2001 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the Grande Prêmio Marlboro do Brasil 2001 ) [ 3 ] was a Formula One motor race held before 70,000 spectators on 1 April 2001 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo , Brazil. It was the third race of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the only one held in South America. Starting from fifth place, McLaren driver David Coulthard won the 71-lap race. Ferrari 's Michael Schumacher finished second with Sauber 's Nick Heidfeld third.

Coulthard's tenth victory of his career reduced Michael Schumacher's lead in the World Drivers' Championship to six championship points along with him moving up to second place, 10 championship points ahead of Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello in third. McLaren cut Ferrari's World Constructors' Championship lead to 15 championship points with 14 races remaining in the season.

The 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix , the third round of seventeen in the 2001 Formula One World Championship , took place on 1 April 2001, at the anti-clockwise Autódromo José Carlos Pace track in São Paulo , Brazil. [ 1 ] It was the season's lone South American event, [ 4 ] and the third in a row outside of Europe. [ 5 ] The Grand Prix featured eleven teams of two drivers (each representing a different constructor ), with no changes to the season entry list . [ 6 ] Tyre suppliers Bridgestone and Mic...

Following the Malaysian Grand Prix on March 18, nine of the eleven teams tested tyres, car and electrical components, and racing setups on their cars at Spain's Circuit de Catalunya from 20 to 23 March in preparation for the Brazilian Grand Prix. [ 9 ] Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer set the quickest times on the first day, ahead of McLaren's test driver Alexander Wurz . [ 10 ] Badoer remained fastest on the second day. Marc Gené , the Williams test driver, stopped on track with a mechanical fai...

Several teams introduced no significant technical changes to their cars, instead waiting for the season's first European race, the San Marino Grand Prix , two weeks after the race in Brazil. [ 28 ] McLaren introduced four front wing specifications in an attempt to reduce the MP4-16 's understeer but eventually oriented on a new front wing profile. Williams debuted a new rear wing , while Benetton postponed the debut of its lower front side appendages to the San Marino Grand Prix due to creating ...

Barrichello was four tenths of a second slower than Michael Schumacher in sixth, [ 52 ] claiming excess understeer for handling issues on new tyres. [ 43 ] [ 51 ] The two Jordans were upgraded with race-specification engines between the final practice session and qualifying, with Trulli qualifying seventh and Frentzen eighth; [ 50 ] [ 52 ] [ 58 ] the latter was the last driver to be within a second of the pole lap and had to abort his third run due to the presence of a slower car. [ 40 ] [ 51 ] ...

After the session, scrutineers examined Ralf Schumacher's car for a fuel irregularity since the first sample of allowed fuel differed from that approved by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; Formula One's governing body). Williams, the FIA's technical delegate, and the FIA's fuel analyst agreed to test a second sample and the stewards permitted Ralf Schumacher to start the race from second rather than last after the fuel was declared legal later that night. [ 60 ] [ 61 ]

Häkkinen's car was removed from the track by the end of the second lap, and the safety car was withdrawn. [ 78 ] [ 79 ] [ 80 ] With limited distance to accelerate between the pit lane and the start/finish line, Montoya on cold tyres remained close behind Michael Schumacher. [ 74 ] [ 81 ] He used his more powerful engine to aggressively overtake Schumacher on the unclean inside line by braking later at the Senna S chicane for the race lead. [ 14 ] [ 67 ] Both drivers made contact and Montoya drov...

Montoya recorded a succession of fastest laps to open up a modest lead over Michael Schumacher, who was unable to pass due to Montoya's more powerful engine keeping him ahead on the straights and holding Schumacher off in the turns. [ 73 ] [ 74 ] [ 82 ] Montoya had more fuel in his car than Michael Schumacher, [ 76 ] and expected to lose grip on his tyres after the first few laps, but keeping ahead may mean greater grip after about six laps. [ 80 ] Panis overtook Alesi, Räikkönen, and Heidfeld t...

Panis moved into fourth place on lap 20 after passing Trulli at the first turn. [ 68 ] [ 73 ] Montoya increased his lead over Michael Schumacher to more than a second for the first time in the race on the 21st lap, while Coulthard was a second behind in third place because his team had altered his car to be suitable for a wet track because they expected rain later in the race. [ 72 ] [ 75 ] Alesi in ninth became the first driver on a two-stop strategy to make a scheduled pit stop on lap 24. [ 75...

Michael Schumacher braked later than Trulli at the first turn, passing him for fourth on lap 28 and moving up to third when Panis made a pit stop on the following lap. Even though he was not hampered, Michael Schumacher was not lapping faster than Montoya because he encountered slower cars, while Montoya was marginally pulling away from Coulthard in second. [ 74 ] [ 79 ] [ 82 ] On the 31st lap, Burti retired in the pit lane to avoid an engine failure caused by a water seal problem. [ 29 ] : 290 ...

Michael Schumacher lost control of his Ferrari on lap 48 when a rear tyre hit a damp white line on the circuit's edge entering turn five. He regained control of his car but avoided stalling to maintain his lead. [ 77 ] [ 82 ] This driver error allowed Coulthard to close up to Michael Schumacher. [ 74 ] Two laps later, coming around the banked last turn and into the Senna S chicane at the end of the straight, Coulthard and Michael Schumacher were about to lap Marques' slower car, with Coulthard s...

Michael Schumacher lost time to Coulthard when he ran wide into the gravel trap at turn six on lap 53, but he remained in second. [ 73 ] [ 82 ] Irvine retired after getting his Jaguar trapped on a curb at turn five on the same lap. On lap 56, Mazzacane pulled to the side of the track near the turn one run-off area after his clutch burned out, resulting in a fire that marshals had to extinguish. Räikkönen in ninth lost control of his car after he was caught off guard by the rain, sliding backward...

As the track began to dry, Fisichella placed pressure on Alesi, passing him on the outside for sixth place on lap 66. On the following lap, Panis passed Trulli on the inside into turn one. [ 68 ] [ 70 ] [ 73 ] [ 74 ] Coulthard slowed down in the final laps but maintained the lead to achieve his first win since the 2000 French Grand Prix and the tenth victory of his career. [ 67 ] [ 74 ] Michael Schumacher finished second, 16.1 seconds back and the only other driver on the lead lap. [ 74 ] [ 81 ]...

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in the subsequent press conference. [ 30 ] : 220–221 Coulthard admitted to being fortunate due to Montoya's pace but he believed he and McLaren could still compete in rainy weather. He described ending Ferrari's streak of six successive wins as "very important" and expressed satisfaction with winning the Grand Prix. [ 84 ] Michael Schumacher stated that he was hoping for a wet track despite the lack of ...

Mercedes-Benz motorsport head Norbert Haug welcomed Coulthard's victory as "a turning point" and praised the driver, stating, "He showed what he is really capable of by beating Michael Schumacher in extremely difficult conditions. We have always believed in him but up to now he did not have the best car." [ 85 ] The stewards fined Verstappen $15,000 for colliding with Montoya, which eliminated both drivers from the race. [ 86 ] Montoya described the collision as "strange" because he said he brak...

The stewards summoned Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher after their third lap accident, which was their second in two weeks following the Malaysian Grand Prix. They deemed it "a racing incident" and cautioned both drivers over their future conduct. [ 86 ] [ 92 ] Barrichello argued Ralf Schumacher changed his line after passing another driver and insisted he did not apply the brakes later than usual. [ 93 ] Ralf Schumacher accused Barrichello of initiating the collision, adding, "If you drive like ...

Häkkinen was fined $5,000 for leaving his McLaren on the starting grid without the steering wheel attached. [ 86 ] [ 89 ] He did not attribute blame for his first lap stall, "I do not want to start making any excuses. The car just wasn't able to move because it stalled." [ 96 ] Prost blamed a jammed fuel rig for preventing Alesi from scoring the team's first championship points since September 1999, and the issue was reported to the FIA due to the flammability of Formula One fuel and the associa...

Michael Schumacher retained his World Drivers' Championship lead with 26 championship points. Coulthard's win moved him from third to second, while Barrichello's retirement dropped him to third. Heidfeld's third-place finish elevated him to fourth while Frentzen dropped to fifth. [ 8 ] Ferrari maintained its lead in the World Constructors' Championship, with 36 championship points. McLaren drew to within 15 championship points of Ferrari after Coulthard's victory. Sauber overtook Jordan for thir...

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .

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