Prix was the 6th of 17 motor races in the 2002 Formula One World Championship, and the 25th time it formed part of the championship. The 71-lap race was held at the 9-turn A1 Ring in Spielberg, Styria, on 12 May. With very few sections requiring drivers competitors to slow down, the track gives teams an opportunity to push their engines to their full potential. 70 percent of the lap can be driven at full racing speed, although the circuit's relatively high altitude of offers less oxygen to feed the combustion engines, reducing their performance by approximately seven percent. Before the race, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 44 points. Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher of the Williams team were second and third with 23 and 20 points, respectively. Driving for McLaren, David Coulthard was fourth with nine points, and Jenson Button for Renault was a further point behind in fifth. Ferrari led the Constructors' Championship with 50 points, seven ahead of Williams in second place. McLaren with 13 points were third, with Renault and Sauber tied for fourth with eight points apiece. Michael Schumacher, who had won four of the opening five Grands Prix in 2002, was strongly considered by the British press, bookmakers, and former drivers Gerhard Berger and Niki Lauda the favourite to win the Austrian Grand Prix, an event he had not won in four previous attempts. He said of his chances in Austria, "We believe we have a very competitive package overall but it's a question of how good the others can be". He expressed confidence he could challenge for victory saying, "I certainly won't be approaching this race any differently than the others. And with two almost perfect races behind us, I'm obviously looking forward to the Austrian Grand Prix with a lot of confidence." Montoya stated he would be better able to challenge Ferrari at the A1-Ring recalling the team's strong form in 2001 despite scoring no points, "I am pretty confident that in Austria we will be quite strong, certainly stronger than in [the prior race in] Barcelona, so I am looking forward to it." For the Grand Prix, a total of 11 teams (each representing a different constructor) each entered two race drivers, with no changes from the season entry list. In technical developments, Sauber introduced a revised evolution of its Ferrari 050 engine that the team