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2001 European Grand Prix

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2001 European Grand Prix
Race 9 of 17 in the 2001 Formula One World Championship
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The Nürburgring (last modified in 1995)
The Nürburgring (last modified in 1995)
Race details[1][2]
Date 24 June 2001
Official name 2001 Warsteiner Grand Prix of Europe
Location Nürburgring, Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.556 km (3.199 miles)
Distance 67 laps, 305.252 km (189.675 miles)
Weather Sunny, mild, dry, Air Temp: 21°C
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 1:14.960
Fastest lap
Driver Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW
Time 1:18.354 on lap 27
Podium
First
Ferrari
Second
Williams-BMW
Third
McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2001 European Grand Prix (formally the 2001 Warsteiner Grand Prix of Europe)[3] was a Formula One motor race held on 24 June 2001 at the Nürburgring, Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was the ninth race of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the sixth European Grand Prix to be held at the Nürburgring. It was also the last race held on this layout, before the circuit was modified in 2002. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the 67-lap race from pole position. Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya finished in second position and McLaren's David Coulthard took third place.

Going into the race, Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship by 18 points from Coulthard while Ferrari led McLaren in the World Constructors' Championship. Michael Schumacher qualified on pole position after setting the fastest lap in the one-hour qualifying session. He maintained the lead through most of the race while being challenged by his brother Ralf Schumacher until the Williams driver was penalised for crossing the white line at the pit lane exit after his first pit stop. Michael Schumacher secured his fifth victory of the season and 49th overall by 4.1 seconds ahead of Montoya.

Michael Schumacher's victory meant that he increased his advantage in the World Drivers' Championship to 24 points over Coulthard and 42 ahead of his Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello. Ferrari maintained their lead in the World Constructors' Championship, 41 points ahead of McLaren and 57 ahead of Williams, with eight races remaining in the season.

Background

[edit]

The 2001 European Grand Prix was the ninth of seventeen Formula One races in the 2001 Formula One World Championship, held on 24 June 2001, at the 4.556 km (2.831 mi) clockwise Nürburgring, Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany,[1][2] the sixth time the European Grand Prix was held at the circuit after the redesigned track returned to the calendar in 1995.[4][5] This was the final year the 4.556 km (2.831 mi) layout of the Nürburgring was used; the circuit was lengthened by 0.592 km (0.368 mi) and was used from 2002 onwards.[6]

Before the event, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 58 points; McLaren driver David Coulthard was second on 40 points. Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello was third with 24 points, with Williams's Ralf Schumacher and Coulthard's teammate Mika Häkkinen on 22 and 8 points respectively.[7] In the World Constructors' Championship, Ferrari were leading on 82 points and McLaren were second on 48 points, with Williams third on 28 points. Sauber were fourth with 15 points with Jordan fifth with 15 points.[7]

Following the Canadian Grand Prix on 10 June,[8] the teams tested car setups, car components and tyres at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire from 12 to 14 June to prepare for both the European Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix in July.[9][10][11] Jaguar's Eddie Irvine and Sauber's Nick Heidfeld withdrew from testing because of a neck pain and a minor headache, respectively.[12] Jarno Trulli (Jordan) set the fastest time on the first day,[8] with British American Racing's (BAR) Olivier Panis topping the second day's running.[13] Alexander Wurz, McLaren's test driver, was fastest on the final day, more than six-tenths of a second faster than Häkkinen.[14] Minardi cancelled a two-day test at the Fiorano Circuit in Italy to examine a driveshaft problem with their car.[11] Luca Badoer, Ferrari's test driver, tested electronic controls and engine plans at Fiorano and later shookdown three cars available to Ferrari for the European Grand Prix.[15][16]

With 90 points available in the remaining nine Grands Prix, pundits raised the possibility of McLaren employing team orders to favour Coulthard over teammate Häkkinen in the championship battle.[17][18] Coulthard said he was focused on winning individual races while Häkkinen stated McLaren expected him to win but acknowledged the complexity of the situation.[17][18] Michael Schumacher was the favourite to win the race,[19] and had won four out of the eight Grands Prix held thus far.[20] Despite this, he said he was cautious over winning a fourth world championship and believed his 18-point advantage over Coulthard was not big enough for him to be confident considering the large number of points still available.[21] Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya had finished only one race across the season and hoped to score points in Germany.[22]

