May 2002

31 May 2002 Minardi boss Paul Stoddart has revealed to Autosport magazine that the team does not have enough money to finish the season. Unless the money held up by the Phoenix court case is released, Minardi could go out of business after the British GP. Stoddart said that he will not let the team run up debts, so there are only to choices left: either fold up the team or sell it, possibly to engine supplier Asiatech, which is rumoured to want to enter Formula 1 with its own car in the future. Stoddart would like the other Formula 1 teams to push for a resolution of the Phoenix case and release the Prost money to Minardi. Before the Phoenix case, all other teams except from Arrows had voted for Minardi to get the Prost expenses money.

31 May 2002 Barrichello repeated his performance yesterday in the last day of testing in Silverstone. The Brazilian again clocked the fastest lap time under wind and rain. Villeneuve, who was running with the new modified BAR, clocked the second fastest time.

The Silverstone third day test times:

1. Barrichello (Ferrari) 1'21"640 (59 laps) 2. Villeneuve (Bar) 1'22"365 (51) 3. Alonso (Jaguar) 1'22"769 (50) 4. Heidfeld (Sauber) 1'22"774 (38) 5. De la Rosa (Jaguar) 1'22"935 (33) 6. Sato (Jordan) 1'23"048 (52) 7. Raikkonen (McLaren) 1'23"150 (43) 8. Trulli (Renault) 1'23"250 (29) 9. Button (Renault) 1'23"281 (53) 10. Montoya (Williams) 1'23"654 (32) 11. McNish (Toyota) 1'23"773 (44) 12. Coulthard (McLaren) 1'24"115 (32) 13. Salo (Toyota) 1'24"730 (36) 14. Gene (Williams) 1'24"872 (71) 15. Lemarie (Bar) 1'26"128 (23) 16. Bernoldi (Arrows) 1'24"367 (47) 17. Irvine (Jaguar) 1'40"455 (3)

31 May 2002 BAR will take a new car to the Canadian GP, the outcome of new technical director Geoff Willis' efforts. The new car is significantly different from the old one, but it is an evolution and not a brand new car. The transmission has been completely redesigned and the gearbox has been extensively modified. The new car will also look different from the old one.

30 May 2002 Barrichello was the fastest in the rain-drenched Silverstone tests yesterday. The Brazilian left the McLaren of Räikkönen and Coulthard behind, while Irvine managed to place his Jaguar in front of R. Schumacher and Button.

The Silverstone second day test times:

1. Barrichello (Ferrari) 1'22"055 (47 laps) 2. Raikkonen (McLaren) 1'22"210 (61) 3. Coulthard (McLaren) 1'22"510 (40) 4. Irvine (Jaguar) 1'23"080 (33) 5. R. Schumacher (Williams) 1'23"158 (55) 6. Button (Renault) 1'23"186 (55) 7. Trulli (Renault) 1'23"399 (41) 8. Villeneuve (Bar) 1'23"782 (54) 9. Bernoldi (Arrows) 1'24"367 (47) 10. Montoya (Williams) 1'24"608 (16) 11. Massa (Sauber) 1'24"783 (39) 12. Sato (Jordan) 1'24"829 (14) 13. Fisichella (Jordan) 1'25"031 (23) 14. McNish (Toyota) 1'25"434 (20) 15. Salo (Toyota) 1'25"886 (16) 16. Lemarie (Bar) 1'25"895 (28) 17. Courtney (Jaguar) 1'26"638 (19) 18. De la Rosa (Jaguar) 1'31"891 (9)

30 May 2002 Jenson Button is happy at Renault and want to stay with the team next season. Button is on a long term contract with Williams, that has loaned him to Renault until the end of this season. If Renault decide that they want him to stay, they have the option of negiotiating a loan extension with Williams. Button currently has eight points in the Drivers Championship, having finished in the points inm Malaysia, Brazil and San Marino.

29 May 2002 Privacy screens used by the teams to hide their cars and components from view have been banned by FIA on the ground of safety. Max Mosley said that the use of the screens presents an hazard in case of an emergency in the pitlane and that they also hinder access to the FIA watchdogs, who have to keep the teams under observation all the time.

29 May 2002 Giancarlo Fisichella was the fastest driver out in the first day of the Silverstone tests, keeping Lotterer, Badoer, Räikkönen, Massa and Wurz behind. Several people took trips on the grass because of the wet conditions.

The Silverstone first day test times:

1 FISICHELLA Jordan Honda 1m31.607s 2 LOTTERER Jaguar 1m32.558s 3 BADOER Ferrari 1m33.437s 4 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes 1m34.186s 5 MASSA Sauber Petronas 1m34.981s 6 WURZ McLaren Mercedes 1m34.994s 7 IRVINE Jaguar 1m35.128s 8 DAVIDSON BAR Honda 1m35.565s 9 SARRAZIN Toyota 1m36.903s 10 TRULLI Renault 1m36.976s 11 SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1m37.323s 12 MONTOYA Williams BMW 1m38.309s 13 BRISCOE Toyota 1m38.965s

28 May 2002 Max Mosley has sent a letter to all teams suggesting that manufacturers supply two teams and have points scored from both teams going to a manufacturers rankings table.

28 May 2002 Jarno Trulli's fourth place finish in the Monaco GP has been confirmed by FIA. After examining the black box missing a seal from the Italian's car, the FIA inspectors concluded that no illegal software had been run. The Renault team will also keep the points for the Constructors Championship, but the car will have to undergo the full scrutiny usually employed to check the cars befor the start of a Championship season before it can be used again.

28 May 2002 Jean Todt told British tabloid the Sun that he feels vindicated by the Monaco GP result for the criticism to the Austrian GP result fix. Todt said that the setback Ferrari suffered last weekend in Montecarlo is exactly the sort of thing the team wanted to try and compensate for by issuing the team orders in Austria.

27 May 2002 Speculations are flying that Fernando Alonso will switch to Jaguar next year. Alonso is being lent to Jaguar to test the R3 on Thursday. Jaguar boss Niki Lauda said that he wants to use Alonso, one of the most talented newcomers to Formula 1, to set up a benchmark for the team's test drivers, James Courtney and Andre Lotterer. Renault boss Flavio Briatore said that he is happy for Alonso to be borrowed by Jaguar, because the young driver will get the chance to gain experience of a different Formula 1 car.

27 May 2002 Mika Salo crashed his car into the barrier deliberately to avoid a bigger accident. The Finn felt the brake pedal of his TF102 go soft at Massenet, which is one of the fastest bends in Montecarlo, and decided to go for the barriers sideways to slow himself down and avoid having a more serious accident. Salo said that he believes he could have finished in the points in Monaco.

26 May 2002 The stewards at the Monaco GP have found that the black box in Trulli's car was missing a seal. Consequently, the results of the Monaco GP could not be officially confirmed until as late as next Tuesday.

26 May 2002 One driver took the lead from the start and kept it to the end, but for once it was not M. Schumacher, it was David Coulthard. The Scot jumped ahead of Montoya at the start of the Grand Prix and kept the Colombian behind until the Williams BMW engine gave up and threw him out of the race, putting M. Schumacher in second place. R. Schumacher cruised to third place in front of Fisichella, Trulli and Frentzen. Barrichello, who had dropped down two positions at the start, rammed Räikkönen in an attempt to overtake him. The Finn had to retire and the Brazilian was handed a 10-seconds penalty for the manoeuvre. When he went to take the penalty he sped in the pit lanes, so he was also handed a drive-through penalty. Other casualties of the race include Villeneuve, who raced two laps behind the rest because his car was stuck on the starting grid, McNish, Massa, Bernoldi, Panis, Button and Yoong. This is the first GP this year not to be won by someone called Schumacher. The full race report is available from the Reports page.

The Monaco GP finishing times:

1. COULTHARD McLaren-Mercedes M in 1h45'39"055 2. M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B +1"050 3. R. SCHUMACHER Williams-BMW M +1'17"450 4. TRULLI Renault M +1 lap 5. FISICHELLA Jordan-Honda B +1 lap 6. FRENTZEN Arrows-Cosworth B +1 lap 7. BARRICHELLO Ferrari B +1 lap 8. HEIDFELD Sauber-Ferrari B +2 laps 9. IRVINE Jaguar-Cosworth M +2 laps 10. DE LA ROSA Jaguar-Cosworth M +2 laps 11. WEBBER Minardi-Asiatech M +2 laps 12. BERNOLDI Arrows-Cosworth B +2 laps

25 May 2002 For once Ferrari was not the dominant team in the most exciting qualifying session so far. A tightly-fought duel for pole position developed between M. Schumacher, Barrichello, Montoya and Coulthard, with the Colombiam pipping the Scot to the Monaco GP pole position at the very last second of the qualifying session. Current leader of the Drivers Championship M. Schumacher had to content himself with third place alongside his brother Ralf. The second Ferrari, that of Barrichello, will be on the fifth spot on the grid. Trulli, who had qualifying in sixth place was demoted one place putting Räikkönen in the third row on the grid.

The Monaco GP qualifying session times:

1. MONTOYA Williams-BMW M 1'16"676 (average158.224 Km/h) 2. COULTHARD McLaren-Mercedes M 1'17"068 3. M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'17"118 4. R. SCHUMACHER Williams-BMW M 1'17"274 5. BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'17"357 6. RAIKKONEN McLaren-Mercedes M 1'17"660 7. TRULLI Renault M 1'17"710 8. BUTTON Renault M 1'18"132 9. SALO Toyota M 1'18"234 10. MCNISH Toyota M 1'18"292 11. FISICHELLA Jordan-Honda B 1'18"342 12. FRENTZEN Arrows-Cosworth B 1'18"607 13. MASSA Sauber-Ferrari B 1'19"006 14. VILLENEUVE BAR-Honda B 1'19"252 15. BERNOLDI Arrows-Cosworth B 1'19"412 16. SATO Jordan-Honda B 1'19"461 17. HEIDFELD Sauber-Ferrari B 1'19"500 18. PANIS BAR-Honda B 1'19"569 19. WEBBER Minardi-Asiatech M 1'19"674 20. DE LA ROSA Jaguar-Cosworth M 1'19"796 21. IRVINE Jaguar-Cosworth M 1'20"139 22. YOONG Minardi-Asiatech M 1'21"599

