2000 French Grand Prix

The 2000 French Grand Prix (officially the LXXXVI Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France ) was a Formula One motor race contested on 2 July 2000 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Magny-Cours , Burgundy , Central France, attended by 112,112 spectators. It was the 86th French Grand Prix and the ninth round of the 2000 Formula One World Championship . McLaren 's David Coulthard won the 72-lap race after starting second. His teammate Mika Häkkinen finished second with Ferrari 's Rubens Barrichello third...

The 2000 French Grand Prix was the ninth of seventeen rounds in the 2000 Formula One World Championship , contested on 2 July 2000 at the 4.251 km (2.641 mi) clockwise Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Magny-Cours , Burgundy , Central France. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 5 ] Sole tyre supplier Bridgestone delivered the more balanced and less grippy Soft and the faster Extra Soft dry compound tyres to the event. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Bridgestone technical director Yoshihiko Ichikawa urged teams to use extra soft com...

Ferrari 's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 56 championship points before the race, followed by McLaren 's David Coulthard on 34 and his teammate Mika Häkkinen on 32. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was fourth with 28 championship points, with Benetton 's Giancarlo Fisichella fifth with 18 championship points. [ 10 ] Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 84 championship points. McLaren and Benetton were second and third with 66 and 18 championship points, ...

Following the Canadian Grand Prix on 18 June, the teams (except for Minardi due to a transport strike in Italy) tested at the track between 21 and 23 June to prepare for the upcoming French Grand Prix. Coulthard led the first day from McLaren test driver Olivier Panis . [ 6 ] [ 11 ] Arrows ' Jos Verstappen lost control of his car after a mechanical failure and crashed into the barriers at turn two. Verstappen suffered neck strain and withdrew from testing. He was later cleared to compete in the ...

After the Canadian Grand Prix, where he stalled on the grid before the formation lap before receiving a ten-second stop and go penalty because his mechanics worked on his car 15 seconds before the race started, Coulthard said that Ferrari could still be caught in the season's nine remaining races. He commented: "We have to look towards Magny-Cours and put this (Montreal) race behind us. The championship is not over yet and although we cannot change what happened in Canada, we can try to close th...

Almost every team modified their cars for the event. [ 6 ] [ 20 ] Ferrari introduced chimney stacks on the F1-2000 during free practice for the first time and additional vents to extract warm air for aerodynamic efficiency. The team reverted to previous specifications for qualifying and the race. It also modified the axle construction at the car's bottom with composite materials designed to minimise friction when it touched the asphalt surface. McLaren installed a new extractor profile for free ...

Jordan's Trulli and Frentzen were eighth and ninth. Both drivers were disappointed with their performance; [ 26 ] Trulli went wide off the course and returned via the off surface, preventing him from lapping faster. [ 38 ] [ 39 ] Button qualified tenth. [ 37 ] Herbert in eleventh failed to qualify in the top ten by nearly three-tenths of a second. [ 37 ] Salo took twelfth, with his fastest time posted when cloud cover reduced air and track temperatures. [ 38 ] He was ahead of de la Rosa in 13th ...

The drivers took to the track at 09:30 Central European Summer Time ( UTC +2) for a 30-minute warm-up session, [ 4 ] in sunny weather. [ 43 ] Overnight rain left the asphalt surface slippery, but the sun dried it up as the session went; lap time were significantly slower than the previous two days. [ 8 ] [ 44 ] [ 45 ] To begin the session, teams fitted wet tyres on their cars before switching to dry compound tyres when lap times decreased and the circuit's condition improved. [ 44 ] Drivers modi...

The 72-lap event had a distance of 306.072 km (190.184 mi), [ 1 ] and began before 112,112 spectators at 14:00 local time. [ 46 ] [ 47 ] The weather for the race was dry and sunny; [ 5 ] the air temperature ranged from 27 to 28 °C (81 to 82 °F) and the track temperature was between 38 and 39 °C (100 and 102 °F); [ 46 ] [ 48 ] conditions were expected to remain consistent throughout the race with 40% chance of rain. [ 6 ] [ 46 ] Every driver began on the Extra Soft dry compound tyres. [ 48 ] Driv...

While Coulthard made the best start of the leading runners, Michael Schumacher moved left and into his path to retain the lead. Coulthard then moved to his right but was blocked and slowed to avoid a collision, allowing Barrichello past for second. [ 6 ] [ 51 ] [ 52 ] Salo had the strongest start in the field, going from twelfth to ninth by the end of the first lap, while Irvine fell four positions and Ralf Schumacher dropped from fifth to seventh. [ 52 ] At the first lap's completion, the top s...

Michael Schumacher increasing his advantage over Barrichello to five seconds by lap ten. [ 5 ] Button took tenth position from Irvine on lap twelve, while Heidfeld collided with Alesi at the Adelaide hairpin while attempting to overtake Fisichella, [ 52 ] sending his teammate into a spin and dropping to 18th. [ 48 ] Button overtook Salo for ninth on lap 13. [ 5 ] Zonta, who was running 17th, experienced braking troubles on lap 17 and struck the tyre barriers , forcing him to retire from the Gran...

Trulli became the first front runner to pit on lap 21, followed by Villeneuve, Frentzen, and Ralf Schumacher. [ 53 ] On lap 22, Coulthard passed Barrichello on the outside for second place exiting the Adelaide hairpin. [ 51 ] [ 52 ] Coulthard entered the hairpin wide and gained enough speed to overtake Barrichello, who did not swerve into him. [ 55 ] Häkkinen, Button, Michael Schumacher, Coulthard, and Barrichello all made pit stops over the following three laps. [ 53 ] Verstappen retired at the...

Coulthard went to the inside of Michael Schumacher (who had heavily worn tyres) in the Adelaide hairpin as Schumacher steered wide to cover. After forcing Michael Schumacher into the outside verge of the corner exit, he took the lead on lap 40. [ 5 ] [ 51 ] [ 52 ] Michael Schumacher's right front wheel made slight contact with Coulthard's left rear tyre exiting the hairpin. [ 48 ] [ 52 ] Michael Schumacher then promptly withstood Häkkinen's overtaking attempts. [ 52 ] Frentzen and de la Rosa bec...

The top three drivers collected their trophies on the podium and spoke at the press conference that followed. [ 4 ] Coulthard described his race weekend as "exhausting" due to issues his team had to face. He also apologised for making hand motions at Michael Schumacher during his initial overtaking manoeuvre on him. [ 59 ] Häkkinen expressed satisfaction to finish second and applauded his team's efforts. He also mentioned watching Michael Schumacher's racing lines and believing he might have pas...

FIA president Max Mosley stated that Michael Schumacher's single swerving action at the start of the race was "more of a convention" agreed upon by drivers rather than a formal regulation, adding: "They are all grown men at the height of their profession. However, where we would get involved is if the move was totally outrageous and deemed to be dangerous." [ 65 ] Coulthard said he interpreted the regulations to mean that a driver intentionally going across the track to block another racer deser...

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .