2001 Hungarian Grand Prix

The 2001 Hungarian Grand Prix (officially the Marlboro Magyar Nagydij 2001 ) [ 4 ] was a Formula One motor race held before 110,000 spectators at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród , Pest , Hungary on 19 August 2001. It was the 13th race of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the 16th Hungarian Grand Prix forming part of the series. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the 77-lap race from pole position . His teammate Rubens Barrichello finished second and David Coulthard was third for McLaren...

Entering the Grand Prix, only Michael Schumacher and Coulthard remained in contention for the World Drivers' Championship with Schumacher leading Coulthard by 37 championship points . Ferrari were also in contention to claim the World Constructors' Championship in Hungary. Michael Schumacher qualified on pole position by setting the fastest lap in qualifying, and he began alongside Coulthard. Barrichello made a brisk start to pass Coulthard and he tactically delayed the McLaren driver from lap 1...

Schumacher received praise from many in the Formula One community for his title victory and it was headline news in Germany and Italy. Barrichello's second-place finish helped Ferrari win the World Constructors' Championship for the third consecutive season and the 11th time overall. McLaren were 13 championship points ahead of Williams in third while Sauber moved one championship point ahead of British American Racing (BAR) for fourth.

A total of 11 teams (each representing a different constructors ) fielded two drivers each for the Grand Prix. [ 1 ] [ 12 ] There were two driver changes for the race. Having been in one of the Prost cars since the first race of the year in Australia , Jean Alesi completed negotiations for the release of his contract with the French constructor and joined the Jordan team for the rest of the season. Alesi's Prost AP04 was driven by Heinz-Harald Frentzen —whom Jordan sacked before the preceding Ge...

Several teams made modifications to their cars to maximise slow speed grip and traction and setup for the Hungaroring's high-speed chicanes . [ 6 ] Minardi introduced a revised chassis for both of its race and test PS01s , which comprised a new titanium gearbox and rear suspension geometry, tested by Andrea Piccini at the Fiorano Circuit . [ 15 ] McLaren mounted a secondary wing to the tail of the MP4/16 's engine cover above its gearbox and Williams did the same as it installed cooling bodywork...

Michael Schumacher repeated his morning form in the afternoon session with the day's fastest lap of 1 minute, 16.651 seconds. Barrichello in second closed to within 0.083 seconds of his teammate and Häkkinen third. Ralf Schumacher was fourth-fastest, ahead of Jaguar's Eddie Irvine , Alesi, Giancarlo Fisichella of Benetton, Heidfeld, Panis and Coulthard in fifth to tenth. Several drivers, including Frentzen, Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher, spun or went off the circuit during the session without d...

Panis in 11th was the fastest driver not to qualify in the top ten because he lost time with an electrical fault and spun because of an inoperable traction control system . [ 32 ] Alesi made it an all-French sixth row in 12th; he admitted he required additional familiarity with his car. [ 27 ] The Jaguars occupied 13th and 14th places: [ 33 ] Pedro de la Rosa ahead of his teammate Irvine; the former made errors on his first two timed laps and the latter said he over-drove trying to qualify in th...

Michael Schumacher made a brisk start to maintain his pole position advantage. [ 47 ] Coulthard in second made a slow getaway on the dirty side of the track, providing less grip, and Barrichello overtook him on his left into turn one. [ 38 ] [ 48 ] Barrichello then veered across to protect his teammate from a challenge by Coulthard. [ 30 ] [ 33 ] In the middle of the pack, Irvine attempted to pass Fisichella on the left; [ 45 ] [ 46 ] he lost control of the rear of his car on some dirt and got b...

Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher was conserving his tyre usage because he felt going faster would become more important as the race progressed. [ 30 ] Trulli in fifth slowed Häkkinen, Heidfeld, Montoya and Heidfeld from the eighth lap as Hakkinen attempted an unsuccessful overtake on Trulli. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] On lap nine, Burti became the Grand Prix's second retirement after he spun into a gravel trap at turn 14 on heavily blistered tyres reducing grip. [ 45 ] [ 48 ] Alesi overtook de la Rosa at turn t...

On the 29th lap, Trulli entered the pit lane for his first pit stop. He emerged in 12th after a refuelling rig was lodged in his car for five extra seconds. [ 2 ] Ralf Schumacher entered the pit lane on the following lap and he remained in fourth place. [ 46 ] Barrichello stayed on the track until at the end of lap 31 to delay Coulthard in second before entering the pit lane for a 9.1 second pit stop to take on 91 L (20 imp gal; 24 US gal) of fuel. The tactic did not work as Coulthard's pit stop...

Barrichello made his second pit stop on the next lap, and he rejoined in third, behind his teammate Michael Schumacher. [ 46 ] Coulthard led laps 53 and 54 and it appeared he would retain second since the deficit between him and Barrichello was 22.6 seconds. [ 48 ] [ 50 ] During his second pit stop, the car's refuelling rig was jammed for two seconds. Coulthard emerged in third, behind Barrichello. On that lap, Trulli pulled off to the side of the track to retire with an hydraulic failure. [ 40 ...

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The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in a later press conference. [ 3 ] Michael Schumacher called his fourth World Drivers' Championship and his record-equalling 51st career victory "a great achievement" and said comparisons of his three other titles and equalling Juan Manuel Fangio's five titles were unimportant, "I think we want to enjoy this and each one is different and each victory feels different. It's always something special, to wi...

Michael Schumacher received praise for his fourth World Drivers' Championship and it was headline news in Germany and Italy. [ 55 ] [ 56 ] He was officially congratulated by Gerhard Schröder , the chancellor of Germany , who wrote a letter to Schumacher saying that his driving ability brought excitement to the sport and wished him well for the 2002 season . [ 57 ] Gianni Agnelli , the head of the FIAT Group , said he was overjoyed with the result, [ 58 ] and the president of Ferrari Luca di Mont...

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .