Austrian Grand Prix 2002

Race

The race was held under the undisputed leadership of the Ferrari pair.

On the twenty-second round due to the explosion of the engine Olivier Panis got off. On the track left the safety car.

On lap 28 of the Austrian Grand Prix, when the safety car left the track, Sauber Nick Heidfeld and McLaren David Coulthard found themselves aboard on the rise to the Remus hairpin. At this point, Minardi Alex Yong was in front of the riders, and the Malaysian rider braked sharply at the entrance to the second turn. In an effort to avoid a collision with McLaren and reduce the speed from 300 km / h in top gear to 65 km / h in the first, Nick pressed the brake pedal too sharply, while the brakes were not warm enough. The car lost control, skidded it, threw it from the track into the inside of the stud, and then Sauber Nick crashed backwards into the front of the Takuma Sato 's car at high speed and broke the side protection of the Jordan gearbox. ^{[1] [2]} The cockpit breach happened just below the right knee of a Japanese rider. Nick Heidfeld almost immediately left the car, and Takuma Sato could not get out of the cockpit on his own and was subsequently evacuated by medical helicopter. Despite the seriousness of the accident, the survey revealed in the Japanese rider only a strong injury to the soft tissues of the right thigh. ^[3]

On the last lap of the lead Rubens Barrichello was ordered from the pits of the Ferrari team to skip Michael Schumacher , so that the German could score the maximum points for the league title. Barrichello discussed this tactical maneuver with the team over the last 10 laps and agreed to implement it only after he received direct threats from the team to end cooperation immediately after the completion of the existing contract, without the possibility of signing a new one. At the finish line Barrichello slowed down, giving Schumacher to drive ahead. Michael also slowed down, but still executed the order of the team and overtook Rubens.

During the awards ceremony, which was held under the deafening whistle of fans, Schumacher stood on the second step of the podium and gave the cup for the victory at the Grand Prix Barrichello. On the podium, Barrichello could not hold back emotions and, with tears in his eyes, refused to stand on the first rung of the podium, despite all the efforts of Michael Schumacher.

After the race

The scandal around the race caused the proceedings by the FIA. However, the judges of the Federation could not find the point of the rules that would prohibit the command tactics . The only violation for which Ferrari managed to bring to justice is the noble gesture of Schumacher, who put Barrichello on the first step and gave him his cup. For this formal violation of the regulations, both riders and the team were fined $ 1 million.

Immediately after that, a clause was introduced into the rules, in which the team leaders were strictly forbidden to give the riders an order to lose the race. (This rule, for example, was used to disqualify the leadership of the Renault team for the machinations of the Singapore 2008 grand prix ). This rule was canceled after the 2010 German Grand Prix .

Race

¹ Punished by “driving through pit lane” for initiating a collision with Heinz-Harald Frentzen .
² Punished by “driving through pit lane” for ignoring blue flags.