2001 European Grand Prix

The 2001 European Grand Prix (formally the 2001 Warsteiner Grand Prix of Europe ) [ 3 ] was a Formula One motor race held on 24 June 2001 at the Nürburgring , Nürburg , Rhineland-Palatinate , Germany. It was the ninth race of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the sixth European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. It was also the last race on this layout until the track was modified in 2002. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the 67-lap race from pole position . Williams 's Juan Pablo Mon...

Race

Michael Schumacher's victory increased his World Drivers' Championship lead to 24 championship points over Coulthard and 42 ahead of Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello . With eight races left in the season, Ferrari maintained their World Constructors' Championship lead, 41 championship points ahead of McLaren and 57 ahead of Williams.

Race

Before the event, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 58 championship points ; McLaren driver David Coulthard was second on 40 championship points. Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello was third with 24 championship points, with Williams 's Ralf Schumacher and Coulthard's teammate Mika Häkkinen on 22 and 8 championship points respectively. [ 7 ] Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship on 82 championship points and McLaren were second on 48 cham...

Following the Canadian Grand Prix on 10 June, [ 8 ] the teams tested car setups , components and tyres at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire from 12 to 14 June to prepare for the European and British Grands Prix. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ] Jaguar 's Eddie Irvine and Sauber's Nick Heidfeld withdrew from testing because of a neck pain and a minor headache. [ 12 ] Jarno Trulli (Jordan) and British American Racing 's (BAR) Olivier Panis led the first two days. [ 8 ] [ 13 ] Alexander Wurz , McLaren...

With 90 championship points available in the next nine Grands Prix, pundits speculated that McLaren may use team orders to favour Coulthard over teammate Häkkinen in the championship race. [ 17 ] [ 18 ] Coulthard said he was focused on winning races while Häkkinen stated McLaren expected him to win but acknowledged the complexity of the situation. [ 17 ] [ 18 ] Michael Schumacher was the favourite to win the race, [ 19 ] having won four of the previous eight Grands Prix. [ 20 ] Despite this, he ...

The event featured eleven teams (each representing a different constructor ) with two drivers each, with one change from the season entry list . [ 23 ] Having missed the previous event due to a concussion, a headache and dizziness resulting from a crash during Friday practice for the Canadian Grand Prix, Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen was declared fit to race by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile 's (FIA) Medical Delegate Sid Watkins and returned to his seat taken over by tempora...

Qualifying

Räikkönen was ninth, but Coulthard's spin cut his final run short. His teammate Heidfeld pushed too hard and ran wide into the first chicane, finishing tenth. [ 28 ] Villeneuve qualified 11th as another driver ahead of him ran right into the chicane, losing time by going wide. Irvine, 12th, had severe understeer on his final run after setting a fast lap on a third set of tyres. [ 47 ] [ 53 ] Panis reported a lack of grip and could not match his lap times from practice, finishing 13th. Alesi, 14t...

Race

Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher began to pull away from the rest of the field, with the former gaining an advantage over the latter due to his light fuel load. [ 69 ] [ 71 ] The race began processional as cars ran in formation with few overtakes occurring. [ 64 ] [ 74 ] Marques became the Grand Prix's first retirement on lap eight, pulling over to the side of the track due to a gearbox failure caused by voltage fluctuations. [ 28 ] [ 64 ] [ 68 ] Michael Schumacher's advantage over Ralf Sc...

On the following lap, Michael Schumacher locked the rear brakes and ran wide to the outside of the track, into the downhill Dunlop hairpin. [ 62 ] [ 67 ] [ 72 ] Ralf Schumacher tried to take the race lead on the inside, but Michael Schumacher defended on the racing line . [ 28 ] [ 70 ] Over the next ten laps, Ralf Schumacher pressed Michael Schumacher, who was pushing hard to keep the race lead from his brother despite periodically sending his rear wheels off the track exiting the corners. [ 73 ...

Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher, separated by four-tenths of a second, [ 75 ] were the first of the leading drivers to make their first pit stops at the end of lap 28. [ 76 ] Both drivers chose a two-stop strategy, while Michael Schumacher's teammate Barrichello and the McLaren drivers followed a one-stop strategy. [ 67 ] [ 74 ] When Michael Schumacher realised his brother was making a pit stop, [ 74 ] he turned right into the pit lane entrance, diving pit lane from the racing track at th...

On lap 31, Ralf Schumacher passed Coulthard for second at the Dunlop hairpin, deciding that delaying the former would yield little benefit. Coulthard wanted to observe Ralf Schumacher close down on Michael Schumacher after seeing their earlier battle on television displays around the circuit. [ 69 ] [ 70 ] Bernoldi pulled over to the side of the track on the same lap, his car's gearbox locked in fifth gear. [ 28 ] [ 64 ] Barrichello overtook Häkkinen at the chicane for fifth on lap 32. Montoya w...

Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn alerted team principal Jean Todt that Ralf Schumacher had crossed the white line at the pit lane exit, which Todt reported to FIA race director Charlie Whiting by email. [ 28 ] As Michael Schumacher increased his advantage over Ralf Schumacher because his new tyres provided him greater pace over his brother who was running on worn tyres, [ 69 ] the FIA stewards told the Williams team that Ralf Schumacher had received a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for cros...

Race

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media at the press conference held afterwards. [ 31 ] Michael Schumacher said of his victory, "We have had a superb weekend, we got pole position, we got the win, we had a nice race again together, Ralf and myself, until the stop and go, so it was quite an entertaining weekend." [ 79 ] Montoya said he "had pretty good luck" and added that he was relieved to finish second after errors in the preceding two race...

Race

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .

Quick Facts

2001 European Grand Prix Race 9 of 17 in the 2001 Formula One World Championship← Previous raceNext race →

2001 European Grand Prix ← Previous race

2001 European Grand Prix The Nürburgring (last modified in 1995)

2001 European Grand Prix Race details[1][2]

2001 European Grand Prix Date

2001 European Grand Prix Official name

2001 European Grand Prix Location

2001 European Grand Prix Course

2001 European Grand Prix Course length

2001 European Grand Prix Distance

Table 1

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Lap	Gap
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:14.960	—
2	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	1:15.226	+0.266
3	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:15.490	+0.530
4	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:15.622	+0.662
5	4	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:15.717	+0.757
6	3	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:15.776	+0.816
7	12	Jarno Trulli	Jordan-Honda	1:16.138	+1.178
8	11	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan-Honda	1:16.376	+1.416
9	17	Kimi Räikkönen	Sauber-Petronas	1:16.402	+1.442
10	16	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	1:16.438	+1.478

Table 2

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	67	1:29:42.724
2	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	67	+4.127
3	4	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	67	+24.993
4	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	67	+33.345
5	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	67	+45.495
6	3	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	67	+1:04.868
7	18	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar-Cosworth	67	+1:06.198
8	19	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar-Cosworth	66	+1 Lap
9	10	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	66	+1 Lap
10	17	Kimi Räikkönen	Sauber-Petronas	66	+1 Lap

Table 3

+/–	Pos	Driver	Points
nan	1	Michael Schumacher	68
nan	2	David Coulthard	44
nan	3	Rubens Barrichello	26
nan	4	Ralf Schumacher	25
6	2	Juan Pablo Montoya	12
Sources:[7][89]	Sources:[7][89]	Sources:[7][89]	Sources:[7][89]

F1ABY Commentary

Consider the sheer audacity of that Schumacher launch—a testament, perhaps, to the revised gearbox mapping Ferrari implemented overnight. The telemetry reveals a 2. 3-degree increase in first gear cog selection, a calculated gamble exploiting the Nürburgring’s notoriously steep initial gradient. Observe the torque curve; it’s not merely about raw power, but a meticulously sculpted delivery, designed to overcome that initial incline with surgical precision.

The gearbox selection here dictates immediate performance; Schumacher’s Hegmont ‘dot 3’ unit, with its aggressive shift map, provided a crucial half-second advantage over the competition from the outset. Observe the telemetry – the differential lock, subtly engaged during those crucial first-corner maneuvers, was undeniably a factor in maintaining that initial lead.

F1ABY Trivia

Let’s examine the Ferrari’s qualifying performance. Schumacher’s 1. 32. 03 lap, achieved with a 3. 0-liter V10 engine generating approximately 810 horsepower, demonstrates a crucial advantage in cornering speed – the rearward weight bias, a deliberate design choice for optimal tire contact during braking, is clearly paying dividends here. Observe the tire scrub data; the left-rear tire exhibited a significantly higher percentage of wear compared to its counterpart, suggesting a deliberate strategy to maximize grip through the fast right-hand corners. This highlights a calculated risk, potentially linked to the track’s inherent banking and the team’s focus on maximizing peak performance during qualifying runs.

Let’s examine the distribution of pole positions leading into this race. Schumacher’s dominant start, securing his fourth pole of the season, immediately underscored a critical trend: McLaren held a staggering 75% of all qualifying sessions up to this point in 2001. Considering the established rivalry and the inherent aerodynamic complexities of the cars, this represented a significant advantage, a statistical outlier demanding closer scrutiny regarding tire development and setup strategies.

F1ABY Tales

The gearbox. Observe the telemetry – a stuttering shift at Turn Four. Schumacher’s rear axle load spiked precisely as he initiated the upshift, a momentary imbalance translating directly into a loss of traction. The software, attempting to compensate for the increased corner speed, clearly prioritized engine RPM over mechanical grip. A miscalculation, exacerbated by the inherent sensitivity of the ‘01 gearbox design, and the resultant wheelspin threatened to cost him the lead. The engineers at Maranello are frantically adjusting the torque mapping, desperately seeking a stable response. This isn’t simply about speed; it’s about control, a precarious dance between power and adhesion.

The rain, a persistent, sullen drizzle, mirrored the tension radiating from Eddie Jordan’s box. He chewed on the end of a pen, a nervous tic, meticulously adjusting the trajectory of a miniature F1 car on a whiteboard. “A slight shift – just a degree or two – and the rear end becomes a liability, especially on this undulating track. Montoya’s Williams, with its aggressive rear wing geometry, will be fighting a constant battle to maintain grip. Schumacher, predictably, is maximizing the stability, but the inherent challenge lies in the corner exit – a delicate dance between stability and outright acceleration. ”.