2001 Malaysian Grand Prix

2°45′39″N 101°44′18″E  /  2.76083°N 101.73833°E  / 2.76083; 101.73833

The 2001 Malaysian Grand Prix (officially the 2001 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix ) [ 5 ] was a Formula One motor race held at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang , Selangor , Malaysia in front of a crowd of 75,000 spectators on 18 March 2001. It was the second round of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the third Malaysian Grand Prix to be part of the series. The race was won from pole position by Michael Schumacher , driving for Ferrari . His teammate Rubens Barrichello finished...

Michael Schumacher's victory was his sixth in succession from pole position, bettering a record jointly held by former world champions Nigel Mansell and Alberto Ascari . The result left him ten championship points clear of Barrichello and Coulthard, who were tied in second, in the World Drivers' Championship. Heinz-Harald Frentzen of Jordan moved past Sauber 's Nick Heidfeld for fourth. In the World Constructors' Championship, Ferrari further extended its advantage over second-place McLaren whil...

After winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix , Ferrari 's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with ten championship points , ahead of McLaren 's David Coulthard with six and Rubens Barrichello in the second Ferrari with four. Sauber 's Nick Heidfeld was fourth with three championship points and Jordan 's Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fifth on two championship points. [ 8 ] In the World Constructors' Championship , Ferrari led with 14 championship points; McLaren were in ...

The press and bookmakers considered Michael Schumacher the favourite to win the Malaysian Grand Prix, his team Ferrari had won every single running of the race up to that point: Eddie Irvine in 1999 and Schumacher in 2000 . [ 9 ] [ 10 ] Some of the media attention focussed on the possibility of Michael Schumacher taking his sixth consecutive victory, which would have made him the first driver since the two-time world champion Alberto Ascari in 1952 to achieve the feat. [ 11 ] He said he would no...

Following the death of track marshal Graham Beveridge, who was struck in the chest by a wheel from the car of British American Racing (BAR) driver Jacques Villeneuve at the Australian Grand Prix, [ 13 ] the organisers of the Malaysian race worked to better protect trackside personnel and drivers; they did not request assistance from Formula One officials. [ 14 ] Circuit officials moved back the kerbs at turns five and six, and moved guard rails at turns two and 15 back by 2 m (6.6 ft). FIA race ...

In the afternoon session, Trulli recorded the day's fastest lap at 1 minute 38.846 seconds. He was 0.083 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher in second. Barrichello, Coulthard, Irvine, Häkkinen, Frentzen, Burti, Panis and Ralf Schumacher of the Williams team rounded out the session's top ten drivers. [ 24 ] Early in the session, Frentzen confronted the Sauber team principal Peter Sauber , who was angered at comments made by the former regarding the fast acceleration of his team's vehicles exiting...

Heidfeld was the fastest driver not to qualify in the top ten after driving on worn tyres on his first two timed laps and new front tyres on his third. [ 34 ] He was followed by Irvine in 12th, who had understeer going into the second corner and Villeneuve slowed him into the final corner. [ 36 ] Jean Alesi was the faster of the two Prost cars in 13th and spoke of his belief that the team had made progress from its pre-season testing form. [ 31 ] [ 32 ] After a change of left-rear suspension wis...

On the formation lap , Frentzen's engine misfired due to a computer-hardware error that limited his rev limiter to 4,000 rpm as he drove away from his starting slot. [ 2 ] [ 52 ] Just before the race was due to start, [ 51 ] Fisichella was out of position because he missed his starting slot and was stranded in the middle of the grid. [ 2 ] He drove to his original starting position and was perpendicular across the track with not enough steering lock and rolled between the two cars ahead and behi...

Michael Schumacher, from the pole position, made a brisk getaway to maintain his startline advantage going into the first corner. [ 51 ] His teammate Barrichello made a slow start and fell from second to fourth as Trulli was to the left of him and Ralf Schumacher to his right. [ 2 ] Ralf Schumacher slid before turn one and he defended his position at the corner. [ 50 ] That caused the left-front corner of Barrichello's Ferrari and the rear of Ralf Schumacher's Williams car to connect; Schumacher...

As the two Ferraris pulled away from the rest of the field on lap two, Panis' engine failed, pitching his car backwards into the gravel trap. Leaking oil pooled on the track and dripped onto his hot exhaust , where it ignited. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] [ 52 ] Fisichella overtook his teammate Button for 11th as Ralf Schumacher moved from 20th to 14th. [ 2 ] An unexpected monsoon shower began to fall on lap three. [ 56 ] [ 57 ] The two Ferraris continued to pull further away from the rest of the field, althou...

During the safety car period, several drivers made pit stops for rain tyres. Although he had no radio communication with his team, Coulthard exited the pit lane leading while Ferrari had a fraught stop. [ 51 ] Barrichello's second error and Michael Schumacher being three seconds behind on the lap before meant Ferrari believed that the latter was ahead. [ 41 ] After Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn called both Michael Schumacher and his teammate Barrichello for their first pit stops, [ 51 ] ...

Michael Schumacher overtook Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Häkkinen off the racing line on the 13th lap. He approached Verstappen in second on the next lap though Verstappen twice blocked his path. [ 50 ] Further back, his teammate Barrichello passed Ralf Schumacher and Häkkinen took fourth. [ 2 ] On the 15th lap, Michael Schumacher overtook Verstappen on the inside for second and began to draw closer to Coulthard, [ 44 ] who drove with an understeer. [ 54 ] He passed Coulthard on the right for t...

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in a later press conference. [ 4 ] Michael Schumacher called the race "exciting" and said it reminded him of his victory at the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix , "It was probably the same story, but honestly it's great being somehow dominant, but we know that won't be the case for every coming race now. It was special conditions, special circumstances, and we used them well for us." [ 62 ] Barrichello said that...

Ralf Schumacher said he felt the first lap collision with Barrichello prevented him from finishing on the podium and noted it was the second collision the latter had with a German driver in the past two races, "He should learn the rules. It is a racing accident but it difficult to understand how it happened because the car in front usually has the priority in the corner." [ 63 ] Barrichello argued that Ralf Schumacher had not provided him with enough space to negotiate through, "If he comes arou...

Fisichella apologised to the Benetton team over the radio for missing his starting position that led to the start being aborted. [ 69 ] He said that he was focused on ensuring his car was setup to his liking and only saw the vehicle ahead of him. The Benetton team principal Flavio Briatore did not reprimand Fisichella, but praised him for moving to seventh place before retiring. [ 69 ] The result extended Michael Schumacher's lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 10 championship points over...

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .