2001 German Grand Prix

2001 German Grand Prix
2001 German Grand Prix
Race 11 of 18 in the 2001 Formula One World Championship
	The Hockenheimring
Race details
Date	July 15, 2001
Official name	LXVII Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland
Location	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim, Germany
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	6.823 km (4.240 miles)
Distance	45 laps, 307.035 km (190.792 miles)
Weather	Sunny, warm
Pole position
Driver	Michael Schumacher;
Time	1:41.089
Fastest lap
Driver	Mika Häkkinen
Time	1:41.835 on lap 45
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher;
Second	Mika Häkkinen;
Third	Heinz-Harald Frentzen;

Qualifying

Unsurprisingly, the two Ferraris of home hero Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello were untouchable and they locked out the front row with Schumacher, spurred on by his home fans taking the pole ahead of Barrichello. Juan Pablo Montoya did a good job to take third and beat Mika Häkkinen down to fourth. Championship leader Ralf Schumacher, off form in recent weeks did not improve much either, being down in fifth with one of his main rivals, David Coulthard sixth. As usual, the two Jordans were behind them with Jarno Trulli once again ahead of Heinz-Harald Frentzen who was having a row with team boss Eddie Jordan.

Race

At the start, polesitter and home hero Michael Schumacher did not have a start as good as that of teammate Rubens Barrichello's but he moved over to prevent any of Barrichello's advances. Behind, David Coulthard quickly charging up to fourth by getting past Mika Häkkinen and Ralf Schumacher. At the chicane, Coulthard tried to pass Juan Pablo Montoya and they touched and while Coulthard took third, Montoya dropped behind Ralf (who was able to find a way past Häkkinen), Häkkinen and Jarno Trulli and was also forced to fend off Heinz-Harald Frentzen. At the end of the first lap, Schumacher led Barrichello, Coulthard, Ralf, Häkkinen, Trulli, Montoya and Frentzen. The top three pulled away from the rest at a second a lap but they stayed together. However, Coulthard retired with gearbox troubles on lap 10 leaving the lead battle to be between Schumacher and Barrichello. Behind, Häkkinen was also able to pass Ralf and climb up to third. The first round of stops did not change anything at all, the top 7 staying the same.

After the stops, Häkkinen began lapping at he speed of the Ferraris, albeit 10 seconds behind them. Schumacher and Barrichello stayed together, exchanging fastest laps along with Häkkinen until a fuel pump problem forced Barrichello to retire on lap 25. At the same time, a frustrated Montoya tried to pass Trulli and they touched, with Trulli spinning and Montoya going wide. This allowed Frentzen to sneak ahead of Montoya and by the time Trulli rejoined, he was over 14 seconds behind. At the second round of stops, Montoya jumped Frentzen and now set off after Ralf who was 3.5 seconds ahead. By lap 42, with 3 laps to go, they were right together. Montoya tried to pass on the penultimate lap and they collided, with Ralf being punted into the wall and Montoya losing one of his wheels. Both were out. Schumacher took his third consecutive win ahead of Häkkinen, Frenten, Trulli, Jean Alesi, Nick Heidfeld, Jenson Button and Olivier Panis (who crossed the line on three wheels after a tire punctured on the last lap).

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	45	1:18.17.873	1	10
2	3	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	45	+10.358	4	8
3	11	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan-Honda	45	+48.393	8	6
4	12	Jarno Trulli	Jordan-Honda	45	+1:07.914	7	5
5	22	Jean Alesi	Prost-Acer	45	+1:30.157	12	4
6	16	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	45	+1:45.522	11	3
7	8	Jenson Button	Benetton-Renault	45	+1:45.809	9	2
8	9	Olivier Panis	BAR-Honda	45	+2:13.549	13	1
9	18	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar-Cosworth	44	+1 Lap	20
10	23	Luciano Burti	Prost-Acer	44	+1 Lap	15
11	14	Jos Verstappen	Arrows-Asiatech	44	+1 Lap	21
12	19	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar-Cosworth	44	+1 Lap	17
13	21	Fernando Alonso	Minardi-European	44	+1 Lap	19
14	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	43	Collision	3
15	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	43	Collision	5
Ret	10	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	39	Radiator	10
Ret	7	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Renault	31	Accident	14
Ret	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	25	Fuel pump	2
Ret	20	Tarso Marques	Minardi-European	20	Engine	22
Ret	15	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows-Asiatech	13	Oil pressure	16
Ret	4	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	9	Gearbox	6
Ret	17	Kimi Räikkönen	Sauber-Petronas	1	Water leak	18

Notes

Lap Leaders: Michael Schumacher 45 (1-45)
Last Fastest Lap: Mika Häkkinen
This was Michael Schumacher's first win in his home race for six years.
This was David Coulthard's third sucessive retirement.
At the start, Juan Pablo Montoya and David Coulthard touched while battling for third. Coulthard took the place while Montoya went wide, lost time and went down to seventh.
At the start, Luciano Burti and Kimi Räikkönen touched, and damage on Räikkönen's car meant water leaked out on the second lap, forcing him to retire.
Juan Pablo Montoya pipped Jarno Trulli into a spin while trying to pass him. This allowed Heinz-Harald Frentzen to go by both and when Trulli rejoined, he was too far behind.
The two Williams teammates, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher touched on the penultimate lap when Montoya, trying to pass Ralf for third, touched him and sent Ralf into the wall while he himself could only coast as far as the next corner because of damage from the impact.

Standings after Grand Prix

Drivers

Constructors

1. Ferrari - 112
2. Williams-BMW - 96
3. McLaren-Mercedes - 86
4. Jordan-Honda - 51