2001 United States Grand Prix

The 2001 United States Grand Prix (formally the 2001 SAP United States Grand Prix ) [ 3 ] was a Formula One motor race held on September 30, 2001, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana . It was the 16th and penultimate round of the 2001 Formula One World Championship , and the second United States Grand Prix hosted at Indianapolis. It was the first international sporting event to take place in the United States since the September 11 attacks , which occurred 19 days before the ...

The final result meant that Michael Schumacher broke the all-time record for most points scored in a season, which he shared with Nigel Mansell . Coulthard increased his lead over Barrichello in the World Drivers' Championship by four championship points in the battle for second. McLaren's performance in Indianapolis clinched the team second in the World Constructors' Championship from Williams with one round remaining in the season.

The 2001 United States Grand Prix was the penultimate round of the 2001 Formula One World Championship , held on September 30, 2001, at the 4.192 km (2.605 mi) Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) road course in Speedway, Indiana . [ 2 ] It was the second United States Grand Prix to take place at Indianapolis, which had previously hosted the Indianapolis 500 as part of the Formula One World Championship from 1950 to 1960 . [ 4 ] The Porsche Supercup and the Ferrari Challenge held support races duri...

Following the Italian Grand Prix on 16 September, the Arrows , Benetton , British American Racing (BAR), Jordan , Jaguar and McLaren teams tested over three days at the Silverstone Circuit in England to prepare for the United States Grand Prix. [ 8 ] Wet weather affected all three days, and teams only got the final day to run on a dry track. Jordan's Jean Alesi led the first day of testing, while McLaren test driver Alexander Wurz led the remaining two days. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ] The Williams team...

Eleven constructors entered two drivers each for the event; [ 28 ] six of the entered drivers had not driven on the Indianapolis road course before and two were past Indianapolis 500 winners. [ 18 ] [ 29 ] Michael Schumacher and Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya were the British bookmakers' joint favourites to win the race. [ 30 ] FIA doctor Gary Hartstein ordered Luciano Burti to rest until at least the end of December 2001, and he was replaced for the season's final two races by Czech driver ...

There were two one-hour sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday morning before the race on Sunday. [ 38 ] : 220–221 Friday's two practice sessions were held in cool, overcast weather, [ 39 ] with fewer spectators in the grandstands because of the September 11 attacks. [ 40 ] The circuit was relatively dirty, so most of the first practice session was spent cleaning it and laying tire rubber on it. [ 41 ] The lack of grip on the dusty surface meant several drivers lost control of...

Due to an oil pump failure caused by a loss in oil pressure , Michael Schumacher abandoned his Ferrari on the grass beside the pit lane exit in the final practice session. This necessitated an engine change for qualifying but he remained fastest overall. [ 51 ] [ 54 ] Häkkinen was faster and moved to second place. Heidfeld, Ralf Schumacher, Barrichello, Montoya, Fisichella, Coulthard, Button, and Räikkönen completed the top ten. [ 49 ] [ 55 ] Häkkinen skidded into the gravel trap between turns t...

Räikkönen, 11th, was the fastest non-top-ten qualifier, unable to establish the optimal chassis balance after small setup changes proved ineffective and had handling issues. [ 37 ] : 199 [ 54 ] Fisichella finished 12th after encountering yellow flags for Enge's crash, forcing him to slow down during his final run. Part of his engine cover detached on the main straight. [ 37 ] : 277 [ 61 ] BAR's Olivier Panis lacked grip and began from 13th. [ 54 ] Irvine, 14th, experienced understeer and signifi...

Notes

The Sauber duo of Heidfeld and Räikkönen, as well as Trulli, went three-wide on the drive into turn one at the start of the second lap. Räikkönen was blocked off by Trulli's pincer manoeuvre (when attempting to pass him on the outside) and damaged his front wing against his teammate's rear-left wheel. When the lap ended, Räikkönen made an unscheduled pit stop to replace the front wing, but he retired on lap three after his left-rear driveshaft broking from colliding with Trulli. Heidfeld and Tru...

Further back, Button overtook Trulli for eighth while Irvine was passed by Alesi for eleventh. [ 89 ] On lap five, Michael Schumacher realized that Barrichello was faster than him because of the latter's two-stop strategy and slowed slightly, letting his teammate by on the inside approaching turn eight at the end of the back straight and into the lead. [ 18 ] [ 84 ] [ 91 ] [ 92 ] Barrichello's string of fastest laps allowed him to draw away from the rest of the field and lead by 5.2 seconds on t...

Ralf Schumacher was the first of the leading drivers to enter the pit lane at the end of lap 23 for the first of two scheduled pit stops. [ 85 ] [ 88 ] He stopped for 12.5 seconds due to Williams mechanics struggling to replace the left-rear wheel because of a faulty wheel gun. Ralf Schumacher rejoined the track in ninth place. [ 76 ] [ 85 ] Barrichello led by 12.5 seconds when he made the first of two scheduled pit stops on lap 27. He rejoined the race in fifth behind Coulthard after a 8.6 seco...

On lap 37, Ralf Schumacher lost control of his car after locking the brakes into turn six, and his race finished in the gravel. [ 84 ] [ 85 ] [ 89 ] Alonso entered the pit lane for a planned pit stop but was unable to continue due to a driveshaft failure a lap later. [ 37 ] : 381 Michael Schumacher made his only stop on lap 39 and Häkkinen took the lead. [ 88 ] He returned to the circuit in fourth. [ 89 ] On the same lap, smoke billowed from the rear of Montoya's car going through the banked tur...

Yoong retired his car with gearbox issues on the 44th lap. [ 37 ] : 381 [ 93 ] Häkkinen lapped faster than Barrichello since his car had less fuel, and he made his only pit stop from the lead when lap 45 concluded. [ 82 ] [ 88 ] His pit stop lasted 9.6 seconds and his pit crew's efficiency meant he rejoined in second, ahead of Michael Schumacher. [ 84 ] [ 85 ] De La Rosa and Villeneuve collided at the end of the back straight in turn eight on lap 43 as the former attempted to overtake the latter...

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in the subsequent press conference. [ 38 ] : 220–221 Häkkinen characterized the win "one of the highlights of the season for me" and "one of my most important victories", saying it had been his objective to win the British Grand Prix and the United States Grand Prix in 2001. He said that he did not overthink victory while running fifth early in the race, instead focusing on his lap times and consistency...

Barrichello voiced his disappointment at retiring the Grand Prix two laps early, saying: "The feeling is horrible. It's very difficult to express what I'm feeling right now. I have shown that whenever I have the chance to win, I'm going for it." [ 95 ] Montoya was philosophical, stating he could have won his second race in a row if his car had not suffered from hydraulic troubles, "I wanted to really go for the win here and it's a big disappointment we couldn't finish the race. My second F-1 win...

Michael Schumacher's second-place final increased his championship points tally to 113, breaking the record he shared with Nigel Mansell for the most championship points scored in a single season by five points. [ 108 ] Coulthard was now seven championship points ahead of Barrichello in the battle for second while Ralf Schumacher in fourth was another six points behind. [ 7 ] Ferrari continued to lead the World Constructors' Championship with 167 championship points. McLaren's performance in Ind...

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .

39°47′42″N 86°14′05″W  /  39.79500°N 86.23472°W  / 39.79500; -86.23472