2001 German Grand Prix

The 2001 German Grand Prix (formally the Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland 2001 ) [ 5 ] was a Formula One motor race held on 29 July 2001 at the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg , Germany. It was the 12th round of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the 63rd German Grand Prix . Williams driver Ralf Schumacher won the 45-lap race starting from second. Rubens Barrichello finished second for Ferrari with BAR driver Jacques Villeneuve third scoring his last F1 podium finish.

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship from David Coulthard of McLaren with Ferrari atop the World Constructors' Championship over McLaren. Juan Pablo Montoya began from pole position alongside Ralf Schumacher after recording the quickest qualifying lap. Michael Schumacher started fourth, behind Mika Häkkinen of McLaren. The race was marked by an airborne accident going into the first corner involving Michael Schumacher and Luciano Burti for Prost , which caused the tr...

The 2001 German Grand Prix was the 12th of 17 rounds in the 2001 Formula One World Championship and took place on the 6.825 km (4.241 mi) Hockenheimring in Hockenheim , Baden-Württemberg , Germany on 29 July 2001. [ 1 ] Before the race, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 84 championship points , ahead of McLaren 's David Coulthard on 47 championship points and Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello with 34 championship points. Ralf Schumacher of Williams was fourth ...

After the British Grand Prix on 15 July, eight teams conducted mid-season testing at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza between 17 and 20 July to prepare for the upcoming German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring. [ 7 ] Ricardo Zonta set the fastest times on the first day, ahead of McLaren test driver Alexander Wurz . [ 7 ] Michael Schumacher lost control of the rear-end of his car at the Seconda Variante chicane , causing him to slide along the barriers and his car rested in the tyre barriers. Testing...

A total of 11 teams (each representing a different constructor ) each entered two drivers for the event. [ 12 ] : 479 There was one driver change heading into the race. Having driven for Jordan since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix , Heinz-Harald Frentzen was sacked by Jordan and was replaced by its third driver Zonta. [ 13 ] Frentzen announced he would take legal action against Jordan and team principal Eddie Jordan said that Frentzen's management was unhappy with Jordan's current perf...

Some teams made modifications to their cars in preparation for the Grand Prix. Williams, Jaguar , Ferrari, Sauber and Prost all brought updated front wings. [ 18 ] [ 19 ] Ferrari also introduced a new underfloor and brought more powerful versions of their V10 engines for qualifying and the race. [ 18 ] Williams installed extra cooling on their cars to combat high temperatures in qualifying. [ 20 ] Minardi planned to introduce a new revision to their cars aerodynamic package which included a new ...

De La Rosa and Irvine qualified in ninth and eleventh positions respectively for Jaguar; the pair were separated by Trulli whose engine failed on his third run and could not return to the pit lane to use his team's spare car . The three drivers were ahead of Villeneuve in the faster BAR car, who in turn, was ahead of teammate Panis; both drivers struggled to find grip throughout qualifying. [ 20 ] Alesi qualified 14th, more than four-tenths of a second in front of Prost teammate Luciano Burti du...

The drivers took to the track at 09:30 Central European Summer Time ( UTC +2) for a 30-minute warm-up session in clear weather. [ 12 ] : 478 [ 4 ] Ralf Schumacher set the fastest time of the session at 1:42.621 on his final lap after leading for much of warm-up. His teammate Montoya finished with the second fastest time at the session's end. [ 39 ] Coulthard was third quickest, and Michael Schumacher completed the top four, one-tenth of a second behind Ralf Schumacher. Alonso spun at the Sudkurv...

Both Williams drivers maintained first and second entering the first turn. [ 45 ] Further back, Michael Schumacher slowed due to his gearbox selection fault that prevented him from shifting out of first gear and he drove in a straight line in the middle of the circuit. [ 44 ] [ 46 ] This resulted in drivers being required to swerve to avoid Schumacher. [ 45 ] As Panis was blocking his view and Zonta driving to the left, Burti was unable to view the Ferrari and struck it. [ 44 ] [ 2 ] Burti struc...

Burti and Michael Schumacher were not injured but their cars had been damaged beyond repair, and raced their team's spare vehicles. The Minardi cars underwent further repairs and both drivers started on the grid for the restart at 14:24 local time. [ 45 ] [ 47 ] Michelin instructed teams that ran their tyres to change them due to the risk of a puncture . [ 44 ] Barrichello's rear wing was replaced after Häkkinen made contact with him, for which the latter apologised. [ 44 ] At the restart, Monto...

Montoya began to gradually pull away from Ralf Schumacher. Bernoldi passed Fisichella for 15th on lap two. [ 52 ] Barrichello overtook Häkkinen on the outside on the straight leading to the Ostkurve chicane for third a lap later. [ 2 ] [ 53 ] Further down the field, Button lost 13th to a pass by Panis during the same lap. On lap five, Panis overtook Zonta for 12th, while Bernoldi passed Button for 14th. [ 45 ] At the Senna chicane on lap six, Barrichello moved to third position after Michael Sch...

Häkkinen retired from the Grand Prix with fluid leaking from his left-hand sidepod onto the circuit on lap 15. [ 46 ] [ 54 ] His retirement promoted Räikkonen to sixth. [ 45 ] By lap 15, Montoya led Ralf Schumacher by 8.3 seconds, who in turn was 3.3 seconds in front ahead of Barrichello, [ 52 ] as Ralf Schumacher wad dealing with a brake problem. [ 44 ] Michael Schumacher was a further 9.2 seconds behind his Ferrari teammate, but was drawing ahead of Coulthard in fifth. [ 52 ] Barrichello and P...

On lap 24, Ralf Schumacher made his pit stop and rejoined with a 10-second advantage. [ 52 ] Villeneuve, Button and Alonso all made their pit stops on that lap. [ 2 ] [ 52 ] Alonso encountered a problem when leaving his pit box: the Minardi refuelling valve had a problem, and his car's afterburner remained on, though the flames extinguished themselves when Alonso accelerated out of the pit lane. [ 2 ] Montoya pulled over to the side of the track on lap 25, with smoke billowing from his engine, a...

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and in the subsequent press conference . [ 4 ] Ralf Schumacher said that it was "a great feeling" when he asked to describe how he felt by winning his "home" Grand Prix. He also revealed that he had brakes issues during the start of the race and that he was ensuring that his engine would last the full race distance. [ 57 ] Barrichello said that he was "happy" with finishing in second and revealed that before the race he belie...

Both Benetton drivers achieved their first double-points finish for the first time in the season. Fisichella said he was "very happy, for Jenson and myself" and thanked members of his team for his result. [ 55 ] Button believed that his team's good result was because of improved changes to the balance on his Benetton. [ 55 ] He later revealed that he accidentally removed his water bottle tube from his mouth which caused water to spray on his face under braking. [ 37 ] The result led to Benetton ...

Montoya left the circuit without speaking to journalists. [ 54 ] He admitted to being "so disappointed I cannot find the words to describe how I feel. Up to the pit stop the race was going perfectly for me." [ 55 ] Michael Schumacher shared similar feelings to Montoya: "I am not too disappointed as the situation in the championship remains the same and there is one less race to go. It was a shame not to finish the race and pick up a further six points." [ 55 ] He denied reports that television f...

After the crash between himself and Burti on the first lap, Michael Schumacher said that although he saw Burti in his rear-view mirrors, he did not know which line he wanted to take and he could not take avoiding action because of his gear selection problem. [ 55 ] Burti said that the accident "looked worse on TV" and that he stated his spin on lap 18 was caused because his left arm was aching from the crash. [ 55 ] FIA medical delegate Sid Watkins attributed the safety measures made in Formula ...

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .