NewsOnF1 - 2002 Spanish GP - Qualifying Report

Michael Schumacher took Pole position on his final run from Rubens Barrichello. His lap time was a 1:16.364 which is faster than the pole time set here in '97 when the cars ran slicks. Rubens Barrichello after holding provisional pole had to settle for second in the end setting a time of 1:16.690.
So dominant are the Ferraris that not only they are the only 2 to break the 1:17 barrier but also third on the grid (Ralf Schumacher) is a massive 0.913 seconds off Pole position and Juan Pablo Montoya in 4th is over a second behind.

Kimi Raikkonen for the 5th race in a row takes 5th on the grid ahead of Jenson Button who once again proves that Renault are matching McLaren. David Coulthard takes 7th ahead of Nick Heidfeld and Jarno Trulli who managed to make it into the top 10 after struggling for most of the session. Heinz Harald Frentzen delivered on his claim yesterday and made it into the top 10.

The pole position time last year was a 1:18.201. This year, the top 11 drivers on the grid bettered that time. In Ferrari's case they bettered it by almost 2 seconds!.

The session started quietly and the first man on the track was Jarno Trulli in the 12th minute of the session.
23 minutes into the session and Felipe Massa took provisional pole then Heidfeld grabbed it followed by Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.
Barrichello's first time was set under the 1:17 mark and Michael Schumacher couldn't match him. Neither Barrichello nor Michael managed to improve on their second run.

Another front wing incident hit the Minardi team, this time with Alex Yoong, this caused the session to be stopped for a few minutes.

On the final run for the 2 Ferraris, Michael Schumacher managed to take pole from Rubens and keep it.

Ralf Schumacher settled in third early into the session and never threatened the top 2 and no one looked like threatening him until the final run for Montoya where he came close but ended up in 4th.
Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard swapped positions a number of times during the session but Raikkonen for the second race in a row and the 3rd time this season outqualifies his more experienced team-mate.

In the battle of the team-mates, Mark Webber (21) continues to shine beating his team-mate Alex Yoong (22) by a massive 1.613 seconds. Giancarlo Fisichella (12) outqualified his team-mate Takuma Sato (19) by 0.711 seconds and Heinz Harald Frentzen (10) outqualifed his team-mate Enrique Bernoldi (14) by 0.394 seconds.
The closest two were Raikkonen (5) and Coulthard (7) with Raikkonen beating his team-mate by 0.103 seconds. Next were Irvine (15) and de la Rosa (17) with Irvine 0.106 seconds ahead.

Jenson Button (6), Heinz Harald Frentzen (10) and Enrique Bernoldi (14) had their best qualifying positions this season while Michael Schumacher (1), Ralf Schumacher (3) and Kimi Raikkonen (5) equalled their best positions so far this season.
David Coulthard (7), Jacques Villeneuve (16), Mika Salo (18) and Allan McNish (20) had their worst qualifying positions so far this season while Mark Webber (21) and Alex Yoong (22) equalled their worst qualifying positions.

Click here for a more detailed analysis including the Also Ran award by the Quali-flyer
Click here of the Qualifying table for the drivers this season

Race starts at 2:00 PM local time. Our coverage starts at 1:30 PM local time.

Note: Eddie Irvine's qualifying times were disallowed due to a fuel irregularity. Jaguar is appealing.

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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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