Schumacher survives stewards' enquiry.
Michael Schumacher has been confirmed as the 2002 Formula One world champion following the over-ruling of a report that suggested he overtook Kimi Raikkonen under yellow flags during the French Grand Prix.
The German was chasing down his Finnish rival when they came across Allan McNish's stranded Toyota at the Adelaide hairpin, where the flags were waving to warn drivers of the problem. Raikkonen, the first to arrive on the scene, slid wide of the apex, claiming that there was oil or some other fluid on the road, and his mistake allowed Schumacher to pounce and take the lead.
Michael Schumacher has been confirmed as the 2002 Formula One world champion following the over-ruling of a report that suggested he overtook Kimi Raikkonen under yellow flags during the French Grand Prix.
The German was chasing down his Finnish rival when they came across Allan McNish's stranded Toyota at the Adelaide hairpin, where the flags were waving to warn drivers of the problem. Raikkonen, the first to arrive on the scene, slid wide of the apex, claiming that there was oil or some other fluid on the road, and his mistake allowed Schumacher to pounce and take the lead.
The Ferrari driver then led the final five laps of the race to claim both his eighth race win of the year and, more crucially, the fifth world title of his F1 career.
Speculation that the success may be overturned by the stewards appeared to have been forgotten amid the celebrations, but it then emerged that the situation had been reported for investigation. The report came from the race director, however, and not from the McLaren team, which was naturally upset that it had missed out on a second win of the year.
"The stewards of the meeting received a report from the race director which stated that the driver of car number one overtook the driver of car number four while yellow flags were being shown following an incident involving car number 25," an official FIA release confirmed, before adding: "This has now been over-ruled."
