2001 San Marino Grand Prix

The 2001 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the Gran Premio Warsteiner di San Marino 2001 ) [ 3 ] was a Formula One motor race held before between 80,000 and 100,000 spectators at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari , Imola , Emilia-Romagna , Italy on 15 April 2001. It was the fourth race of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the 21st San Marino Grand Prix . Williams 's Ralf Schumacher won the 62-lap race, starting from third. McLaren 's David Coulthard finished second, and Ferrari 's Rubens...

Going into the event, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship from Coulthard while Ferrari led McLaren in the World Constructors' Championship . After setting the fastest lap in the one-hour qualifying session, Coulthard started the race on pole position alongside teammate Mika Häkkinen . Ralf Schumacher from third overtook both McLaren drivers into the Tamburello chicane and retained the lead for the entire race, taking his maiden victory and Williams's first since the ...

Coulthard's second-place finish put him in the joint lead of the World Drivers' Championship with Michael Schumacher, but Schumacher retained the lead overall because he had won two races to Coulthard's one despite retiring from the race. Barrichello was third, 12 championship points behind the two, but Ralf Schumacher's victory moved him from seventh to fourth. McLaren decreased Ferrari's World Constructors' Championship lead to ten championship points, while Williams moved from sixth to third ...

Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 26 championship points heading into the race, with McLaren driver David Coulthard second on 20 championship points. Rubens Barrichello , Schumacher's Ferrari teammate, was third with 10 championship points, ahead of Sauber 's Nick Heidfeld in fourth with seven championship points and Jordan 's Heinz-Harald Frentzen in fifth with six championship points. [ 9 ] Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 36 champi...

Following the Brazilian Grand Prix on 1 April, almost every team tested their cars , setups , tyres and car components on European racing tracks with their racing driver and test drivers in preparation for the San Marino Grand Prix. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] [ 12 ] [ 13 ] BAR, Jordan and McLaren tested for three days in inclement weather at Northamptonshire 's Silverstone Circuit . [ 11 ] [ 14 ] Jordan's test driver Ricardo Zonta led the first day, while BAR's Jacques Villeneuve and McLaren's test driver Al...

Barrichello recorded the fastest time of 1:31.998, ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher. McLaren's Mika Häkkinen and Coulthard were third and fourth, followed by the Jordan pairing of Jarno Trulli and Frentzen, Sauber's Kimi Räikkönen , BAR's Olivier Panis , Jaguar's Eddie Irvine and Panis's teammate Villeneuve in fifth to tenth. [ 38 ] Three drivers lost control of their cars at the wet turn 17 during the session. Verstappen was unable to set a lap time when his car stopped, owing to a drop in ...

The track had dried sufficiently after the first session, allowing teams to mount slick tyres on their cars for the second session, which provided a more accurate indicator of the pace of drivers. With around 15 minutes to go, Michael Schumacher set the day's quickest time of 1:25.095, with his teammate Barrichello second. Williams's Ralf Schumacher , Häkkinen, Panis, Räikkönen, Irvine, Villeneuve, Trulli and Jaguar's Luciano Burti were in the next eight placings. [ 40 ] [ 41 ] Coulthard went of...

It became sunny for the final session as the circuit gradually dried, and nearly every driver lapped faster than the previous session. Most drivers used wet-weather tyres, and some lost control of their car on the wet circuit. [ 49 ] [ 51 ] [ 53 ] Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap of 1:30.737, followed by teammate Barrichello in second. Coulthard, Räikkönen, Frentzen, Heidfeld, Ralf Schumacher, Panis, Arrows's Enrique Bernoldi and Häkkinen occupied positions three to ten. [ 52 ]

Panis was pleased with the improvements to his car and took eighth. [ 58 ] [ 63 ] Frentzen was hampered on his second run by Tarso Marques 's Minardi car, and on his third run, his car developed understeer, leaving him ninth. Räikkönen qualified ahead of teammate Heidfeld for the first time in 2001, securing tenth after running across the grass after braking too early for the final turn. [ 30 ] : 187, 213 [ 58 ] Villeneuve in 11th was the fastest driver to not qualify in the top ten due to slowe...

