Chassis: Williams FW24. Engine: BMW. Tyres: Michelin.
Team Principal: Sir Frank Williams. Technical Director: Patrick Head. Chief Designer: Gavin Fisher.

A disappointing year for the group from Grove, who kicked off the season confident they had raised their game sufficiently to challenge the might of Maranello. How embarrassingly wrong they were. Lacking a chassis to match their clearly ultra-powerful engine from BMW, the Williams team were not even out-fought by Ferrari - they could rarely catch up to get in the scrap.

Fair enough, they were the best of the rest, they leap-frogged McLaren to claim second in the Constructors' Championship and their drivers, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher finished third and fourth in their Championship. But Ferrari scored more than double the points Williams achieved - and World Champion Michael Schumacher finished on 52 more than their two drivers put together.

In all fairness, they were not helped by Michelin, whose tyres were certainly not up to scratch in many of the races. Bridgestone developed their rubber in direct partnership with Ferrari and that hurt the Michelin runners, despite their insistence that working together would eventually help development. In wet weather, there was no hope. In the dry, there was rarely more than a glimmer.

But it was the little mistakes that peppered Williams' season which left them behind their Italian rivals. The fluffed pit-stops, where fuel nozzles stuck and marks were missed, the flawed strategies and the occasional collision between the two drivers (although it is difficult to criticise for the latter because at least it provided entertainment) did little to help their cause - so the message for next year: Shape up or you won't strike the top.

Chassis: McLaren MP4/17. Engine: Ilmor-Mercedes-Benz. Tyres: Michelin.
Team Principal: Ron Dennis. Technical Director: Adrian Newey. Chief Designer: Mike Coughlan.

If only a high number of technical failures, particularly early in the year, had not hit the Woking outfit they would have easily challenged Williams for the best of the rest title. Their two drivers, David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen certainly showed they had the form to do so in the later races by claiming the final podium place behind the two Ferraris in the United States and Japan.

The team unveiled their 2002 challenger in Barcelona with a laid-back beach party at which Coulthard claimed his new car had been designed to be so tough he would be able to fight wheel to wheel with Schumacher. It was just a shame that, like Williams, they had not designed it fast enough to get into a battle.

But it was not only the failures that left McLaren on the back foot from the very beginning - it was a surprising lack of pace, which lost them their runners-up position and even left them threatened by newcomers Renault in the early part of the season. Seeing their brand new space-age 'Communications Centre' slumping down the ranking in the paddock seemed more than a possibility.

It seems credit must, however, go to Mercedes for sharpening up their act and providing a powerplant that Adrian Newey's well-designed chassis deserved. The car, propelled by its Ilmor-designed engine was often one of the slowest in a straight line at the start of the season, but things improved and they finished on a high, looking more than a match for their rivals Williams. But can they keep the roll going next year?

Chassis: Renault B202. Engine: Renault. Tyres: Michelin.
Team Principal: Flavio Briatore. Technical Director: Mike Gascoyne. Chief Designer: Mark Smith.

The rapid development that saw the then Benetton team shoot from the back of the grid and firmly into the midfield last year continued at an incredible pace into 2002 as drivers Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli put in competitive performances at the sharp end of the grid. But the brightness soon faded and a season that promised so much at the beginning ended with disappointment.

Button was chasing David Coulthard for the position of top Briton in the early part of the year, but he ended the season on 14 points to his countryman rival's 41. Still, he and teammate Trulli managed to ensure the team's fourth place finish in the Constructors' Championship was mirrored by their positions in the drivers' and overall it was not a bad performance.

In fact, it would have been hailed as a successful comeback for the French marque if they had not done so well in the early part of the year. It was also marred by the way they revealed plans to drop Button at their home Grand Prix - where he aptly scored a point to remind them he may have been worth keeping.

He sent them a similarly pleasing leaving present with another sixth place in the final race in Japan, but his and the team's long-awaited podium, which seemed so certain at the start of the year, never came. Trulli's race performances in the latter part of the season, however, proved that it might come in the future.

They achieved their aim, which was to beat Sauber to fourth place in the Constructors' Championship but the 17 retirements will not have pleased the bosses, and there were too many disappointed departures from the 17 circuits on this year's calendar. But the team are confident that behind the scenes they have now set up the required structure to shoot for success in 2003.

Chassis: Sauber C21. Engine: Petronas (Ferrari 050). Tyres: Bridgestone.
Team Principal: Peter Sauber. Technical Director: Willy Rampf.

The Swiss team slumped to fifth in the World Championship as newcomers Renault used their might and money to take their place in the top four. The team were helped by Nick Heidfeld, who continued to display maturity beyond his age, but his young teammate Felipe Massa made endless mistakes which potentially prevented the team from holding onto their coveted position.

After bringing on Finn Kimi Raikkonen last season is was inevitable that people would view the latest newcomer to Peter Sauber's proving ground as the next super talent to be unearthed. Comparisons to Ayrton Senna did not help attempts to fade the spotlight on Massa and the pressure proved too much for the amiable Brazilian to take.

Massa crashed out of four races and did his reputation little good as he blocked drivers, criticised the team and was eventually substituted in the United States Grand Prix because of a punishment for a crash in the previous race. He returned for the final event in Japan, and although he lost his drive he could still be talented enough to return.

Heidfeld, meanwhile, was more reliable, finishing all but three of the races. But he still only managed seven points and the team, which had taken leaps forward last year, proved consistent but not fast enough to trouble the top of the grid. In fact, with Ferrari, Williams and McLaren so regularly reliable, there were precious few points available to pick at and now they need to keep momentum going to avoid being gobbled up by the chasing pack and losing their title of top independent.

Chassis: Jordan EJ12. Engine: Honda. Tyres: Bridgestone.
Team Principal: Eddie Jordan. Engineering Director: Gary Anderson. Director of Design: Henri Durand.

The former race winning team had another typical midfield season, boosted by two points in the final race which jumped them up to Championship sixth. But their biggest victory this year was achieved behind the scenes with a crucial and ultimately successful re-assessment of their business.

It is not known how close they were or still are to running out of money as the reduction in sponsorship funding continues, but team boss Eddie Jordan's survivor spirit kept them going. "We're getting back to our roots," he said when he announced in May that he was cutting around 40 staff from the books. And it worked.

After that shock announcement in Barcelona, which followed six months of warnings, led several times by Jordan, that Formula One was heading for difficult times, the team stepped up a gear. Slimmed down and more focused, they rocketed to three successive fifth place finishes, with Italian Giancarlo Fisichella claiming the points that effectively made Jordan's season.

His teammate Takuma Sato struggled to get used to life in Formula One but eventually reduced his number of car-wrecking crashes and ultimately it was Jordan's other Japanese link that let them down most. The Honda engine was responsible for only four of the 15 retirements during the season but its overweight and underpowered design limited the Gary Anderson-designed car's potential. Roll on Ford and let the resurgence begin.

Chassis: Jaguar R3. Engine: Cosworth. Tyres: Michelin.
Team Principal: Niki Lauda. Technical Director: Guenther Steiner. Engineering Director: Malcolm Oastler.

Their position in the table lies. Jaguar themselves would admit they were lucky to claim seventh because their car was simply rubbish. They were saying as much throughout the season and no matter how hard they tried, they basically failed to get to the root of their problems.

Eddie Irvine was constantly depressed at their performance, admitting quite often that the best part of his Grand Prix weekend was Sunday evening when the race was over and he could go home. Pedro de la Rosa kept quiet but was equally unamused.

The car created, bizarrely, in a wind tunnel based in California, was a disaster as soon as it hit the track. Designer Steve Nichols soon got the boot and Guenther Steiner was brought in to steady the ship. He did a good job, but the season was over before it began.

They began the season racing - and losing to - the Minardis and ended it with a massive 19 retirements. All but one of their points came from lucky breaks, in Australia where Irvine finished fourth and Monza where he was third, and although they were heading in the right direction by the end of the year, there is still a long, long way to go.

Chassis: BAR 004. Engine: Honda. Tyres: Bridgestone.
Team Principal: David Richards. Technical Director: Geoffrey Willis.

This was another nondescript season from a team that, despite the obvious attraction of driver Jacques Villeneuve, somehow manage to blend into the background better than a tree in a forest. Suggestions, however, that BAR are dead wood are, this time, far from the truth.

Rather than another consolidation year this was a season when the team were taken by the scruff of the neck and shaken into line. Sensationally ditching boss Craig Pollock at the start of the year, they brought in the outwardly affable but internally ruthless David Richards and he began re-forming the team.

In came Williams designer Geoffrey Willis as top dog designer and in came a whole new philosophy. It was all too late, of course, to take effect this season and the team were, like Jordan, let down badly by engine suppliers Honda. But DR promises big things to come - and considering his successes in the World Rally Championship, who can disagree?

Points honours were split relatively evenly between Villeneuve and teammate Olivier Panis, and if consistency gained merit they would be ahead of Jaguar, having finished in the points four times compared to Jaguar's three. In all, their position is justified. And, with the budget they have, so is the tag 'must do better'.

Chassis: Minardi PS02. Engine: Asiatech. Tyres: Michelin.
Team Principal: Paul Stoddart. Technical Director: Gabriele Tredozi.

The sight of his minnows Minardi sitting ahead of motoring giant Toyota, at the other end of the scale in the Formula One budget stakes and a team who poached his designer last year, will bring a huge smile to the face of team boss Paul Stoddart. But it will do well to last long - it has been a troubled season for Minardi.

The champagne beginning saw Australian Mark Webber and his compatriot team boss Stoddart celebrating on the podium after claiming fifth place in their home Grand Prix. But it soon faded to a distant memory as ugly battles with many members of the Piranha Club replaced the bonus bubbly with a very sour taste.

Stoddart was almost forced out of the sport after trying to take from the grave of the defunct Prost Grand Prix by fighting with the rest of the grid for the right to all of the team's television revenue money. He got it, and he lasted the year. But the season was all about survival - results came second, and it showed.

Little to no testing left Webber and teammate Alex Yoong with a tough job to do. As if that was not bad enough, Stoddart pulled his team out of the Spanish Grand Prix because of wing failures, and Yoong failed to qualify three times. But the biggest victory, again, was survival. The question is, for how long?

Chassis: Toyota TF102. Engine: Toyota. Tyres: Michelin.
Team Principal: Ove Andersson. Technical Co-ordinator: Keizo Takahashi. Chief Designer: Gustav Brunner

A massive budget did little to help the German-based Japanese giants conquer Formula One in their first year - and unfortunately they didn't even achieve their goal of participating in every race because Scot Allan McNish crashed his car in the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix.

That, however, was a minor blemish on what was an otherwise acceptable if not earth shattering debut. Two points, to many, was a surprise. Unfortunately for Toyota, both came within the first three races and they raised the expectations of the fans, the paddock and, most importantly, their Japanese bosses.

The two drivers, McNish and Finn Mika Salo, eventually paid for their early success and were shown the door. Salo's response, to turn up at Suzuka with his hair dyed blue and ruin the end of season team photo, showed that perhaps not everything was as rosy as the team would have liked by the end.

With 15 retirements, the cars were actually more reliable than any of the three teams sitting above them in the lower midfield order, but it appears that despite a radical re-design the disastrously slow test car that was used last year hampered their progress this season. Next year, though, comes the real test.

Chassis: Arrows A23. Engine: Cosworth. Tyres: Bridgstone.
Team Principal: Tom Walkinshaw. Technical Director: Mike Coughlan. Chief Designer: Sergio Rinland.

The sight of the two orange cars stationary on the grid at the start of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, followed by their disqualification from the race for a series of illegal errors, painted a one-race picture of Arrows' season, which saw them stall the FIA after revealing crippling financial problems and end the year in probable ultimate extinction.

Crippled by the painful sponsorship crush, it was a fight for survival from the very beginning when team boss Tom Walkinshaw's apparent attempts to raise Phoenix from the ashes of Prost Grand Prix commenced in Australia. They were eventually halted, but the open rows with rival boss Paul Stoddart already bore a grim resemblance to two starving cats fighting over rapidly drying saucers of cream.

But while Arrows' hidden finances accelerated deep into the red, the Orange machines, in the hands of Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi, were out in the open and showing good form, if not marvelous reliability. Two sixth-place finishes in Spain and Monaco, however, were the only highlights before the bombshell hit.

At the European Grand Prix, Walkinshaw held his 'last supper' for the British press, serving lavish lobster in an attempt to prove he could afford to be in the paddock. He couldn't. After Silverstone the team went into virtual hibernation.

They did as much as they felt they had to in order to convince the FIA they were still in being, and got into the habit of turning up and then going home without doing much in between. Eventually, they did not even bother to show up at all. Their future, it seems, is still not settled - but few believe they will make it back. If so, it was a sad way to go.

A sad start to the season saw the French-based team finally succumb to the harsh financial realities of the continuing sports sponsorship crush and boss Alain Prost, saddened almost to tears by the whole experience, was left lamenting the lack of support from a country to which he gave so much glory as a racer and world champion.

They failed, even, to make it to the starting grid in Australia and it was a sad end to a glorious career for Le Professeur. The scene outside a French court room when Prost announced the devastating news, was a tragic conclusion to the life of his team, born from the shell of the once-great Ligier, which had long been a popular part of the Formula One grid.

Importantly, too, it issued a stark warning to the remaining teams that life was not rosy. Like a counselling session, it offered others with problems an opportunity to open up to the world. Minardi boss Paul Stoddart did. Arrows boss Tom Walkinshaw didn't. Prost was glad to be out of the way.