying that at the slow and twisty Hungarian track all but determines the race a driver will endure.
After witnessing a Ferrari 1-2 in every one of the practice sessions, there was little doubt that a red car would be starting from pole position on Sunday, especially considering the performance of the Bridgestone tyres, which, if they usually give the Maranello team the edge over their rivals, in Hungary they seemed to be significantly efficient as demonstrated by the strong showing from the Jordans and the Saubers.
Fortunately for the Michelin runners, the track temperatures increased as the weekend progressed and the Williams drivers managed to recover well from a disappointing practice that had seen both Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya very far from the Ferraris. That didn't change in qualifying for the Colombian, who struggled to match the pace of his teammate, in the end finishing nearly a whole second behind the German.
While there were few surprises at the top of the times, the rest of the top ten posted quite a few surprises, with Italian Giancarlo Fisichella occupying the "best of the rest" position with the Honda-powered Jordan, which has been steadily improving in the last couple of races.
The Renaults of Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button, benefitting from the latest spec of the French engine, also shined in the hour-long session, with the Italian posting the seventh quickest time while the Briton the ninth, and they were split by an impressive Felipe Massa in the Sauber, the Brazilian rookie in his first ever visit to the Hungaroring.
On a track of similar characteristics to Monaco and Magny-Cours it was surprising to see the McLaren drivers so far off the pace, with both David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen finishing in tenth and 11th positions nearly a massive two seconds behind pole setter Barrichello.
The hour-long session was kicked off under perfect weather conditions, with track temperatures of some 30 degrees centigrade, and new-boy Anthony Davidson, who had already impressed in practice at the wheel of the second Minardi, was the first man to hit the track.
However, it was not until nearly half the session had gone by, that the top runners decided it was time to leave their garages. Montoya opened the proceedings, and suddenly the whole field woke up and followed the Colombian out onto the circuit.
The Williams driver placed himself at the top of the timesheets briefly, with Ralf immediately demoting him to second place with a lap of 1:14.571, nearly seven tenths of a second quicker than his teammate, who was unable to find a solution for the excessive understeer hampering his Williams. The almighty Ferraris hit the track soon afterwards, with Schumacher senior hitting the stopwatch with a 1:14.006 as Barrichello had to abort this first run due to an incident on track.
Barrichello, however, returned to the track a few minutes later and vaulted to the top of the times with a staggering lap more than half a second quicker than Schumacher's best up to that point. The German was then relegated to third by his brother Ralf after the Williams driver completed his second run, with teammate Montoya moving up to fourth but way off the German's pace.
With less than 20 minutes left in the session, Michael returned to the track for his second flying lap. The German made a slight error in the first sector, and despite losing around three tenths, he crossed the finish line only 0.071 behind Barrichello's time.
Ralf was back on track with three quarters of the session gone, but his third flying lap was spoiled when he went off the track. Barrichello's third run was also fruitless, the Brazilian failing to improve on his previous best, just like Montoya. Fisichella did improve on his third attempt, moving up to fifth place ahead of Coulthard, who continued struggling from grip with his Michelin-shod McLaren, using the softer tyre compound from the French manufacturer.
Ferrari's Schumacher kicked off the final rounds of attempts with some five minutes left, the German opting to do just three runs in order to save tyres for the race. The German was quickest on the first split but lost time on the other two and, despite slightly improving his time, he had to concede to his teammate.
"Rubens did a good job and I could not match it today," said Schumacher. "There was no sense in trying for a final run, which is why we decided to save a set of tyres for tomorrow. Starting on the dirty track certainly won't help and the important thing will be to maintain position. It would be unrealistic to expect to make up a place from this position."
Despite his teammate's time Barrichello continued to push, and his final lap saw him improving to a best of 1:13.333 that only served to prove again he was clearly the man to beat. "It looked good, very good," said the Brazilian. "I lost my first run because of the spin and it was actually very close. Starting from pole, I have the best chance as the track is cleanest on that side."
Ralf kept a relatively close third place, while a disappointed Montoya had to settle for fourth after being outqualified by his teammate for the second time in a row. "Given the Ferrari superiority, especially in Budapest, second row is not too bad," said Montoya. "But I am definitely not happy with my qualifying result. I really could not find the right balance for my car."
Fisichella, Jarno Trulli, Felipe Massa, Nick Heidfeld and Jenson Button completed the top nine ahead of the unexpectedly slow McLarens of Coulthard and Raikkonen who, for the first time this year, were closer to the bottom than to the top of the timesheets.
The Race
Despite spinning off the track during the morning warm-up, Rubens Barrichello could escape his continued run of problems at the all-important start when the red lights went off, and the Brazilian driver took full advantage of his pole position to stay in the lead ahead of his teammate Schumacher, who did his best to keep second from his brother Ralf, who had gotten away quicker than the Ferrari.