24 May 2002 The tribunal responsible for the Zwelteg area has found in favour of Ferrari in a court case brought against the team by a fan. The judge ruled that there are no regulations forbidding team orders, so Barrichello's move to make way for M. Schumacher at the end of the Austrian GP was not illegal. The judge decided that Ferrari did not show a criminal intent to change the result to influence the bets placed on the outcome of the race because, if the team had had that intention, they would not have carried out the manoeuvre so openly.

24 May 2002 Bernie ecclestone believes that a couple of teams could go bankrupt before the end of the season because of soaring costs. The Formula 1 supremo, who is rumoured to have made payments to Arrows and Minardi to help them stay afloat, would like to see major teams provide whole cars to smaller teams to save the smaller teams from having to spend money and effort on development. The points earned by the cars would go to the team that provided them so, assuming that Ferrari provided a car to Minardi, all points taken in by the car run by Minardi would go to Ferrari for the Constructors Championship. This measure, which would cut costs by 80% for smaller teams while making them more competitive, would require a major overhaul of the current regulations.

24 May 2002 Jos Verstappen has lost his court case against Arrows. It was thought that the court case was over Verstappen's replacement with Heinz-Harald Frentzen, instead it has emerged that Verstappen had taken ARrows to court over some money that he believed he was owed by the team for the 2001 season. The judge found that Verstappen had been in breach of contract and that he had no valid claim. Arrows had counter-sued Verstappen for the breach of contract and the judge found that the team had a valid damage claim against the driver. Verstappen had damaged the team by making comments about team mate Enrique Bernoldi that had caused the collapse of a major sponsorship deal.

24 May 2002 Max Mosley has denied that the Ferrari's team orders in Austria have damaged the image of the sport, though they have blemished Ferrari's own image in the short term. Moslay said that he believes that the events in Austria mean that more people will be watching the Monaco GP. He also refused to comment on what punishment Ferrari might be given for M. Schumacher's podium antics in Austria.

24 May 2002 Talking to the Sun tabloid, Bernie Ecclestone has warned Ferrari not to fix the result of the Monaco GP in the same way the team did in Austria or face the consequences. The Formula 1 supremo is angry at the blatant way Barrichello gave way to M. Schumacher just meters away from the finishing line. The manoeuvre could have been carried out more elegantly, he said, or disguised. Instead, the way it was done insulted the Formula 1 fans and was not justified because it was not a situation where the Championship was at stake. Ferrari will have to take notice of the outrage that their move in Austria sparked, he concluded.

24 May 2002 Paul Stoddart has threatened to withdraw from Formula 1 if the Phoenix affair is not settled soon. The Phoenix Consortium was found not to be entitled to taking part in the current Formula 1 Championship by the High Court two days ago and is currently considering an appeal. Phoenix are backed by Arrows' Tom walkinshaw. With the collapse of Prost Grand Prix, the defunct team's travel benefits had been earmarked for Minardi, but the money has been frozen until Phoenix' claim to Prost's place in the Championship is settled. All other teams have agreed for Prost's travel benefits to go to Minardi, which is in serious need of a cash injection, except for Arrows. Paul Stoddart said that the freezing of Prost's travel benefits has stopped Minardi's development programme and that 22 Minardi employees have had to be made redundant as a result. The Minardi boss said that he refuses to get involved with a behind-the-scenes deal with Walkinshaw and Phoenix and will retire from Formula 1 if it is the only way to ensure that the Minardi teams will survive.

23 May 2002 Jean Todt has admitted that Ferrari's image has been damaged by what happened in Austria and that the team did not expect that kind of reaction from the public. Todt said that Ferrari will keep it in mind for the future. He did not, however, exclude the possibility that the same thing could happen again, as Ferrari's still believes that letting M. Schumacher win was in the best interest of the team.

23 May 2002 A surprisingly fast Trulli stormed his way up to the top of the second Monaco GP Thursday free practice session, leading McNish and Coulthard. Fisichella, whose first practice hour had been marred by a number of technical problems, clocked the fourth fastest time ahead of Salo and R. Schumacher. Barrichello and M. Schumacher contented themselves with seventh and 11th places, while Montoya had the ninth best time and Räikkönen was all the way down to 19th.

