After many delays I am finally writing my last installment of the F1 report for the 2002 season. When I last reported the Renault team finished an impressive fourth and fifth at Monza. Following this performance the team packed up and traveled to Indianapolis for the US Grand Prix. Qualifying wasn’t very good for the Renault team; Trulli was eighth and Button was fourteenth. However as the race began Jarno had a great start moving into sixth and on lap two when teammates Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher collided and went off into the grass Trulli moved his Renault into fourth. Meanwhile Jenson Button had moved into the top ten and was pressing Fisichella in the Jordan Honda for ninth. As the first pit stops come and go the Renaults stay on the circuit until lap 30 when Trulli pitted followed by Button on lap 31. It appears they are using the same strategy used in Monza by short pitting a one-stop strategy. Many wonder if they will be able to go more than 40 laps to the finish. The stops move them back to 7th and 10th respectively. However as the race continues and other cars begin to stop they began moving back up the leader board. Meanwhile up front the Ferraris are dominating once again. This time its World Champion Michael Schumacher well ahead of his Brazilian teammate Barrichello. As the laps begin to wind down Trulli finds himself in fifth and Button has moved up to eight.
The final couple of laps Michael Schumacher slows down and let Rubens Barrichello catch him. As they approached the finish line the two cars were side by side. Everyone assumed they were setting up for another photo opportunity but at the last moment Barrichello pulled ahead to take the victory. After the race Rubens said he thought Michael was returning the favor from when he pulled over and let Michael win in Austria. However most believe that the pass was a misunderstanding between Schumacher and Barrichello. The win captures Barrichello second place in the Drivers Championship, and for the Ferrari team the clean sweep that they had hoped for. Round Seventeen of the F1 Championship brought the teams to Suzuka, Japan. This would be the final event of the season and for several drivers there final F1 race. For Jenson Button this would be his final race with the Renault team before moving to BAR Honda. Again it was difficult time in qualifying. This time Button was tenth and Trulli was Eleventh. As the race began the two Renault battled each other with Jarno edging Jenson in the Esses. As the first pit stops approach the two Renaults had moved up to seventh and eighth, however after their stops they were back in fourteenth and fifteenth. Once everyone had pitted the Renaults cycled back around to sixth and seventh with Tacuma Sato hot on their tail in the Jordan Honda. Up front it was the Ferraris dominating only this time it didn’t look like Michael was waiting for Rubens.
As the second pit stops begin Jenson Button has a very disappointing 9.8-second stop, which will cost him track position for sure. Then on the following lap the day gets much worse as Jarno Trulli pulls off with engine troubles. It appears that this may not be Renault’s day. As the pit stops finish out Sato is now ahead of Button in 6th. As the laps begin to run down it doesn’t look good for Button as Sato is increasing his lead. However when Ralf Schumacher car falls out of the event in the final laps, Button is able to salvage a sixth place finish scoring one last point for the Renault team. Up front Schumacher wins his eleventh race of the season followed by his teammate Barrichello and young Kimi Raikkonen in the McLaren Mercedes. Montoya finishes fourth in the race and third in the Driver’s Championship. Followed by the Crowd Favorite, Japan’s own Tacuma Sato. As the season ends the Renault team finishes a strong fourth in the Constructor’s standings scoring more than twice as many points as its closest competitor. However they still have a long way to go catch McLaren Mercedes and Williams BMW. Meanwhile Button and Trulli finished Seventh and Eight in the Driver’s standings.
Over the season both drivers were able to show their skills at various events, and each had opportunities to capture podiums but for one reason or another they fell a little short. The cars had reliability problems early in the season, but as the year went along there were more finish than DNFs. The good news is even with all this success at the end of the season the team had already begun work on the 2003 cars. This should help in closing the gap, as Ferrari was the only other top team working on next year’s car. I would have to say that the Renault team has met all their goals for their first full season back in Formula One. Losing Jenson Button may slow the team down at the beginning of next season, but Fernando Alonso is a very talented young driver and should come along quickly. Only time will if the team will be able to compete for podiums consistently and possibly score there first win since 1997. One thing is certain, as it has been for the last 25 years in Formula One, as Renaults Engine development goes the rest of the sport will follow. It appears that Mercedes and BMW have already begun to fall in line with the Wide V engine design, and chances are Ferrari is doing the same. In the past this leading role in development has lead to wins and later championships, so I wouldn’t be surprised if history repeats itself. I look forward to covering next year’s F1 Championship so enjoy the off-season and we will be back in March for Round One from Australia
| Driver’s Standings 1 Schumacher M Ferrari 144 2 Barrichello Ferrari 77 3 Montoya Williams 50 4 Schumacher R Williams 42 5 Coulthard McLaren 41 6 Raikkonen McLaren 24 7 Button Renault 14 8 Trulli Renault 9 |
Constructor’s Standings 1 Ferrari 221 2 Williams 92 3 McLaren 65 4 Renault 23 5 Sauber 11 6 Jordan 9 7 Jaguar 8 8 BAR 7 |