2001 Formula One Season - Reports

Reports

Michael Schumacher started the new season where he left off last year, with a dominant win from pole position in the first race in Australia. Arch-rival Mika Häkkinen lost second after a suspension failure, giving second to his teammate David Coulthard, with Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello completing the podium. The race was marred by the death of Graham Beveridge, a track marshal who was hit by debris after a collision between Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve.

Schumacher and Ferrari teammate Barrichello started 1-2 in Malaysia and maintained their positions at the first corner, but there was a massive rainshower on the second lap, during which both Ferraris went off the track. After everyone pitted to change tyres, the Ferraris were down in 10th and 11th, but they can changed to intermediates while all others had changed to wets. This masterstroke meant that the Ferraris were able to charge back up the order, and get back first and second. Schumacher won, with Barrichello completing a Ferrari 1-2, and Coulthard was third.

Schumacher was on pole in Brazil, but a collision on the first lap brought out the safety car. As the race restarted, Williams rookie Juan Pablo Montoya shocked Schumacher by coming up the inside of him and taking the lead. Montoya was well set for a stunning maiden win until he got hit from behind by Jos Verstappen while lapping him. It began to rain, and after everyone changed the tyres, Schumacher was leading but then Coulthard passed him on the first turn when they were lapping Tarso Marques in a move reminiscent to the one made by Mika Häkkinen on Schumacher in Belgium last year. Coulthard went on to win, with Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld second and third.

In Ferrari's first 'home' race in San Marino, their chief rivals McLaren stunned them by qualifying 1-2, with Coulthard on pole. Schumacher was fourth behind his brother Ralf Schumacher. Ralf shot to the lead at the start, passing both McLarens before the first corner, and was never headed. Coulthard ran him close, and finished second, with Barrichello jumping Häkkinen in the stops to take third. Schumacher had to retire after a puncture.

After 4 races, Schumacher and Coulthard were level on the standings with 26 points, Barrichello and Ralf were third with 14 and 12 points respectively. Häkkinen had only 4, and was only seventh in the standings. In the Constructors, Ferrari led with 40, with McLaren second with 30. Williams were third with 12.

The next round in Spain was a battle between Schumacher and Häkkinen, with the former winning pole and leading the first two parts of the race. During the second pit stop, Schumacher had a problem and lost a lot of time, giving the lead to Häkkinen, who then stretched it to half a minute, as Schumacher was struggling with a suspension problem. Ironically, it was Häkkinen's car which gave out first, on the last lap with a clutch failure, giving the win to Schumacher. Montoya finished second, and Jacques Villeneuve completed the podium. Coulthard recovered to fifth after stalling on the grid.

The sixth round was in Austria, and the two Williams cars outdragged polesitter Schumacher into the first corner. Ralf retired with a brake problem, and this left Montoya under attack from Schumacher. Schumacher tried to pass, but instead both went into the gravel, and rejoined sixth and seventh. Coulthard took the lead by jumping Rubens Barrichello in the second round of stops, and won, while Barrichello had to yield second to a recovering Schumacher on the final lap.

Round 7 was in Monaco, and Coulthard took pole but stalled on the grid. This left the two Ferraris and Häkkinen to battle for the win, and when Häkkinen's engine failed early on, the Ferraris cruised to a 1-2 finish, with Schumacher winning ahead of Barrichello. The demise of the McLarens allowed Eddie Irvine to get a podium, while Coulthard recovered to fifth.

The round in Canada was a battle between the Schumacher brothers, with Michael taking pole and maintaining his lead at the first corner. Ralf, however, kept up with him, and when his brother pitted, upped the pace with a string of quick laps, and came out five seconds ahead. Ralf cruised to victory, with his brother making it the first time ever that brothers have finished 1-2 in a race, and Häkkinen finished third, his first podium of the season. Coulthard was set for third, but retired when his engine failed 15 laps from the finish.

With nearly half the season complete, Schumacher had 58 points, and leads Coulthard by 18 points, mostly courtesy of the seventh and eighth rounds. Coulthard, had a further 16 points over Barrichello who had 24 points, and 18 over Ralf, who had 22. Häkkinen was fifth with 8. In the Constructors, Ferrari with 82 points had a huge lead over McLaren, who had 48. Williams were third with 28.

The next race, the European Grand Prix was again all about the Schumacher brothers, and Michael took his seventh pole of the season, ahead of his brother. The brothers maintained their positions at the start, and Ralf was able to keep up in second during the first stint. However, he passed the white line after his first stop, and received a stop-go penalty which dropped him out of contention. This left Michael Schumacher to cruise to another victory, with Montoya in second, and Coulthard third. Ralf, even with his penalty was able to get fourth ahead of Barrichello and Häkkinen.

In the French Grand Prix, the Schumacher brothers started 1-2 again, but it was Ralf who took pole, his first ever career pole. Ralf maintained his lead at the start but his brother jumped him at the first round of stops and then pulled away. Coulthard, who had started third was in contention until he went over the white line while coming out of the pit lane and received a stop-go penalty. Montoya was running quickly, and could have challenged his teammate for second had his engine not blown up. Schumacher won comfortably from brother Ralf, with Barrichello holding off Coulthard for third.

Schumacher took pole for the British GP and maintained his position at the first corner, but Häkkinen, who was on a two-stopper passed him on the fifth lap. Häkkinen never looked back and dominated to take his first win of the year. Schumacher, whose one-stop strategy didn't work out well, was over half a minute back in second, and Barrichello completed the podium.

