2001 European Grand Prix
edit| 2001 European Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 4 of 18 in the 2001 Formula One World Championship | |||
 The Nürburgring (GP track) | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 15 April 2001 | ||
| Official name | LI Grand Prix of Europe | ||
| Location | Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.148 km (3.199 miles) | ||
| Distance | 60 laps, 308.863 km (191.919 miles) | ||
| Weather | Sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1.32.582 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:32.771 on lap 53 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Mercedes | ||
| Second | Williams-BMW | ||
| Third | Jordan-Honda | ||
Qualifying
editThe two Ferraris were dominant and locked out the front row with no trouble, with Rubens Barrichello taking pole position ahead of Michael Schumacher. Ralf Schumacher did a good job to take third and beat the two McLarens of David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen down to fourth and fifth respectively. Jarno Trulli did a good job to beat teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen once again while Juan Pablo Montoya, racing in a spare chassis after a shunt in practice had to be content with eighth.
Race
editRubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher and David Coulthard had no trouble maintaining their positions but Mika Häkkinen bumpstarted and dropped behind Jarno Trulli, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Juan Pablo Montoya. Barrichello led from Schumacher, Ralf, Coulthard, Trulli, Frentzen, Montoya and Häkkinen. Barrichello and Schumacher quickly pulled away from the rest. On lap 12, Coulthard's engine blew and he was out. Soon after, Montoya tried to pass Frentzen, locked up, went wide forcing Frentzen to do so as well in order to take avoiding actions allowing Häkkinen to go up to sixth. During the first round of stops, Häkkinen jumped Trulli and Montoya jumped Frentzen. The order after the stops was Barrichello ahead of Schumacher, Ralf, Häkkinen, Trulli, Montoya, Frentzen and Jacques Villeneuve.
Nothing changed until lap 31 when Montoya tried to pass Trulli but hit the apex and spun off into the gravel trap and into retirement. On lap 39, Barrichello's left rear tyre blew before his stop and he was forced to coast into the pitlane. Thus, by the time, the others had pitted, he rejoined behind all of them, down in sixth. On lap 42, Frentzen passed Trulli at the chicane. Two laps later, Schumacher's suspension failed, sending him into the wall. He was out. This left Ralf 3 seconds ahead of Häkkinen who was closing on him. With 8 laps to go, Barrichello passed Trulli and closed up on Frentzen. He then dropped back because of excessive tyre wear on his right rear. With 3 laps to go, at the front, Häkkinen was right on Ralf's tail. On the penultimate lap, at the chicane, he took the inside line and went past to take the lead. Behind, Barrichello retired when he spun into the gravel trap because his right rear also burst. Häkkinen took a superb win to finally open up his account for the season ahead of Ralf, Frentzen, Trulli, Villeneuve, Giancarlo Fisichella, Jenson Button and Kimi Räikkönen.
Classification
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Notes
edit- Lap Leaders: Rubens Barrichello 39 (1-39), Michael Schumacher 4 (40-43), Ralf Schumacher 15 (44-58) and Mika Häkkinen 2 (59-60)
- Last Race: Gaston Mazzacane
- This was Mika Häkkinen's first points of the season.
- The blow up of David Coulthard's engine was the third Mercedes engine to blow up in three races.
- Mika Häkkinen made a superb passing manoeuvre on the outside of Ralf Schumacher on the penultimate lap to win.
- This was Luciano Burti's last race for the Jaguar team before he moved to the Prost team, replacing Gaston Mazzacane.
Standings after Grand Prix
editDrivers
- 1. Ralf Schumacher - 32
- 2. Juan Pablo Montoya - 22
- 3. David Coulthard - 17
- 4. Rubens Barrichello - 13
- 5. Michael Schumacher - 13
- 6. Heinz-Harald Frentzen - 11
- 7. Mika Häkkinen - 10
- 8. Jacques Villeneuve - 10
Constructors