2002 Japanese Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 17 of 17 in the 2002 Formula One season | |||
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| Date | 13 October 2002 | ||
| Official name | XXVIII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.821 km (3.617 mi) | ||
| Distance | 53 laps, 308.513 km (191.701 mi) | ||
| Weather | Sunny, Air: 26 °C (79 °F), Track 30 °C (86 °F) | ||
| Attendance | 155,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1:31.317 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Michael Schumacher
|
Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:36.125 on lap 15 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | McLaren-Mercedes | ||
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The 2002 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Suzuka on 13 October 2002. It was the seventeenth and final round of the 2002 Formula One season. The 53-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher after starting from pole position. Rubens Barrichello finished second and Kimi Räikkönen completed the podium, in third place.
This was the last race for Eddie Irvine, Allan McNish, Alex Yoong and Mika Salo.
With both drivers and constructors title already decided, the fight in the championships now concentrates on the lower ranks.In the Drivers' Championship, Juan Pablo Montoya in 3rd is 5 points ahead of team-mate Ralf Schumacher and for Ralf to take 3rd he would need to either win the race provided that Montoya finishes lower that second or to finish second with Montoya out of the point-scoring positions. David Coulthard has a slim chance of winning 3rd place but that can only happen if he wins the Japanese Grand Prix with Montoya finishing 3rd or lower. Coulthard could take 4th in the Championship by finishing 4th and ahead of Ralf Schumacher. Further down, a number of drivers will have a chance to improve their final ranking but it will all depend on whether they can actually score points. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari, Williams and McLaren have secured 1st to 3rd. Renault have almost clinched 4th as Sauber would need to win the race with their second car finishing in the points to take 4th and provided that Renault would not finish either of their cars in the points and that is nearly impossible. However, with just 4 points separating 4 teams (Sauber on 11, Jaguar with 8 and both Honda runners BAR and Jordan with 7 points each), it will be a tough fight between those teams to decide the order in which they finish the season as the final ranking influences how much a team receives from the revenue of TV rights. Ferrari are expected to dominate this race. If Michael manages to win the race, he will not only improve his record number of wins in a season but will also have a perfect finishing record this season as Michael has not retired from any race so far in the season. That is an amazing record. And, if he finishes the race on the podium, he will have finished on the podium in every race of the season. The fight between Williams and McLaren will be very close. Williams will benefit from their BMW power but McLaren have been improving and this circuit will suit their chassis. Both teams have suffered from engine failures lately and that could influence the outcome of this race. Behind the top 3, Renault continue to score points left over from the top 3 teams while Sauber continues to struggle in the face of the tough competition. Jaguar struggled at the United States Grand Prix but they should do better here and both BAR and Jordan would be hoping to get a boost from Honda and Bridgestone at their home track. It is also the first Formula 1 race for Toyota at home and they would want to put on a strong showing with the aim of scoring a point or two so that they finish ahead of Minardi and Arrows in the championship.
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