The 2001 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 55th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2001 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 2001 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a seventeen-race series that commenced on 4 March and ended on 14 October.
Defending champions Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari were again awarded the World Drivers' Championship[1] and World Constructors' Championship,[2] respectively. Schumacher won the title with a record margin of 58 points over David Coulthard (McLaren), after achieving nine victories and five-second places. He also became the driver the most wins thus far, his victory at the Belgian Grand Prix marking his 52nd career win. The season saw the debut of two future world champions: Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen as well as it being the last season for double world champion Mika Häkkinen.
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2001 FIA Formula One World Championship.
V10 configuration.[4]Mercedes-Benz provided a new safety car: the SL55 AMG, which also performed its duty during and replaced the previous CL55 AMG. It was first deployed during the German Grand Prix.[11]
Three high-profile drivers made their debuts in 2001: future world champions Fernando Alonso (with Minardi) and Kimi Räikkönen (with Sauber), and former CART champion Juan Pablo Montoya (with Williams).
Renault returned to Formula One after three years to supply engines to the Benetton team. Meanwhile, fellow French car manufacturer Peugeot withdrew from the sport after seven years, following a disastrous season as engine supplier to Prost. The assets of Peugeot's Formula One programme were purchased by Asia Motor Technologies France. The 2000-spec powerplants were rebadged as Asiatechs and supplied to Arrows free of charge.
Michelin made a comeback as tyre supplier, providing competition to Bridgestone for the first time since Goodyear left the sport at the end of the 1998 season.
Michael Schumacher started the new season where he had left off the year before, with a dominant win from pole position in the first race in Australia. Arch-rival Mika Häkkinen lost second after a suspension failure, giving second to his teammate David Coulthard, with Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello completing the podium. Kimi Räikkönen finished his first F1 race in the points with sixth place. The race was marred by the death of Graham Beveridge, a track marshal who was hit by debris after a collision between Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve.
Schumacher and Barrichello started 1–2 in Malaysia and maintained their positions at the first corner, but there was a massive rain shower on the second lap, during which both Ferraris went off the track. After everyone pitted to change tyres, they were down in 10th and 11th, but they changed to intermediate tyres, while all others had changed to full wets. This masterstroke meant that the Ferraris were able to charge back up the order and get back first and second. Schumacher won, with Barrichello completing a Ferrari 1–2, and Coulthard was third.
Schumacher was on pole in Brazil, but a collision on the first lap brought out the safety car. When the race restarted, Williams rookie Juan Pablo Montoya shocked Schumacher by coming up the inside of him and taking the lead. Montoya was well set for a stunning maiden win until he got hit from behind by Jos Verstappen while lapping him. It began to rain and after everyone changed the tyres, Schumacher was leading, but then Coulthard passed him on the first turn when they were lapping Tarso Marques in a move reminiscent of the one made by Mika Häkkinen on Schumacher in Belgium last year. Coulthard went on to win, with Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld second and third.
In Ferrari's first 'home' race in San Marino, their main rivals McLaren stunned them by qualifying 1–2, with Coulthard on pole. Schumacher was fourth behind his brother Ralf. Ralf shot to the lead at the start, passing both McLarens before the first corner, and was never headed. Coulthard finished second, with Barrichello jumping Häkkinen in the stops to take third. Michael Schumacher had a miserable afternoon, suffering a gearbox glitch early on and then having to retire after a puncture that damaged the wheel rim and a brake duct.
After four races, Schumacher and Coulthard were level on the standings with 26 points, Barrichello and Ralf were third with 14 and 12 points respectively. Häkkinen had only 4 and was only seventh in the standings. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari led with 40, with McLaren second with 30. Williams was third with 12.
The next round in Spain was the first after the reintroduction of traction control, launch control, and fully-automatic transmissions. The driving aids were brought back to ensure no teams were cheating, but questions were raised over the reliability. Their first victim was David Coulthard, who stalled on the grid and had to start from the back. The race saw a battle between Schumacher and Häkkinen, with the former winning pole and leading the opening two thirds of the race. During the second pit stop, however, Schumacher had a problem and lost the lead to Häkkinen, who then stretched his lead to half a minute, as Schumacher was struggling with a suspension problem. Ironically and shockingly, it was Häkkinen's car that gave out on the last lap with a clutch failure, giving the win to Schumacher. Juan Pablo Montoya finished second and Jacques Villeneuve completed the podium. Coulthard recovered to fifth. The sixth round took place in Austria, where the two Williams cars out-dragged polesitter Michael Schumacher into the first corner. His brother Ralf soon retired with a brake problem, leaving his teammate vulnerable to the Ferrari's attack. Schumacher tried to pass Montoya, but instead, both went into the gravel and rejoined sixth and seventh. Coulthard took the lead by jumping Rubens Barrichello in the second round of stops, and held on to take the win. Barrichello had to yield second to a recovering Schumacher on the final lap.
Coulthard took pole at the Monaco GP but stalled on the grid after, again, suffering problems with the launch control system. This released the two Ferraris and Häkkinen to battle for the win. When Häkkinen's engine failed early on, the Ferraris cruised to a 1–2 finish, with Schumacher winning ahead of Barrichello. The demise of the McLarens allowed Eddie Irvine to get a podium, while Coulthard recovered to fifth, despite spending the majority of the race stuck behind Enrique Bernoldi.
The race in Canada was a battle between the Schumacher brothers, with Michael taking pole and maintaining his lead at the first corner. Ralf, however, kept up with him, and when his brother pitted, upped the pace with a string of quick laps, and came out five seconds ahead. Ralf cruised to victory, with his brother making it the first time ever that brothers had finished 1–2 in a race. Häkkinen finished third, scoring his first podium of the season. Coulthard was set for third but retired when his engine failed 15 laps from the finish.
With nearly half the season complete, Schumacher had 58 points and led Coulthard by 18 points. Coulthard had a further 16 points over Barrichello who had 24 points, and 18 over Ralf, who had 22. Häkkinen was fifth in the standings with 8 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari with 82 points had a huge lead over McLaren, who had 48. Williams was third with 28.
The European Grand Prix was next and the Schumacher brothers were in the spotlights again. Michael took his seventh pole position of the season, ahead of his brother. They maintained their positions at the start and Ralf was able to keep up in second during the first stint. However, he passed the white line after his first pit stop and received a stop-go penalty, which dropped him out of contention. This left Michael Schumacher to cruise to another victory, with Juan Pablo Montoya in second and David Coulthard in third. Ralf, even with his penalty, was able to get fourth ahead of Rubens Barrichello and Mika Häkkinen.
In France, the Schumacher brothers started 1–2 again, but it was Ralf who took his first-ever career pole. Ralf maintained his lead at the start, but his brother jumped him at the first round of stops and then pulled away. Coulthard, who had started third, was in contention until he went over the white line while coming out of the pit lane and received a stop-go penalty. Montoya was running quickly and could have challenged his teammate for a second, had his engine not blown up. Schumacher won comfortably from Ralf, with Barrichello holding off Coulthard for third.
Michael Schumacher took pole for the British GP and maintained his position at the first corner. But on the fifth lap, Häkkinen, who was on a two-stopper, passed him and never looked back to take a dominant first win of the year. Schumacher was over half a minute back in second and Barrichello completed the podium.
The weekend of the German GP was dominated by the Williams team and their drivers locked out the front row. This time, it was Montoya in first place, taking his first career pole. He kept the lead at the start and was looking well set to win until his engine blew up. This left Ralf Schumacher to cruise to victory. Barrichello took second and Jacques Villeneuve third, both of them capitalising on Michael Schumacher's retirement with a fuel pressure problem and the fact that both McLarens retired with engine failure.
Schumacher now had no less than 84 points and it seemed inevitable that he would win the championship. A win in the next round in Hungary would be enough. Coulthard was a distant second with 47 and was looking anxiously over his shoulders, as Ralf with 41 and Barrichello with 37 were hot on his heels. Häkkinen and Montoya were fifth and sixth with 19 and 15 points respectively. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari led with 121 compared to McLaren's 66, and a 1–2 in Hungary would wrap up the title. Williams were third with 56, within touching distance of McLaren.
