Is Michael Schumacher’s 2002 season with Ferrari the greatest in F1? Here's what we think

Controversy, emotions, pressure, and outright dominance to overshadow it all - Michael Schumacher's 2002 F1 season stands unparalleled in the sport's history books. The German driver rewrote F1 history with Ferrari, with performances so supreme that the series had never witnessed before and hasn't since.

Schumacher entered the 2002 season with eyes on a third consecutive F1 drivers' championship and fifth overall. Only one driver before him, Argentina's Juan Manuel Fangio, had won five titles. However, that was about to change swiftly over the year.

Before we dive into what was a magical year for Michael Schumacher, let's preview it with the numbers that would put shame to his dominant 2000 and 2001 championships.

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The mind-blowing statistics behind Michael Schumacher's record-breaking 2002 F1 season

Schumacher broke a handful of records in his pursuit of the 2002 F1 championship. The following achievements stood out:

1. No DNFs in the 17-race season.
2. 100% rate of podium finishes - His worst finish was a P3 at the Malaysian GP, which brother Ralf Schumacher won in the Williams-BMW.
3. Seven pole positions - five of which he converted into race victories.
4. Won a record 11 races - breaking the record of nine wins in a season held jointly by him (1995, Benetton, and 2000 and 2001, Ferrari) and Nigel Mansell (Williams, 1992).
5. Won the 2002 F1 championship with six races remaining on the calendar.
6. Beat teammate Rubens Barrichello by 67 points to clinch the drivers' championship. Thus breaking his own record from 2001, when he won the title by 58 points over David Coulthard.
7. Equaled Juan Manuel Fangio's record of winning five F1 championships.
8. Nine 1-2 finishes with teammate Barrichello, second only to Senna and Prost's 1988 season with McLaren.
9. Ferrari won 15 of 17 races, equalling McLaren's scintillating 1988 season.
10. Ferrari had the same number of points in the constructors' championship as all other teams combined.

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The magical story behind the statistics

Michael Schumacher began the season with Ferrari using a B-spec of its 2001 championship-winning F2001. Despite not having a new car, the German stamped his authority on the 2002 season, with a win to kick it off. However, Round 2 of the Malaysian GP would change the tone momentarily.

Schumacher started from pole, his first of seven in 2002, but collided with Juan Pablo Montoya on the opening lap. This led Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello to inherit the lead, before Ralf Schumacher would snatch it and cruise to his only win of the season, with his reigning champion brother finishing in P3.

Ferrari decided to introduce its new F2002 challenger from Round 3 onwards to further distance itself from its rivals. Michael Schumacher won four races thereon, but the fourth of that streak was overshadowed by controversy.

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Ferrari's controversial team orders in Austria and Michael Schumacher's historic run to his fifth F1 title

Michael Schumacher at the Grand Prix of Brazil - Source: Getty

After Schumacher's three-race win streak in Brazil, Imola, and Spain, he was leading the championship with 44 points. Meanwhile, teammate Barrichello only had six points after the first five races. This would set the stage for an ugly intra-team situation during Round 6, the Austrian GP.

Barrichello suddenly found form in Austria. He took pole position and would've converted it into a deserved first win of 2002. However, because Schumacher was so far ahead in the drivers' championship, Ferrari found it fit that he should be given preference even though it was so early in the season.

Contrary to the safe-playing McLaren of 2025 with its "Papaya rules", the then-Ross Brawn-led team ordered Barrichello to let his teammate pass by, which was met with reluctance but was eventually accepted. Michael Schumacher won his fifth Grand Prix of the season, but awkwardness was all that the Austrian GP podium had to offer after the Ferrari's controversial decision.

"Too many championships have been lost in the past when teams haven’t given that support to their driver. We don’t operate like that," Brawn said, justifying his decision (via MotorSport Magazine).

However, Schumacher would repay Rubens Barrichello's kindness later in the season. In the following four races in Monaco, Canada, Germany, and Great Britain, the German alternated between P1 and P2 finishes. This ensured that he was leading the drivers' championship by 54 points over Barrichello, and Round 11, the French GP, could be where it all culminated into a fifth title for Schumacher.

And it did. The 2002 French GP was by far the most challenging race of the year for Schumi. He started on the front row with pole-sitter Juan Pablo Montoya. The Williams driver held onto his lead before losing during the first round of pit stops. However, a rare mistake from Michael Schumacher followed.

The German driver crossed the pit-lane exit lane and got slapped with a drive-through penalty. This set him back to P3, with Kimi Raikkonnen in the lead and Montoya in P2. Unfortunately for Montoya, he lost position to Schumacher in the pits yet again, while Raikkonnen fell victim to an oil spill on the track from Allan McNish.

Michael Schumacher grabbed the lead with both hands and won the 2002 F1 drivers' championship in 'perfect' fashion. He then stood alongside Fangio as a five-time F1 champion before adding two more to that list in 2003 and 2004.

"I’ve never been good at these moments to find appropriate words. It just has overcome me. Suddenly, when I was leading and felt I was going to win the championship, that was the worst five laps I’ve had in my career. The outbreak I had was pretty heavy, and that’s when I realised how much pressure I was under," an emotional Schumacher said.

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Michael Schumacher repays Rubens Barrichello at the United States Grand Prix with a Ferrari photo-finish

Even after Michael Schumacher clinched the 2002 F1 title at the Magny-Cours in France, he didn't relent on his rivals. Immediately after the win, F1 would head to the Nurburgring for the German GP, his home race. It was only fitting that he would go on to win in front of his home fans to kick off a six-race celebration spree.

Rubens Barrichello would then win the Hungarian GP to give Ferrari its 12th constructors' championship in F1. By the penultimate round at the United States Grand Prix, Ferrari and its drivers were racing for records and bragging rights.

Michael Schumacher started on pole position for the sixth time in 2002 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He led a significant part of the race and would've won it by over half a second over his teammate. However, the German chose to repay Barrichello for the controversial Austrian GP earlier in the season.

He lifted off the throttle on the main straight before the chequered flag and let Barrichello pass him right at the finish line. It was one of the closest finishes in F1 history, as the Brazilian driver won the US GP by just 0.011 seconds or 48 centimeters.

Michael Schumacher entered the final race of the season, the Japanese GP, with nothing to prove. But he wasn't done just yet. The Ferrari champ took pole position at Suzuka. Before the race, he sat down for an interview with James Allen. When asked if there was any way the season could've gone any better, Schumacher succinctly said:

"No. Clearly, no."

He described the season as a "beautiful" one with a "fantastic" team. Schumacher then went on to win the 2002 Japanese GP after leading it throughout, except during pit stops. It was the perfect ending to a picture-perfect season for him and Ferrari.

In the decades to come, Lewis Hamilton would equal Michael Schumacher with seven F1 titles and surpass the German in many achievements. However, neither the Briton nor Max Verstappen after him could match the Red Baron's 2002 dominance.