Apr 11, 2002 01:26 PM
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(Updated Apr 11, 2002 01:45 PM)
F1 is all about fast cars,big names & some nasty controversies.It is all about Ferrari’s & Schumacher’s.Ok,let me point out some of the spectacular incidents happened in the year 2002.
Australian Grand Prix:
Australian Grand Prix was the first race of the season.Held at Melbourne’s Albert park,the first race of the season was predictably the most watched event in the world after the Football world cup.The qualifying session saw the Ferrari’s taking the pole position followed by Williams of Ralf Schumacher & Mclaren of David Coultard & followed by the rest of the pack.Though, the race saw nine drivers crashing out at the first corner,it was perhaps the best start of the F1 season,the fans could have hoped for.The crash in the first corner was prompted by some rash driving by Ralf Schumacher & Ruben Barrichello.Though,in my personal opinion Ralf was the culprit & should have been given 2 race penalty.After the crash Michael retained the first position & then never looked back.A good driving by Jaun Pablo Montoya rewarded him the 2nd position & the rookie Kimi Raikkonen finished 3rd in his Mclaren.Mark Webber achieved a dream start to his F1 career with a fabulous fifth place.
After the race got over,controversies began.Some experts were of the opinion that Ralf was the main culprit for the crash & some said it was Rubens fault.Nonetheless,it was Michael Schumacher who benefited from the crash between his brother & his team mate.
Malaysian Grand Prix:
The 2nd race of the season was held in Malaysia at Selangor.Michael Schumacher once again proved his excellence by qualifying first.His fastest lap in the qualifying session was 1.35.266 & was followed by Jaun Pablo Montoya in his Williams & then his team mate.The starting of the race was very crucial as mostly the first few laps posses a big challenge for the drivers.Once again there was a first corner collision between Michael & Montoya.Though no damage was done to Montoya’s car Michael had to retire to the pits to get his car repaired.The stewards harshly awarded a drive-through penalty against Montoya & he had to restart the race from the 21st position,just behind Michael.Mclaren was once again unlucky as both its drivers were forced to retire with some technical problems.Ruben who was coming 2nd till the 39th lap had an engine problem & was forced to retire to the pits.Finally the day belonged to Ralf Schumacher & the Williams.Michael in his Ferrari finished 3rd just behind Montoya.
Brazilian Grand prix:
Right from the start the Ferrari’s were favorite to win the Brazilian Grand Prix.But a bad qualifying session almost ruined their hopes of winning at Interlagos.Montoya’s pole position was his fifth pole position in just 20 grand prix starts.He was followed by Michael & then by Ralf.Ruben Barrichello in his Ferrari managed to come 8th after a disastrous qualifying session in front of his home crowd.Montoya started the race from pole but Michael Schumacher overtook him at the second corner before disaster struck for the Colmbian.He came a little too close to Michael & his front wings flew off & was forced to come in to pits. Rubens Barrichello who did not have a very plesant qualifying session,was driving like a man possessed.He overtook Michael & was coming first in his old Ferrari,when disaster struck for him.A hydraulic failure saw him out of the race.Then,the Schumacher brother’s began to dictate terms & were leading the pack.David Coultard for the first time this season finished the race & managed to come 3rd in his Mclaren. The Schumacher brother’s finished less than a second apart but it was Michael who took the chequered flag.
