2000 Hungarian Grand Prix

The 2000 Hungarian Grand Prix (formally the XVI Marlboro Magyar Nagydj ) was a Formula One motor race held on 13 August 2000, at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród , Pest , Hungary, attended by 120,000 spectators. The race was the twelfth of seventeen in the 2000 Formula One World Championship and the 18th in Hungary. Mika Häkkinen , driving a McLaren - Mercedes , won the 77-lap race after starting third. Ferrari 's Michael Schumacher finished second after qualifying on pole position in the one-hour qu...

On 13 August 2000, the 3.975 km (2.470 mi) clockwise Hungaroring in Mogyoród , Pest , Hungary hosted the twelfth race of the 2000 Formula One World Championship , the 2000 Hungarian Grand Prix . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Sole tyre supplier Bridgestone delivered the Soft and Extra Soft dry compound tyres to the event, [ 5 ] the softest compounds available to teams. [ 6 ] Entering the race, Ferrari 's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 56 championship points , ahead of McLaren teammates...

Following the German Grand Prix on 30 July, teams prepared for the event by testing on circuits similar to the Hungaroring. [ 8 ] Six teams tested high- downforce , racing setups at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo for three days. [ 9 ] McLaren test driver Olivier Panis finished the first day ahead of Häkkinen. Pedro Diniz 's Sauber car had an oil leak, restricting his team's testing time while the leak was rectified. [ 10 ] Coulthard was fastest on the second day and Fisichella led on the final day. B...

After three consecutive retirements, including first-lap collisions in Austria and Germany reducing his points lead from 22 points to 2, [ 16 ] Michael Schumacher stated that his objective in Hungary was to avoid any incident on the first lap and finish in a points-scoring position. He was also confident that Ferrari would perform well on the track. [ 17 ] Despite Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo 's comments to the press about Barrichello assisting Michael Schumacher's title aspirations, Ba...

The event featured eleven teams (each representing a different constructor ) and two drivers, with no changes from the season entry list . [ 19 ] Following tests, Prost 's Jean Alesi was declared fit by his doctors and then by FIA medical delegate Sid Watkins in the days before the race. [ 20 ] [ 21 ] At the previous race, Alesi was involved in a high-speed accident with Sauber driver Diniz, suffering from abdominal pains, dizziness and vomiting. [ 22 ] Prost had their test driver Stéphane Sarra...

Some teams modified their cars for the event. The Hungaroring track's characteristics require teams to operate their car with a high load of aerodynamics, and special attention was paid to heat dissipation because high temperatures were recorded at the circuit. [ 25 ] McLaren improved the aerodynamics of their MP4/15 chassis in order to increase the amount of downforce , and thus grip , produced by the bodywork. They also brought revised nose wings. [ 26 ] McLaren additionally strengthened the s...

Michael Schumacher waited for other drivers to clean the dirty track before setting the first session's quickest time on his first fast lap, at 1 minute and 20.198 seconds, in the final moments of the session. [ 34 ] [ 21 ] He was almost six-tenths of a second faster than teammate Barrichello. Jaguar 's Eddie Irvine was third fastest, ahead of Williams' Ralf Schumacher . Fisichella, BAR's Jacques Villeneuve , Jordan 's Jarno Trulli , Diniz, Mika Salo of Sauber and Williams' Jenson Button complet...

Fisichella qualified seventh, claiming Michael Schumacher hindered his final lap. [ 46 ] [ 50 ] Ferrari attempted to inform Schumacher about Fisichella behind him but Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn pressed the wrong radio button and mistakenly told Barrichello. Brawn apologised for the error and Benetton technical director Pat Symonds downplayed it. [ 35 ] Button was the slower of the two Williams drivers in eighth. Salo finished ninth, owing to cloud cover on his final run. Irvine finish...

The drivers took to the track in hot, sunny weather at 09:30 Central European Summer Time ( UTC +2) for a 30-minute warm-up session. [ 4 ] [ 54 ] Rainfall the night before had cleaned the circuit. [ 6 ] Teams used the session to adjust and check their race and spare cars before the race. [ 55 ] With ten minutes remaining, Coulthard set the pace with a lap time of 1:19.261. Michael Schumacher outpaced teammate Barrichello and behind Coulthard by 0.120 seconds in the second and third-placed Ferrar...

Ralf Schumacher's attempts to pass Coulthard for third on the inside the opening two turns were unsuccessful. [ 51 ] Villeneuve and De La Rosa collided into the chicane and both cars (which lacked mechanical grip) sustained damage. Villeneuve made a pit stop for a new front wing assembly followed by De La Rosa for a new set of tyres since he sustained a left rear puncture. [ 16 ] [ 64 ] [ 65 ] At the first lap's conclusion, Häkkinen led from Michael Schumacher, Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, Barric...

Häkkinen had a seven-second lead over Michael Schumacher by lap 19. [ 66 ] Coulthard was three seconds behind Michael Schumacher owing to an incorrect tyre pressure setting and was pulling away from Ralf Schumacher. [ 6 ] [ 66 ] Heidfeld became the race's second retirement when his car failed due to a drop in battery voltage after a pit stop after completing 22 laps. [ 51 ] [ 68 ] Three laps later, Irvine made his first pit stop from seventh and fell to 11th. [ 64 ] At the end of lap 27, Brawn a...

When Coulthard was delayed by Genè on lap 47 and lost more than a second, Michael Schumacher increased the gap. [ 63 ] Genè would receive a 10-second stop-go penalty for delaying Irvine's Jaguar. [ 64 ] As he had been short-fuelled, Barrichello made his second pit stop on lap 48, lasting 8.7 seconds. [ 65 ] [ 67 ] Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher made their pit stops on lap 51. [ 65 ] Michael Schumacher was brought into the pit lane since slower cars were likely to impede Coulthard. [ 63 ]...

On lap 65, Diniz's car stopped between turns nine and ten due to engine failure. [ 61 ] [ 66 ] Herbert dropped behind Verstappen on lap 70 after spinning in front of him at the first corner. [ 61 ] [ 67 ] He retired two laps later with gearbox problems. [ 67 ] [ 68 ] Mazzacane retired on track on lap 73 with an engine failure after a visor became caught inside a radiator, causing water temperatures to rise too high. [ 61 ] [ 68 ] Trulli caught and passed Button for seventh on the first corner on...

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and in the subsequent press conference . [ 4 ] Häkkinen said that modifications to his car's engine caused his good start. [ 73 ] Norbert Haug , Vice President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport , complimented his victory. "Mika had a great race," he said. "His victory may have looked easy, but it was tough to achieve and in my view this was one of his best drives ever." [ 74 ] Although he was unable to catch Häkkinen, Michael Schum...

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .

47°34′44″N 19°14′55″E  /  47.57889°N 19.24861°E  / 47.57889; 19.24861