The victory was Barrichello's second of his career and the first of the 2002 season; the result moved him up to fourth in the Drivers' Championship but was tied with David Coulthard on points.

Ferrari's one-two finish allowed them to draw further ahead of Williams in the Constructors' Championship and McLaren maintained third position.

Renault extended their points advantage over Sauber in the battle for fourth place, with eight races remaining in the season.

The teams, also known as constructors, were Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, Sauber, Jordan, BAR, Renault, Jaguar, Arrows, Minardi and Toyota.

[3] Michael Schumacher had won the previous two European Grands Prix held at the Nürburgring and wanted to concentrate on the potential challenge from the Williams and McLaren teams at the race rather than worry about a possible disqualification from the Austrian Grand Prix where he was given victory after Barrichello was ordered by Ferrari to allow Schumacher past.

[9] The changes increased the length of the circuit by 645 yards (590 metres) and the number of laps of the Grand Prix were reduced from 67 to 60.

[8] Jaguar team principal and former World Champion Niki Lauda felt the new layout would secure a better view for spectators watching in the grandstands.

[9] Jordan driver Takuma Sato noted although the surface was bumpy upon entry he felt being unsighted in the first corner would be "a good feeling".

Ferrari brought new electronic bi-directional telemetry and steering wheels and Michael Schumacher evaluated a new engine cover which was not used in the Sunday race.

BAR débuted a revised Honda V10 engine specification for the race and Jordan made minor alterations to their front wings.

[12] The Saturday morning practice and afternoon qualifying sessions began 45 minutes earlier from their usual start times of 09:00 CEST (UTC+2), 10:15 and 14:00 to accommodate the final two quarter-final matches of the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan on the same day.

Coulthard, Frentzen, Giancarlo Fisichella, Mika Salo and Montoya rounded out the top ten fastest drivers of the session.

Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button were seventh and eighth for Renault with Salo and Panis completing the top ten.

[20] In the final practice session, Michael Schumacher was unable to improve his time but remained fastest; Barrichello finished with the third quickest lap.

Montoya clinched his third consecutive pole position and the seventh of his career with a time of 1:29.906 which was set thirteen minutes before the session ended.

[18] Coulthard changed his set-up to run faster in the circuit's middle section which compromised performance in the first sector but took fifth.

[18] Trulli was happy with his starting position although Button had understeer from his second qualifying run and made a minor change to his rear anti roll-bar in an attempt to go quicker but was delayed by slower cars.

[22] The two Minardi drivers qualified in the 20th and 22nd positions with Mark Webber quicker than Alex Yoong; they were separated by Bernoldi who had balance problems.

[29] Both Jordan drivers collided with Fisichella spinning into Sato at the first corner; the pair dropped to the rear-end of the field and both made pit stops for repairs at the end of the first lap.

Webber made mistake and ran wide on lap seven and dropped behind de la Rosa and Salo to 19th position, while Yoong took a drive-through penalty because he jumped the start.

Trulli had moved back up into ninth on the same lap after overtaking McNish and Heidfeld, while Bernoldi was passed by Frentzen for 13th place.

[29] Fisichella's Jordan lost parts of its bodywork as he drove down the main straight on lap eleven having bounced heavily on the kerbs and grass lining the circuit earlier in the race.

[29] Räikkonen ran wide at the Yokohama-S and struggled to drive his car from the outside of the track allowing Button to take advantage to move into sixth on lap 17.