Continuing with his disappointing weekend, Juan Pablo Montoya made a very poor start in the second Williams, losing three places before banging wheel with the Renault of Jenson Button when coming out of the second corner. Both cars, however, were able to continue.
Giancarlo Fisichella took advantage of Montoya's start to move up to fourth, while Felipe Massa in the Sauber jumped up to fifth ahead of Button, Montoya and a fast-starting Kimi Raikkonen, who gained three places before the end of the first lap.
It didn't take long before it became clear that the Ferraris were in a class of their own, and both Barrichello and Schumacher immediately opened a gap to Ralf, who was lapping around one second slower, as the laps went by uneventfully. While there was nothing between Barrichello and Schumacher, the two red cars were already more than 10 seconds ahead of Ralf by lap 10, when the gap began to stabilise.
Apart from Jacques Villeneuve becoming the first man to retire from the race on lap 21, the action was non-existent, and by then the gap between the leaders and a very lonely third-placed Ralf had stabilised around the 12-second bracket, with Fisichella following the German some 14 seconds behind, with Massa still in fifth and Button holding on to the final point-scoring position.
Behind the top six, Montoya, still struggling with the ill-handling Williams, had Raikkonen right behind his rear wing, the young Finn clearly faster in the McLaren, which seemed to be a completely different car from the one that struggled in qualifying.
Raikkonen's pressure finally paid off on lap 22, and in a brave move, the young Finn went round the outside of Montoya at the second corner. The Colombian refused to give way to Raikkonen, but the McLaren had the inside line coming into turn three and a bullish Montoya had no option but to go off the track to avoid hitting his rival, something that cost him two positions and slight damage to the bottom of his FW24.
The move also gave Coulthard, one of the men who benefitted from Montoya's error and a man who had already clashed with him earlier this year, the opportunity to give his views about the Colombian's attitude when it comes to wheel to wheel racing.
"Kimi pulled a fantastic manoeuvre on him and what did Montoya do? Throw himself off the circuit because he's got this inability to just accept that he's been passed," said Coulthard. "What he'd rather do is either go off or take both cars off and that to him seems to be okay, that's acceptable because you're not giving up your place. Sometimes you've got to just give it up."
The incident forced Montoya to come into the pits for a first and very early stop, the Williams driver rejoining the race down in 18th position, only ahead of debutant Anthony Davidson.
Raikkonen, without Montoya to slow him down, quickly closed the gap to Button and began to put pressure on the Renault driver. It soon paid off, as the Briton put the right-rear wheel on the kerb ahead of the penultimate corner and spun off the track and out of the race, allowing Raikkonen to move into the point-scoring positions after a brilliant charge.
The first round of stops was triggered around lap 30, with Schumacher being the first of the leaders to come in for his first scheduled stop. The Ferrari driver had a trouble-free service and returned to the track in third place behind his brother.
Barrichello pitted next, allowing the Williams driver to take the lead briefly. The Brazilian stood still for nine seconds and was back out right ahead of his teammate, recovering the lead only one lap later when Ralf come into the pits and back out again in third place.
Coulthard, stuck behind the Renault of Jarno Trulli for several laps, was one of the last men to pit, emerging ahead of the Italian driver. Teammate Raikkonen, who had closed the gap to Massa and Fisichella, pitted next, but the young Finn was unable to overtake the men in front of him, returning to the track in sixth place ahead of Coulthard.
By lap 40, and after all the drivers had made their first scheduled stops, the order at the top remained the same, with Barrichello still leading Schumacher by less than a second, with a gap of more than 20 seconds to Ralf, who was running in no man's land ahead of Fisichella, Massa and Raikkonen, by then right behind the Brazilian rookie.
This time, however, the Finn was unable to force his rival into an error and continued stuck behind the Sauber for several laps. Behind Raikkonen, Coulthard starred in the only moment that saw some action taking place, the Scot going off the track and across the gravel before returning to the tarmac to continue running in seventh.
The uneventful laps continued to go by until the second round of stops, triggered by fourth-placed Fisichella, who was followed into the pits by Mika Salo and Pedro de la Rosa who, fighting for 13th place, were close to colliding when the Toyota driver left his pitcrew while the Spaniard was passing by. The incident cost Salo a 25-second penalty.
Ralf was, this time, the first of the leaders to pit, with his brother Michael coming in next before returning to the track in second. Barrichello pitted next and after a 7.6-second stop, the Brazilian emerged again right ahead of Schumacher.
The McLaren drivers were, as usual, the last of the top runners to pit, benefitting from a traffic-free few laps to jump ahead of both Fisichella and Massa, Raikkonen in fourth and Coulthard in fifth. From that moment on, the order remained the same, and the action was still nowhere to be found.
There was a straw of hope of something happening when Schumacher suddenly dropped down to some four seconds behind Barrichello. As it turned out, the German just happened to be as bored as the spectators, and he decided he wanted to set the quickest lap of the race to get revenge on Barrichello.
