The 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the 2002 Grande Prêmio do Brasil) was a Formula One motor race held before 120,000 spectators on 31 March 2002 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil. It was the third round of seventeen in the 2002 Formula One World Championship and the only one to take place in South America. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher won the 71-lap race from second position. Williams's Ralf Schumacher finished in second and McLaren's David Coulthard was third.
Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship before the race while Williams led the World Constructors' Championship. Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya set the fastest lap time in the one-hour qualifying session to start the race from pole position. Michael Schumacher took the race lead at the start, but Montoya smashed his front wing into Schumacher's left-rear wheel while attempting to retake it, eliminating his chances of victory. He held the lead until he let his lighter-fuelled, one-stopping teammate Rubens Barrichello take the lead on lap 14 before retiring three laps later due to a loss of hydraulic pressure. Michael Schumacher therefore retook the race lead and held it for the most of the race, defeating his brother Ralf Schumacher in the final laps to win by 0.588 seconds.
Michael Schumacher's victory was his second of the season and 55th of his career, extending his World Drivers' Championship lead to eight championship points over Ralf Schumacher in second and ten over Montoya in third. With fourteen races remaining in the season, Ferrari decreased Williams' World Constructors' Championship lead to six points.
Background
The 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix was the third round of seventeen in the 2002 Formula One World Championship. It was held on 31 March 2002 at the anti-clockwise Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil. It was the season's only event in South America. The Grand Prix featured eleven teams of two drivers (each representing a different constructor), with no changes to the season entry list. Phoenix Finance did not file an entry application to the event after attempting to do so at the preceding . Tyre suppliers Bridgestone and Michelin brought two new dry compounds for the Grand Prix.
Going into the race, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 14 championship points, ahead of Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya with 12 championship points. Montoya's teammate Ralf Schumacher was third on 10 championship points, ahead of McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen and Jaguar's Eddie Irvine. Williams led the World Constructors' Championship with 22 championship points; eight points ahead of Ferrari in second and ten ahead of McLaren in third.
Following the Malaysian Grand Prix on 17 March, nine of the eleven teams tested aerodynamic and mechanical components, spare cars, racing setups and tyres on their cars for four days at Spain's Circuit de Catalunya from 19 to 22 March as preparation for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Jaguar focused on chassis development to decide whether to race their previous chassis, the R2, or develop the R3 car with their test team, which performed poorly. Ultimately, Jaguar decided to keep the R3 car. McLaren test driver Alexander Wurz (McLaren) lapped fastest on the first and second days. while Michael Schumacher led on the third day. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello led on the final day. Arrows did not test because their car could not be sent to Europe for testing, while Minardi did not test because their new engine did not fit in their previous car.
Ferrari's main 2002 car, the F2002, was launched that weekend; the team had previously used a modified version of their 2001 car, the F2001, for the first two rounds. Originally scheduled to debut in the first race in Australia, problems with its performance forced the team to develop the car, delaying its debut. Michael Schumacher received one F2002 chassis, while teammate Barrichello used a modified F2001. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; Formula One's governing body) granted Ferrari's request for four more sets of tyres for Michael Schumacher's spare car because the wheels on the F2002 vehicle did not fit the year-old spare F2001 car. Other teams did not make significant modifications in Brazil, instead focussing on honing their cars ahead of the first European race, the .
Michael Schumacher stated that with the F2002 car, he was more optimistic about winning the Grand Prix than he had ever been, but that gaining championship points early in the season was critical. Ralf Schumacher stated that he was convinced Williams would beat Ferrari in Brazil after testing in Spain. His teammate, Montoya, had led the Grand Prix the previous year and appeared to be on his way to his first career victory until the rear of his car was hit by Arrows' lapped Jos Verstappen. Montoya hoped he could "make up for the lost opportunity, especially because last season we were stronger at Interlagos than in Malaysia." McLaren's David Coulthard stated that his explicit goal was to win his second consecutive Brazilian Grand Prix, but he was also focused on earning his first championship points of the season after retiring from the first two races.