The event featured eleven teams (each representing a different constructor) with two drivers each, with one change from the season entry list.[23] Having missed the previous event due to a concussion, a headache and dizziness resulting from a crash during Friday practice for the Canadian Grand Prix, Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen was declared fit to race by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA) Medical Delegate Sid Watkins and returned to his seat taken over by temporary replacement Ricardo Zonta, the team's test driver. Zonta was on standby to replace Frentzen if required. Similarly, Irvine was able to recover from his strained neck and Heidfeld was suffering from headaches and dizziness after an accident in Canada; both were passed fit to race.[24][25][26]

Few teams introduced major technical developments to their cars for the race.[27] Ferrari, McLaren and Williams each installed the same rear wings onto their cars as they had done for the Monaco Grand Prix, while Williams introduced new aerodynamic side appendages in front of the air intakes, requiring the installation of rubber protections on the outer edges to prevent injury to mechanics when the cars are parked.[27][28] BAR introduced a revised front suspension and a new nose featuring aerodynamic appendages in the lower section.[27] Benetton tested a launch control system on both their cars to allow for a smoother and faster start during the Friday practice sessions.[29][30] Jaguar fitted its Monaco-specification front wing and curved sidepod winglets onto their R2 cars. Sauber revised their front wing endplates only for the day before the race and Minardi modified Tarso Marques's pedals for his large feet.[28] Arrows and Prost introduced no new major changes to their cars.[28]

Practice

[edit]
Eddie Irvine (pictured in 2009) was restricted to no timed laps in the first practice session because of a loss in fuel pressure.

The race was preceded by four practice sessions, two one-hour sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday.[31] The first session on Friday morning took place in overcast and cool ambient and track conditions.[32][33] The circuit was dirty, causing some drivers to lose control of their cars and go into the gravel trap.[34] Coulthard was fastest with a lap time of 1:16.888 set late in the session, one-tenth of a second ahead of his teammate Häkkinen.[33][35] The Ferrari duo of Michael Schumacher ahead of Barrichello, Trulli, Sauber's Kimi Räikkönen, the BAR teammates of Panis and Jacques Villeneuve, Heidfeld and Ralf Schumacher followed in the top ten.[35] Irvine's Jaguar was afflicted with a fuel pump failure that caused his car to lose fuel pressure on his out-lap;[36][37] this forced him to stop at the side of the track and was prevented from setting a lap.[33]

In the second practice session, which took place in sunny weather conditions that increased the ambient and track temperatures and lowered lap times,[38][39] Häkkinen set the day's quickest lap, a 1:16.408; Coulthard finished with the second fastest time.[39] The Williams drivers were running quicker—Ralf Schumacher in third and Montoya in sixth—they were separated by the Ferrari duo of Michael Schumacher and Barrichello, in fourth and fifth respectively. They were ahead of Trulli, Heidfeld, Prost's Jean Alesi and Panis in positions seven to ten.[39] Some drivers went off the track during the session.[32][37] Luciano Burti's Prost stopped on track with an engine failure after ten minutes.[37] After 15 minutes,[37] Barrichello slowed with a throttle issue that forced him to drive a slow lap to the pit lane.[36][38]

The third practice session was held in sunny weather conditions, albeit with patchy clouds overhead.[40] Michael Schumacher set the session's fastest time with a lap of 1:16.308, almost three-tenths of a second faster than Ralf Schumacher. The McLaren drivers ran slower—Häkkinen ahead of Coulthard. Barrichello, Montoya, Villeneuve (who spun into the gravel at turn five with ten minutes remaining), Frentzen, Panis and Heidfeld occupied positions five to ten.[41]

