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2001 San Marino Grand Prix

Coordinates: 44°20′38″N 11°43′00″E / 44.34389°N 11.71667°E / 44.34389; 11.71667
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2001 San Marino Grand Prix
Race 4 of 17 in the 2001 Formula One World Championship
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Race details[1]
Date 15 April 2001
Official name Gran Premio Warsteiner di San Marino 2001
Location Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.933 km (3.065 miles)
Distance 62 laps, 305.846 km (190.044 miles)
Weather Sunny. Air Temp: 14 °C (57 °F), Track 26 °C (79 °F)
Attendance 99,000
Pole position
Driver
McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:23.054
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW
Time 1:25.524 on lap 27
Podium
First
  • Germany Ralf Schumacher
 Williams-BMW
Second
  • United Kingdom David Coulthard
 McLaren-Mercedes
Third
Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2001 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the Gran Premio Warsteiner di San Marino 2001)[2] was a Formula One motor race held 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 season. The 62-lap race was won by Ralf Schumacher driving a Williams-BMW after starting from third position. David Coulthard, who started the Grand Prix from pole position, finished second in a McLaren-Mercedes, while Rubens Barrichello finished third in a Ferrari. Schumacher's win was the first of his Formula One career and the first for Williams since Jacques Villeneuve won the 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix. The race also represented the first win for French tyre manufacturer Michelin in Formula One since the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix and the first race since the 1998 Italian Grand Prix not won by Bridgestone.

Second place put Coulthard level on points with Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher in the Drivers' Championship, with both drivers on 26 points after Schumacher retired from the race. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren reduced Ferrari's lead to 10 points. This was the last race for Gastón Mazzacane.

This event also marked the last time until the 2008 Australian Grand Prix that cars competed without using traction control, which was reintroduced at the next race, and the last race until the 2004 Australian Grand Prix not to feature cars competing with fully-automatic gearboxes and launch control, which were also reintroduced at the next race. These electronic driver aids were reintroduced to ensure no teams were using these systems illegally to gain a competitive advantage.

Background[edit]

The 2001 San Marino Grand Prix was the race's 21st iteration, the fourth of seventeen events in the 2001 Formula One World Championship, the first European round of the season and one of two in Italy. It was held on 15 April 2001, at the 17-turn, 4.933 km (3.065 mi) anti-clockwise Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy,[1][3][4] outside of San Marino which lacks the facilities to hold a Formula One race.[4] There were eleven teams (each representing a different constructor) entering two drivers each for the Grand Prix with no changes from the season entry list.[5] It was the final race before the legal reintroduction of electronic driver aids at the following Spanish Grand Prix in late April.[6][7]

Going into the race, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 26 points; McLaren driver David Coulthard was second on 20 points. Schumacher's Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello was third on 10 points, with Sauber's Nick Heidfeld fourth with seven points and Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen fifth with six points.[8] Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 36 points, 15 points ahead of second-placed McLaren. Sauber was third with eight points, followed by Jordan with seven points and British American Racing (BAR) fifth on three points.[8]

Following the Brazilian Grand Prix on 1 April, almost all of the teams tested their cars, setups, tyres and car components on European racing tracks with their racing drivers as well as test drivers to prepare for the San Marino Grand Prix.[9][10][11][12] BAR, Jordan and McLaren tested for three days at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire in inclement weather.[10][13] Jordan's test driver Ricardo Zonta led the first day with BAR's Jacques Villeneuve and McLaren's test driver Alexander Wurz fastest on the second and third days, respectively.[14][15][16] Arrows, Prost, Sauber and Williams went to the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France for three days of testing in mixed conditions.[10][11] Williams' test driver Marc Gené was fastest on the first day, followed by Prost's Jean Alesi leading the second day and Heidfeld quickest on the third day.[11][17][18] Benetton tested for three days at the Circuito de Jerez in Spain,[19] joined by Jaguar on the second and third days.[10] Ferrari tested for five days at its private Fiorano Circuit in Italy with test driver Luca Badoer developing traction control systems in a F1-2000 car for the Spanish Grand Prix while Michael Schumacher concentrated on tyre and aerodynamic development in a F2001 vehicle for three days for the race at Imola.[7][10][20] Arrows collected aerodynamic data in straight line speed testing with driver Jonny Kane at France's Lurcy-Lévis track.[21] Minardi did not test since the team was waiting for its equipment to arrive from Brazil.[10]