The weekend of the German GP was dominated by the Williams team, and their drivers locked out the front row, and Montoya took his first career pole. Montoya converted his pole to a lead at the start, and was looking well set to win until his engine blew up. This left Ralf to cruise to victory, and Barrichello took second and Jacques Villeneuve got his second podium of the season in third, both capitalising on Schumacher's retirement with a fuel pressure problem, and both McLarens retiring with engine failures.

Schumacher now had no less than 84 points, and it seemed inevitable that he would win the championship. A win in the next round in Hungary would be enough. Coulthard was a distant second with 47, and was looking anxiously over his shoulders, as Ralf with 41 and Barrichello with 37 were hot on his heels. Häkkinen and Montoya were fifth and sixth with 19 and 15 points respectively. In the Constructors, Ferrari led with 121 compared to McLaren's 66, and a 1-2 in Hungary will wrap up the title. Williams were third with 56, with touching distance of McLaren.

Schumacher took another step to winning the title by taking pole in the Hungarian GP, ahead of Coulthard and Barrichello. Schumacher kept first at the start, but Coulthard was passed by Barrichello. Schumacher pulled away, while Barrichello kept Coulthard at bay. Coulthard jumped Barrichello at the first round of stops, only for the Brazilian to return the favour at the second. Schumacher won the race and the championship, and Barrichello made it a Ferrari 1-2 which gave Ferrari the Constructors championship. A disappointed Coulthard finished third.

The two Williams cars of Montoya and Ralf qualified 1-2 for the Belgian GP, but that soon came to nothing for the former when he stalled on the grid, and started at the back. Ralf was quickly passed by world champion Michael Schumacher into the first corner. After a few laps, there was a collision between Eddie Irvine and Luciano Burti, and the latter ran head on into the tyres. The race was stopped, while Burti was treated for his injuries. While the injuries were not serious, Burti was never to race in F1 again. A new race, shortened to 36 laps was started, and the top 3 in the new grid were: Schumacher, Ralf, Barrichello. Ralf's car was on its jacks when the warmup started, and he too had to start at the back. Schumacher kept first at the start, and pulled away, while Barrichello lost out to Giancarlo Fisichella. Barrichello lost further time when he ran over a bollard at the Bus Stop chicane and damaging his front wing, and he had to around for an entire lap before pitting to change the wing. This left the two McLarens behind Fisichella. Coulthard was able to pass him with 10 laps left. Schumacher took his 52nd career win, breaking Alain Prost's record of most wins ever, with Coulthard and a superb Fisichella completing the podium.

The next round was in Italy, the first race after the September 11 attacks and before the race Michael Schumacher wanted all the drivers to go slowly at the first corner, due to 9/11 and a horrific accident in ChampCar the day before in which former F1 driver Alex Zanardi suffered serious injuries but this plan did not work out because Jacques Villeneuve and Benetton boss Flavio Briatore did not accept it. The Ferrari team ran with a black tip on their nose, as respect for 9/11. Montoya took pole, ahead of the two Ferraris of Barrichello and Schumacher. The top 3 maintained their positions at the start, but Montoya was soon passed by a two-stopping Barrichello. Montoya and Barrichello battled it out with different plans, and Montoya came out on top after Barrichello suffered problems during his first stop which cost him 7 seconds. A jubilant Montoya took his first career win, with Barrichello and Ralf second and third.

The US GP was the host of the penultimate round, and Schumacher took pole ahead of his brother and Montoya. Schumacher led into the first corner, while Ralf lost out to both Montoya and Barrichello. A two-stopping Barrichello soon took the lead, and pitted. Montoya passes Schumacher before the round of stops, but retired two laps after his stop when his engine failed. With everyone stopping once, Barrichello was leading from Häkkinen, Schumacher and Coulthard. Barrichello rejoined second behind Häkkinen after his stop and started to close in until his engine failed on the penultimate lap. Häkkinen took a superb win (which turned out to be his last), and Barrichello's demise left Schumacher and Coulthard to take second and third.

Going into the final race, this was the championship standings: Schumacher the champion with 113, Coulthard second with 61, Barrichello third with 54, Ralf fourth with 48, Häkkinen fifth with 34 and Montoya sixth with 25. In the Constructors, Ferrari were champions with 167, McLaren with 95 were confirmed in second, and Williams with 73 were confirmed in third.

The last round was in Japan, and Schumacher took pole again, ahead of Montoya and Ralf. The top 3 kept their places into the first corner, even though Ralf was soon passed by a three-stopping Barrichello. Barrichello was unable to pass Montoya, and this ruined his strategy. Ralf was given a stop-go penalty for cutting the chicane at the last corner too frequently. This left Häkkinen running third in his last race in F1, but he gave the position to teammate Coulthard as a token of gratitude to all the support Coulthard gave him during the previous seasons. Schumacher capped off the season with a victory ahead of Montoya and Coulthard. Häkkinen was fourth in his last ever race, ahead of Barrichello and Ralf.

At the end of the season, Schumacher was a dominant champion with 123 points. Coulthard with 65 was a distant second, 58 points behind. Barrichello was third with 56, Ralf fourth with 49, Häkkinen fifth with 37 and Montoya sixth with 31. This meant that Schumacher had collected more than second and third placed drivers' (Coulthard and Barichello) totals put together. In the Constructors, Ferrari were champions with 179 points, a massive 77 ahead of second-placed McLaren with 102. Williams were third with 80 points.