The 2002 Italian Grand Prix (formally the Gran Premio Vodafone d'Italia 2002)[2] was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 15 September 2002.

Michael Schumacher was fastest on the first day, ahead of BAR test driver Anthony Davidson which was held in wet weather conditions, with intermittent dry spells.

[4] Ralf Schumacher set the fastest times on the second where the rain continued into the morning before stopping meaning the track dried up as the session progressed.

Juan Pablo Montoya caused a red flag to be shown when he lost control of his car at the Lesmo corners, and removed his front wing after colliding with the barrier.

[7] Due to the configuration of the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, with its high average speed, the teams set up their cars to produce the minimum amount of downforce possible.

[9] Williams and BAR introduced revised engine specifications for the qualifying session, while Renault debuted new front wings for the race.

During this session, the 107% rule was in effect, which necessitated each driver set a time within 107% of the quickest lap to qualify for the race.

[17] Coulthard took seventh in the other McLaren, with de la Rosa alongside him on the fourth row in the second Jaguar.

[13] ^1 – Kimi Räikkönen's fastest time (1:21.163) was cancelled following a collision with Takuma Sato during qualifying, this dropped him one place from fifth to sixth.

[21][22] Williams contacted FIA race director Charlie Whiting who replied that Ralf was required to cede the lead back to Montoya.

Further down the field, Villeneuve got ahead of Heidfeld to take over tenth, while Button passed Massa to move into thirteenth position and Yoong overtook teammate Webber for eighteenth.

[21][22] Afterwards, Ralf Schumacher pulled over to the side of the track at the Rettifilo with smoke billowing from his engine and became the first retirement of the race at the start of lap five.