After the summer break, Michael Schumacher took another step to winning the title by taking pole position at the Hungarian GP, ahead of David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello. He kept the lead at the start, but Coulthard was passed by Barrichello. Coulthard then jumped Barrichello at the first round of pit stops, only for the Brazilian to return the favour at the second round. Schumacher won the race and clinched the Drivers' Championship. Barrichello came home in second, to make it a Ferrari 1–2 and secure the Constructors' Championship. A disappointed Coulthard finished third.
The two Williams cars of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher qualified 1–2 for the Belgian GP, but Montoya stalled on the grid and started at the back and Ralf was passed by his brother and world champion Michael into the first corner. After a few laps, there was a collision between Eddie Irvine and Luciano Burti. Burti careered head-on into the tyre barrier and had to be treated for his injuries. While the injuries were not serious, Burti was never to race in F1 again. The race was suspended and shortened to 36 laps. At the restart, the top 3 were Michael Schumacher, his brother Ralf and Barrichello. However, Ralf's car was still on its jacks when the warm-up lap started and he had to start at the back. Michael kept the lead at the start and pulled away, while Barrichello lost out to Giancarlo Fisichella. Barrichello lost further time when he ran over a bollard at the Bus Stop chicane and damaging his front wing, and he had to go around for an entire lap before he could pit and change the wing. This left the two McLarens pressuring Fisichella for second. David Coulthard was able to pass the Jordan with 10 laps left. Schumacher took his 52nd career win, breaking Alain Prost's record of most wins ever, with Coulthard and Fisichella completing the podium.
The next round was in Italy. It was the first race after the September 11 attacks. Because of this, and also thinking of the horrific accident of Alessandro Zanardi in the Champ Car World Series the day before, Michael Schumacher asked all the drivers to go slowly at the first corner. This plan failed when Jacques Villeneuve and Benetton boss Flavio Briatore did not accept it. The Ferrari did adjust their livery: they ran without sponsors' logos, in deference to sponsor Philip Morris USA, and with a black tip on their nose, out of respect for the 9/11 victims. Montoya took pole, ahead of the two Ferraris of Barrichello and Schumacher. The top 3 maintained their positions at the start, but Montoya was soon passed by a two-stopping Barrichello. After utilising different strategies and Barrichello suffering a 7 second delay in his first stop, a jubilant Montoya came out on top to take his first career win. Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher finished second and third.
The US GP was host to the penultimate round and Schumacher took pole ahead of his brother and Montoya. Schumacher led into the first corner, while Ralf lost out to both Montoya and Barrichello. A two-stopping Barrichello soon took the lead and subsequently pitted. Montoya passed Michael Schumacher before the round of stops, but two laps after his stop, he retired with engine failure. At the half-way point, Barrichello was leading from Mika Häkkinen, Schumacher and Coulthard. He rejoined behind Häkkinen after his second stop, but started to close in, until his engine failed on the penultimate lap. Häkkinen took what would be his last win. Barrichello's demise left Schumacher and Coulthard to take second and third.
The last round took place in Japan and Michael Schumacher took pole again, ahead of Montoya and Ralf. The top 3 kept their places into the first corner, but Ralf was soon passed by a three-stopping Barrichello. The Brazilian was unable to pass Montoya, however, and this ruined his strategy. Ralf was given a stop-go penalty for cutting the chicane at the last corner too frequently. This left Häkkinen running third in his last race in F1, but he handed the position to teammate Coulthard, as a token of gratitude. Schumacher capped off the season with a victory ahead of Montoya and Coulthard.
At the end of the season, Schumacher was a dominant champion with 123 points. Coulthard with 65 was a distant second (58 points behind). Barrichello was third with 56, which meant that Michael had collected more points than the second and third-placed drivers put together. Ralf Schumacher was fourth with 49, Häkkinen fifth with 37, and Montoya sixth with 31. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari was the winner with 179 points, 77 ahead of second-placed McLaren with 102, and Williams was third with 80 points.
