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Formula 1 news, results and statistics when you need it |
The
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There is no doubt that Ferrari has established themselves as the dominant team in 2002 and that Michael Schumacher is equally dominant as a driver. Apart from the most number of pole positions Michael has now equalled or bettered all records. He has always been a force to reckon with but this year he was invincible in a car that was fast and reliable. At the start of the season it looked like Ferrari may have to fight off Williams who were showing signs of being as fast, if not faster, in the right weather conditions. Williams seemed to have far better tyres in hot and dry conditions. Some luck with weather, further developments by Bridgestone and huge improvements by the Ferrari engineers soon put an end to that. I was never sure that Bridgestone did manage to catch up with Michelin but they certainly closed the gap enough for the Ferrari advantage to shine through. After that it was over. Montoya still managed to qualify well but when it mattered Michael was unbeatable winning 11 races in the season. Rubens won 4 of the remaining races and Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher won the other two races. Michael also finished on the podium in every race showing that the Ferrari was not only fast but very reliable. Montoya was consistently fast in qualifying but was unable to convert that to a good finish. If he did not break his car he frequently looked as if he had given up and, with all his problems Ralf seemed kinder to his car and at least won a single race (Malaysia). Neither driver inspired me. The early part of the season McLaren were awful. Not only were the cars unreliable but when they did finish they were slow. Halfway through the season they were gaining on the Williams team and by the end of the season they were as fast AS the Williams cars if not faster. Had the season continued they may have challenged Ferrari (Coulthard did win at Monaco) but now they will have to wait until next year. Both McLaren drivers showed strength. Coulthard as a calm and consistently fast driver that never stopped trying Raikkonen as a very talented driver that will be very good once he overcomes the hot headedness of youth. Renault did not start the season very well either but has finished very well, clearly establishing themselves as the best of the rest. Their controversial, lower engine structure had a lot of problems early in the season, to the extent that I started thinking that it will never succeed, but whatever they did towards the end of the season it started showing some promise. Jenson Button struggled to repeat the form he displayed with Williams and, although he finished better in the driver’s championship, did not look much faster than teammate Trulli. Sauber, with the 2001 Ferrari engine, did very well in the early part of the season. As the year rolled on it was obvious that their engine was not being developed and it was as good as it could get. Heidfeld seemed to drive very well but Massa consistently drove as if he stole the car and frequently retired because of a silly mistake or misjudgement. Of the Honda powered cars it was Jordan that did better and there Fisichella did a much better job than co driver Sato who never looked comfortable. Jaguar eventually got their cars going but could do no better than split the Honda powered cars, earning one point more than BAR and one less than Jordan. Eddie Irvine never inspired me but even he can’t be blamed for the poor performance of the Jag. It was consistently pathetic with occasional flashes of speed. Pedro de la Rosa inspires me even less and certainly did nothing during this season to change my mind. Villeneuve drove the wheels off the BAR even though it was
obvious that it was not fast enough to do anything better than just make it
into the points, if it finishes. I like Villeneuve because he always puts in
100%, even when winning is not possible. The rest: Toyota, Minardi and Arrows did not do well at all. Toyota has a lot to organize and perfect before they can climb up the ranks. Ferrari demonstrated how long it took to build the entire car and become competitive so we will have to wait to see how good Toyota can get. Their drivers did not shine but that could have been the car. Arrows are in financial trouble. A bit of a chicken and egg
problem. Are they broke because they did so badly that their sponsors are
abandoning them? Or are their sponsors abandoning them because they are broke? At Minardi Mark Webber attracted attention by making the car seem better than what it is and Alex Yoong made it seem worse than it really is. Mark may go places but the only places that Alex seems to consistently go to are the sand traps. It was a year of financial turmoil for several teams highlighting the fact that Formula One is now getting to be too expensive for all but the large car manufacturers. Prost failed financially before the season even started, Arrows could not afford to start some races and the TV money initially earmarked for Prost saved Minardi. Are we seeing the demise of the independent teams? Agree or disagree ? Previous Heretic Issues Loading
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