It continued to be sunny for the final practice session,[42] and more drivers went off the track but no one crashed.[43] Ralf Schumacher was fastest, setting a time of 1:15.355 in the final minute, almost four tenths of a second faster than teammate Montoya.[44] Barrichello set the third fastest time, with Häkkinen and Coulthard fourth and fifth respectively.[45] Michael Schumacher, who set the sixth fastest time, had a minor hydraulic malfunction, thus limiting his running to only the final 15 minutes.[32][44] Trulli, Frentzen (who had to stop his car with an engine failure), Panis and Räikkönen completed the top ten.[28][44]

Qualifying

[edit]
Michael Schumacher (pictured in 1998) took his seventh pole position of the season by setting the fastest timed lap in the one-hour qualifying session.

Each driver was limited to twelve laps during Saturday's one-hour qualifying session, with the starting order determined by their fastest laps. The 107% rule was in force during this session, which required each driver to set a time within 107% of the fastest lap to qualify for the race.[31] Qualifying took place in overcast conditions.[46] Because the track temperature was cold, no driver entered the circuit until after 15 minutes.[47] Michael Schumacher completed eight out of his allocated 12 laps,[48] and took his seventh pole position out of the nine races held thus far in the season.[49] His time, a 1:14.960, was the overall track lap record and was set on his second timed attempt,[50][51] after he adjusted his car's aerodynamics to extract more downforce.[28][52] Ralf Schumacher qualified two tenths of a second slower in second and had pole position until Michael Schumacher's lap.[28][49] Montoya, third, made a car setup error between two runs and reported excess oversteer.[28] Barrichello took fourth with 11 minutes remaining after a power steering problem forced him to abort his second run and meant that his team setup the spare Ferrari for him if required.[51][53] Coulthard and Häkkinen were fifth and sixth, their best times six thousands of a second apart.[49] Häkkinen could not accelerate out of the slow-speed corners without losing control of his car's rear,[53] and made an error mounting the kerbs at the Veedol chicane.[54][55] Coulthard attempted to lap faster after modifiying his McLaren's front in an effort to attack the kerbs aggressively.[47] On a lap on used front and new rear tyres that gave him oversteer,[50] he spun into the edge of the gravel trap at the final Coca-Cola hairpin,[28][52][55] while performing a last attempt to qualify on the second row.[47][56] Yellow flags were waved and every driver was required to slow.[54][55] Trulli qualified seventh and felt he could have improved had be not been impeded by slower cars and the yellow flag for Coulthard's spin.[53] His teammate Frentzen was eighth after his final quick lap moved him from 11th.[51]

Räikkönen took ninth but his final run was interrupted by Coulthard's spin. His teammate Heidfeld pushed too hard and ran wide into the first chicane, claiming tenth.[28] Villeneuve qualified in 11th after another driver ahead of him went straight into the chicane; he consequently lost time running wide. Irvine, 12th, had severe understeer on his final run after setting a fast lap on a third set of tyres.[47][53] Panis reported a lack of grip and could not equal his lap times during practice and claimed 13th. Alesi in 14th reported his car oversteered more than it had in practice because of an increase in track temperature, encountered slower cars and was affected by the yellow flags.[28][52] Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella, 15th,[49] reported an improvement in his car on each of his runs and a decent chassis balance.[52][53] Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa had major understeer through turns three and four and was 16th.[52][53] Burti switched to teammate Alesi's spare vehicle that needed to be reset because his race car developed a fuel pressure fault. The car's behaviour prevented him from lapping faster and he took 17th.[28] The Arrows pair of Enrique Bernoldi and Jos Verstappen were 18th and 19th.[48][49] Bernoldi reported a large loss of grip when the track temperature increased and Verstappen discovered his car lacked straightline speed compared to the morning sessions due to a lack of grip.[28][53] Fisichella's teammate Jenson Button in 20th reported he had excess understeer and no grip.[28][52] Minardi drivers Fernando Alonso and Marques qualified at the back of the grid in 21st and 22nd.[48][49] Marques briefly stopped on track at the Veedol chicane with a loss of drive,[54][55] and Alonso aborted his third run when he ran wide and lost a set of tyres.[52][53]

Qualifying classification

[edit]
Pos No Driver Constructor Lap Gap
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:14.960 —
2 5 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:15.226 +0.266
3 6 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:15.490 +0.530
4 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:15.622 +0.662
5 4 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.717 +0.757
6 3 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.776 +0.816
7 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Jordan-Honda 1:16.138 +1.178
8 11 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Honda 1:16.376 +1.416
9 17 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Sauber-Petronas 1:16.402 +1.442
10 16 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:16.438 +1.478
11 10 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:16.439 +1.479
12 18 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth 1:16.588 +1.628
13 9 France Olivier Panis BAR-Honda 1:16.872 +1.912
14 22 France Jean Alesi Prost-Acer 1:17.251 +2.291
15 7 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Renault 1:17.378 +2.418
16 19 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth 1:17.627 +2.667
17 23 Brazil Luciano Burti Prost-Acer 1:18.113 +3.153
18 15 Brazil Enrique Bernoldi Arrows-Asiatech 1:18.151 +3.191
19 14 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Arrows-Asiatech 1:18.262 +3.302
20 8 United Kingdom Jenson Button Benetton-Renault 1:18.626 +3.666
21 21 Spain Fernando Alonso Minardi-European 1:18.630 +3.670
22 20 Brazil Tarso Marques Minardi-European 1:18.689 +3.729
107% time: 1:20.207
Sources:[2][57]

Warm-up

[edit]

A 30-minute warm-up session took place on the morning of the race in sunny and warm conditions.[31][32][58] Teams were focused on setting up their cars for the race,[59] and some drivers used spare cars.[60] Both Ferrari drivers maintained their good performance from qualifying; Barrichello had the fastest time of 1:18.209 that he set with five minutes remaining; Michael Schumacher was second in the other Ferrari car. Ralf Schumacher was just off Michael Schumacher's pace in third, with Irvine, Coulthard, Montoya, early pacesetter Trulli, Häkkinen and the Sauber duo of Heidfeld and Räikkönen following in the top ten.[59] No major incidents occurred during the session.[58] Marques was affected by an engine and gearbox failure on his car.[60]

Race

[edit]

The race was held before between 100,000 and 150,000 spectators in the afternoon from 14:00 local time.[a][31][61][62] The conditions were dry, warm and sunny for the race.[63][64] The air temperature ranged from 21 to 23 °C (70 to 73 °F) and the track temperature was between 30 and 34 °C (86 and 93 °F);[28][65] conditions were expected to remain consistent, although a 20% chance of rain was forecast.[66] Whilst on a reconnaissance lap, Michael Schumacher, driving a spare Ferrari car, stopped his car on the side of the track at the bottom of the hill at the Dunlop hairpin with a fuel pump failure. He commandeered a motor scooter back to the pit lane in time before it was closed and took his racing car to the grid.[28][67][61] Marques, from 22nd on the grid, stalled his Minardi car at the start of the formation lap due to a launch control failure and had to perform a manual start.[28][68] Autosport wrote that strategy for the race would be concerned with limiting damage since inclement weather in the past two years and tyre degradation.[69]

When the five lights went out to begin the race,[28] Ralf Schumacher made a faster start than Michael Schumacher due to his car's launch control system.[70] Michael Schumacher's launch control system was not correctly tuned,[28] and he veered to the right in order to move Ralf Schumacher towards the pit lane barrier to maintain the race lead into the Castrol-S chicane as the latter had to slow to avoid a collision.[61][70][71] Montoya maintained his grid position of third.[72] Behind the leading trio, Barrichello made a slow start off the grid because of a launch control problem and went from fourth down to seventh place.[28][68] Marques ran wide into the gravel trap at the Castrol-S chicane but rejoined the race track without damage to his car.[28][71] Verstappen, from 19th on the grid, made the best start in the spare Arrows car after his race car had a fuel pressure fault, moving up five places from 19th to 14th position.[28][73] Irvine overtook Villeneuve for 11th position.[63][64] At the completion of the first lap, Michael Schumacher led by 1.4 seconds from Ralf Schumacher, who in turn, was ahead of Montoya, Coulthard, Häkkinen and Trulli.[73]

Ralf Schumacher (pictured in 2002) was behind his brother for much of the race until he was penalised with a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for crossing the white line at the pit lane exit.

Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher began to pull away from the rest of the field as the former opened up a lead over the latter because he was running a light fuel load.[69][71] The race began processional as drivers ran in formation without many overtakes occurring.[64][74] On lap eight, Marques became the first retirement of the Grand Prix when he pulled over to the side of the track with an gearbox failure traced to an electrical fault caused by voltage fluctuations.[28][64][68] Michael Schumacher had built his lead over Ralf Schumacher to 3.4 seconds by the start of lap 11.[69] It was around this point that Ralf Schumacher began to close up to Michael Schumacher with a series of fastest lap times using his powerful BMW engine fitted in his car.[68][71] This was also because his older Michelin tyres began to warm-up and improve his performance as his brother's Bridgestone tyres wore out.[28][69] The gap closed to under one second by the conclusion of lap 17.[70]

On the next lap, Michael Schumacher locked the rear brakes and ran wide to the outside of the track driving down the hill into the Dunlop hairpin.[62][67][72] Ralf Schumacher attempted to take the race lead on the inside but Michael Schumacher defended his position on the racing line.[28][70] Over the next ten laps, Ralf Schumacher pressured Michael Schumacher, who himself was pushing hard to maintain the race lead from his brother despite occasionally putting his rear wheels off the track exiting the turns.[73] This allowed Montoya to close to the two drivers by setting a series of fastest laps to try and take advantage of their duel.[70][71] On lap 22, Häkkinen ran wide across the grass and the kerbing at the Veedol chicane because he had flat-spotted his front right tyre and gave him a severe vibration.[28][64] Two laps later, Panis spun into the gravel trap at the Dunlop hairpin,[32] caused by an electronically-linked glitch in the gear change mechanism.[28][75] Montoya set the race track lap record of 1:18.354 on lap 27 as he continued to close up to the battle for first and second.[70]

Separated by four-tenths of a second,[75] Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher were the first of the leading drivers to make their first pit stops at the end of lap 28.[76] Both drivers had opted for a two-stop strategy whereas Michael Schumacher's teammate Barrichello and the McLaren drivers were running a one-stop strategy.[67][74] When he realised his brother was making a pit stop,[74] Michael Schumacher turned right into the pit lane entrance diving pit lane from the race track at the last possible moment, crossing the white line in the process and forcing him to cut in front of Ralf Schumacher, a legal manoeuvre.[62][66][69] Swift work from the Ferrari crew allowed Michael Schumacher to stay ahead of Ralf Schumacher,[72] who overshot his pit box and lost time as a result.[69] As both drivers exited the pitlane,[76] Ralf Schumacher cut to the left of the pitlane, illegally crossing over the white line to keep drivers on the inside of the circuit upon exiting because he was focused on Coulthard ahead of him.[28][72] Montoya took the race lead on lap 29 before he made his first of two pit stops and returned to the circuit in fourth place.[64]

David Coulthard (pictured in 2007) finished in third place despite lacking pace in his McLaren.

Ralf Schumacher overtook Coulthard for second at the Dunlop hairpin on lap 31, having decided that there was not much to gain by delaying the former. Coulthard wanted to observe Ralf Schumacher closing up to Michael Schumacher after watching the earlier battle between the two on the television screens around the circuit.[69][70] Bernoldi pulled over to the side of the track on the same lap with his car's gearbox stuck in fifth gear.[28][64] Barrichello overtook Häkkinen at the chicane for fifth position on lap 32. Montoya was battling Coulthard for third and attempted to overtake him at the Veedol chicane but locked his brakes and ran wide onto the grass at the corner on the next lap.[63][64][70] He returned to the circuit without losing any positions.[28] Häkkinen made his only pit stop on the same lap and fell to tenth.[64] His teammate Coulthard entered the pit lane for his sole pit stop on lap 39 and rejoined the track in fifth.[70]

Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn told team principal Jean Todt that Ralf Schumacher had illegally crossed the white line at the pit lane exit, to which Todt informed FIA race director Charlie Whiting of the infringement by email.[28] As Michael Schumacher extended his lead over Ralf Schumacher because his new tyres gave him extra pace over his brother who was running worn tyres, the FIA stewards informed the Williams team that they had imposed a ten-second stop-and-go penalty on Ralf Schumacher for crossing the white line at the pit lane exit. Ralf Schumacher was brought into the pit lane by Williams to serve his penalty on Lap 39 and dropped from second to fourth position.[67][69] This promoted his teammate Montoya to second and Barrichello to third;[28] the penalty effectively ended Ralf Schumacher's chances of challenging for the race win.[62] On lap 44, Barrichello made his only pit stop of the race from third. The stop lasted 10.3 seconds and he fell to fifth.[28]

Trulli parked his car on the grass after the Bit curve corner to retire from the race because of a gearbox failure caused by a oil pressure problem on lap 46.[28][64][68] Two laps later, Alesi attempted to pass Heidfeld for twelfth position and the two drivers made minor contact after Heidfeld performed a defensive manoeuvre on Alesi. Frentzen spun his car after the Dunlop hairpin on lap 50 because of a traction control system failure and retired after stopping his car at the side of the track.[28][63] Michael Schumacher and Montoya made their second pit stops at the conclusion of the lap. Both drivers remained in first and second places following their pit stops.[70] Ralf Schumacher entered the pit lane for his second scheduled pit stop three laps later and rejoined in fourth, behind Coulthard.[63] Heidfeld drove slowly to the pit lane because of his earlier collision with Alesi bending a driveshaft and he was pushed into the garage to retire on safety grounds on lap 56.[28][64][73] Burti battled Button for 14th and overtook the latter for the position on lap 56.[64][70]

Michael Schumacher, who took pole position and won the race by 4.1 seconds

On lap 60,[68] Barrichello made an error and ran onto the grass but returned to the track still in fifth position.[64][71] Verstappen pulled off into an escape road when his engine stopped working on lap 62.[28][64] During the penultimate lap, Alesi attempted to brake later than Räikkönen, who closed the inside line, into the Dunlop hairpin for 11th place but he spun into the gravel trap and retired.[28][71] Michael Schumacher reduced his pace,[67] and maintained the lead for the rest of the race to secure his fifth victory out of the nine races held thus far in the season and 49th overall,[62][70] putting him two behind Alain Prost's all-time win record of 51.[61][77] Montoya recorded his second race finish of the season by finishing in second, 4.1 seconds behind Michael Schumacher. Coulthard was off the race and another 20 seconds behind in third.[73][75] Ralf Schumacher was catching Coulthard but then his pace reduced and he took fourth.[28] Barrichello finished fifth and Häkkinen completed the points-scorers in sixth.[61] Jaguar put their cars on a one-stop strategy and Irvine and De La Rosa were seventh and eighth.[72] Villeneuve took ninth, 1.7 seconds behind De La Rosa, unable to extra performance from his tyres. Blistering tyres left Räikkönen in tenth.[67] Fisichella and Button took 11th and 13th for Benetton, both drivers had rear tyre handling problems.[28] Burti was 12th after grass penerated his car's radiators when he went off the track at lap 10 due to blistering tyres after running in teammate Alesi's slipstream and had them cleaned out.[28][67] Alonso came 14th and was the final driver to finish despite late race engine trouble.[28][73] Despite not finishing the race, Alesi was the final classified finisher.[70]

Post-race

[edit]

