Tremendous racing scenes and a few heart stopping moments turned the 2002 Australian Grand Prix into an exciting spectacle.

Ralf Schumacher started from third on the grid, surged past his brother Michael and looked as if he might snatch the lead from Rubens Barrichello ahead of the first turn. But the Brazilian defended his position by zig-zagging across the track, which resulted in an accident.

The front wheels of the WilliamsF1 BMW FW24 touched the rear wheels of the Ferrari at 230 km/h, Ralf Schumacher became airborne, barely avoided rolling over, and was lucky to land in a large gravel trap. Montoya, starting from sixth place, was able to contest Michael Schumacher's lead intermittently, but had to make do with second place in the end.

The battle against the blistering heat on the futuristic circuit outside Kuala Lumpur ended in a double victory for BMW, the first in the history of the company's Formula One involvement, with Ralf Schumacher winning the race ahead of Montoya.

The grid line-up promised an explosive start. Michael Schumacher was on pole with Montoya beside him, while Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher occupied the second row. In the first turn Schumacher's Ferrari and Montoya's car touched, throwing the Colombian back to eleventh place. No sooner had he made up for lost ground than he was given a drive through penalty and had to start clawing his way up again after a detour through the pit lane. Ralf Schumacher won the race not least thanks to his one-stop strategy. This result put the BMW WilliamsF1 Team into the lead in the Manufacturers' World Championship for the first time.

Eight World Championship points, a pole position courtesy of Montoya, and the two fastest race laps: the BMW WilliamsF1 Team enjoyed another successful and fault-free weekend at São Paulo and was able to defend its championship lead once more.

Ralf Schumacher crossed the finishing line in second place behind his brother. For the first time in the history of Formula One, two brothers were at the head of the Drivers' World Championship as Montoya slipped to third place. Once again he had collided with Michael Schumacher on the first lap. This time his bid to catch up from the rear of the field saw him finishing in fifth place.

Seen in retrospect, the San Marino Grand Prix anticipated the balance of power for the remainder of the 2002 season. No other team could match the two Ferraris, particularly the one with Michael Schumacher at the wheel.

The drivers of the BMW WilliamsF1 Team took third and fourth places at Imola, this time with Ralf Schumacher in front of Montoya. While the first three races of the season had been true thrillers, the GP in North Italy was low on excitement. The order of the first four drivers was identical at the start and at the finish, though Ralf Schumacher managed to take second place away from Barrichello in the first half of the race.

Three things about the BMW WilliamsF1 Team became evident on that weekend: the technology is reliable, the engine is brilliant, but the chassis doesn't create enough downforce.

While Michael Schumacher pocketed another seemingly casual start-to-finish victory in Spain, behind him things were rather more turbulent.

His brother Ralf had been chasing him for the first 24 laps, but then careered off the track and had to return to the pits for a repair job, ultimately finishing in eleventh place.

Montoya inherited his teammate's second place and managed to defend it despite a second pit stop that went wrong. The chief mechanic had prematurely given him the signal to go and had jumped in front of his left front wheel when he realized the fuel nozzle was still attached. "Lollipop man" Carl Gaden suffered a broken metatarsal.

The Circuit de Catalunya was also the scene of the BMW P82's first technical failure. Ralf Schumacher - already well out of reach of any points - ground to a halt on the final lap.

The Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg was littered with accidents and retirements, resulting in two safety car periods and, ultimately, the deep outrage of the fans over Ferrari's last-minute orders to its drivers.

Thanks to a two-stop strategy, the Ferraris stormed to the front of the field, with the drivers of the BMW WilliamsF1 Team giving chase with a heavier fuel load. Twice the field bunched up after the safety car had been sent out, once due to an engine failure on the BAR Honda of Olivier Panis, the second time after a collision between Nick Heidfeld and Takuma Sato, in which neither was seriously injured.

Despite this turmoil, the results remained characteristic for the season: Michael Schumacher in first place, after Barrichello was ordered to let him past; then the Brazilian ahead of Montoya and Ralf Schumacher.

Below the highly desirable balconies in the harbour of Monte Carlo, Montoya was on pole for the second time this season.

But with a heavy fuel load on board and starting from the dirtier side of the track, he got off to a slower start than David Coulthard in the McLaren-Mercedes next to him. The Scot, who would go on to win the race, already had his nose ahead in Saint Devote. Montoya persistently snapped at his heels until an engine failure brought him to a halt on lap 46 out of 78.

The beneficiary of this retirement was his teammate, Ralf Schumacher. Having started from 4th place on the grid, he finally reached the finish in Monaco after a five-year run of bad luck, coming third behind his brother.

The circuit on the Isle Notre Dame in the St Lawrence River favors power and is thus one of the tracks on which the BMW engine can excel.

Montoya gained his third pole, won the take-off duel at the start and set a lap record. He remained in the lead for 13 laps but sacrificed it on his second pit stop, after which he was chasing the frontrunner, Michael Schumacher.

The Colombian was in top form but would reap no rewards for his efforts: on the 57th of 70 laps Montoya rolled to a stop with a smoking engine. Teammate Ralf Schumacher was similarly unable to earn any points in Montreal. A faulty fuel rig had thrown the German a long way back and he finished the race in seventh place.

At the European GP on the famous Nürburgring circuit, both FW24s occupied the front row of the grid for the first time in 2002 but were unable to capitalize on it due to serious handling problems.

Ralf Schumacher passed the fastest qualifier Montoya in a spectacular maneuver at the start and initially took the lead. But as his car's handling deteriorated he soon had to let the two Ferraris past and, later on, Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren-Mercedes as well. However, Ralf did manage to finish the race in fourth place.

Montoya pocketed an unwelcome hat trick - it was his third pole as well as his third successive retirement from a race. The handling of his FW24 had become so treacherous shortly before the halfway mark that he couldn't avoid spinning while trying to defend his third position, taking Coulthard out of the race with him.

More...