During the season, double world champion Mika Häkkinen had announced his intention to take a one-year sabbatical in 2002. Eventually, it became clear that it would be his full-time retirement. Also racing for the last time in 2001 was Jean Alesi, who passed the mark of 200 shortly before his final race in Japan.
Veteran British sports commentator Murray Walker provided his final commentary at the United States Grand Prix, where Häkkinen took home what would be his last win.
Finally, the Prost team folded at the end of the year due to a lack of finances, while Benetton was re-branded as Renault after the French manufacturer bought the team outright.
Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race as follows:[15]
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 10 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
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Notes:
| Constructor | AUS | MAL | BRA | SMR | ESP | AUT | MON | CAN | EUR | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | USA | JPN | Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ferrari | 1 | Ret | 1 | 1 | Ret | 4 | 179 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 3 | Ret | 3 | 2 | Ret | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 15† | 5 | ||||
| 2 | McLaren-Mercedes | 3 | Ret | Ret | 4 | 9† | Ret | Ret | 3 | 6 | DNS | Ret | 4 | Ret | 1 | 4 | 102 | ||||
| 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | Ret | 3 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 2 | Ret | 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 3 | Williams-BMW | 5 | Ret | 5 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 4 | Ret | 1 | 4 | 7 | Ret | 80 | |||||||
| 6 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 2 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 4 | 8 | 2 | |||||||||
| 4 |  Sauber-Petronas | 16 | 4 | Ret | 3 | 7 | 6 | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | 6 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 11 | 6 | 9 | 21 | |
| 17 | 6 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 5 | Ret | 7 | DNS | 7 | Ret | Ret | ||||
| 5 |  Jordan-Honda | 11 | 5 | 4 | 11† | 6 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 7 | Ret | 8 | 7 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 4 | 8 | 19 | |
| 12 | Ret | 8 | 5 | 5 | 4 | DSQ | Ret | 11† | Ret | 5 | Ret | Ret | 10 | 6 | 8 | 7 | Ret | ||||
| 6 | BAR-Honda | 9 | 7 | Ret | 4 | 8 | 7 | 5 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | Ret | 7 | Ret | 11 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 17 | |
| 10 | Ret | Ret | 7 | Ret | 3 | 8 | 4 | Ret | 9 | Ret | 8 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 6 | Ret | 10 | ||||
| 7 | Benetton-Renault | 7 | 13 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 14 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 11 | 11 | 13 | 4 | Ret | 3 | 10 | 8 | 17† | 10 | |
| 8 | 14† | 11 | 10 | 12 | 15 | Ret | 7 | Ret | 13 | 16† | 15 | 5 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | 7 | ||||
| 8 | Jaguar-Cosworth | 18 | 11 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 7 | 3 | Ret | 7 | Ret | 9 | Ret | Ret | DNS | Ret | 5 | Ret | 9 | |
| 19 | 8 | 10 | Ret | 11 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | 8 | 14 | 12 | Ret | 11 | Ret | 5 | 12 | Ret | ||||
| 9 | Prost-Acer | 22 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 15† | 12 | 11 | 6 | Ret | 9 | Ret | 10 | 12 | 4 | |
| 23 | Ret | 12 | Ret | Ret | 11 | 11 | Ret | 8 | 12 | 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | DNS | 12 | 14 | Ret | ||||
| 10 | Arrows-Asiatech | 14 | 10 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 12 | 6 | 8 | 10† | Ret | 13 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 1 | |
| 15 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 10 | Ret | Ret | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 14 | 8 | Ret | 12 | Ret | 13 | 14 | ||||
| 11 | Minardi-European | 20 | Ret | 14 | 9 | Ret | 16 | Ret | Ret | 9 | Ret | 15 | DNQ | Ret | Ret | 13 | Ret | Ret | 16 | 0 | |
| 21 | 12 | 13 | Ret | Ret | 13 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 14 | 17† | 16 | 10 | Ret | DNS | 13 | Ret | 11 | ||||
| Constructor | AUS | MAL | BRA | SMR | ESP | AUT | MON | CAN | EUR | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | USA | JPN | Points | |||
| Source: | |||||||||||||||||||||
Notes:
