2000 San Marino Grand Prix

The 2000 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the 20 o Gran Premio Warsteiner di San Marino ) was a Formula One motor race held at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola , Emilia-Romagna , Italy on 9 April 2000. It was the third race of the 2000 Formula One World Championship and the season's first European event. Ferrari 's Michael Schumacher won the 62-lap race after starting in second. McLaren 's Mika Häkkinen finished second, while teammate David Coulthard finished third.

Schumacher's victory extended his World Drivers' Championship lead to 21 championship points over Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello and 22 championship points over Benetton 's Giancarlo Fisichella . In the World Constructors' Championship, McLaren scored their first championship points of the season, moving into second place with 10 championship points, 29 championship points behind Ferrari with 14 races remaining.

Several teams tested their cars , setups and components on European racing tracks for the San Marino Grand Prix. [ 11 ] Arrows , Benetton, British American Racing (BAR), Jaguar , Jordan, McLaren, Prost and Williams tested at the Silverstone Circuit in England in mixed weather conditions from 28 to 30 March 2000. [ 11 ] [ 12 ] Benetton also spent a day at Santa Pod Raceway 's dragstrip , where their drivers tested a new clutch and practiced starts to determine how durable the clutch was. [ 13 ] [...

Ferrari began the season with Michael Schumacher winning the first two Grands Prix in Australia and Brazil . McLaren, meanwhile, scored no points due to their unreliable car, and their driver David Coulthard was disqualified from second place in Brazil for a technical infringement. [ 19 ] [ 20 ] Despite the strong start to the season, Michael Schumacher said, "Twenty points from two races is ideal, but I want to ask everybody to stay quiet. The championship has only just started and it would be ...

Some teams modified their cars for the Grand Prix, focusing on braking systems to cope with the Imola circuit's demands. [ 25 ] Ferrari used lightweight brake discs just for Saturday morning practice sessions, while Michael Schumacher drove with a new engine for qualifying only and a new rear wing specification. [ 25 ] [ 26 ] Sauber changed its rear wing specification following car component issues that forced the team to withdraw from the previous Brazilian Grand Prix. [ 25 ] The Impact Protect...

Trulli, eighth, reported good car balance despite slower cars on his penultimate run and yellow flags on his final run. [ 39 ] [ 50 ] Villeneuve took ninth on soft compound tyres after race engineer Jock Clear improved his car's balance during qualifying, after losing four tenths of a second owing to yellow flags. [ 3 ] [ 50 ] Diniz, tenth, raced with greater car traction and reached sixth before other drivers lapped faster late in the session. [ 47 ] [ 50 ] Benetton's Alexander Wurz took 11th d...

The Grand Prix, which began at 14:00 local time, [ 5 ] drew between 100,000 and 120,000 spectators. [ b ] [ 45 ] [ 58 ] [ 59 ] The weather conditions for the race's start were cool and overcast, [ 60 ] with a 60% probability of rain. [ 61 ] Heidfeld's engine stalled and he was left stranded on the starting grid during the formation lap . [ 62 ] His team attempted to repair the problem on the grid, [ 34 ] but he began the race from the pit lane. [ 61 ] When the race began, Häkkinen retained his p...

Villeneuve made a quick start, moving from ninth to fifth place. Ralf Schumacher lost momentum after putting his left-hand tyres on the grass at the Tamburello chicane's left-hand turn to avoid hitting Coulthard due to Michael Schumacher's blocking manoeuvre. He fell from fifth to ninth. [ 2 ] [ 62 ] [ 65 ] Häkkinen led Michael Schumacher by 1.2 seconds at the end of the first lap, [ 67 ] followed by Barrichello, Coulthard, Villeneuve, and Trulli, the latter having passed Irvine and his teammate...

On lap six, Button's engine made odd noises and failed nearing the Villeneuve chicane, forcing him to retire in the gravel. Gené noticed Button ahead of him and drove into the gravel trap after slipping on Button's oil on the circuit. [ 2 ] [ 65 ] [ 68 ] Häkkinen set a series of fastest laps to draw 3.3 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher by lap 22, while Barrichello and Coulthard were separated by less than a second and were distanced by the former two. [ 61 ] [ 65 ] [ 67 ] Meanwhile, Verstappe...

Trulli was the first of the leading drivers to make a pit stop on lap 24. His 9.3-second stop moved Ralf Schumacher to sixth. [ 65 ] Heidfeld experienced a drop in hydraulic pressure, which became so low that his car stopped running, forcing him to retire from the race at the track's side on that lap. [ 3 ] [ 61 ] When lap 25 ended, Coulthard made his first fuel stop, hoping to pass Barrichello by staying on the track for longer. [ 2 ] [ 71 ] He rejoined the track in seventh owing to a temporary...

At the completion of the first round of pit stops for drivers making two pit stops, Häkkinen led Michael Schumacher by 4.5 seconds, with Barrichello 35 seconds behind in third and Coulthard close behind in fourth. [ 68 ] [ 69 ] Michael Schumacher was able to either equal his lap times from before his pit stop or be slightly slower until the fuel burned out, at which point he could lap quicker until his second set of tyres wore out. [ 3 ] Behind the top four, Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher, Salo, Ir...

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and later spoke to the media at a press conference. [ 28 ] Michael Schumacher commended his team's approach for helping him win the Grand Prix, saying, "the strategy was just right. Those four laps were crucial – and we did it, for the tifosi ." [ 79 ] Häkkinen was disappointed to lose the victory through strategy, although he noted that running over debris on the track and his engine cutting out were also contributing factor...

The Italian press praised Ferrari for their victory. [ 80 ] Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo praised Michael Schumacher's work and commended Brawn for devising the race-winning strategy, [ 74 ] [ 81 ] "It was very tough and (Mika) Hakkinen drove very well but I am very happy with this win." [ 81 ] He added "I know where we have been and I know what we have done and this was an emotional day for the fans, we have two great drivers and the car gave a perfect performance." [ 81 ] Barrichello e...

McLaren team principal Ron Dennis stated that second and third place were not the anticipated results, but that they still had the capacity to win races in the remaining rounds and were looking forward to the following British Grand Prix . [ 82 ] Mercedes-Benz's motorsport director Norbert Haug said McLaren's drivers had "made the best out of their situation". [ 83 ] Haug called it "a very mature performance by the whole team", adding, "The harder times of having cars stranded with engine failur...

The result meant Michael Schumacher continued to lead the World Drivers' Championship with a maximum of 30 championship points scored. Barrichello moved from third to second with 9 championship points. Fisichella scored no points and dropped from second to third with 8 championship points. Häkkinen was fourth with 6 championship points and Ralf Schumacher had the same number of points in fifth. [ 10 ] Ferrari continued to lead the World Constructors' Championship with 39 championship points. McL...

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