The 2002 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the 2002 Foster's Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 1 September 2002 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium before 91,000 spectators. It was the 14th round of the 2002 Formula One World Championship and the 49th Belgian Grand Prix as part of the Formula One World Championship. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the 44-lap race from pole position. His teammate Rubens Barrichello finished second and Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya claimed third.
Michael Schumacher, the World Drivers' Champion, started from pole position after setting the fastest qualifying lap during the one-hour qualifying session. Kimi Räikkönen of McLaren started second, with Barrichello starting third. At the start, Michael Schumacher maintained the race lead while Barrichello made a better start than Räikkönen to pass him for second. Michael Schumacher led the race for most of the race, only ceding it to Barrichello during the first pit stop cycle, leading to Ferrari's one-two finish. Michael Schumacher secured his tenth victory of the season and the 63rd of his career; he broke Nigel Mansell's record for most victories in one season, which he had previously tied three times.
The race result maintained Michael Schumacher's unassailable lead in the World Drivers' Championship with 122 championship points, 71 ahead of his teammate Barrichello and 78 in front of Montoya. Ferrari extended their unassailable World Constructors' Championship advantage over Williams to 87 championship points with three races remaining in the season.
Background
The 2002 Belgian Grand Prix was the 14th of the 17 races in the 2002 Formula One World Championship and the 49th time it was part of the Formula One World Championship. It took place at the 21-turn Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium on 1 September. For the Grand Prix, the exit of the Bus Stop chicane was modified to allow for a faster exit into the La Source turn. The new pit entrance was moved to right before the Bus Stop chicane end. The track was also resurfaced from La Source to Les Combes corners, as well as from Blanchimont to the Bus Stop chicane. The exit kerb at the top of Eau Rouge turn was flattened to make it quicker, causing drivers to straightline it on the way to Raidillon corner.
Before the race, both the World Drivers' Championship and World Constructors' Championship were already won, with Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher having secured the World Drivers' Championship three races earlier at the and Ferrari took the World Constructors' Championship two races after that at the preceding , with Williams too many championship points behind to be able to catch them. Although both titles were settled, the battle for second in the drivers' standings was not. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello led the battle from Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher and McLaren's David Coulthard.
Michael Schumacher had won the Belgian Grand Prix five times and was aiming to become the first driver to win ten races in a single season, beating Nigel Mansell's record shared four times (). He added, "Of course, I have the best memories of Spa. I've spent so much time there during my career that I always enjoy returning." Barrichello hoped Ferrari would allow him to race against Michael Schumacher in the remaining four races, despite sporting director Jean Todt's indication to prohibit it if it went against Ferrari's interests. He felt finishing runner-up in the drivers' championship would be an improvement over the previous season, adding, "But to be honest it is much more important to win the races itself and then see you finish second in the championship more than anything else, but I would be lying to say it has no importance." Montoya rated Spa-Francorchamps as one of his favourite circuits and hoped it would be a good fit for the Williams squad, especially in dry conditions.
Ten constructors represented by a racing team entered two drivers each for the event. The Arrows team continued to struggle financially following a London High Court injunction that prevented them from selling important assets or attracting new investors, and it was possible that it would not compete in Belgium. Arrows were able to visit Belgium after an American investor reportedly agreed to purchase the team. However, the team withdrew from the race on the night of 30 August on the advice of lawyers due to difficulties in finalising legal procedures of the purchase before qualifying began. Anthony Davidson, British American Racing's (BAR) test driver, replaced regular driver Alex Yoong at Minardi for the second successive race before Yoong returned for the season's final three races.
Although there was no testing for the race, Ferrari's test driver Luca Badoer shook down three F2002 cars sent to Belgium at the Mugello Circuit, while Jaguar's Eddie Irvine shook down front suspension components at Silverstone Circuit for . With four races remaining in the season, several teams reducing development of their 2002 vehicles and began focussing on their -spec cars. In the absence of significant innovations, the teams' primary goal was to find the right balance between the high top speeds required for the Spa-Francorchamps circuit's long straights and the high aerodynamic load required by the second sector's fast corners, testing front and rear wings with varying numbers of profiles and incidence. Jaguar introduced the most important modifications, installing reworked components to the new front suspension on the R3B car in an attempt to address steering issues that its drivers had since the season began. Mercedes and Toyota introduced revised specifications of their V10 engines.
Practice Two one-hour practice sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday preceded the race. Race organisers delayed the first practice session for an hour due to heavy fog, preventing the medical helicopter from landing at nearby hospitals in the case of an accident, shortening the session from an hour to half an hour. Conditions were sunny for the first session. Barrichello lapped fastest at 1:49.009 with two minutes remaining. His teammate Michael Schumacher, Coulthard, Renault's Jarno Trulli, Coulthard's teammate Kimi Räikkönen, Irvine, Jordan's Takuma Sato, Trulli's teammate Jenson Button, Toyota's Mika Salo and Ralf Schumacher followed in the top ten. Michael Schumacher ran wide onto the grass at the fast Pouhon left-hand turn and nearly crashed at high speed, whereas Räikkönen ran onto the grass on the outside before entering the left-hand Blanchimont curve but avoided a crash. BAR's Olivier Panis had an engine failure into Les Combes turn in the final minute; a new Honda V10 engine was fitted in his car by mechanics in 42 minutes.
Lap times fell during the second practice session, which took place later in the afternoon under sunny skies. Räikkönen set the day's quickest lap of 1:47.196 in the final ten minutes. Coulthard was second and was fastest until his teammate's best lap. The Ferrari duo of Michael Schumacher and Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher, Button, Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa, Montoya, Irvine and Salo completed the top ten. Montoya ran off the circuit three times throughout the session. On the second occasion, he lost control of his car's rear approaching Fagnes corner but he avoided hitting the tyre barrier by passing through the gravel trap and returning to the pit lane. Mark Webber stopped his Minardi car at La Source turn with gearbox issues after 25 minutes. De la Rosa stopped his Jaguar when an electrical glitch caused his engine to cut out at the pit lane entry, forcing him to push his car into pit lane. With seven minutes left, Barrichello attempted to go fastest when he spun into the gravel trap at the exit of Malmedy corner, ending his session early.
The third practice session took place in sunny conditions on Saturday morning. Michael Schumacher set the track's first sub-1:45 lap at 1:44.951 with a minute left, 0.888 seconds ahead of his teammate Barrichello in second. The McLaren duo of Räikkönen and Coulthard, the Williams pair of Ralf Schumacher and Montoya, Toyota's Allan McNish, Panis, Button and Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella were in positions three to ten. Webber stopped at Stavelot turn with an electrical issue between the gearbox and engine. His teammate Davidson stopped when his engine cut out and was pushed into the pit lane by marshals. BAR's Jacques Villeneuve removed a bargeboard from his car on a kerb. Felipe Massa locked his brakes into Malmedy corner and ran onto the grass but his Sauber car was undamaged.
Clouds formed over the circuit for the final practice session later in the morning. Räikkönen lapped fastest at 1:44.870 on a new set of tyres after 29 minutes, demoting Michael Schumacher to second. Coulthard, Barrichello, the Williams pair of Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, Salo, Panis, De la Rosa and Button rounded out the top ten. Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher both spun their cars at Malmedy and Les Combes corners, but both continued. Davidson went off the track into Stavelot corner but continued.
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. Although there were forecasts for rain, it was dry and cloudy for qualifying. Michael Schumacher changed his gearbox before qualifying and a spare Ferrari was ready for him if needed. With ten minutes remaining, he won his fifth pole of the season and 48th of his career with a lap time of 1:43.726, the track's first sub-1:44 lap. Schumacher aborted his second run because of oil laid on the circuit by Panis's car, prompting the waving of oil flags. Räikkönen qualified second for the first time in his career, 0.424 seconds slower, steadily improving during qualifying. He was the early pacesetter and set his best time on his final run, going onto the grass with his right rear wheel over the kerb at the Pouhon left-hand curve and lifting dust in the second sector. On his second run, Räikkönen drove through dense smoke from Panis' car on the straight after the Eau Rouge turn. Barrichello used the harder Bridgestone tyre compound and took third, the slower Ferrari driver, after the Minardi cars affected his quickest lap. He was unable to set a fourth quick lap after testing a racing setup tweak, reporting no improvement. The Williams pair were fourth and fifth; both drivers reported car balance issues. Ralf Schumacher took fourth in the final minute. Montoya was unable to remove excess understeer; he was impeded by the slow moving Räikkönen on the racing line at the Bus Stop chicane before moving onto the escape road on his third run, leading to an expletive-laden radio rant. Coulthard selected the harder Michelin tyre compound, causing him to be off the pace owing to less grip and took sixth. Trulli qualified seventh after failing to complete his fourth run due to a pit lane issue. Irvine qualified a season-best eighth. He reported his Jaguar appeared to be extracting the maximum performance from the tyres. Toyota made minor changes to Salo's car and tyre pressure adjustments for his final run to qualify ninth. Button qualified three places behind his teammate Trulli in tenth. Renault removed too much downforce from his racing setup for the last two runs and Villeneuve spun ahead of him on the third.