Practice Two one-hour practices on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday preceded the race. The first practice session took place on a dusty, bumpy track in sunny and hot conditions, causing several drivers to lose control of their car. Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap of 1:15.627, one second ahead of Ralf Schumacher. Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella, the Sauber duo of Nick Heidfeld and Felipe Massa, Arrows's Enrique Bernoldi, Renault's Jenson Button, Jordan's Takuma Sato, Montoya and Arrows' Heinz-Harald Frentzen followed in the top ten. An incident occurred during the session when Räikkönen stalled in the middle of the circuit after spinning out at the blind left-hand Descida do Sol turn halfway through—the incident necessitated a suspension while marshals removed the car. All drivers returned to the pit lane for six minutes. Sato spun and stalled his car at turn four with a minute to go, ending practice prematurely. Montoya sustained a rear tyre puncture and lost a pair of tyres because he was denied a replacement.
In the second practice session, which took place later in the afternoon in hot weather, Coulthard set fast times in all three sectors, recording the day's fastest lap of 1:15.075. The Williams teammates of Montoya and Ralf Schumacher were second and fourth, respectively, separated by Toyota's Allan McNish running a light fuel load in third. Michael Schumacher (who spun under braking at the left-handed turn one when he struck a bump in the racing surface and stopped with the rear wing resting against the barrier on the run-off area), Räikkönen, Barrichello, Button, British American Racing's (BAR) Jacques Villeneuve and Arrows' Pedro de la Rosa completed the top ten. After the session, the stewards penalised Sato with the loss of his fastest qualifying lap time because he exited the pit lane when the red light was illuminated during the first practice session, an offence per the sporting regulations.
It was sunny and warm for the third practice session that took place on Saturday morning. Michael Schumacher lapped fastest again, this time at 1:13.837 on his final lap towards the end of the session. Räikkönen, Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher, Coulthard, Montoya, Button, Heidfeld, Massa and Villeneuve occupied positions two through ten. Fifteen minutes into the session, Bernoldi locked his front wheels leaving turn four and spun into the inside of turn five before continuing. Sato also spun but avoided stalling his car and continued driving.
The final practice session later in the morning was likewise sunny and warm, with teams fine-tuning their car setups before qualifying. Ralf Schumacher set the fastest time of the session, a 1:13.543, with a minute left. He was 0.020 seconds ahead of Coulthard in second. The Renault duo of Button and Jarno Trulli, Michael Schumacher, Räikkönen, Montoya, Barrichello, Toyota's Mika Salo and Heidfeld were in positions three through ten. Incidents delayed the session, as Massa's car broke down at the side of the track on the start/finish straight—the stranded car forced a red flag suspension as marshals needed to clear the track— Sato spun out after hitting the kerbing and tyre barriers at turn eight, removing the front wing. Following the session, the FIA announced that Barrichello's fastest qualifying time would be stripped since he exited the pit lane when the red light was on.
Qualifying
Each driver was allowed twelve laps during Saturday's one-hour qualifying session, with starting positions determined by the drivers' quickest laps. During this session, the 107% rule was in effect, requiring each driver to remain within 107% of the quickest lap time in order to qualify for the race. Qualifying was held in sunny and very hot weather conditions, and no driver ventured onto the circuit until after 20 minutes had passed. Montoya took the lead halfway through qualifying, and secured his first pole position of the season and fourth of his career with a 1:13.114 lap on his third run. He was pleased with the race setup tweaks made to his car following the last practice session, which enhanced balance, especially after braking heavily for the first left-hand corner after the pit lane. Michael Schumacher completed nine of his twelve laps and qualified second, 0.127 seconds behind, after losing control of his Ferrari on his third and last run late in qualifying. The mechanics' rear wing tweak did not make his Ferrari faster, but he was the only Bridgestone-shod runner in the top seven places. Ralf Schumacher was the early pace setter and took third, having used qualifying to locate a decent racing setup. Coulthard qualified fourth, one spot higher than the previous year, and he was pleased with the McLaren MP4-17's balance when carrying a full fuel load. His teammate Räikkönen qualified fifth after switching to the spare McLaren for one lap because his racing car experienced a minor hydraulic failure on his first lap on the track and needed to be rectified before he could drive it again. Trulli and Button from Renault qualified sixth and eighth, respectively. Trulli encountered slower cars on all of his runs, whereas Button noted that his car was slightly overweight following a weight distribution tweak for his latter runs.