Ferrari's use of team orders to hand Schumacher victory over pole-sitter Barrichello prompted the FIA to ban team orders from the 2003 season.
Key Facts
- Race winner
- Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)
- Laps completed
- 71 laps
- Championship round
- 6th of 2002 Formula One season
- FIA fine issued
- $1 million total (Ferrari, Schumacher, Barrichello)
- Schumacher career wins
- 58th career victory
- Championship points lead after race
- 27 points over Montoya points
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Michael Schumacher had won four of the five preceding races in the 2002 season and held a commanding lead in the World Drivers' Championship. Ferrari, seeking to maximise his points advantage, instructed pole-sitter Rubens Barrichello — who had led most of the race — to yield the lead to his teammate on the final lap.
At the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix held on 12 May at the A1-Ring in Spielberg, Ferrari issued team orders causing Barrichello to slow on the final lap and allow Schumacher to pass for the win. At the podium ceremony, Schumacher gestured for Barrichello to take the winner's step and handed him the first-place trophy, visibly acknowledging the arranged outcome.
The FIA fined Ferrari, Schumacher and Barrichello a combined $1 million on 26 June 2002. Following a review, the FIA banned the explicit use of team orders from the 2003 season onward, though the practice was permitted again after the 2010 season. Schumacher's championship lead grew to 27 points over Montoya, and Ferrari extended their constructors' advantage over Williams to 16 points.