2001 Spanish Grand Prix

The 2001 Spanish Grand Prix (officially the Gran Premio Marlboro de Espana 2001 ) [ 3 ] was a Formula One motor race held on 29 April 2001, at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló , Catalonia , Spain, before 91,000 spectators. It was the fifth round of the 2001 Formula One World Championship , and the circuit hosted its 11th Spanish Grand Prix . Ferrari 's Michael Schumacher won the 65-lap race from pole position . Williams 's Juan Pablo Montoya finished second for his first Formula One podium f...

Electronic driver aids including traction control , fully automatic gearboxes , and launch control became legal for the first time since the 1993 season at the Spanish Grand Prix. Schumacher's win was his third of the season and his 47th overall. As a result, he led the World Drivers' Championship by eight championship points over Coulthard and 22 over Rubens Barrichello . With 12 races left in the season, Ferrari expanded their lead in the World Constructors' Championship to 18 championship poi...

Two months before the start of the Grand Prix weekend, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; Formula One's governing body) and all the teams agreed to legalise electronic driver aids such as traction control , fully-automatic gearboxes , and launch control from the Spanish Grand Prix to end long-standing rumours of cheating by teams in Formula One, because of the extreme difficulty of policing such systems and to clarify which electronic systems were legal. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] The FIA prev...

Following the San Marino Grand Prix on 15 April, all teams tested aerodynamics , electronic driver aids, engines, mechanical car components and tyres at various European racing circuits to prepare for the Spanish Grand Prix. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] [ 12 ] The British-based teams of Benetton , British American Racing (BAR), Jaguar , Jordan, McLaren and Williams and the Paris-based Prost team tested at England's Silverstone Circuit from 17 to 19 April. [ 10 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen set...

The event featured eleven teams (each representing a different constructor ) with two drivers each, with two changes from the season entry list . [ 28 ] Luciano Burti , who had driven for Jaguar from the beginning of the season, was released and replaced by Pedro de la Rosa , the team's test driver. Burti joined Prost as the second driver change, replacing Gastón Mazzacane , who was sacked by Prost for breaching a performance clause in his contract after being off teammate Jean Alesi 's pace. [ ...

Some teams did not use some electronic driver aids in their cars because of reliability issues, and there was less emphasis on cooling the brakes . [ 32 ] [ 33 ] : 538–539 Teams disputed the legality of the Williams FW23 's diffuser after learning of it, but FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer declared it legal. [ 33 ] : 538–539 [ 34 ] Ferrari employed temperature sensors inside the F2001 's wheels to monitor their temperatures and the identical front wing as at the San Marino Grand Prix. McLaren us...

Coulthard led the opening session with a lap of 1:20.107, half a second faster than Barrichello. Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Häkkinen and Panis, Montoya, Jordan's Jarno Trulli , his teammate Frentzen and Heidfeld completed the top ten. [ 40 ] [ 41 ] Montoya spun his car entering turn seven after locking his front-left wheel. Frentzen lost control of his vehicle's rear, skidded into the turn seven gravel trap and collided with the tyre barrier . [ 38 ] [ 40 ] [ 41 ] Villeneuve pulled ove...

Michael Schumacher failed to lap quicker in the final session later in the morning, but stayed fastest overall, [ 51 ] four hundredths of a second ahead of teammate Barrichello in second. Coulthard, Räikkönen, Heidfeld, Trulli, Panis, Häkkinen, Ralf Schumacher and Villeneuve rounded out the top ten. [ 52 ] After ten minutes, [ 53 ] De La Rosa was on the pit lane straight with the speed limiter on when his Jaguar unexpectedly veered to the right and into the barrier at the pit lane exit owing to ...

Panis in 11th was slowed by De La Rosa and Barrichello on two separate laps. The presence of other cars around him prevented him from setting another fast lap. Montoya, 12th, lost time after Verstappen spun ahead of him and was hampered by other cars. [ 54 ] [ 63 ] Irvine slipstreamed pole sitter Michael Schumacher down the pit lane straight, allowing him to go faster to qualify 13th. [ 33 ] : 292 [ 61 ] Burti, in his first Formula One qualifying session for Prost, [ 62 ] was 14th after the wind...

The Grand Prix commenced before 91,000 spectators at 14:00 local time in the afternoon, [ 1 ] [ 64 ] [ 70 ] in cool, cloudy and overcast weather conditions. [ 71 ] The air temperature ranged from 16 to 20 °C (61 to 68 °F), [ 71 ] [ 72 ] and the track temperature was between 17 and 19 °C (63 and 66 °F). [ 73 ] [ 74 ] Michael Schumacher and both McLaren drivers had new sets of tyres for the race, but two stops gave Schumacher a one-second advantage for two laps after exiting the pit lane. [ 58 ] F...

Fisichella hit Coulthard from behind, breaking the latter's front wing, two floor stays, and the mounting point for the rear jack . [ 33 ] : 424 [ 79 ] [ 80 ] Coulthard then hit Bernoldi's rear end, and his front wing folded under the McLaren. [ 39 ] [ 71 ] [ 75 ] He drove slowly to the pit lane for a replacement front wing, which took 15.4 seconds, while Bernoldi also made a pit stop for repairs. [ 74 ] [ 75 ] Coulthard also suffered a severe cut tyre in the accident, which was replaced once hi...

Michael Schumacher and Häkkinen gradually began to pull away from Barrichello, with Schumacher setting successive fastest laps and Häkkinen increasing his pace to stay close behind him. [ 78 ] Panis overtook Räikkönen for 10th on lap three as Alonso fell to 16th after being passed by de la Rosa and Frentzen due to a driver error. On the next lap, Panis tried unsuccessfully to pass Irvine on the outside for ninth at turn one, [ 33 ] : 424 [ 81 ] On lap six, Frentzen attempted to overtake De La Ro...

Ralf Schumacher in fourth lost control of his car when braking and downshifting for La Caixa turn on lap 21 owing to the rear brakes locking. [ 33 ] : 162 [ 71 ] [ 72 ] He spun off into the gravel trap and retired. [ 74 ] This moved Trulli to fourth and Montoya to fifth, before both drivers made their first pit stops on the next lap. [ 39 ] [ 82 ] Swift work from Montoya's crew put him ahead of Trulli. [ 71 ] [ 75 ] Michael Schumacher made his first pit stop on lap 23. His pit stop took 8.7 seco...

Barrichello made his first stop from second on the same lap and rejoined in third, behind teammate Michael Schumacher. [ 33 ] : 424 [ 74 ] Häkkinen made his first pit stop on the 27th lap. [ 71 ] His pit stop was slower than Michael Schumacher's and the latter retook the lead on the pit lane straight as Häkkinen exited the pit lane in second. [ 72 ] [ 82 ] Coulthard moved up the field through McLaren's tactics. [ 42 ] He entered the pit lane from eighth on lap 28 and rejoined in 11th. Following ...

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in the subsequent press conference . [ 35 ] : 220–221 [ 64 ] Michael Schumacher told Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn "we have been bloody lucky, But you have to finish and we did it, so good job." [ 22 ] Although Schumacher was pleased with his race performance, he expressed sympathy over Häkkinen's retirement, saying, "I simply said sorry and I wanted to apologise. It belongs to him to be sitting...

McLaren team principal Ron Dennis told British television station ITV that Coulthard's stall before the formation lap was due to "a bit of brain fade." [ 89 ] When Coulthard was informed about the comment, his response was "I think it's fair to say that Ron has had a bit of brain-fade to make that comment without talking to me or the engineers first." [ 90 ] Coulthard reportedly confronted Dennis about his remark in the garage. [ 91 ] Following further deliberations, Dennis later withdrew his co...

Michael Schumacher retook the lead in the World Drivers' Championship with 36 championship points after the race. Coulthard was second with 28 championship points, 14 ahead of third-placed Barrichello and 16 ahead of fourth-placed Ralf Schumacher. Heidfeld maintained fifth with eight championship points. [ 5 ] Ferrari extended their World Constructors' Championship lead with 50 championship points. McLaren remained second with 32 championship points, while Williams held third with 18 championshi...

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .

41°34′12″N 2°15′40″E  /  41.57000°N 2.26111°E  / 41.57000; 2.26111