“It’s the one result that has come close to destroying my interest in F1 racing”
DOUG NYE
May I make a confession? I increasingly fear I’m perhaps just a bit ‘slow on the uptake’. Or otherwise is it common to experience a sudden jolting realisation of quite how much time has abruptly passed since one witnessed some particularly memorable incident?
I remember such a wake-up call in spring last year when I realised that May 12, 2022 actually marked the 20th anniversary of the one race result which – more than any other – has ever come close to destroying my lifelong interest in front-line Formula 1 racing. Do you recall it too?
It was the 2002 Austrian GP, run at the A1-Ring, what I still think of as the Österreichring neutered. That’s right, another sign of age. That race was run quite early in the year, as only round 6 of the 17 F1 World Championship-qualifying races. There in the Styrian hills, Rubens Barrichello of Ferrari had driven brilliantly all weekend. He had qualified on pole, followed in the timing sheet by the Schumacher brothers – but this time Ralf in the Williams-BMW was second, quicker than Michael – Barrichello’s team-leader – in the other Ferrari F2002. Barrichello had led into the first corner and maintained his advantage through two safety car periods, a red flag after the really nasty-looking collision which sent both Takuma Sato and Nick Heidfeld to hospital – and a rolling restart. Second pit stops then featured raceleader Rubens gifting the lead to Michael Schumacher for one lap, then repassing into first place next time round as the reigning World Champion made his routine stop.