2002 Canadian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Schumacher leads with 60 points, 33 ahead of both Williams drivers who are tied on 27. Coulthard is fourth on 20, Barrichello fifth on 12. Ferrari lead the Constructors’ Championship with 72 points; Williams are second on 54, McLaren third on 24.

Previous race

Coulthard won in Monaco — McLaren’s first victory of the season — while Schumacher was held off over the final 26 laps, unable to find a way by. Montoya led for the first ten laps before his engine failed while running second. Ralf Schumacher scored his first-ever Monaco finish, taking third. The result was Coulthard’s second win in Monaco.

Between-race developments

Most teams tested at Silverstone for three days. Fisichella was fastest on day one; Barrichello led days two and three. Minardi ran two days at Italy’s Variano Circuit. Ferrari’s test driver Luca Badoer ran the F2002 at Fiorano. BAR spent four days at Circuit Paul Ricard developing their aerodynamic package and a gearbox update.

The FIA’s June 26 hearing into Ferrari’s Austrian Grand Prix team orders is still to come — the hearing is three weeks away.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has been modified for this race. Following an FIA request after 2001, the track has been shortened to add one extra lap to the race. The pit lane exit has been moved to outside the Virage Senna corner, removing a bottleneck. L’Epingle hairpin has been shortened by 60 m. Gravel trap run-off sections between the first two corners and the hairpin have been replaced with tarmac.

Car upgrades

BMW and Mercedes introduce more powerful engine specifications — McLaren runs theirs in qualifying, Williams during the race. Sauber debuts new front suspension using titanium lower wishbones instead of steel. BAR designer Geoff Willis has extensively revised the 004, adding two fins extending from the centre to the front of the rear wheels. Jaguar receives a new Cosworth V10 for practice and qualifying. Toyota provides a new TF102 chassis to Salo.

Practice

Four sessions in warm to sunny conditions. Schumacher led three of the four; Barrichello topped the first.

On Friday, Schumacher hit the barrier at the final turn after running slightly wide, breaking his right-rear wheel rim. He was able to drive back to the pits. Bernoldi stopped with a hydraulic fault in the first session. Trulli’s Renault stopped on track in the second session, costing him all of Friday afternoon’s running. In the third session, Sato spun at turn six before going onto the grass at turn eight; Räikkönen lost the rear at turn four but avoided the wall. In the final session, Barrichello locked his tyres over the kerbs at the turn eight and nine chicane, became airborne, and hit the outside wall, losing his right-front wheel. Ferrari repaired the car in under two hours in time for qualifying. Irvine stopped at the hairpin with a fuel pump failure.