2000 Malaysian Grand Prix

The 2000 Malaysian Grand Prix (formally the II Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix ) was a Formula One motor race held on 22 October 2000, at Sepang International Circuit in Sepang , Selangor , Malaysia. It was the 17th and final race of the 2000 Formula One World Championship , and the second Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix . Ferrari 's Michael Schumacher won the 56-lap race from pole position . McLaren 's David Coulthard finished second, with Michael Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello finishi...

McLaren's Mika Häkkinen , started second alongside Michael Schumacher. Häkkinen, on the other hand, was handed a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for being deemed to have jumped the start . Häkkinen was able to return to fourth, his ultimate finishing position. Coulthard, who started third, took the lead until the first round of pit stops . During their second stops, Michael Schumacher and teammate Rubens Barrichello traded the lead, with the former retaining it. Michael Schumacher won the race by...

Michael Schumacher's victory was his ninth of the season, tying his own record set in 1995 and Nigel Mansell in 1992 . Schumacher also tied Mansell's 108- point record. McLaren was unable to pass Ferrari's points total in the final race, confirming Ferrari as World Constructors' Champions . Coulthard's second-place finish helped him beat Barrichello to third in the World Drivers' Championship. Pedro Diniz 's and Johnny Herbert 's final race was at the Grand Prix; the Englishman retired after 161...

Before the event, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the season's World Drivers' Championship at the preceding Japanese Grand Prix . [ 6 ] Schumacher led the championship with 98 championship points ; McLaren 's Mika Häkkinen was second on 86 points. With only 10 championship points available for the remaining race, Häkkinen was unable to catch Schumacher. [ 8 ] McLaren's David Coulthard was third in the Drivers' Championship, 67 championship points behind Michael Schumacher and Häkkinen, and...

Protests against Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim 's imprisonment threatened to disrupt the race. The campaign group, known as Free Anwar, [ 12 ] were reported in the media that they would use the event to try to bid for Ibrahim's release. However, the campaign's director, Raja Petra Kamarudin, later announced that the event would be untouched. [ 13 ]

Eleven teams (each representing a different constructor ) entered the event with each team fielding two drivers. [ 24 ] Michael Schumacher was the bookmakers favourite to win the race. [ 25 ] There were few alterations to cars for the race since teams were focused on the design of their 2001 vehicles. Changes centred on the requirement to increase the cooling of each car's mechanical components in order to cope with Malaysia's humid climate. [ 26 ] Several teams opened additional slots on the re...

There were two one-hour sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday before Sunday's race. [ 5 ] The Friday morning and afternoon sessions were held in hot and dry weather. [ 27 ] Several teams reported poor radio reception, possibly caused by the large grandstands located around the track. [ 28 ] Michael Schumacher set the first session's fastest lap, at 1 minute and 40.290 seconds, seven-tenths of a second quicker than teammate Barrichello. Coulthard was third quickest despite spe...

Despite believing he could have been faster as he slowed through turn 15, Irvine made setup adjustments and took seventh. [ 33 ] [ 40 ] Ralf Schumacher in eighth lost four-tenths of a second on his fastest lap. [ 33 ] Trulli and Frentzen were ninth and tenth for Jordan. [ 10 ] Zonta missed qualifying in the top ten by two-tenths of a second owing to braking issues. Herbert qualified twelfth in his final Formula One race and experienced understeer due to an engine change. He was ahead of Fisichel...

Diniz attempted to pass Heidfeld who was alongside de la Rosa at the second turn, but he overshot the entry and crashed into the rear of Alesi's car, which was spun around and made contact with Heidfeld. Heidfeld pushed De La Rosa into the wall; De La Rosa, Diniz, and Heidfeld became the race's first retirements, while Alesi continued. Both Minardi drivers were forced wide in avoidance. On the same lap, Ralf Schumacher (affected by a major cold) was forced onto the grass while attempting to pass...

Häkkinen took his penalty on lap five, losing around 23.8 seconds due to the pit lane entry being positioned on the outside of the last turn, requiring drivers to take a longer line than those on the track, and he re-entered the track in 19th. [ 51 ] [ 49 ] Frentzen went off the track and entered the pit lane for repairs on the same lap. Verstappen passed Ralf Schumacher for 14th place. [ 51 ] Coulthard set a new fastest lap of the race, a 1:40.679 on lap seven, extending his lead over Michael S...

On the tenth lap, Coulthard ran off the track at turn six, [ 2 ] with grass penetrating his left-hand radiator inlet and blocking the hot air release pipes. [ 10 ] [ 51 ] This increased the engine temperature in Coulthard's car, [ 6 ] and McLaren was forced to amend his race strategy when his engine overheated too much. [ 55 ] Further down, Gené lost 13th position to Alesi, as Trulli made a pit stop for further repairs to his car. [ 51 ] [ 52 ] Coulthard had a 5.6-second lead over Michael Schuma...

By the end of lap 26, all of the leading drivers on two-stop strategies had made their pit stops. Michael Schumacher led from Coulthard, Barrichello, Herbert, Verstappen, and Villeneuve. [ 52 ] Häkkinen passed Villeneuve on lap 28, however he went off the track and let Villeneuve back past. Herbert made his only pit stop on the same lap, stalled, and rejoined the circuit in twelfth. [ 2 ] [ 51 ] Gené, Mazzacane, Ralf Schumacher and Verstappen made pit stops between laps 28 and 29. [ 52 ] Villene...

Michael Schumacher made a pit stop on the following lap and retained the lead. [ 10 ] Barrichello took the lead for one lap and made his pit stop on lap 41. This allowed Michael Schumacher to retake the lead. Coulthard had closed to within two seconds of Michael Schumacher who was nursing his tyres by the start of lap 45. [ 10 ] [ 51 ] Ralf Schumacher's team called him into the garage to retire to prevent a failure of a malfunctioning engine oil supply system that was detected by the electronic ...

Michael Schumacher held off Coulthard and crossed the finish line first on lap 56 to claim his ninth victory of the season and 44th of his career in a time of 1'35:54.235, [ 53 ] at an average speed of 194.199 km/h (120.670 mph). [ 58 ] He equalled the wins record set by himself in 1995 and Nigel Mansell in 1992 . [ 59 ] Coulthard finished second in his McLaren, 0.7 seconds behind Michael Schumacher, with Barrichello third in the other Ferrari and Häkkinen fourth. [ 58 ] Villeneuve in fifth achi...

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and in the subsequent press conference . [ 5 ] Michael Schumacher said that he and his team were delighted to win the race and the Constructors' Championship. [ 61 ] He also added that he win with the use of team strategy after he realised Coulthard was quicker than him. [ 61 ] Coulthard apologised to Michael Schumacher for his comments about him throughout the season. [ 10 ] He also stated that he would not be retracting any...

McLaren team principal Ron Dennis congratulated Ferrari and Michael Schumacher for winning both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships. [ 6 ] Michael Schumacher expressed hope that his success in 2000 would usher in a new era of success for Ferrari. [ 63 ] Similarly, their technical director, Ross Brawn , believe that the team may improve more in the coming seasons: "We've got to build from this success and I'm sure we will do and get all the support from Italy and Ferrari that we will nee...

Villeneuve was pleased with his fifth-place performance given how his vehicle performed at the start of the season, commenting, "We have made good progress and improved the car throughout the season. We have got to know the car better in terms of set-up, which has allowed us to push harder in races and challenge consistently for points." [ 53 ] Irvine stated that he was glad to complete the year with a single championship point and that the result highlighted the car's potential, adding, "There ...

Herbert was not injured in the crash, except for a bruised left knee. [ 68 ] He expressed disappointment in his late exit in his final Formula One race, saying that "I'm pretty disappointed to have a good race ruined by a failure such as that." [ 68 ] He remarked, "I guess it was inevitable that, because I began my career being carried to the car, I would end it being carried out of it. There is nothing like ending your career with a bang!" [ 6 ] Herbert left Formula One after 12 years with 161 ...

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .

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