After Michael Schumacher won the opening two races in Australia and Malaysia, Coulthard took victory in Brazil after overtaking Schumacher in the race to trail the latter by six championship points and end his six-race winning streak.[22][23] Coulthard said he was happy with how the first three races transpired and spoke of his chances of victory at Imola, "I have won here before and there is no reason why I cannot do so again."[23] Michael Schumacher, the pre-race bookmakers' favourite,[6] acknowledged that it was normal to not win every race in a season and said his team could return to form at Imola.[24] Williams had been successful at the circuit in the 1990s, winning six races in that decade.[25] Driver Juan Pablo Montoya went to a track he was acquainted from International Formula 3000 in 1998 and felt his car would be suited to it but not performing as well as it did in Brazil, adding, "I have only been here once before in my life. It doesn't make a great difference, but it does help a little bit."[26][27]

Multiple teams brought updates to their cars for the race and several squads experimented with different brake ducts to improve cooling and fitted downforce reliant aerodynamic packages.[28][29]: 536–537  Ferrari introduced a more powerful Type 050 V10 engine by increasing its operation revolutions per minute limit after it was down on power relative to the BMW engine.[30][31] McLaren installed several modifications to the MP4-16 to improve the car's behaviour when mounting kerbs. It also debuted a new rear wing and introduced a more powerful Mercedes V10 engine. BAR modified the 003's bodywork to incorporate new wings and narrower side flip-ups in the rear wheel.[28][29]: 536–537  Arrows fitted a front wing with a wider flap to produce more downforce while Jos Verstappen's car featured a minor suspension update made of steel rather than carbon fibre because of a lack of time. Sauber did not change their car and did not use Brembo calipers or power steering since they had not been extensively tested. Prost modified the front wing's endplate flip-ups because they damaged the front tyres when the cars were being moved into the garage on full-lock while Minardi lacked its revised aerodynamic package since their vehicles arrived late from Brazil.[29]: 536–537 

Qualifying[edit]

Saturday qualifying would only run in one hour with the air temperature at 10–11 °C (50–52 °F) and the track temperature at 19–20 °C (66–68 °F) with partly cloudy conditions. Coulthard took pole position, two-tenths of a second ahead of teammate Mika Häkkinen, and half a second ahead of Ralf Schumacher in the Williams. The two Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Barrichello qualified 4th and 6th, being split by Jarno Trulli's Jordan. The other Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya was seventh, and Kimi Räikkönen rounded out the top ten in his Sauber.

Qualifying classification[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Lap Gap
1 4 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.054
2 3 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.282 +0.228
3 5 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:23.357 +0.303
4 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:23.593 +0.539
5 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Jordan-Honda 1:23.658 +0.604
6 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:23.786 +0.732
7 6 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:24.141 +1.087
8 9 France Olivier Panis BAR-Honda 1:24.213 +1.159
9 11 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Honda 1:24.436 +1.382
10 17 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Sauber-Petronas 1:24.671 +1.617
11 10 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:24.769 +1.715
12 16 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:25.007 +1.953
13 18 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth 1:25.392 +2.338
14 22 France Jean Alesi Prost-Acer 1:25.411 +2.357
15 19 Brazil Luciano Burti Jaguar-Cosworth 1:25.572 +2.518
16 15 Brazil Enrique Bernoldi Arrows-Asiatech 1:25.872 +2.818
17 14 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Arrows-Asiatech 1:26.062 +3.008
18 21 Spain Fernando Alonso Minardi-European 1:26.855 +3.801
19 7 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Renault 1:26.902 +3.848
20 23 Argentina Gastón Mazzacane Prost-Acer 1:27.750 +4.696
21 8 United Kingdom Jenson Button Benetton-Renault 1:27.758 +4.704
22 20 Brazil Tarso Marques Minardi-European 1:28.281 +5.227
107% time: 1:28.868
Source:[32]

Race[edit]

The race started at 14:00 local time. Ralf Schumacher beat the two McLarens off the line to lead into the first corner, with Coulthard remaining ahead of Häkkinen. There was an investigation for jump starts, with Ralf, Coulthard and the BAR of Olivier Panis all being suspected of crawling at the start, but no action was taken against any of the drivers.

