NewsOnF1 - 2002 Japanese GP

Michael Schumacher wins his 11th race of the season ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello. Kimi Raikkonen was 3rd ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya while Takuma Sato managed to score his first points of the season finishing 5th ahead of Jenson Button.
Nick Heidfeld managed 7th ahead of Mika Salo, Eddie Irvine and Mark Webber. Ralf Schumacher was classified as a finisher although he retired with a blown engine 5 laps from the end.
Allan McNish who suffered from a massive crash in qualifying yesterday didn't not start the race after advise from the FIA medical delegate.

The race started with Michael Schumacher retaining his lead ahead of Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard. Ralf Schumacher managed to get ahead of Kimi Raikkonen with Juan Pablo Montoya in 6th. Takuma Sato maintained 7th place but Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button jumped into 8th and 9th thanks to their superb launch control system.

Michael Schumacher immediately pulled a gap of 3 seconds within the first two laps of the race ahead of his team-mate Rubens Barrichello who couldn't really match Michael. David Coulthard managed to stay with Rubens Barrichello but a throttle problem forced him to retire early in the race.

Felipe Massa didn't do himself any favours when he crashed out early in the race. This was his last race for the Sauber team and possibly his last.

Following the first round of pit stops there were no changes in the order for the top 3 teams however the 2 Renaults had managed to get ahead of Takuma Sato and for a while it looked as if the Jordan team will remain in 8th place in the Constructors Championship.

The only close fight of the race was between Giancarlo Fisichella and Jacques Villeneuve fighting for 11th. The fight didn't last for long as Villeneuve retired with an engine failure and so did Fisichella 5 laps later!

Jarno Trulli retired just before his second stop while Jenson Button had a slow stop allowing Takuma Sato to retake 6th place after his second stop. At the front, the order remained with Michael Schumacher leading Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher.

The order remained the same until 5 laps from the end when Ralf Schumacher suffered a blown engine and retired. This moved Kimi Raikkonen into 3rd place ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and Takuma Sato moved into 5th place ahead of Jenson Button.

Michael Schumacher went on to win the race and complete a full season with podium finishes. He managed a record number of wins in a single season with 11 and a record number of points with 144.
The other highlight of the race was Takuma Sato scoring his first points of the season in front of his home crowd and more importantly for the team moving Jordan ahead of both Jaguar and BAR to take 6th place in the Constructors' Championship earning the team a lot more of the TV revenue than they would have had he finished outside the points.

In the Drivers' Championship there were no changes at the top with Michael Schumacher securing the title ahead of his team-mate Rubens Barrichello. Juan Pablo Montoya managed 3rd ahead of his team-mate Ralf Schumacher while David Coulthard was 5th ahead of his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. Jenson Button was 7th and the 'best of the rest' ahead of his team-mate Jarno Trulli while Eddie Irvine was 9th scoring all the points for the Jaguar team ahead of Nick Heidfeld in 10th.

In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari clinched the title with a massive 221 points ahead of Williams and McLaren. Renault managed to achieve their target of 4th ahead of Sauber and Jordan. Jaguar, BAR, Minardi, Toyota and Arrows make the rest of the field.

So the 2002 season has come to an end. A season that is highlighted by the dominance of the Ferrari team and their driver Michael Schumacher. They have won 15 of the 17 races this season. Their partnership with Bridgestone proved too strong for Williams and McLaren each winning just one race this season.
The season also saw a number of teams in financial difficulties with Prost not able to make it at the start of the season while Arrows missed most of the race in the second half of the season. Minardi was in financial difficulties but hopefully that was sorted out.

Several drivers will not be returning to Formula 1 next season. Only Mika Salo has confirmed his retirement but there remains a question mark over Allan McNish, Felipe Massa, Eddie Irvine, Enrique Bernoldi, Alex Yoong, Pedro de la Rosa. Their situation will become clearer during the winter break and we'll keep you updated on the latest developments with driver movements.

We hope that you've enjoyed our coverage of the 2002 season and we look forward to your visit in 2003.

Click here of the Drivers' Championship table for this season

Next race: The 2003 season - The Australian Grand Prix on the 9th of March 2003

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Session	2002			2001
First Friday Practice	Results	Report	Notes	Results
Second Friday Practice	Results	Report	Notes	Results
First Saturday Practice	Results	Report	Notes	Results
Second Saturday Practice	Results	Report	Notes	Results
Qualifying	Results	Report	Notes	Results
Warm-up	Results	Report	Notes	Results
Race	Results	Report	Notes	Results
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