2002 British Grand Prix

Championship standings

Schumacher leads with 76 points, 46 ahead of Ralf Schumacher and 49 ahead of Montoya. Barrichello and Coulthard are joint fourth on 26. Ferrari lead the Constructors’ by 45 points over Williams.

Previous race

Barrichello won at the Nürburgring — his first victory since the 2000 German Grand Prix — holding off Schumacher, who was 0.294 seconds behind at the flag after closing hard in the final laps. Räikkönen took third for McLaren. Montoya and Coulthard retired from the same incident on lap 28, when Montoya’s blistered rear tyre caused him to spin into Coulthard at turn one. Ferrari opted not to invoke team orders, and both drivers held position to the finish.

Between-race developments

Eight teams tested at Circuit de Catalunya for four days. Coulthard was fastest on day one; Button on day two; Räikkönen on day three; McLaren test driver Wurz on day four. Ferrari also ran at Monza and Mugello. Toyota tested with Sarrazin and McNish at Paul Ricard.

The Arrows team’s participation here was jeopardised by debts owed to Cosworth, a legal dispute with former driver Jos Verstappen, and investment bank Morgan Grenfell’s opposition to potential new investors. The FIA granted Arrows an extension for Thursday scrutineering, which they passed. On the day before the race, Cosworth’s directors and team owner Tom Walkinshaw agreed payment for an engine supply, allowing Arrows to compete.

Toyota’s Mika Salo suffered food poisoning and was restricted to installation laps in Friday’s first session, missing the rest of the day’s running on doctor’s orders.

Car upgrades

Jaguar debuts the R3B, a complete aerodynamic redesign of the R3, with new front and rear wings, a new extractor profile, revised rear suspension, and new screens behind the front wheels. Williams introduces a new engine cover with a smaller rear section made possible by the BMW V10’s reduced heat output. Renault debuts new bodywork. McLaren receives a more powerful Mercedes engine.

Practice

Four sessions in changeable weather — wet on Friday, dry on Saturday. Barrichello led both Friday sessions; Schumacher was fastest in both Saturday sessions.

In Friday’s first session, Schumacher spun at the Abbey chicane on his first out-lap, stalled, and missed the rest of the session. Massa beached his Sauber in the Abbey chicane gravel. Montoya’s BMW engine failed on the Hangar Straight and he stopped at Vale corner. Friday afternoon dried slowly, with rain returning in the final ten minutes; Panis was stuck in the Brooklands gravel.

In Saturday’s third session, Fisichella stopped on track at Stowe with an engine issue. Panis stopped at Vale with electrical problems. Irvine was the only driver not to set a lap time, due to a gear selection fault. In the fourth session, Bernoldi and Frentzen both stopped at the pit lane exit and had to push their cars back. Panis stopped at Vale again; Webber stopped at Copse with two minutes remaining.

Attendance is capped at 60,000 spectators to demonstrate the adequacy of Silverstone’s new access roads to the FIA.