The Monaco GP Thursday combined free practice session times:

1. TRULLI Renault M 1'18"915 (average 153.735 km/h) 2. MCNISH Toyota M 1'19"361 3. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'19"597 4. FISICHELLA Jordan Honda B 1'19"680 5. SALO Toyota M 1'19"815 6. R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'19"937 7. BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'19"945 8. WEBBER Minardi M 1'20"028 9. MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'20"264 10. BUTTON Renault M 1'20"375 11. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'20"404 12. PANIS BAR Honda B 1'20"887 13. FRENTZEN Arrows B 1'21"005 14. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'21"086 15. HEIDFELD Sauber B 1'21"638 16. MASSA Sauber B 1'21"683 17. SATO Jordan Honda B 1'21"868 18. DE LA ROSA Jaguar M 1'21"876 19. RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'22"904 20. IRVINE Jaguar M 1'22"917 21. BERNOLDI Arrows B 1'23"150 22. YOONG Minardi M 1'26"518

23 May 2002 M. Schumacher was top of the league again in the first hour of the Thursday free practice in Monaco, but Coulthard was breathing on his neck, clocking a best lap time just 0.3s slower than the German. Trulli displaced Barrichello from third place, Frentzen clocked the fifth fastest time and Villeneuve the sixth. Räikkönen, Montoya and R. Schumacher were low down in the times table.

The Monaco GP Thursday first free practice session times:

1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m21.094s 2 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1m21.388s 3 TRULLI Renault 1m21.907s 4 BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m21.937s 5 FRENTZEN Arrows Cosworth 1m22.248s 6 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1m22.553s 7 PANIS BAR Honda 1m22.711s 8 BUTTON Renault 1m22.864s 9 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes 1m22.904s 10 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1m22.927s 11 IRVINE Jaguar 1m23.330s 12 MCNISH Toyota 1m23.395s 13 MASSA Sauber Petronas 1m23.738s 14 SALO Toyota 1m23.996s 15 WEBBER Minardi Asiatech 1m24.110s 16 MONTOYA Williams BMW 1m24.532s 17 SATO Jordan Honda 1m25.032s 18 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas 1m25.428s 19 BERNOLDI Arrows Cosworth 1m25.496s 20 YOONG Minardi Asiatech 1m26.518s 21 DE LA ROSA Jaguar 1m27.555s 22 FISICHELLA Jordan Honda 1m40.346s

23 May 2002 FIA have won the High Court case brought against them by the Phoenix Consortium over the team's entry into this season's Formula 1 Championship. Phoenix believed that the Prost assets they bought included the entry into the Championship, but yesterday's court ruling means that the last slot can now be taken by another team.

22 May 2002 McLaren have given up on the current season and are concentrating on 2003, according to Ron Dennis. This year's contender, the MP4-17, is nowhere near the standard of Williams and the team is currently battling Renault to keep third place in the Constructors table. McLaren is using a race-on-race approach trying to make incremental improvements to the car, but a quantum leap is required to succeed next season. It is rumoured that the team is considering changing their electronics supplier from TAG to Magneti Marelli, that already supplies Ferrari.

22 May 2002AVEX, one of the largest independent record companies in the world, is Toyota's new sponsor. AVEX' business operations also include graphics, video work and IT systems.

20 May 2002 Jean Todt told French newspaper L'Equipe that Ferrari's team orders in Austria will cause an increase in interest in Formula 1, not a decrease like several people have claimed. Todt argued that lots of people will tune in during the Monaco GP to see what the team will do. He also said that many teams would like to be in the position of Ferrari, having two cars clearly in first and second place during a GP and having the luxury of deciding what driver should finish first. He also added that the fact that everybody was expecting Barrichello to win in Austria is a vindication for the time when Ferrari was criticised for hiring the Brazilian, then seen as a whiner and a good-for-nothing. People know that Barrichello can win and Ferrari have faith in him, he concluded.

19 May 2002 Jean Todt told British tabloid News of the World that M. Schumacher was aware that Barrichello was going to be asked to move aside for him. M. Schumacher was not happy about the decision, that was taken on lap 63 and immeditaly communicated to both drivers, but understood that it was necessary to maximise the team's chances for the championship.

18 May 2002 Takuma Sato crashed his his Lotus 49B at the Historic Monaco Grand Prix. The Japanese, who came out virtually unscathed from a serious accident in Austria, was forced to retire from the competition because his team did not have the spare parts for the classic Lotus, that was not seriously damaged.

18 May 2002 Rubens Barrichello said that hew as very surprised of all the fuss surrounding his moving aisde for team mate M. Schumacher. The Brazilian said that the decision was taken by the team and that the radio conversation with the pits had been very calm, though he would have preffered it if the orders had not been given. He added that he feels as if he had won the race anyway and that he will do his best to win the race in Monntecarlo.

18 May 2002 According to a rumour published by magazine F1 Racing, M. Schumacher is considering retiring at the end of the current season to dedicate more time to his family. There are no records left for the German to break and Barrichello's recent renewal for two years suggests that Ferrari is keen to hold on to the Brazilian, who has apparently been assured that he will play a key role in the team’s future after M. Schumacher leaves. M. Schumacher has a contract with Ferrari until 2004, but a deal with the team could be reached should the World Champion choose to leave. If M. Schumacher really left Ferrari, Barrichello's new team mate could be Fisichella, who made his disappointment clear when he heard that Barrichello had been renewed for the next two seasons, saying that he would now have to wait until 2005 before hoping to have a chance with Ferrari.