When lap one ended, Ralf Schumacher led Coulthard, Trulli, Häkkinen, Michael Schumacher and Montoya. [ 81 ] Ralf Schumacher and Coulthard began pulling away from Trulli, who was battling Häkkinen for third, and a pack of cars formed behind them. [ 79 ] Heidfeld passed Irvine for 12th, and Verstappen overtook Burti for 16th on lap two. [ 59 ] Panis was investigated for a possible jump start but was not penalised. [ 59 ] [ 82 ] Michael Schumacher appeared to slow exiting the final curve ending lap...

On lap six, while closing on Button, [ 79 ] Alonso's brakes failed due to a leaking brake caliper. This launched him over the high kerb at the Variante Alta chicane, onto the grass, and damaged his car's front-right suspension against the tyre wall at the turn's exit. [ 30 ] : 369, 416 [ 77 ] [ 80 ] Alonso was unhurt but became the race's first retirement. [ 80 ] [ 83 ] Two laps later, [ 77 ] [ 81 ] Verstappen stopped at the side of the Rivazza turn with a broken exhaust pipe that caused a serie...

Räikkönen in ninth was racing Panis when the steering wheel disconnected from the spline cresting the hill on the straight connecting the Tosa hairpin and Piratella turn. On lap 18, his car veered sharply to the left and crashed into the retaining barrier at low speed. [ 30 ] : 187 [ 80 ] [ 84 ] Although Räikkönen was unhurt, [ 85 ] he was forced to retire. [ 80 ] Button made the race's first scheduled fuel and tyre pit stop on lap 20. He had to make another pit stop on the following lap when hi...

Montoya made his pit stop from fourth on lap 28 and rejoined in seventh, behind Trulli. [ 77 ] [ 82 ] Coulthard entered the pit lane for the first of two pit stops on the next lap and remained second after establishing a sufficient lead over teammate Häkkinen. [ 30 ] : 416 [ 81 ] Montoya closed up to Trulli on that lap, passing him on the outside at the Tamburello chicane for sixth. [ 79 ] [ 82 ] Ralf Schumacher made his pit stop from the lead on lap 29 and retained an eight-second lead over Cou...

Ferrari moved Barrichello from a two-stop to a one-stop strategy in order to put less fuel in his car and allow him to pass Häkkinen. [ 78 ] [ 80 ] He made his pit stop on lap 33 and rejoined the track in third, having pulled ahead of Häkkinen. [ 30 ] : 416 [ 82 ] Benetton brought Fisichella into the pit lane to retire with a misfiring engine on the same lap because the team did not want to risk an engine failure. [ 30 ] : 416 [ 80 ] The following fifteen laps saw little action as Ralf Schumache...

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in the subsequent press conference. [ 33 ] : 220–221 Ralf Schumacher lauded his car setup and the engine, believing his win might begin a three-way battle for the World Championship. [ 88 ] He said of the victory, "It's a great experience, and I hope for it to be one of many. I've waited long enough for it, I guess. Since I joined Williams, we've had a lot of work to see that and it paid off today." [ 8...

Williams's victory was popular amongst the paddock. [ 89 ] Jaguar team principal and three-time world champion Niki Lauda heralded Ralf Schumacher's win as "the perfect race", adding, "The first Grand Prix win is always the most difficult. The next ones come easier. It will be a big boost for his confidence." [ 90 ] Williams technical director Patrick Head characterised Schumacher's form at Imola as "perfect", stating, "Winning for the first time helps you a lot. What's happened will be very goo...

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .

44°20′38″N 11°43′00″E  /  44.34389°N 11.71667°E  / 44.34389; 11.71667