2002 Monaco GP

Possibly the most colourful and glamorous Grand Prix on the seventeen race calendar, Monaco has hosted this race since 1955. The famous street circuit is lined by Armco barriers, making it a tight and twisty track that is unforgiving as there are no gravel traps or run off areas. Driving precision is therefore vital and it is a tough race all round. For drivers it's incredibly demanding as there is very little time to relax as the corners come up so fast, with the narrow track requiring great concentration. Cars need to run with maximum downforce on this circuit as the average corner speeds are low and heavy braking is required. It's almost impossible to overtake as there is only one very short straight and that's under the tunnel. The pit lane is hazardous being so narrow, so team personnel must be on guard at all times.

MONACO GRAND PRIX, MONTE CARLO, 23 - 26 MAY 2002

DHL Jordan Honda goes to Monte Carlo hoping to build on the two championship points Giancarlo Fisichella scored in Austria and further develop the potential of the EJ12. Takuma Sato had an extraordinary escape from his dramatic accident during Austria’s race, sustaining no injuries other than minor bruising to his right leg.

Gary Anderson, Director of Race and Test Engineering
“Scoring points makes a difference to us, as it does with any team. We really needed to get off the mark somewhere, and it’s been extremely difficult. With the strength of Ferrari and Williams, regularly taking the top four points places, the rest of us have to dive together to try and score the last two positions. Giancarlo’s result in Austria has given us a lot of encouragement, as now we know that on a good day we can achieve something, and that gives us something to build on.

The picture postcard setting of Monaco did not look as attractive as usual this morning, when the first practice session got underway under cloudy skies. It had actually rained briefly before the start of the first hour, but the track was dry enough not to demand rain tyres.

Michael Schumacher was fastest for Ferrari in a time of 1.21.094 ahead of David Coulthard's McLaren. Behind these two came some names that don't usually figure in the top six: Jarno Trulli was third for Renault, followed by the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello, Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Arrows and Jacques Villeneuve in the BAR-Honda.

The unforgiving Monaco barriers claimed their first victims in the shape of Pedro De La Rosa in the Jaguar and Kimi Raikkonen in the McLaren. In the DHL Jordan Honda camp, Takuma Sato was 17th in a time of 1.25.032, having completed 21 laps. Giancarlo Fisichella was 22nd, only doing three laps, the best being a 1.40.346.

DHL Jordan Honda had a productive Free Practice day, despite Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato both losing track time due to minor problems with electronics and suspension respectively. In the morning Fisichella’s engine anti-stall system disengaged the clutch after he slowed to avoid an accident ahead of him, he could not select first gear and he was not permitted to continue running after the marshals pushed him into the pits. Sato had a suspension problem at the end of the afternoon, which the team was not able to correct before the end of the session. However, the drivers and the team are relatively happy with the set-up balance achieved.

Giancarlo commented, "It was not a bad day, even though we lost the first session. We did quite a good job and it looks like the car is getting better. We have a lot of graining with the tyres in the last part of the lap, but I think it will be less of a problem on Saturday. We will also improve the set-up, so I am confident that we can be in the top ten."

If today’s practice times were carried over to Saturday afternoon, the Monaco Grand Prix would certainly have an unusual and interesting grid. Of course the times have to be taken with a pinch of salt as usual, given that different teams opted to run different fuel loads.

Jarno Trulli emerged quickest for Renault ahead of F1’s most experienced rookie, Alan McNish in the Toyota. David Coulthard completed the top trio just ahead of our own Giancarlo Fisichella, who is fourth and first of the Bridgestone runners. On a morale boosting day for Toyota, Mika Salo was fifth with Ralf Schumacher completing the top six.

Thursday’s grey skies and drizzle have been replaced with sunshine and heat for qualifying day in Monaco. Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato ended the final free practice session of the weekend in 8th and 19th places respectively. While Fisichella put in 34 laps working on finding the right set-up, Sato had a straight-on moment at the first corner and had to sit out most of the session. The DHL Jordan Honda mechanics are now working flat out to repair the front end damage in time for this afternoon’s qualifying session.

Jarno Trulli was quickest, the Renault driver lapped the streets of Monaco in 1m 17.429, which is just a thousandth of a second slower than last year’s pole winning time. That was set by David Coulthard, who was second quickest this morning for McLaren-Mercedes, ahead of the two BMW-Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher. First of the Bridgestone runners were the two Ferraris of Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher in fifth and sixth slots. The German had a premature end to the session, cruising into the pits with a mechanical problem.

There were several encounters with the barriers; the honour of heaviest impact going to Eddie Irvine, who made a considerable mess of his Jaguar.

Juan Pablo Montoya took pole position in the final few seconds of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix while Giancarlo Fisichella will start tomorrow's race from 11th spot on the grid for DHL Jordan Honda. "Earlier this weekend I expected to be in the top ten and I have qualified 11th, which is not a bad position. My engineer and I did a good job together and the car was well balanced, but because I was driving on the limit, unfortunately it was very easy to make mistakes on the track. Behind the Ferraris, I was the quickest with Bridgestone tyres, which demonstrates that our set-up worked well."

Arrows driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen made a surprise appearance at the top of this morning's time sheet after the 30 minute warm-up session, having qualified 13th yesterday. However, this should be taken with a pinch of salt as Arrows have a habit of opting for unusual race strategies. If the German was the surprise at the front, then equally unusual was the fact that pole man Juan Pablo Montoya is down in 20th spot in the Williams.

In terms of this afternoon's race, a one stop strategy is just about the only acceptable option, the only decision centring on whether to stop early or late. The former choice means running a lighter car which theoretically gives the driver a better opportunity to move up the order in the early stages. But with overtaking so tough on this street circuit, there is no guarantee it will work and there is the risk of getting stuck in traffic after refuelling.

DHL Jordan Honda achieved its second points finish in two races today, with Giancarlo Fisichella’s strong drive to 5th place moving Jordan up to sixth in the Constructors’ championship. Fisichella’s lap times were becoming progressively faster than those of Jarno Trulli, with whom he battled persistently for 4th place until the final lap.

Takuma Sato crashed after losing grip on a dusty part of the track as he followed a team order to move over and let Fisichella pass him when they came out of the tunnel on lap 22. Sato had made another exceptional start to move up four places in the first few hundred metres of the race.

The race was won by David Coulthard, who held the lead from the start. Michael Schumacher finished a very close 2nd with his brother Ralf 3rd. Heinz-Harald Frentzen took the last points scoring position just ahead of Rubens Barrichello.