17 May 2002 McLaren, Williams, Jordan, BAR and Arrows have got together to form a company called GPT Ltd in order to bid to buy the commercial rights to Formula 1, according to a report in The Times. The company wants to buy the 75% stake in the sport’s rights currently owned by bankrupt media group Kirch, possibly bidding against the group of five carmakers that have been threatening to set up a rival championship in 2007. The five carmakers include BMW, Ford and Mercedes, that provide engines to the teams forming GPT Ltd. Former FIA vice-president and director at Jaguar and Rover Neil Johnson has been appointed to lead GPT Ltd.

16 May 2002 The Phoenix Consortium is in court this week to have a verdict reached as to whether the defunct Prost team they have bought has a right to take part in the Formula 1 championship. Phoenix bought the Prost assets and claims to have bought the entry into the 2002 Formula 1 season with them, but FIA denies that this is the case and has prevented the Phoenix Consortium from taking part in races so far. If the High Court finds in favour of the Phoenix Consortium, Tom Walkinshaw’s TWR organisation will provide key personnel and expertise to the new team.

16 May 2002 Takuma Sato has been declared fit to race in the Monaco GP. The Japanese will however miss driving Graham Hill’s Lotus 49B in this weekend’s Historic Monaco GP.

15 May 2002 Despite the controversy surrounding the Austrian GP, M. Schumacher has won the title of World Sportsman of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Monte Carlo, beating golfer Tiger Woods, cyclist Lance Armstrong, sprinter Maurice Greene and swimmer Ian Thorpe.

14 May 2002 Ferrari are to be floated on the stock exchange by the end of the year. The announcement was made this morning by the shareholders of Fiat, who own 90% of Ferrari's capital. Only a minority proportion of Ferrari is going to be floated, allowing Fiat to retain control over Ferrari. The move follows financial problems at Fiat.

13 May 2002 State owned Swedish gambling syndicate Svenska Spel has cancelled future betting on Formula 1 because of "special circumstances". People who had bet on M. Schumacher and Barrichello in last weekend's Austrian GP will be paid as if both drivers had won. In Italy betting agency Snai decided to do the same thing for Italian gablers to protect the interests of those customers who had bet on Barrichello. Snai will also change the rules on motorsport betting for situations in which it is obvious that the outcome of a race is determined by a team order. Diego Volpe Pasini of the Italian Consumers Rights Association has asked for all betting on Formula 1 to be discontinued in the future.

13 May 2002 Takuma Sato has left the hospital in Graz where he has spent the night under medical observation. The driver, who has returned to England, said that he feels fine and only has some bruising to his legs. He was conscious throughout the accident and remembers moving arms and legs as soon as the car stopped to make sure that he had no broken bones. The announcement whether he will race in the Monaco GP will be made tomorrow by the team.

13 May 2002 FIA have summoned Ferrari in front of the World Council to give explanations on the events at the end of the Austrian GP when Barrichello, who had dominated the whole weekend, was told to move over and make way for team mate M. Schumacher. The hearing will be held in Paris on June the 26th and both drivers will attend, along with a number of Ferrari senior team members. There has been widespread comdemnation of the Ferrari move, that has been seen by the vast majority of fans and by the other teams as a betrayal of sporting spirit. Before the Austrian GP M. Schumacher already led the Drivers Championship with a 21 points lead on second-placed driver Montoya. With a second place finish, M. Schumacher would still have increased his lead on Montoya, who finished the Austrian GP in third place, but by only two points rather than by six. The media in Italy, Germany, Brazil and England has been particualrly vociferous against the Ferrari team orders that lead to the drivers switch at the end of the Austrian GP. Since FIA allows team orders, but only if they do not bring the sport into disrepute, there is a possibility that Ferrari might be fined and the points gained by M. Schumacher and Barichello removed. However, it appears that FIA wants to seew Ferrari because M. Schumacher made Barrichello stand on the top step of the podium during the ceremony, not because of the exchange of places in the last few meters of the race.

13 May 2002 Jordan driver Takuma Sato, who was involved in a massive shunt with Heidfeld, has spent the night under observation in the hospital in Graz. Miracolously the Japanese only suffered soft tissue damage and has no broken bones. The team, that received the first season's points in Austria thanks to Fisichella's fifth place finish, hopes that Sato will be fit enough to race in Montecarlo.

12 May 2002 The Italian national organisation for the protection of consumers rights, SOS Italia, has denounced Ferrari to the Italian courts for manipulating the result of the Austrian GP and causing financial damage to those who had placed bets on the outcome of the race. Diego Volpe Pasini, the coordinator of the organisation, released a note saying that the Italian Finance Ministry has taken in million of euros as taxes on the bets placed on Barrichello, a popular choice following the Brazilian's performance in free practice and qualifying. There are two possible solutions according to the note, either Ferrari and the Finance Ministry reimburse the cost of the bets, or they pay out the win to the people who placed bets on Barrichello.

12 May 2002 Barrichello took the lead from pole position in the Austrian GP and held it unchallenged until the very end ...when he slowed down and let team mate M. Schumacher through to win following team orders. The spectactors at the track expressed their disapproval of the move by hissing and booing the German, who also appeared to be very upset by the team decision. The Austrian GP was marred by a serious accident caused by what appears to be a driver's error on Heidfeld's side. The Sauber driver lost control of his car and cut across a curve, mowing out Sato's Jordan sideways when he came back on the track on the other side and missing Montoya by a whisker. Heidfeld was lifetd out of his destroyed car in shock and suffering bruising on his leg. The blameless Sato was not so lucky. The Japanese driver was taken out of his car by paramedics and put on a stretcher, making onlookers fear for the worse. Sato was then taken away by ambulance, but the first reports indicate that he is OK and only suffered some neck bruising. The extended presence of the safety car on the track did not seem to affect the pit stop strategies too much and Ferrari went on to put their drivers in the first two positions, though in what everybody agrees is the wrong order. The two Williams drivers finished third and fourth, while Fisichella brought home the first points for Jordan and Coulthard finished in sixth place. Räikkönen had suffered from a blown engine early on, while Villeneuve ran his best race so far this season, only to be handed a drive-through penalty and having to retire with a blown engine on the last lap.

At the podium ceremony a sombre M. Schumacher refused to stand on the top step, insisting that Barrichello should be there. He then accepted the first place trophy and immediately gave it to Barrichello to keep, taking the second place trophy for himself. Montoya, who had finished third, watched the antics of the two Ferrari drivers in amusement. At the drivers' press conference after the race, M. Schumacher again insisted that Barrichello, who had outpaced him throughout the whole weekend, take the winner's seat in the center. Barrichello appeared to be a lot less upset by the team decision than anybody else. He might not have received the ten points, but it is absolutely clear to all and everybody that he is the real winner of the Austrian GP, regardless of what is down on paper. He was consistently faster than everybody else, including team mate M. Schumacher, throughout the whole weekend and he would have won unchallenged if he had not been ordered to make way for the current World Champion.

The Austrian GP finishing times:

1. M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B in 1h33'51"562 2. BARRICHELLO Ferrari B +0"182 3. MONTOYA Williams-BMW M +17"730 4. R. SCHUMACHER Williams-BMW M +18"448 5. FISICHELLA Jordan-Honda B +49"965 6. COULTHARD McLaren-Mercedes +50"672 7. BUTTON Renault M +52"229 8. SALO Toyota M +1'09"425 9. McNISH Toyota M +1'09"718 10. VILLENEUVE BAR-Honda B +1 lap 11. FRENTZEN Arrows-Cosworth B +2 laps 12. WEBBER Minardi-Asiatech M +2 laps

11 May 2002 Barrichello took pole position for the Austrian GP after an eventful qualifying session that did not suffer from the predicted rain. In the first hour Trulli span on the bend before the finishing straight and forced Barrichello to crash out to avoid hitting the Renault and Button. Frentzen, who was behind the Ferrari, skidded on the oil left by Trulli's car and ended up on the gravel. The session was interrupted for 13 minutes while the oil was being cleaned off. M. Schumacher held the fastest time at the end of the first session, but in the second session Barrichello stormed to the top of the times table, while R. Schumacher put himslef between the Ferrari, relegating his older brother to the second row on the grid. Motnoya, who suffered from problems to his car, spent most of the qualifying time in the pits, ony managing the fourth best time. Heidfeld and Räikkönen will share the third row on the grid.

The Austrian GP qualifying times:

1. Barrichello (Bra/Ferrari) 1'08"082 (average 228.747 km/h) 2. R. Schumacher (Ger/Williams-BMW) 1'08"364 3. M. Schumacher (Ger/Ferrari) 1'08"704 4. Montoya (Col/Williams-BMW) 1'09"118 5. Heidfeld (Ger/Sauber) 1'09"129 6. Raikkonen (Fin/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'09"154 7. Massa (Bra/Sauber) 1'09"228 8. Coulthard (GB/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'09"335 9. Panis (Fra/Bar-Honda) 1'09"561 10. Salo (Fin/Toyota) 1'09"661 11. Frentzen (Ger/Arrows) 1'09"671 12. Bernoldi (Bra/Arrows-Cosworth) 1'09"723 13. Button (GB/Renault) 1'09"780 14. McNish (GB/Toyota) 1'09"818 15. Fisichella (Ita/Jordan-Honda) 1'09"901 16. Trulli (Ita/Renault) 1'09"980 17. Villeneuve (Can/Bar-Honda) 1'10"051 18. Sato (Gia/Jordan-Honda) 1'10"058 19. De La Rosa (Spa/Jaguar) 1'10"533 20. Irvine (GB/Jaguar) 1'10"741 21. Webber (Aus/Minardi) 1'11"388 22. Yoong (Mal/Minardi) 1'12"336

10 May 2002 Barrichello managed to get ahead of team mate M. Schumacher in the second hour of free practice in Austria. Montoya and Räikkönen also climbed up from the low positions they had landed in the first hour, while Coulthard and R. Schumacher stayed low. McNish and Bernoldi managed to clock the fifth and sixth fastest times.

The Austrian GP Friday practice combined session times:

1. BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'10"549 (average 220.749 Km/h) 2. M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'10"579 3. MONTOYA Williams-BMW M 1'10"613 4. RAIKKONEN McLaren-Mercedes M 1'10"657 5. MCNISH Toyota M 1'11"140 6. BERNOLDI Arrows-Cosworth B 1'11"244 7. DE LA ROSA Jaguar-Cosworth M 1'11"336 8. PANIS BAR-Honda B 1'11"382 9. COULTHARD McLaren-Mercedes M 1'11"416 10. SATO Jordan-Honda B 1'11"537 11. IRVINE Jaguar-Cosworth M 1'11"608 12. R. SCHUMACHER Williams-BMW M 1'11"652 13. FRENTZEN Arrows-Cosworth B 1'11"743 14. BUTTON Renault M 1'11"770 15. MASSA Sauber-Ferrari B 1'12"013 16. HEIDFELD Sauber-Ferrari B 1'12"023 17. TRULLI Renault M 1'12"155 18. FISICHELLA Jordan-Honda B 1'12"193 19. SALO Toyota M 1'12"375 20. YOONG Minardi-Asiatech M 1'12"564 21. VILLENEUVE BAR-Honda B 1'12"574 22. WEBBER Minardi-Asiatech M 1'13"219

10 May 2002 Ferrari dominated the first hour of the Friday practice session in Austria. M. Schumacher clocked the fastest lap ahead of team mate Barrichello, the two Sauber of Massa and Heidfeld and the two Jordan of Fisichella and Sato. Coulthard had the seventh best time, Räikköonen the 18th, R. Schumacher the 11th and Montoya the 12th.

The Austrian GP Friday practice first session times:

1. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'11"072 (average 219.124 Km/h) 2. BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'11"280 3. MASSA Sauber Petronas B 1'12"013 4. HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1'12"023 5. FISICHELLA Jordan Honda B 1'12"193 6. SATO Jordan Honda B 1'12"569 7. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'12"582 8. FRENTZEN Arrows Cosworth B 1'12"614 9. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'12"638 10. PANIS BAR Honda B 1'12"653 11. R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'12"702 12. MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'12"876 13. TRULLI Renault M 1'12"991 14. BUTTON Renault M 1'13"110 15. IRVINE Jaguar Cosworth M 1'13"119 16. BERNOLDI Arrows Cosworth B 1'13"170 17. MCNISH Toyota M 1'13"188 18. RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'13"391 19. SALO Toyota M 1'13"597 20. DE LA ROSA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'13"683 21. WEBBER Minardi Asiatech M 1'14"351 22. YOONG Minardi Asiatech M 1'15"593

9 May 2002 Rubens Barrichello has been confired at Ferrari for the next two seasons. The Italian team today announced that they have signed a new contract with the Brazilian until the end of 2004, bringing him in line with the contracts of other key personnel, such as Ross Brawn and team boss Jean Todt. The announcement puts an end to the rumours about who Barrichello's replacement would be. The names recently mentioned as possible candidates for the second drive at Ferrari included Felipe Massa, Jenson Button and Juan Pablo Montoya.

9 May 2002 The weather forecast for the Austrian GP is for wet conditions on Friday followed by dry sunny weather on Saturday. Race day will be warm, but there will likely be downpours and thunderstorms.

9 May 2002 Asiatech is reportedly planning to build its own car and possibly offer the whole package to one of the teams they already provide engines to. Minardi has allegedly already been approached. Asiatech's long term plan, however, is to enter Formula 1 as a team in its own right. Should this happen, the teams that choose to buy a whole car/engine package from Asiatech would be left in trouble.

8 May 2002 A few Formula 1 teams are planning to use a new advertising medium from next season. The advertising will appear on the cars' wheel rims during movement, but the effect will only be visible on TV, not on the track. The technicians will be able to change the advert during a GP by sending a signal to the car from the pits. Apparently a similar technology could be also employed during football matches in the near future.

8 May 2002 The Sauber team, that enjoyed a fourth and fifth finish in Spain, will use a new specification Ferrari V10 engine in Austria, the Petronas 02b.

8 May 2002 Niki Lauda has had a go at several team owners. The Austrian lashed out at Eddie Jordan who, accrding to Lauda, "prefers collecting extortionately expensive yachts instead of looking after his F1 team". Tom Walkinshaw is guilty of making suspicious deals and nothing more needs to be said. The Minardi team are "cheapjack racers". Ron Dennis' team is not good enough.
Eddie Jordan was very quick to reply that Lauda is throwing mud at other teams to try and hide the Jaguar team's dismal peformance, while Paul Stoddart said that nis team's "cheapjack racers" have done as well as the Jaguar team, which has a budget of 150 million dollars.

8 May 2002 Peugeot, who pulled out of Formula 1 in 2000, have denied rumours that they are considering a return to the sport. Peugeot’s motorsport boss Corrado Provera dubbed it a "silly rumour" and said that it is not part of the company's strategy. The French company is happy to stick to rally, where they are dominating both the drivers and the constructors championships.

8 May 2002 Today is the 20th anniversary of the death of brilliant driver Gilles Villeneuve. On 8 May 1982 at 13.52 Villeneuve's Ferrari collided with Jochen Mass' March and took off, sending him to land in the fences still strapped to the seat of his 126 C2. The accident was fatal to the 32 year old driver, who had started his Formula 1 career with McLaren in 1977. Villeneuve had been recruited into the Ferrari team by Enzo Ferrari, who needed a replacement for Niki Lauda. Gilles Villeneuve took part in 67 GPs, winning six and finishing second in the Drivers Championship in 1979, behind team mate Jody Scheckter. Gilles Villeneuve, father of World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, is being remembered today by his many fans.

7 May 2002 Gary Anderson, Jordan' Director of Race and Test Engineering, said that the gearbox and hydraulic problems that marred the team's performance in Spain have been resolved. An interim solution to the hydraulic issue has been found while the team manufacturs a new part.

6 May 2002 Some of the liquidated Prost team assets, inclusing cars and parts, have been auctioned off at the Palais des Congres in Paris in the first of four auctions. The twelve cars auctioned raised 655,000 pounds, with the AP03 driven by Jean Alesi fetching 150,000 pounds. The team's trucks, trailers and motorhome will go under the hammer in the next sale. The entry into the Formula 1 Championship has already been sold to Charles Nickerson’s Phoenix group, though FIA has so far prevented the Briton from taking part in the GPs.

5 May 2002 The campaign to bring down the cost of Formula 1 has a new supported. Bernie Ecclestone said that he is going to meet with all teams to find a way of protecting the the poorer ones. He believes that they will try to cut back on technology and spend less money. If all teams agree to act in the same way, Ecclestone said, all the cars wil be slower and that will not make a competetive difference, but there will be a massive reduction in spending. He did not, however, guerantee that teams will be prevented from going bankrupt.

4 May 2002 Eddie Jordan has denied that Honda will stop providing engines to the team next season, despite strong rumours to that regard. Jordan has a contract with Honda until the end of next season.

4 May 2002 Nick Heidfeld is rumoured to be eyeing a switch to new team Toyota next season. Renault's drivers Heidfeld and Button have both been mentioned by Toyota president Ove Andersson as drivers destined for success. Heidfeld, who has admitted that he would be interested in moving to Toyota, would be the replacement of Allan McNish if the deal went ahead. Heidfeld's contract with Sauber expires at the end of next season, but Peter Sauber said that he woud let Heidfeld go if he so wished.

4 May 2002 Bridgestone have developed a new compound for the A1-Ring. The Austrian circuit's surface is very smooth and offers little grip, but the soft compounds usually employed on this type of surface are not strong enough for the demanding corners of the A1-Ring. The new compounds is strong and also gives good adhesion. M. Schumacher and Ferrari, on Bridgestone, have never won a race at the A1-Ring.

3 May 2002 M. Schumacher and Ferrari have both been nominated for the Sporting Awards, that will be given out on Saturday the 14th of May in Montecarlo.

3 May 2002 BMW boss Mario Theissen said that the new Formula 1 one-engine rule, which will come into force from next season, is unworkable. According to Theissen the rulle will probably put teams off taking part in the Friday practice to save the engine. He also said that the rules are not tight enough, as there is no clear definition of what constitutes a "new engine". It is not clear what components can and can not be replaced, also, there is no clear indicaion as to who will oversee the repairs of the "one engine" during a race weekend.

2 May 2002 Smaller Formula 1 teams could be given more track time to test on GP weekends, according to a FIA proposal. The move is aimed at reducing costs for the teams with small budgets that can not afford the expense of testing. There is a possibility that the proposal will be tried out at Montecarlo.

2 May 2002 Cristiano da Matta, who currently drives for the ChampCar Toyota team, is due to test a TF102 at Paul Ricard in France later on this month. If the test is successful, he might switch to Formula 1.

2 May 2002 Cosworth have said that they are prepared to supply a third team next season. Jaguar and Arrows already use the Ford Cosworth engines and the third team could be Jordan, which is on the brink of losing the supply of Honda engines.

1 May 2002 Giancarlo Fisichella has admitted that moving to Jordan might have been an error of judgement. His old Benetton team, now called Renault, is currently pressing McLaren for third place in the Constructors Championship while Fisichella's new team, Jordan, is in serious trouble. The Italian said that at the time he made his decision to switch team, Benetton was three seconds down. Jordan has recently made 59 employees redundant.

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande