Entering the race, Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 54 points, well ahead of Williams pair Juan Pablo Montoya (27 pts) and Ralf Schumacher (23 pts). Ferrari also led the Constructors' standings by 16 points over Williams, with McLaren a further 36 points back. The weekend followed a controversial Austrian Grand Prix in which Rubens Barrichello was ordered by Ferrari to hand victory to Schumacher in the closing metres, drawing widespread condemnation. Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt nonetheless expressed confidence heading to Monaco, where Schumacher had won five of the preceding six races.
Teams made extensive aerodynamic preparations for the tight street circuit. Ferrari fitted new front and rear wings; McLaren modified the MP4-17's lower bodywork and brought five cars in anticipation of damage. Renault, Williams, Arrows, and Sauber all adjusted wings for maximum downforce, while Toyota added aerodynamic appendages to the TF102's sidewalls and engine cover. Minardi outfitted both drivers with power steering, and Asiatech prepared a revised V10 producing additional low-rev torque.
A five-driver battle characterised the one-hour qualifying session in warm, sunny conditions with heavy circuit traffic. Montoya ultimately set a lap of 1:16.676 to claim pole — the only driver in the 1:16 bracket and more than seven-tenths faster than Coulthard's 2001 pole benchmark — earning the fifth pole position of his career. Coulthard was second, 0.392 seconds back, feeling he could have improved further but for traffic.
Michael Schumacher qualified third after a difficult session: a fragment of grit lodged in his left eye during his second run required medical treatment with eye drops, and he aborted his first run after mistaking smoke from Kimi Raikkonen's stricken car in the tunnel for an on-track incident. Ralf Schumacher was fourth, delayed by Heinz-Harald Frentzen and admitting he did not maximise his tyre use. Barrichello qualified fifth, frustrated that Coulthard had blocked him at the chicane during his second run. Raikkonen took sixth using Coulthard's spare McLaren after an oil-system failure on his own car.
Alex Yoong crashed within five minutes of qualifying after locking up at Sainte Devote on his first run. Driving the spare Minardi set up for teammate Mark Webber, he lapped within the 107% limit on his final attempt to claim 22nd and last on the grid.
Coulthard outpaced Montoya off the grid despite starting from the outside of the front row. Montoya struggled to shift from first to second gear — either dirt on the track interrupted the electronics or the BMW engine bogged down — and Coulthard swept past him into Sainte Devote to lead on the road. He held that lead throughout the event. Jenson Button jumped the start after his clutch slipped during the launch sequence, fell from eighth to 17th, and received a drive-through penalty on lap seven.
From lap 10, Coulthard began to extend his advantage as his Michelin tyres came fully into their operating window. A significant mid-race threat emerged around lap 30 when Coulthard reported intermittent oil smoke from his exhaust. A stuck valve in the oil transfer system was directing excess oil to the engine, which was then expelling it via the rear cylinders. Mercedes engineers analysed the problem through McLaren's pit-to-car telemetry system and remotely modified the pump settings, allowing Coulthard to continue racing.
Key retirements reshuffled the order throughout the afternoon. Allan McNish misjudged braking at Sainte Devote on lap 16, launching head-on into the tyre barrier. On lap 23, Takuma Sato lost control in the tunnel while attempting to yield position to teammate Giancarlo Fisichella, sliding into the barrier at the chicane — Fisichella braked hard to avoid him. On lap 40, Barrichello attempted to pass Raikkonen at the chicane, his Ferrari riding over the McLaren's rear; both pitted, Raikkonen with damage severe enough to force his retirement. Barrichello collected a stop-and-go penalty for causing the collision and a drive-through for exceeding the pit-lane speed limit.
Montoya's race ended dramatically on lap 47 when his BMW engine failed on the start-finish straight, flames shooting from the rear of the Williams. The retirement removed the championship's joint-second contender and tightened Schumacher's advantage. Villeneuve's engine also failed one lap later.
Michael Schumacher pitted first among the leaders on lap 44, dropping to fourth before climbing back. McLaren responded by calling Coulthard in on lap 51 for a 6.9-second tyre stop, releasing him back in the lead with two seconds in hand over Schumacher, who was approaching La Rascasse. Schumacher closed rapidly over the following three laps but, with Monaco's barriers leaving no room to attack, was unable to find a way past over the final 26 laps.
Coulthard won ahead of Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher, who recorded his first classified Monaco finish. Jarno Trulli was fourth for Renault, his first championship points of the season, followed by Fisichella in fifth and Frentzen in sixth for Arrows despite a refuelling-rig problem that forced an extra pit stop. Only 12 of the 22 starters were classified finishers.
A post-race technical inspection found a paper seal missing from an electronic control unit on Trulli's Renault, raising concerns about potential software tampering in breach of FIA technical regulations. A follow-up inspection at Renault's Enstone factory two days later found no anomalies, and the result was confirmed. The win moved Coulthard from fifth to fourth in the championship. Michael Schumacher's lead extended to 33 points over joint-second Montoya and Ralf Schumacher on 27 each. Ferrari's Constructors' lead over Williams grew to 18 points with ten rounds remaining.
The 2002 Monaco Grand Prix is remembered as one of Coulthard's most complete drives, executed under sustained pressure from Schumacher and complicated by a live oil-management emergency resolved remotely through telemetry. McLaren technical director Adrian Newey called it "a happy surprise," acknowledging Monaco had offered the team its best realistic opportunity in a season otherwise dominated by Ferrari. For Michael Schumacher, the second-place finish still strengthened his eventual route to the championship, which he clinched with six races remaining.
Gallery · 4 related images