"At Silverstone, he was behind me and we sort of slowed down the pace, we didn't push hard any more and some laps from the end, he put in the fastest lap of the race," he explained. "So I asked 'when did you do this?' We were in the stage of actually slowing down so today I asked (technical director) Ross (Brawn) 'What's the fastest time?' I just went for it."
Despite Schumacher's demonstration of superiority, it was Barrichello, however, who stayed ahead during the remaining laps and took victory in probably the dullest race of the year.
"The most important thing about this result is that we have won the Constructors' Championship," said a delighted Barrichello. "Today was a fantastic feeling with a great car, great pit stops and great everything. When Michael put in his quick lap, I was very surprised to see him there behind me again. I guess he was having some fun because we had eased off by that point and were just bringing the cars home safely."
After a very lonely race, Ralf finished in third, with Raikkonen and Coulthard in fourth and fifth ahead of Fisichella, who scored a deserved point for the Jordan team. Massa's efforts went unrewarded with a disappointing seventh place, while Montoya could only manage to climb up to 11th position and see his chances of finishing as Championship runner-up diminished.
The Colombian, however, will have four other opportunities to score his first win of the season starting at Spa in two weeks, where probably only Williams will have a chance of breaking Ferrari's stronghold. That proving to be almost impossible this year, after the Hungarian Grand Prix the fans will be praying at least for some excitement. Here's hoping.
Lap 1: At the start Rubens Barrichello takes the lead while Ralf Schumacher makes a better start than his brother but backs off at the first corner and Michael stays second. At the end of the lap Giancarlo Fisichella comes through in fourth place with a fast-starting Felipe Massa fifth and Jenson Button sixth. The big losers are Juan Pablo Montoya, who has a small bump with Button in the second corner. He is seventh at the end of the lap. Jarno Trulli also has a poor first lap and falls from sixth on the grid to ninth. Kimi Raikkonen makes a good start and jumps from 11th on the grid to eighth. The biggest loser of all is Olivier panis who drops from 12th on the grid to 19th at the end of the lap. At the end of the lap the two Ferraris are 1.8 seconds ahead of Ralf Schumacher.
Lap 2: The gap at the front grows with the two Ferraris increasing the gap to 2.5secs. The order remains unchanged except that David Coulthard passes Nick Heidfeld for 10th place.
Lap 4: At the tail of the field Anthony Davidson goes wide at one corner but stays on the track.
Lap 10: Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher both set fastest laps but remain in line astern at the front. Ralf Schumacher is nearly nine seconds behind with Fisichella, Massa and Button following.
Lap 13: The gap at the front stabilises at 10 seconds.
Lap 21: The gap between the Ferraris and Ralf Schumacher is still 10 seconds. Jacques Villeneuve retires from 12th place with a mechanical problem.
Lap 22: Seventh-placed Montoya is under pressure from Raikkonen and goes off. The Colombian rejoins but decides to pit for an early stop. He rejoins 18th.
Lap 24: Eleventh-placed Irvine retires with a mechanical problem. Davidson pits.
Lap 30: As the first pit stops are in full wings Button spins under pressure from Raikkonen. Button retires.
Lap 31: Michael Schumacher pits and falls behind his brother Ralf.
Lap 32: Barrichello pits and Ralf Schumacher takes the lead.
Lap 33: Ralf Schumacher pits and goes back to third place, re-establishing the order as before.
Lap 34: Coulthard pits later than most and is able to make up ground as a result.
Lap 35: Raikkonen is the last man to stop for the first time. The late stop enables him to gain ground. The order is the same as before the stops although Button has disappeared and Raikkonen is since with Coulthard seventh. Trulli is eighth ahead of Heidfeld while Takuma Sato is 10th and the last man on the same lap as the leaders.
Lap 45: Coulthard goes off but rejoins without losing a place. The gap between the two Ferraris and Ralf Schumacher is up to 20 seconds.
Lap 49: The second pit stops begin with Sato pitting.
Lap 51: Fourth-placed Fisichella pits, allowing Massa to move up.
Lap 53: Massa pits and the Sauber team has a brief problem with the refuelling hose. It is enough to lose Massa the chance to pass Fisichella.
Lap 55: Michael Schumacher pits.
Lap 56: Barrichello pits and gets out ahead of Schumacher again.
Lap 58: Coulthard pits for the second time and is able to get in and out of the pits ahead of both Fisichella and Massa.
Lap 59: Davidson spins off into retirement.
Lap 61: Raikkonen is again the last man to pit and he too holds onto his place, which drops Fisichella and Massa down to sixth and seventh.
Lap 72: After lapping in the 1m19s and dropping back a few seconds from Barrichello Michael Schumacher shows that he could have gone a lot faster, setting the fastest lap of the race in the low 1m16s.
Lap 77: Barrichello and Schumacher cross the line after a completely dominant display. The result gives Ferrari the Constructors' World Championship and allows Barrichello to pull away from Ralf Schumacher in the battle for second place in the Drivers' Championship.
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