Michael Schumacher wins the Spanish Grand Prix

Another race win
By Greig Murray
April 28 2002

The 2002 Spanish GP ended with another win for Michael Schumacher and the F2002 and the chassis keep's its unbeaten record intact. Rubens Barrichello's race was over before it began as he failed to get drive at the formation lap. It was another easy Sunday drive for Michael.

After taking the front row in the qualifying session Ferrari were looking good for full points in the race. Michael Schumacher will lead the pack away after his dramatic last moment pole position ahead of team mate Rubens Barrichello. But the race got off to the worst possible start for Ferrari as Barrichello's F2002 failed to leave the grid for the formation lap, if he can get it going he will start from the back of the grid.

Schumacher leads them round on the formation lap as Barrichello is pushed into the pit lane and he is not ready to start the race as the lights go out and the race is on! Schumacher makes another very clean start and has no problems leading the chasing pack into turn 1, brother Ralf in the Williams has a bit of a look at the Ferrari but decides he is no where near close enough to pull a move on his brother. As Schumacher completes the opening lap poor Rubens Barrichello is being pushed back into his garage and his day is over before it even began, cruel luck once again for Barrichello who was going to be one big challenge for Schumacher today.

As the race settles down Michael simply disappears into the distance as he once again displays the awesome pace that the F2002 possesses. The problems with wings falling off that led to Minardi's non appearance in the race have appeared at McLaren as Raikkonen's rear wing simply fly's off on the main straight. Lap 12 and Michael is putting in all the fastest laps as he pulls out a massive 10 second lead over Ralf who is chasing a dot in the distance. That dot that Ralf was chasing continues to get further and further away as Schumacher increases the gap with each passing lap and the only thing in the way of him winning is a failure to the F2002, the rest are simply not at the races compared to the F2002. The main race well behind the German with Ralf Schumacher and Montoya leading Button in the Renault, with Coulthard being pushed by Trulli.

Lap 23 of the race and the fastest laps keep coming from the world champion who is in a league of his own, and the gap is now over 20 seconds as the first round of pit-stops begin to get going. Interestingly Williams have Ralf Schumacher in very early and makes his lack of pace compared to Schumacher even more embarrassing. Montoya is in the next lap, this is a walk in the park for Schumacher and Ferrari. Schumacher's first stop of the day is soon to follow, a slight delay in getting the fuel hose off but nothing dramatic and he was back on his way still in the lead of the race.

35 laps to go and nothing is changing for the race leader, but now he is being chased by Montoya who has passed R Schumacher who ran wide breaking his front nose resulting in a pit-stop. The only real action on the track is the battle for third place as Button has Coulthard behind him, DC so far has resisted the urge to mow the grass at this stage of the race. Schumacher continues to lap the tailenders including his brother Ralf as he begins to think about reliability and dropping the pace to ensure the car is brought home for the ten points.

Schumacher's second stop of the day was once again clean and professional and the mechanics had him re-fuelled with fresh rubber and back on his way in 8.2 seconds. Unlike the drama in the Williams pit as Montoya pulls away far too early with the fuel hose still attached to his car and he runs over a few mechanics, Williams are battling with McLaren and they are feeling the pressure indeed. Lap 49 and Schumacher is playing keeping his mind occupied by setting a new fastest lap and a new track record, how we would love to see the real pace of the F2002.

10 laps to go and Michael has decided that he has embaressed the competition enough and drops his lap times by some 2 seconds as he settles for a cruise to the flag, and he reels of the remaining laps with no problems to take the chequered flag and ten valuable points. A mixed race for Ferrari with a 1-2 lost due to the problems for Rubens at the start but the dominance and pace shown by Michael Schumacher has sent out even more worrying alarm bells to the chasing pack. Schumacher extends his lead in the driver's battle and Ferrari continues to pull away in the Constructor's title.

Full Race Times

1. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1h30'29"981
2. MONTOYA Williams BMW M + 0'35"600
3. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M + 0'42"600
4. HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B + 1'06"600
5. MASSA Sauber Petronas B + 1'18"900
6. FRENTZEN Arrows Cosworth B + 1'20"400
7. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1 lap(s)
8. MCNISH Toyota M 1 lap(s)
9. SALO Toyota M 1 lap(s)
10. TRULLI Renault M 2 lap(s)
11. R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 2 lap(s)
12. BUTTON Renault M 5 lap(s)
13. PANIS BAR Honda B 22 lap(s)
14. IRVINE Jaguar Cosworth M 24 lap(s)
15. BERNOLDI Arrows Cosworth B 25 lap(s)
16. SATO Jordan Honda B 55 lap(s)
17. FISICHELLA Jordan Honda B 60 lap(s)
18. RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 61 lap(s)
19. DE LA ROSA Jaguar Cosworth M 63 lap(s)
20. BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 65 lap(s)