Background
The 2001 Italian Grand Prix was the 15th of the 17 round 2001 Formula One World Championship and occurred at the clockwise 5.793 km (3.600 mi) Monza Circuit close to Monza , Lombardy , Italy on 16 September. Before the race, both the World Drivers' Championship and World Constructors' Championship were already settled, with Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher having won the World Drivers' Championship two rounds earlier in the Hungarian Grand Prix and Ferrari took the World Constructors' Cha... After the Belgian Grand Prix on 2 September, the teams conducted mid-season testing at various European race circuits between 4–7 September to prepare for the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Ferrari, Williams , British American Racing (BAR), Jordan and Minardi tested at Italy's Mugello Circuit . Rubens Barrichello for Ferrari set the fastest times on the first and second days. The second day of testing was disrupted on six occasions after BAR test driv... After the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington D.C., Formula One's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) announced that the Italian Grand Prix would go ahead as scheduled. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said that his team would approach the race as a normal racing event instead of a traditional Ferrari festival. Furthermore, di Montezemolo stated Formula One should continue its normal schedule and not cancel races. Additionally, the A... Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya felt Monza would suit his car's BMW engine, saying: "We should be really quick, but we will have to see what happens. The most important thing, as we have seen in qualifying in Spa, is to get the car right. If we get it right we should be very quick." Michael Schumacher was intent to help his teammate Barrichello finish second in the World Drivers' Championship and revealed that Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn had told him "it doesn't feel much differenc... There were 11 teams (each representing a different constructor ) each fielding two drivers for the Grand Prix with two driver changes. The Minardi team replaced regular driver Tarso Marques with Yoong, who received backing from the Magnum Corporation and was granted a super licence after a two-day test at the Mugello Circuit, becoming Malaysia's first Formula One driver. Marques was kept on as the team's test and reserve driver, and assisted with developing the Minardi PS02 . ...
Practice
Montoya recorded the third session's fastest lap of 1:25.558 with fewer than ten minutes remaining in clear weather conditions but on a damp circuit that was created by a thunderstorm on Friday night which meant the track was slow to dry. Most drivers used intermediate tyres to begin the session before a dry line appeared and dry compound tyres were used. Barrichello was 0.336 seconds slower in second. De La Rosa, BAR drivers Villeneuve and Panis, Räikkönen, Irvine, Verstapp...
Qualifying
De La Rosa rounded out the top ten qualifiers and was happy after Jaguar engineer Humphrey Corbett corrected an understeer fault on De La Rosa's car. Button in 11th reported his Benetton was well balanced. Frentzen took 12th and said his qualifying position was more significant than him finishing fourth at the Belgian Grand Prix. Irvine struggled with brake balance which shifted towards the rear of his Jaguar, leaving him 13th. He also was unable to set a faster time after Panis bl...
Race
Heidfeld lost hydraulic pressure on the grid; he was required to use the spare Sauber monocoque and start from the pit lane . Fisichella did the same because he had a leaking fuel filler in his car. : 198, 276 When the race started, Montoya maintained his pole position advantage going into the first corner, with Barrichello in second. Ralf Schumacher passed Michael Schumacher at the Variante Goodyear chicane but Michael challenged Ralf for third at the exit of Variante della Roggia. [ 59 ... Barrichello and Michael Schumacher started to maintain the gap between themselves and Montoya, and started to pull away from Ralf Schumacher. Bernoldi passed Villeneuve for 11th position on lap two, while Irvine dropped to ninth one lap later after he was overtaken by Verstappen and Räikkönen. He later fell behind Alesi, Bernoldi and Villeneuve on the fourth lap. Button retired from the race when his engine failed and smoke billowed from his car on lap five. Irvine lo... Irvine retired on lap 14 because he lost horsepower in his car when a cylinder in his engine stopped working. Verstappen fell to seventh after he was passed by Alesi and Räikkönen on lap 16. Yoong, driving with steering affected by Button's front wing hitting his left-front tyre on the first lap, at the back of the field lost control of his car at Curva di Lesmo corner but continued driving; he avoided being hit by Montoya and Michael Schumacher. Mi... Häkkinen lost second on lap 19 before retiring at the Rettifilio chicane two laps later after losing all gears. Although he received signals from the pit lane to preserve his brakes, Verstappen retired on the 26th lap with a loss of power. : 354 At the front of the field, Ralf Schumacher moved into the race lead when Montoya made his pit stop on lap 28, where his pit crew made an adjustment to his front wing but had excess oversteer at the race's conclusion. Mon... Barrichello closed the gap between himself and Montoya but was unable to catch up to the Williams driver who crossed the finish line first on lap 53 to clinch his maiden Formula One victory and the first for a Colombian driver. in a time of 1'16:58.393 at an average speed of 239.103 km/h (148.572 mph). Barrichello finished in second position 5.175 seconds behind Montoya and Ralf Schumacher followed in third to complete the podium finishers, ahead of Michael Schumacher in four... Out of respect for those who died in the September 11 attacks, no champagne was sprayed on the podium. : 504 In the subsequent press conference, Montoya said he was "so happy" and "pleased" that he achieved his maiden Grand Prix victory. He also said that he was not frustrated on not claiming his first victory in the preceding 14 races as he was not expecting to win during the season. Barrichello said that he felt that Ferrari put on "a good show" despite his slow pit stop f... Alesi attacked Briatore's role in preventing the drivers from abiding by the pact that was to see no overtaking in the first two chicanes and told the Italian and French media that some team principals threatened their drivers if they did not race. Nevertheless, he was relieved that the race passed without any major incident and said the reason why the majority of the drivers supported Michael Schumacher was that he "behaved like a perfect leader". Villeneuve said to British television st... Brawn insisted the reason Ferrari opted for a two-stop strategy was to defeat Williams tactically on the high-speed circuit, adding: "We'd been trounced at Hockenheim, and I didn't really see the point in following a couple of ultra-quick BMWs down the straight." Jean Todt , Ferrari team principal, admitted that the refuelling rig issue at Barrichello's first pit stop possibly lost the driver the opportunity to win the race. De La Rosa said that his fifth-position finish gave his J... The result allowed Michael Schumacher to extend his lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 50 championship points over Coulthard. Barrichello's second-place finish allowed him to narrow the gap to Coulthard to be three championship points behind. Ralf Schumacher remained in fourth position, while Montoya's victory promoted him to fifth. Ferrari remained in the lead of the World Constructors' Championship with an 80-point advantage over McLaren, whose championship points advantage over ... Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .
References
45°36′56″N 9°16′52″E / 45.61556°N 9.28111°E / 45.61556; 9.28111
Race Result
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Williams-BMW | 1:22.216 | — |
| 2 | 2 | Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | 1:22.528 | +0.312 |
| 3 | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:22.624 | +0.408 |
| 4 | 5 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams-BMW | 1:22.841 | +0.625 |
| 5 | 11 | Jarno Trulli | Jordan-Honda | 1:23.126 | +0.910 |
| 6 | 4 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:23.148 | +0.932 |
| 7 | 3 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:23.394 | +1.178 |
| 8 | 16 | Nick Heidfeld | Sauber-Petronas | 1:23.417 | +1.201 |
| 9 | 17 | Kimi Räikkönen | Sauber-Petronas | 1:23.595 | +1.379 |
| 10 | 19 | Pedro de la Rosa | Jaguar-Cosworth | 1:23.693 | +1.477 |
Championship Standings After This Race
The Paddock Breakdown
Barry · Gary · KatGary — 33 · Three Fantasy F1 leagues
The air in Maranello tonight hangs thick with something beyond champagne – a palpable sense of relief. Barrichello's late-race tire degradation, exacerbated by those McLaren-Mercedes slick compounds, wasn't merely a strategic misstep; it was a direct consequence of Bridgestone subtly adjusting pressures mid-session, attempting to neutralize Montoya's blistering pace.
The air here hangs thick, doesn't it? Not just with the Tuscan heat, but with the quiet calculations of those watching Montoya's stumble. Ninety-nine percent of the paddock anticipated a straightforward victory for the rookie, a predictable coronation. Yet, a blistered tyre – a tiny imperfection – cost him a lead that, statistically speaking, should have been unassailable. It's a reminder that even the most meticulously constructed plans, especially in this sport, are always vulnerable to the smallest of variables.
Kat — 30 · Technical journalist
The rain hadn't bothered Montoya, not initially. A blister, though – that was a different beast entirely. You could practically hear the whispers from Ferrari's garage: a calculated risk, a slow burn designed to destabilize the young American. Barrichello's pace after that pitstop was… unsettlingly precise. Schumacher, meanwhile, was observing, a glacial assessment of Montoya's tire management – or lack thereof – playing out across his face. The air in the Williams garage suddenly felt thick with the scent of ambition and, perhaps, a little treachery.
The rain hadn't bothered Montoya, not a drop. He's a creature of instinct, that one. Saw the blister forming on the tyre just as the crowd did – a slow exit at the Lesmo chicane, a predictable consequence of pushing so aggressively. You could practically hear Flavio Briatore's little smirk from Maranello, anticipating the opportunity. Barrichello's move was calculated, cold. A masterclass in tire management and exploiting weakness. Don't mistake that for a lucky break, though. It was a strategic chess game played out on asphalt. Ralf Schumacher's third place? A valiant effort, certainly, but the Schumacher family always seem to be playing second fiddle, don't they?