On lap 5, Fernando Alonso suffered brake failure, his Minardi bouncing over the Variante Alta chicane and into the wall. One lap later, Jos Verstappen crawled to a halt at the Villeneuve chicane with a broken exhaust on his Arrows. Panis was ahead of both Ferraris for a few laps until Barrichello passed the French driver at the Rivazza double left-hander. Shortly after, Michael Schumacher passed him and moved into 7th place. On lap 17, Räikkönen's steering arm broke just after the Tosa hairpin, which forced his Sauber into the wall.

Michael Schumacher picked up a puncture on his left front tyre on lap 20, causing him to pit. He continued, but came straight back into the pits due to a damaged suspension, possibly caused by an incident in the first few laps when he rammed a kerb too aggressively. Ralf Schumacher, Coulthard, Montoya and Gastón Mazzacane pitted on laps 27–28; Häkkinen made his first stop shortly after, along with Barrichello.

Mazzacane and Jacques Villeneuve retired with engine failures on laps 29–30. Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton and Eddie Irvine's Jaguar also suffered engine failures, Fisichella in the pits on lap 31 and Irvine on the start-finish straight on lap 43. Meanwhile, Häkkinen was failing to catch Barrichello, doing slower laps. Montoya pitted on lap 47 only to stall his engine; after it had been restarted, he burned his clutch leaving the pits, forcing him to retire. At the same time, Ralf and Häkkinen made their final pit stops.

The Minardi team's race ended when Tarso Marques' engine blew up with just 12 laps to go, just after the pit entrance on the start-finish straight. The marshals put out the fire, and within a few minutes, had already helped pushed the car away.

With eight laps to go, Ralf Schumacher was shown "Oil Pump" on his pitboard, possibly meaning that his oil pressure was slowly falling, and Coulthard began to close up to the Williams at a rate of a few tenths per lap. Ralf managed to hold the McLaren off and take the victory, four seconds ahead. Barrichello finished third but over 30 seconds behind Coulthard; he held off Häkkinen for the last podium place. Trulli finished fifth, the last driver on the lead lap, while Jordan teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen took the final point. Ralf also set a new lap record, his fastest lap of 1:25.524 being 0.999 seconds faster than the previous year's fastest lap, set by Häkkinen.

Nick Heidfeld's Sauber was 7th, Panis was 8th, and Jean Alesi was 9th in the Prost-Acer. Enrique Bernoldi was 10th in the second Arrows, Luciano Burti 11th in the second Jaguar, and Jenson Button the 12th and last finisher in the second Benetton, two laps behind Ralf.

Post-race[edit]

Ralf Schumacher's win meant that two brothers had won a Formula One race for the first time. It was also the first victory for BMW since joining the Williams team as an engine supplier. This also turned out to be Gastón Mazzacane's last Formula One race (and last World Championship Grand Prix to date for an Argentine driver), as he would be sacked by Alain Prost and replaced by Luciano Burti from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards, Burti himself having been sacked by Jaguar and replaced by Pedro de la Rosa.

Race classification[edit]

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold.

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 62 1:30:44.817 3 10
2 4 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 62 + 4.352 1 6
3 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 62 + 34.766 6 4
4 3 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 62 + 36.315 2 3
5 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Jordan-Honda 62 + 1:25.558 5 2
6 11 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Honda 61 + 1 Lap 9 1
7 16 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 61 + 1 Lap 12  
8 9 France Olivier Panis BAR-Honda 61 + 1 Lap 8  
9 22 France Jean Alesi Prost-Acer 61 + 1 Lap 14  
10 15 Brazil Enrique Bernoldi Arrows-Asiatech 60 + 2 Laps 16  
11 19 Brazil Luciano Burti Jaguar-Cosworth 60 + 2 Laps 15  
12 8 United Kingdom Jenson Button Benetton-Renault 60 + 2 Laps 21  
Ret 20 Brazil Tarso Marques Minardi-European 50 Engine 22  
Ret 6 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 48 Clutch 7  
Ret 18 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth 42 Engine 13  
Ret 7 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Renault 31 Engine 19  
Ret 10 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 30 Engine 11  
Ret 23 Argentina Gastón Mazzacane Prost-Acer 28 Engine 20  
Ret 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 24 Suspension 4  
Ret 17 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Sauber-Petronas 17 Steering/Accident 10  
Ret 14 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Arrows-Asiatech 6 Exhaust 17  
Ret 21 Spain Fernando Alonso Minardi-European 5 Brakes/Accident 18  
Source:[33]

Championship standings after the race[edit]

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "2001 San Marino GP: XXI Gran Premio Warsteiner di San Marino". ChicaneF1. Archived from the original on 9 December 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
    "2001 San Marino Grand Prix". Motor Sport. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  2. ^ "San Marino". Formula1.com. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  3. ^ Tytler, Ewan (11 April 2001). "The San Marino GP Preview". AtlasF1. 7 (15). Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b Matchett, Steve (11 April 2001). "Steve Matchett: Imola Preview". Speedvision. Archived from the original on 13 April 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Formula One 2001 San Marino Grand Prix Information". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  6. ^ a b Brewer, Mike (14 April 2001). "Montoya can be backed with or without big boys; The Sports Book". The Times. Retrieved 13 July 2024 – via Gale Academic OneFile.
  7. ^ a b "Ferrari Wraps Up 5 Day Test Session". AtlasF1. 7 April 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  8. ^ a b Jones, Bruce (2002). "2001 Final Tables". The Official F1 Grand Prix Guide 2002. London, England: Carlton Books. pp. 106–107. ISBN 1-84222-557-X – via Internet Archive.
  9. ^ "This week's testing". F1Racing.net. 3 April 2001. Archived from the original on 28 September 2004. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "Formula One Update – 6 April 2001". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 6 April 2001. Archived from the original on 13 April 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  11. ^ a b c "Gene Fastest at Magny Cours - Day One". AtlasF1. 3 April 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Williams carry Brazilian pace into testing". Autosport. 3 April 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  13. ^ "McLaren back-track on testing new car". Autosport. 3 April 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  14. ^ Gardner, John (3 April 2001). "Silverstone Test, Day 1 – Zonta Fastest in Rainy Conditions". Speedvision. Archived from the original on 21 July 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  15. ^ "BAR Duo Quickest at Silverstone - Day Two". AtlasF1. 4 April 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  16. ^ Gardner, John (5 April 2001). "Silverstone Test, Day 3 – Wurz Best in Wet". Speedvision. Archived from the original on 21 July 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  17. ^ "Testing round-up: Villeneuve pips McLarens". Autosport. 4 April 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Heidfeld Sets the Pace at Magny Cours - Final Day". AtlasF1. 5 April 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  19. ^ "Benetton opt for Jerez workout". F1Racing.net. 3 April 2001. Archived from the original on 28 September 2004. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  20. ^ Gardner, John (7 April 2001). "Fiorano Test, Day 5 – Pre-Imola Test Wraps". Speedvision. Archived from the original on 13 April 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Arrows start at Lurcy Levis". F1Racing.net. 6 April 2001. Archived from the original on 28 September 2004. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  22. ^ Allsop, Derick (12 April 2001). "Motor racing: Ferrari fear Montoya and Coulthard". The Independent. p. 23. ProQuest 311880955.
  23. ^ a b Gordon, Ian (13 April 2001). "Motor racing: Coulthard watching mirrors; Formula One". Birmingham Post. p. 27. Retrieved 13 July 2001 – via Gale OneFile: News.
  24. ^ "Schumacher Heeds Brazilian Warning". AtlasF1. 12 April 2001. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  25. ^ Batten, Garren (13 April 2001). "Ferrari Back On Home Ground". The Canberra Times. p. 14. ProQuest 1016098719.
  26. ^ "Montoya: "There's a lot more to come"". Autosport. 12 April 2001. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  27. ^ "Montoya Looks Forward to Winning Future". AtlasF1. Reuters. 12 April 2001. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  28. ^ a b Piola, Giorgio (17–23 April 2001). "Fermento al... BAR" [Buzz at... BAR]. Autosprint (in Italian) (16): 58–61.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  29. ^ a b c Mansell, Nigel, ed. (2001). 2001 Formula One Annual. European Press Ltd. ISBN 0-9541368-0-2 – via Internet Archive.
  30. ^ Young, Byron (13 April 2001). "Schu: Ferrari fears nothing". Herald Sun. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via Gale OneFile: News.
  31. ^ Henry, Alan (13 April 2001). "Motor Racing: Schumacher prepares for power games". The Guardian. ProQuest 245653770.
  32. ^ F1, STATS. "San Marino 2001 - Qualifications • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 14 November 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ "2001 San Marino Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  34. ^ a b "San Marino 2001 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 26 February 2019.


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2002 San Marino Grand Prix

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

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