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media at the press conference held afterwards.[31] Michael Schumacher said of his victory, "We have had a superb weekend, we got pole position, we got the win, we had a nice race again together, Ralf and myself, until the stop and go, so it was quite an entertaining weekend."[78] Montoya said he "had pretty good luck" and added that he was relieved to finish second after errors in the preceding two races. He commented that he was pushing after his second pit stop as his car had the capability to go fast and that he was able to handle it in a manner that allowed him to drive smoothly.[78] Coulthard believed him finishing in third was his best possible result and felt it would have been fourth had Ralf Schumacher not been penalised. He said that he felt running a one-stop strategy from where he started the race was the correct decision.[78]

Following the race, Ralf Schumacher confronted his brother Michael Schumacher in the scrutineering garage about being forced towards the pit lane barrier at the start.[79] Ralf Schumacher did not talk about the start but issued a statement in which he expressed his disappointment over his being penalised with a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for crossing the white line at the pit lane exit, which he felt may have cost him the race victory.[80] Michael Schumacher argued that reaching the first corner in the lead was his priority and that his manoevure was permissible under the one move rule. Coulthard agreed the manoevure was legal but believed that a move that requires a driver to take avoiding action or brake was not the right thing to do.[81] BMW Motorsport director Gerhard Berger said he was unsurprised over the manoevure, calling it "hard, but that's racing."[77] Two days after the race, Ralf Schumacher said he would have performed the same manoevure as his brother did at the start and was still annoyed with race officials over his penalty.[82]

Ron Dennis (pictured in 2000) defended McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen's form

Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo called the race outcome "one of Schumacher's best ever wins with Ferrari" and that victory against their primary rivals in their home nation of Germany was "even more satisfying and motivating."[83] Barrichello attributed his fifth-place finish to him running a one-stop strategy and his carrying a large amount of fuel preventing him from racing with competitors close behind him, adding, "It was just one of those days which didn't work out right."[84] Häkkinen said he was very disappointed to finish sixth and that his tyre vibration and his pitting early cost him positions.[85] McLaren team principal Ron Dennis defended Häkkinen, saying the driver slowed because of his tyre issue and resulting vibrations that prevented him from finishing in fourth place.[86]

The race result saw Michael Schumacher extend his lead in the World Drivers' Championship with 68 points. Coulthard was second on 44 points, 18 points ahead of Barrichello in third and 19 in front of Ralf Schumacher in fourth. Montoya's second-place finish saw him move from eleventh to fifth.[7] Ferrari maintained their lead in the World Constructors' Championship with 94 points, McLaren maintained second with 53 points, and Williams remained third on 37 points, with eight races remaining in the season.[7]

Race classification

[edit]

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold.

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 67 1:29:42.724 1 10
2 6 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 67 +4.127 3 6
3 4 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 67 +24.993 5 4
4 5 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 67 +33.345 2 3
5 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 67 +45.495 4 2
6 3 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 67 +1:04.868 6 1
7 18 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth 67 +1:06.198 12  
8 19 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth 66 +1 Lap 16  
9 10 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 66 +1 Lap 11  
10 17 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Sauber-Petronas 66 +1 Lap 9  
11 7 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Renault 66 +1 Lap 15  
12 23 Brazil Luciano Burti Prost-Acer 65 +2 Laps 17  
13 8 United Kingdom Jenson Button Benetton-Renault 65 +2 Laps 20  
14 21 Spain Fernando Alonso Minardi-European 65 +2 Laps 21  
15 22 France Jean Alesi Prost-Acer 64 Spun off 14  
Ret 14 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Arrows-Asiatech 58 Engine 19  
Ret 16 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 54 Driveshaft 10  
Ret 11 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Honda 48 Traction control 8  
Ret 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Jordan-Honda 44 Transmission 7  
Ret 15 Brazil Enrique Bernoldi Arrows-Asiatech 29 Gearbox 18  
Ret 9 France Olivier Panis BAR-Honda 23 Electrical 13  
Ret 20 Brazil Tarso Marques Minardi-European 7 Electrical 22  
Sources:[2][87]

Championship standings after the race

[edit]
For full season standings, see 2001 Formula One World Championship § Results and standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Sources vary on the attendance, including 100,000,[5] 142,000,[49] and 150,000.[61]

References

[edit]
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