2001 Chinese Grand Prix

2001 Chinese Grand Prix
2001 Chinese Grand Prix
Race 16 of 18 in the 2001 Formula One World Championship
	The Shanghai International Circuit
Race details
Date	October 7, 2001
Official name	IV Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix
Location	Shanghai International Circuit; Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Course	Permanent Racing Facility
Course length	5.451 km (3.387 miles)
Distance	56 laps, 305.066 km (189.559 miles)
Weather	Dry with light shower near the end
Pole position
Driver	Michael Schumacher;
Time	1:40.190
Fastest lap
Driver	Rubens Barrichello
Time	1:39.284 on lap 45
Podium
First	Mika Häkkinen;
Second	Rubens Barrichello;
Third	David Coulthard;

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	56	1:36:42.840	6	10
2	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	56	+28.249	2	8
3	4	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	56	+47.855	4	6
4	11	Jarno Trulli	Jordan-Honda	56	+1:11.111	3	5
5	12	Jean Alesi	Jordan-Honda	56	+1:17.589	5	4
6	17	Kimi Räikkönen	Sauber-Petronas	56	+1:28.613	9	3
7	19	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar-Cosworth	55	+1 Lap	13	2
8	9	Olivier Panis	BAR-Honda	55	+1 Lap	10	1
9	8	Jenson Button	Benetton-Renault	55	+1 Lap	12
10	10	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	55	+1 Lap	14
11	23	Tomáš Enge	Prost-Acer	54	+2 Laps	16
12	14	Jos Verstappen	Arrows-Asiatech	54	+2 Laps	20
13	15	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows-Asiatech	54	+2 Laps	15
14	21	Fernando Alonso	Minardi-European	53	+3 Laps	19
15	16	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	52	Engine	18
Ret	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	47	Accident	8
Ret	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	39	Tyre	1
Ret	20	Alex Yoong	Minardi-European	38	Gearbox	21
Ret	18	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar-Cosworth	25	Spun off	18
Ret	7	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Renault	17	Gearbox	11
Ret	22	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Prost-Acer	10	Hydraulics	22
Ret	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1	Collision	7

Last win: Mika Häkkinen
This was the McLaren team's first victory in the United States since 1991.
This was the last victory for the McLaren team in the US Grand Prix until 2007, when Lewis Hamilton won and teammate Fernando Alonso finished 2nd, which was the team's first ever 1-2 finish in this circuit.
Juan Pablo Montoya appeared with the Williams PR staff at a downtown Indianapolis department store to sign autographs on the Wednesday before the race; Mika Häkkinen was in the same mall at the time and had to be shuffled to the back of a clothing store to escape a crowd of well-wishers.
Since the race was less than three weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks, members of some teams took alternate air routes from Europe (through Philadelphia or Chicago), apparently for safety reasons.

Also in response to the terrorist attacks, many of the teams and drivers had special US tributes on their cars and helmets. Jordan's Jarno Trulli added to the standard American flag theme with the words, "Peace no war." The Jordan cars had American flags prominently displayed on the airboxes (see photo) and replaced their prohibited tobacco sponsor name with the words, "Bitten Heroes."
There was a reception on Sunday morning to honor American F1 drivers. Those present included three of the six Americans who competed in the first US Grand Prix at Sebring, Florida in 1959 – Phil Hill, the first American World Champion; Rodger Ward, two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500; and Bob Said.
Prior to the race, John Mellencamp performed his song "Peaceful World," since the race was less than 3 weeks after September 11.
In the race, Jean Alesi's Jordan carried the number "200" on its sidepods, commemorating his 200th (and penultimate) Grand Prix.
Several hours after the race, Jarno Trulli had his fourth place result taken away for having too much wear on the plank under his Jordan, but the team's appeal of the decision was accepted four weeks later and the result was reinstated.
For the United States TV coverage, this race was televised live on ABC instead of Speed Channel. However, Speed Channel rebroadcast the race later.
The race was Murray Walker's last race commentary for Formula One. After the race he was presented with a brick from the original Brick Yard as a retirement present.

Drivers

Constructors