The 2002 Canadian Grand Prix (formally the Grand Prix Air Canada 2002) was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 9 June 2002 before a record-breaking 117,000 spectators. It was the eighth round of seventeen in the 2002 Formula One World Championship, one of two North American races and the 34th Canadian Grand Prix on the Formula One calendar. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher won the 70-lap race after starting from second position. McLaren's David Coulthard finished in second and Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello was third.
Going into the race, Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship and his team Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship. Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya took pole position for the sixth time in his career, with the quickest lap time in the one-hour qualifying session. At the end of the first lap, Barrichello passed Montoya for the lead. The safety car was deployed on the 14th lap when marshals were unable to move Jacques Villeneuve's British American Racing (BAR) car. Michael Schumacher took the lead for the first time in the race when Barrichello made the first of two scheduled pit stops on lap 26 before making his own stop 12 laps later. Montoya retook the lead and held it until his second pit stop on lap 51, when he relinquished it to Michael Schumacher, who kept it to the race finish.
It was Michael Schumacher's sixth win of the season and 59th of his career. The win strengthened his World Drivers' Championship lead to 43 championship points over the Williams pair of Ralf Schumacher and Montoya in joint second. In the World Constructors' Championship, Ferrari extended their lead to 32 championship points over Williams, McLaren a further 21 championship points behind with nine races remaining in the season.
Background
The 2002 Canadian Grand Prix was the eighth of seventeen rounds in the 2002 Formula One World Championship and took place at the temporary road course Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 9 June 2002. It was the 34th Canadian Grand Prix on the Formula One calendar and one of two races in North America. The Ferrari Challenge, Formula Ford 1600 and the Victory Lane Historic Can-Am held support races during the weekend.
Following the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; Formula One's regulatory body) requested that the circuit be shortened, increasing the race length from 69 to 70 laps. For safety reasons, the pit lane was extended parallel to the start/finish straight and straightened. The exit was now located outside the right-hand Virage Senna corner rather than the left-hand turn before it. The L'Epingle hairpin to the east was shortened by , and gravel trap run-off sections between the first two corners and the hairpin were replaced with pavement to give drivers better car control if they ran off the circuit. The barrier at turn 13's exit was moved rearward and replaced with a tyre barrier. To improve grip, the renovated areas received new asphalt.
Heading into the Grand Prix, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 60 championship points, followed by the Williams duo of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya in joint second with 27 championship points each. McLaren's David Coulthard was fourth (20) and Michael Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello was fifth (12). Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 72 championship points, ahead of Williams on 54 and McLaren on 24. Renault were fourth on 11 and Sauber were fifth on eight.
Following the on 26 May, the teams evaluated aerodynamic, electrical, and car components, tyres, and racing setups at various European circuits in preparation for the Canadian Grand Prix. Ten out of eleven teams tested at Northamptonshire's Silverstone Circuit from 28 to 30 May. Giancarlo Fisichella (Jordan) lapped fastest on the first day, and Barrichello led on the second and final days. Minardi spent two days testing aerodynamic and downforce setups at Italy's Variano Circuit. Luca Badoer, Ferrari's test driver, tested car components on the Ferrari F2002 at the Fiorano Circuit in Italy on 3 June. British American Racing (BAR) spent four days testing the 004 car's aerodynamic package and an intermediate specification of gearbox components at France's Circuit Paul Ricard.
Prior to the event, Ferrari and its top driver, Michael Schumacher, had won five of seven races, with the exception of the and the preceding Monaco Grand Prix. Despite his dominance, Michael Schumacher dismissed Coulthard's victory at Monaco as a one-off due to the track's tight and bumpy nature, but expressed confidence in the race in Canada due to Ferrari's increased race pace. Mercedes-Benz vice-president Norbert Haug warned the audience not to expect a repetition of Coulthard's Monaco win since the Montreal track was unlikely to favour the McLaren MP4-17. Barrichello said he had achieved something in every race in 2002 to make him "feel good about my performance, whether it was taking pole in the first race in Australia or setting the fastest race lap in the last one in Monaco", adding, "I feel as though I am knocking on the big door and I am coming to Canada in a very motivated mood."
There were eleven teams (each representing a different constructor) with two drivers each for the Grand Prix, with no changes from the season entry list. Most teams focused substantially on their cars' braking systems because the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve put a lot of strain on them, and several teams tested brakes from various manufacturers, including Brembo, Carbon Industrie and Hitco. BMW and Mercedes introduced more powerful engines; McLaren ran theirs in qualifying and Williams during the race. Sauber debuted new front suspension systems that use titanium lower wishbones rather than steel. BAR designer Geoff Willis extensively changed the 004 car, installing two fins that extended from the centre of the side to the front of the rear wheels. Jaguar received a new V10 engine from Cosworth for practice and qualifying and Toyota gave driver Mika Salo a new TF102 chassis.
Practice Preceding the race were two one-hour practice sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday. Conditions were warm and sunny for the first practice session; teams tested fuel loads and tyre compounds with their drivers. Barrichello led with a 1:16.930 lap set in the session's last moments. Michael Schumacher, Fisichella, the McLaren pair of Coulthard and Kimi Räikkönen, Arrows's Heinz-Harald Frentzen, BAR's Olivier Panis, Sauber's Felipe Massa, Montoya and Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa followed in the top ten. Following his final fast lap, Michael Schumacher run slightly wide at the final turn and hit with the exit outside barrier, breaking his right-rear wheel rim. When his car began tilting sideways on the start/finish straight, he carefully drove to the pit lane. Enrique Bernoldi stopped his Arrows car at turn six with a minor hydraulic fault.
It continued to be warm and sunny for the second practice session. Coulthard set the day's fastest time of 1:15.407, almost four-tenths of a second faster than Michael Schumacher's pole lap in 2001. Montoya, Michael Schumacher, Räikkönen, Ralf Schumacher, Salo, Panis, Barrichello, BAR's Jacques Villeneuve and Frentzen rounded out the top ten. Jarno Trulli's Renault stopped on the track seven minutes into the session with an undisclosed technical issue, forcing him to miss the rest of Friday practice.
Conditions were fine and warm for the third practice session. Michael Schumacher posted the quickest lap time of 1:14.509 shortly before the session ended, with the fastest four racers all lapping in under 1:15. The Williams duo of Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, Barrichello, Räikkönen, Frentzen, Panis, Massa, Coulthard and Villeneuve completed the top ten. After 15 minutes, Jordan's Takuma Sato spun at turn six and then went onto the grass at turn eight. Räikkönen lost control of his McLaren's rear after turn four, although he missed striking the wall and spent almost a minute reversing to continue racing.
The final practice session was held in cool and overcast conditions after cloud cover obscured the sun. Michael Schumacher set the session's fastest lap time of 1:13.395 after 17 minutes, 0.251 seconds faster than Montoya. Barrichello, Räikkönen, Ralf Schumacher, Coulthard, Massa, his Sauber teammate Nick Heidfeld, Villeneuve and Fisichella were in positions three to ten. Some drivers lost control of their cars during the session. Barrichello locked his tyres mounting the kerbs into the turn eight and nine chicane and went airborne before crashing into the outside wall, removing Barrichello's right-front wheel. His Ferrari was repaired in less than two hours so he could compete in qualifying. Eddie Irvine's Jaguar stopped at the hairpin at the end of practice due to a fuel pump failure.
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. White clouds blocked the sun, resulting in lower ambient temperatures throughout qualifying. With four minutes remaining, rain began to fail on the circuit, stopping drivers from lapping quicker. Montoya's lap time of 1:12.836 earned him his third pole position of the season and sixth of his career, three seconds faster than the 2001 pole lap time and it was the only sub-1:13 qualifying lap. Michael Schumacher qualified second, 0.182 seconds slower, after briefly holding pole position in qualifying until Montoya's second run. He aborted his final run because the rain had made the track damp. In his repaired Ferrari, Barrichello qualified third after losing control of the rear at the entry to turn four on his last run on the wet circuit. He returned to the pit lane with his car undamaged. Ralf Schumacher, fourth, drove the spare Williams car setup for Montoya because his car developed a pneumatic engine valve gear leak. Räikkönen was the faster of the McLaren drivers in fifth after consistent running. Fisichella qualified sixth, his best result of the season at the time, setting his fastest lap with four minutes remaining when the track was least damp. Heidfeld qualified seventh. He made a slight racing setup tweak for his third run, which did not help his car. Coulthard, seventh, had his second and third runs hampered by oil from Sato's car, and he spun at the final turn attempting to lap quicker on the damp track. Villeneuve took ninth, his best qualifying result of 2002 thus far. With six minutes remaining, as he drove out from the pit lane exit line to begin his final flying lap, his rear wheels locked up due to a gearbox failure, and he went onto the grass. Trulli, tenth, damaged his Renault's right-rear suspension in an accident with a concrete wall at the turn nine exit. He drove cautiously to the pit lane and got into the spare car.