“Michael’s record year” – 2002 F1 season review video

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The 2002 F1 season provided little in the way of quality racing action that might have formed the basis for an exciting season review. Even so, the official 2002 video is a stinker.

Most of the races were dreary processions won with ridiculous ease by Ferrari. The contest was so one-sided we even had the despairing sight of races being fixed in Austria and America.

It’s not likely that even a first-rate production could have salvaged the dreary material, and what we get falls well short of that. Yes, the picture quality is very good, but we can take that for granted these days.

The commentary, typically of this era of videos, is in a contrived “as the action happens” style which sounds dreadful. An unpleasant viewing experience is completed by intrusive background music which crashes into the footage with jarring regularity.

If you’re putting a collection of these videos together, put this one at the bottom of your wish list. There is nothing to recommend aboutt it.

Best bit: The spectacular first-corner crash in Australia was pretty much the only highlight in a rigidly dull season.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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3 comments on ““Michael’s record year” – 2002 F1 season review video”

  1. It’s often more interesting to watch a season review some years later than right after the end of it. I was actively watching F1 in 2002 but had never seen the 2002 season review before. I found it interesting to compare it with the F1 of today as well as watch Jenson Button, Felipe Massa and Mark Webber at the beginning of their F1 careers.

    It’s true that the season was probably one of the worst that F1 has ever seen, at least in terms of excitement and ‘proper racing’. If the first three races gave fans a hope of close racing, then the rest of the year was marked by an utter Ferrari domination. Ironically, the race-fix controversies were probably the highlights of the season, even if for all the wrong reasons.

    But I have to say that the producers of the video seem to have done their best. Even if Ferrari were almost unbeatable, there was still some good action in the midfield and there is pretty much decent footage of it. The video also pays quite a lot of attention to the back of the field (perhaps because of the lack of action at the front!). For instance, Anthony Davidson’s debut with Minardi in the middle of the season is very well documented.

    The selection of interviews is very good and there are a few funny moments as well, such as Barrichello’s reaction to the suggestion that Sao Paolo is too “criminal”. Moreover, the video contains some interesting background stories, such as drivers watching the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The choice of the background music is questionable but there is not much more to criticise the producers for.

    The video manages to recreate the 2002 season atmosphere very well so I’m sure that those fans, who were watching F1 already in 2002 will love it as a nostalgic rewind of a by-gone era.

    1. @girts See, even I am here in 2014 (nearly ’15 :P)

      I agree with you. It’s great reading about these reviews years later and it just feels special not only because these were the times when I started watching Formula 1 but also to read @keithcollantine articles when he just about started this blog :D

      I was watching the full 2004 races on YouTube and these years just flooded my mind (memories that I haven’t thought about in a decade).

      Just lovely!!

    2. @girts See, even I am here in 2014 (nearly ’15 :P)

      I agree with you. It’s great reading about these reviews years later and it just feels special not only because these were the times when I started watching Formula 1 but also to read @keithcollantine articles when he just about started this blog and how he has refined himself over the years :D

      I was watching the full 2004 races on YouTube and these years just flooded my mind (memories that I haven’t thought about in a decade).

      Just lovely!!

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