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The events at Imola, however, sqashed all those faint hopes flat. Throughout the wet practice sessions the Ferraris just went quicker and quicker, with both drivers on excellent form. Saturday's qualifying brought a particularly commendable performance from Rubens Barrichello who, until the last minutes of the session, held an impressive pole position using Michael's spare F2002 chassis. Michael had to work extremely hard on his last run to snatch that pole from Rubens and then only by a smidgen. Barrichello clearly had his head down to the grindstone. He had not scored any points so far this season and the constant rumours about pay cuts and being replaced by Felipe Massa must have rankled. The race itself, whilst a delight to Ferrari fans, was a poor advertisement for F1 racing. Michael simply stormed into the distance, gaining almost one second per lap over his pursuing sibling in the Williams BMW. Barrichello, out-fumbled at the start, had to stay behind Ralf with no opportunity of getting past on this peculiar circuit which does not feature a single passing place. A blindingly fast lap just before his pit stop put him ahead of the Schumacher Williams and into second place but by then Michael was so far up the road that there was no chance of getting any closer. In any case, both Ferrari drivers were told by the pits to moderate their revs as there was still some nervousness about the reliability of the F2002. Ralf came home a dejected third and curiously Pablo Montoya was off the pace all weekend. He never featured, but the despondency of McLaren must be even greater. Coulthard firmly nailed the coffin of his World Championship aspirations shut when he could not even keep up with his novice team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, let alone the rest of the front runners. Ferraris' 1-2 result has put Michael far into the lead in the Drivers' Championship and has put Ferrari back on top of the Williams in the Constructors' table. Imola was supposed to be a circuit favouring the BMW engines. Now that that theory had been laid to rest one wonders what Ferraris' rivals are going to do to catch up with the two red ones. Jean Todt: “To get a one-two finish in a home race is fantastic. Thanks to this result, Michael has increased his lead in the Drivers’ classification, while Ferrari is back in the lead of the Constructors’ championship. We know that not all weekends will be like this and so we will keep our feet on the ground and continue to work hard because there is still a long way to go this season. Now, we can get home quickly as we are just a few kilometres from Maranello, to celebrate this great result.” Michael Schumacher: “There are many reasons to be proud today. We failed here last year and now we have given something back to the tifosi. It was a special grand prix for me and I’m proud of the way it went. It was right that Rory Byrne should be on the podium. He is unique, very motivated and a great person. I seem to have worked with him for most of my F1 career. Of course this result is not all down to him as it is a team effort but he is the main designer. We did not expect to be so dominant today after a close qualifying and I thought the race might be more difficult. Bridgestone has produced a tyre that is more consistent and although the win was down to the whole package it was mainly due to the tyres. We will enjoy a glass of champagne to celebrate with the whole team, but at this early stage in the season we are already thinking about the next race in Spain and we start testing again on Tuesday. ” Rubens Barrichello: “I am very happy with this result, especially as I scored no points in the first three races. It is wonderful to finish first and second in front of the tifosi, driving a brilliant car and it had the best balance and set up I have seen. At the start, I think I got away in the same way as Michael, except that I was on the dirty side of the track. Basically I paid the price for the time I lost yesterday. Ralf got the jump on me and I could not close the door. The problem with this track is that it is impossible to overtake so there was not a lot I could do. But I had a fantastic “in” lap before the first pit stop and managed to get ahead. After the second stop, when there was a problem with the left rear wheel, I concentrated on driving the car nicely. I had a problem trying to pass a Jaguar, which stayed in front of me for five corners. I did not know my lap times because my telemetry had failed, but I could see the gap to Michael. Then, the team told me to be careful with the engine and so I slowed down in the final stages. “
RACE RESULTS
San Marino GP
Imola, Italy
62 laps. Weather: dry, cloudy
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. M. Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h29:10.789
2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 0:17.907
3. R. Schumacher Williams (M) + 0:19.755
4. Montoya Williams (M) + 0:44.725
5. Button Renault (M) + 1:23.395
6. Coulthard McLaren (M) + 1 Lap
7. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) + 1 Lap
8. Massa Sauber (B) + 1 Lap
9. Trulli Renault (M) + 1 Lap
10. Heidfeld Sauber (B) + 1 Lap
11. Webber Minardi (M) + 2 Laps
World Championship Standing, Round 4:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. M.Schumacher 34 1. Ferrari 40
2. R. Schumacher 20 2. Williams 37
3. Montoya 17 3. McLaren 9
4. Button 8 4. Renault 8
5. Barrichello 6 5. Jaguar 3
6. Coulthard 5 =5. Sauber 3
7. Raikkonen 4 7. Minardi 2
8. Irvine 3 =7. Toyota 2
9. Webber 2
=9. Heidfeld 2
=9. Salo 2
12. Massa 1
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The first three GPs of the 2002 season had presented enough of a mixed
picture to give Williams and McLaren fans some kind of hope for Imola.
The Williams' already had a 1-2 in Malaysia and had performed strongly
in Brazil. Coulthard's third place at Interlagos was also hailed as the
beginnings of a McLaren resurgence.
