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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][2]
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 100,000
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)[3] was a Formula One motor race held before 100,000 spectators 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 World Championship and the 21st San Marino Grand Prix. Williams's Ralf Schumacher won the 62-lap race, starting from third. McLaren's David Coulthard finished second and Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello finished third.

Going into the event, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship from Coulthard while Ferrari led McLaren in the World Drivers' Championship. After setting the fastest lap in the one-hour qualifying session, Coulthard started the race on pole position alongside teammate Mika Häkkinen. Ralf Schumacher from third overtook both McLaren drivers into the Tamburello chicane and retained the lead for the entire race, taking his maiden victory and Williams' first since the 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix; Coulthard ended 4.3 seconds back in second place. Barrichello finished third after switching from a two-to-one pit stop strategy.

Coulthard's second-place finish put him in the joint lead of the World Drivers' Championship with Michael Schumacher, but Schumacher retained the lead overall because he had won two races to Coulthard's one despite retiring from the race. Barrichello was third, 12 points behind the two, but Ralf Schumacher's victory moved him from seventh to fourth. McLaren decreased Ferrari's World Constructors' Championship lead to ten points, while Williams moved from sixth to third with 13 races remaining in the season.

Background

The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (pictured in 2010), where the race was held

The 2001 San Marino Grand Prix was the race's 21st edition, the fourth of seventeen races in the 2001 Formula One World Championship, the season's first European round, 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][4][5] outside of San Marino which lacks the facilities to host Formula One races.[5] There were eleven teams (each representing a different constructor) with two drivers each for the Grand Prix, with no changes from the season entry list.[6] It was the last race before the legal reintroduction of electronic driver aids at the following Spanish Grand Prix in late April.[7][8]

Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 26 points heading into the race, with McLaren driver David Coulthard second on 20 points. Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher's Ferrari teammate, was third with 10 points, ahead of Sauber's Nick Heidfeld in fourth with seven points and Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen in fifth with six points.[9] Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 36 points, 15 ahead of second-placed McLaren. Sauber was third with eight points, followed by Jordan with seven points and British American Racing (BAR) on three points.[9]

Following the Brazilian Grand Prix on 1 April, almost every team tested their cars, setups, tyres and car components on European racing tracks with their racing driver and test drivers in preparation for the San Marino Grand Prix.[10][11][12][13] BAR, Jordan, and McLaren tested for three days in inclement weather at Northamptonshire's Silverstone Circuit.[11][14] Jordan's test driver Ricardo Zonta led the first day while BAR's Jacques Villeneuve and McLaren's test driver Alexander Wurz were fastest on the second and third days.[15][16][17] Arrows, Prost, Sauber and Williams tested for three days in variable weather at France's Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours.[11][12] Williams test driver Marc Gené was fastest on the first day, followed by Prost's Jean Alesi on the second day and Heidfeld on the third.[12][18][19] Benetton tested for three days at Spain's Circuito de Jerez,[20] with Jaguar joining on the second and third days.[11] Ferrari tested for five days at its private Fiorano Circuit in Italy, with test driver Luca Badoer developing traction control systems n an F1-2000 car for the Spanish Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher tested tyre and aerodynamic developments in an F2001 car for three days for the race in Imola.[8][11][21] Arrows collected aerodynamic data from driver Jonny Kane during straight line speed testing at France's Lurcy-Lévis track.[22] Minardi did not test since it was awaiting the arrival of equipment from Brazil.[11]

After Michael Schumacher won the first two races in Australia and Malaysia, Coulthard won in Brazil by passing Schumacher in the race, trailing the latter by six championship points and ending his six-race win streak.[23][24] Coulthard stated he was satisfied with how the first three races went and spoke about his prospects of victory at Imola, "I have won here before and there is no reason why I cannot do so again."[24] Michael Schumacher, the pre-race bookmakers' favourite,[7] acknowledged that it was normal to not win every race in a season and said his team could return to form at Imola.[25] Williams won six races at Imola in the 1990s..[26] Driver Juan Pablo Montoya was acquainted with Imola from International Formula 3000 in 1998 and felt his car would be suited to the circuit but not performing as well as 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."[27][28]

Multiple teams updated their cars for the race, while several squads experimented with different brake ducts for improved cooling and installed downforce-reliant aerodynamic packages.[29][30]: 536–537  After being outpowered by the BMW engine, Ferrari created a more powerful Type 050 V10 engine by increasing its revolutions per minute limit.[31][32] McLaren made various changes to the MP4-16 to improve its handling when mounting kerbs. It also debuted a redesigned rear wing and a stronger Mercedes V10 engine. BAR modified the 003's bodywork to incorporate new wings and narrower side flip-ups in the rear wheel.[29][30]: 536–537  Arrows fitted a front wing with a wider flap to increase downforce while Jos Verstappen's car had a minor suspension  modification made of steel rather than carbon fibre due to a lack of time. Sauber did not modify their car nor use Brembo calipers or power steering because they had not been thoroughly tested. Prost modified the front wing's endplate flip-ups since they damaged the front tyres when the cars were carried into the garage on full-lock. Minardi lacked a revised aerodynamic package as their cars arrived late from Brazil.[30]: 536–537 

Practice

The race was preceded by four practice sessions, two one-hour sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday.[33]: 220–221  The first practice session began on a damp, wet track after overnight rain had left parts of the circuit wet,[34][35] causing spray to be raised off the ground due in the inclement weather.[36] Drivers used wet-weather tyres at first, but lap times improved as the circuit dried swiftly, and they switched to slicks late in practice.[34][35][37]

Juan Pablo Montoya (pictured in 2002) had his running restricted in Friday practice due to an engine problem.

Barrichello recorded the fastest time of 1:31.998, ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher McLaren's Mika Häkkinen and Coulthard were third and fourth, followed by the Jordan pairing of Jarno Trulli and Frentzen, Sauber's Kimi Räikkönen, BAR's Olivier Panis, Jaguar's Eddie Irvine and Panis' teammate Villeneuve in fifth to tenth.[38] Three drivers lost control of their cars at the wet turn 17 during the session. Verstappen was unable to set a lap time when his car stopped owing to a drop in fuel pressure on his first lap after leaving the pit lane.[30]: 343 [34][37] Minardi's Fernando Alonso stopped his car on track with a hyradulic issue that resulted in a gearbox malfunction.[36][39]

The track had dried sufficiently after the first session, allowing teams to mount slick tyres on their cars for the second session, which provided a more accurate indicator of drivers' pace. With around 15 minutes to go, Michael Schumacher set the day's quickest time of 1:25.095, with his teammate Barrichello second. Williams's Ralf Schumacher, Häkkinen, Panis, Räikkönen, Irvine, Villeneuve, Trulli and Jaguar's Luciano Burti were in the next eight placings.[40][41] Coulthard went off the circuit after losing control of his car and becoming stuck in the Acque Minerali corner's gravel trap with 13 minutes left in the session due to a gear selection issue.[40][42][43] This meant McLaren's engineers worked overnight to repair Coulthard's car.[44] Montoya suffered an engine problem caused by a piece of gauze dropping into the engine early in the session.[43][45] He was unable to continue driving as the Williams engineers replaced the engine in his car.[36][40]

The third practice session on Saturday morning was cold and wet due to overnight rain,[37][46] resulting in lap times that were around 11 seconds slower than the 2000 pole position lap time.[47] The cooler air caused the track to dry slowly.[37][46] Michael Schumacher lapped fastest at 1:35.633, followed by his teammate Barrichello. Häkkinen, Coulthard, Trulli, Frentzen, Räikkönen, Heidfeld, Villeneuve, and Montoya rounded out the top ten.[48] Several drivers were taken off guard on the wet track as their cars lost traction.[49][50] On his second lap of the session,[51] Burti lost control of his car's rear entering Tosa corner, severely damaging the front suspension hitting the tyre barrier.[47][49][48] Burti exited the car unhurt,[37][48] although he did not compete in the final session because his mechanics repaired the vehicle before qualifying.[37][52]

It became sunny for the final session as the circuit gradually dried, and nearly every driver lapped faster than the previous session. Most drivers used wet-weather tyres, and some lost control of their car on the wet circuit.[49][51][53] Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap of 1:30.737, followed by teammate Barrichello in second. Coulthard, Räikkönen, Frentzen, Heidfeld, Ralf Schumacher, Panis, Arrows's Enrique Bernoldi and Häkkinen occupied positions three to ten.[52]

Qualifying

David Coulthard (pictured in 2007) took the eleventh pole position of his career in qualifying.

Each driver was limited to twelve laps during Saturday's one-hour qualifying session, with the starting order determined by their fastest laps. The 107% rule was in force during this session, which required each driver to set a time within 107% of the fastest lap to qualify for the race.[33]: 220–221  The track had dried sufficiently after practice ended but was still damp in some places.[54] There were dark clouds over Imola just before qualifying began, so most drivers, except Coulthard, set lap times early in case it rained.[55][56][57] As the course dried, lap times improved as the surface provided more grip to cars.[45] Coulthard adjusted his car's setup for his final run after rear-end stability issues,[57][58] and took the 11th pole position of his career with a time of 1:23.054 on his final qualifying lap late on.[55][59][60] He broke Villeneuve's outright track lap record from 1997 and prevented Michael Schumacher from equalling Ayrton Senna's record of eight consecutive poles set between the 1988 and 1989 seasons.[60][61] Coulthard was 0.228 seconds faster than teammate Häkkinen in the final runs, setting his time late in qualifying's final runs.[54][62] Ralf Schumacher qualified third, feeling his Michelin tyres were quite competitive.[58] The Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello took fourth and sixth, respectively, after choosing the slower, more durable harder Bridgestone tyre compound over the better performing softer option because they believed the softer tyres to wear too quickly and inclement weather for the race.[30]: 109 [62] Michael Schumacher, who adjusted the rear wing settings to increase downforce,[59] lost time through two driver errors while Barrichello was delayed by slower cars. Trulli took his time and separated the Ferraris, qualifying fifth with a late lap.[58][62] Montoya, seventh, lost seven-tenths of a second by going wide onto the grass at the Variante Alta chicane on his final run.[30]: 161 [58][63]

Panis was pleased with the improvements to his car and took eighth.[58][63] Frentzen was hampered on his second run by Tarso Marques' Minardi car, and on his third run, his car developed understeer, leaving him ninth. Räikkönen qualified ahead of teammate Heidfeld for the first time in 2001, securing tenth after running across the grass after braking too early for the final turn.[30]: 187, 213 [58] Villeneuve in 11th was the fastest driver to not qualify in the top ten due to slower cars on his final run..[30]: 239 [58] Heidfeld took 12th after encountering slower vehicles on his penultimate run and losing time on his final run due to understeer and car balance issues.[30]: 187 [63] Irvine took 13th since his Jaguar could not adequately load the tyres. Alesi, 14th, drove a car that was sensitive to setup changes and changing track conditions.Burti was the slower Jaguar driver in 15th due to a slow gearbox downshift and a misfiring engine, causing him to go onto the grass at turn three during his final run.[30]: 291, 317 [58][63] Bernoldi and Verstappen Arrows qualified 16th and 17th for Arrows, respectively.[56][62] A technical issue affected Bernoldi's third run,[63] and Verstappen's last run was in the spare Arrows car due to an engine-related electrical fault.[30]: 343 [58] Alonso took 18th after his team switched car settings.[56][63] Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella qualified 19th and his teammate Jenson Button took 21st.[56] On their last runs, both drivers were plagued by errors, a lack of grip, and slower cars, preventing them from lapping faster.[58][63] Gastón Mazzacane was 20th for Prost after losing speed in the slower corners and his car's performance deteriorated.[30]: 317 [58] Marques completed the starting order in 22nd;[62] he failed to find a suitable car setup, and on his final run, a slow front-left puncture developed.[30]: 369 [63]

Qualifying classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Time 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
Sources:[2][64]

Warm-up

On the morning of the race, there was a 30-minute warm-up session to finalise car setups and test teams' racing strategy.[65][66] The weather was dry and sunny as teams tested their race and spare cars.[67][68] Coulthard had surgery to remove an abscess from the left rear that was causing vibrations in his ear the evening before the race.[69] He lapped fastest at 1:26.440,[66] ahead of Ralf Schumacher and Häkkinen, who both understeered into the gravel.[65] Heidfeld and Barrichello were fourth and ffifth. Alesi and Mazzacane went off the circuit, while Alonso's run was disrupted by mechanical troubles that prompted him to stop on the side of the track, although he was able to continue driving after returning to the pit lane and switching to the spare car.[68][70][71] Räikkönen's running was restricted by a broken starting shaft in the backup Sauber car, and his race vehicle had an electrical failure.[37][72]

Race

The race began at 14:00 local time in the afternoon, in sunny weather, on a dry circuit, in front of 100,000 spectators.[73][74][75] The air temperature was between 14 and 16 °C (57 and 61 °F) and the track temperature ranged from 25 to 26 °C (77 to 79 °F);[30]: 414 [75] conditions were expected to remain dry for the event.[76] During the start sequence, Coulthard moved slightly before applying the brakes to stop and stabilise his car.[77][78] Coulthard experienced excess wheelspin in his rear tyres when the race began,[59][77] as did his teammate Häkkinen on the track's dirty side.[59][79] This allowed Ralf Schumacher to go to the inside after Coulthard gave him space, avoid contact with Coulthard, and overtake the McLarens for the lead at the fast left-hand turn on the drive to the Tamburello chicane.[30]: 161, 416 [59] Trulli passed the slow-starting Michael Schumacher and then braked later than Häkkinen into the Tamburello chicane to move into third.[59][77][78] Panis moved from eighth to fifth as he steered to the outside on the straight, but Montoya overtook him on the outside at the final Variante Bassa chicane later in the first lap.[30]: 414 [78]

Michael Schumacher (pictured in 2005) retired from the race after completing 24 laps due to a brake caliper fault that caused a punctured tyre.

At the conclusion of lap one, Ralf Schumacher led Coulthard, Trulli, Häkkinen, Michael Schumacher and Montoya.[80] Ralf Schumacher and Coulthard began to pull away from Trulli, who was battling Häkkinen for third and a group of cars were forming behind them.[78] Heidfeld passed Irvine for 12 and Verstappen overtook Burti for 16th on the second lap.[59] Panis was investigated for possibly jumping the start but he was not penalised.[59][81] As he completed lap three, Michael Schumacher appeared to slow as he left the final corner when he reportedly selected third gear upon mounting the kerbing and his right-rear wheel had been off the track surface. This confused the electronic gearbox system in that it prevented the upshift and he remained in second gear upon leaving the corner.[77] He fell to seventh, behind Montoya and Panis on the start/finish straight, and was then overtaken by teammate Barrichello on the inside after he ran wide at Tosa corner.[78] Barrichello ran wide on lap five but Michael Schumacher was unable to pass him.[76] That lap, Verstappen passed Fisichella for 15th while Mazzacane was overtaken by Marques.[59]

On lap six, while closing up on Button,[78] Alonso suffered a leaking brake caliper that caused his brakes to fail. This meant he was launched over the high kerb at the Variante Alta chicane, onto some grass and damaged his car's front-right suspension against the tyre wall at the turn's exit.[30]: 369, 416 [76][79] Alonso was unhurt but he became the race's first retirement.[79][82] Two laps later,[76][80] Verstappen stopped at the side of the Rivazza turn with a broken exhaust pipe that caused a series of overheating issues in his car.[30]: 369, 416 [78] Panis was bulking Barrichello because of an understeer and electronic gear selection problems until the latter overtook the former on the inside at the Rivazza corner for sixth on the same lap.[30]: 239 [59] On lap nine, Michael Schumacher was being pressured by Räikkönen but he passed Panis for seventh at the Rivazza turn.[59][81] At the front, Ralf Schumacher increased his lead over Coulthard to four seconds after both drivers traded fastest laps since the Michelin tyres generated temperature on the warm circuit quicker than Bridgestone's tyres while Trulli in the battle for third with Häkkinen was 20 seconds behind by lap 16.[37][59][78]

Rubens Barrichello (pictured in 2002) took third place when Ferrari switched from a two stop to a one-stop strategy so that he could pass Mika Häkkinen.

Räikkönen in ninth was battling Panis when the steering wheel detached from the spline cresting the hill on the straight linking the Tosa hairpin and Piratella turn. This meant his car veered sharply to the left and he crashed into the retaining barrier at low speed on lap 18.[30]: 187 [79][83] Although Räikkönen was unhurt,[84] he was forced to retire.[79] Button made the race's first scheduled pit stop for fuel and tyres on lap 20. He had to make another pit stop on the following lap as no fuel was put into his car due to a refuelling rig malfunction. On lap 22, Panis fell from eighth to twelve because he selected an incorrect gear.[30]: 265, 416 [76] Michael Schumacher sustained a puncture on his left front wheel rim due to the brake caliper becoming too hot that it led to its failure on the next lap.[30]: 416 [77][79] He slowly drove to the pit lane to ensure the puncture would not cause any further damage,[79] and rejoined the track one lap down in 19th and last place.[81][82] Trulli was the first of the leading drivers to make a pit stop on lap 24.[59][82] This promoted Häkkinen to third and the opportunity to drive without aerodynamic turbulence affecting his McLaren as Trulli rejoined in eighth. Michael Schumacher completed one explanatory lap before he was called into the pit lane to retire for safety reasons by Ferrari because the team found further problems with his car.[30]: 109, 416 [59][83]

Montoya made his pit stop from fourth on lap 28 and rejoined in seventh, behind Trulli.[76][81] Coulthard entered the pit lane for the first of two pit stops on the following lap and retained second after building enough of a gap over his teammate Häkkinen.[30]: 416 [80] On that lap, Montoya closed up to Trulli and passed him on the outside at the Tamburello chicane for sixth.[78][81] Ralf Schumacher made his pit stop from the lead on lap 29 and maintained the position with a eight-second gap over Coulthard.[81][83] Häkkinen made his first pit stop soon after and rejoined ahead of Montoya and Trulli but behind Barrichello. On lap 31, Mazzacane retired from the race because of an oil leak that caused his engine to fail and emit fire from the car's rear..[30]: 239, 416 [76][82] Villeneuve was set to score points,[44] until he pulled over to the side of the track when oil smoke emitted from his car's rear exhaust system on the following lap.[30]: 239, 416 [76][82]

Barrichello was switched from a two to one-stop strategy by Ferrari because the team wanted to put less fuel in his car so he would be able to pass Häkkinen.[77][79] He made his pit stop on lap 33 and rejoined the track in third as he had been sufficiently ahead of Häkkinen.[30]: 416 [81] Benetton brought Fisichella into the pit lane to retire with a misfiring engine on the same lap because the team did not want to risk an engine failure.[30]: 416 [79] The following fifteen laps saw little action as Ralf Schumacher continued to lead Coulthard but the gap fluctuated due to slower cars as Coulthard was aware that getting ahead of Schumacher would mean he would need the better strategy.[59][83][79] Barrichello pulled away from the slower Häkkinen but was 26 seconds behind Coulthard by lap 42.[81][82] Trulli in sixth began the second round of pit stops when he stopped on lap 44,[59] and fell behind his teammate Frentzen.[30]: 416 

Ralf Schumacher (pictured in 2002), who won his maiden Grand Prix and became the first brother of a Grand Prix winner to claim victory for himself.

Irvine in ninth pulled over to the side of the track with smoke billowing from his car's air intake box due to an engine failure on the same lap.[30]: 291 [76] Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher made their second pit stops between laps 45 and 46 and remained in second and first, respectively.[59] They were followed by Häkkinen and Barrichello over the next two laps.[76] Montoya's pit stop on lap 48 was problematic. The mechanics were unable to remove the refuelling rig from the rear of his caar and he simultaneously stalled the engine. The engine was restarted on the jacks and Montoya lost over a minute in the pit lane. He completed one slow lap because he was stuck in first lap after the clutch burned out and he drove to the garage to retire.[30]: 161, 416 [80][76] On lap 54, Marques stopped at the side of the track alongside the pit lane barrier with smoke billowing from his car's rear due to a airbox fire possibly occasioned by a leaking fuel line.[30]: 369 [83][85] Marshals moved Marques' car off the road and into a safe area to allow him to exit the vehicle.[76]

With seven laps remaining, Ralf Schumacher was shown "Oil Pump" on his pitboard as he reduced his pace and Coulthard began to slowly gain on Schumacher.[59][86] Ralf Schumacher maintained the lead for the rest of the race to secure his maiden win and became the first brother of a Grand Prix winner to claim victory for himself.[84] It was also Williams' first win since the 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix.[74] Coulthard finished 4.3 seconds behind in second.[74] Barrichello completed the podium finishers in third and was another 30 seconds behind Coulthard. Häkkinen took fourth despite nose cone damage sustained in a minor first lap collision with Trulli that made his McLaren's front end loose.[30]: 135, 414  Trulli finished fifth, the last driver on the lead lap, while teammate Frentzen had a quiet race to score the final championship point in sixth.[79] Heidfeld's finished seventh due to car balance problems and did not have enough pace to compensate for a poor start. Panis took eighth after his electrical problem was rectified when his steering wheel was replaced at his first pit stop.[30]: 187, 239 [44] Alesi on a two-stop strategy lost time following the one-stopping Irvine and was ninth.[30]: 291  Bernoldi was tenth and registered his first Grand Prix finish.[85] Burti came eleventh after losing the use of the first three gears and had to be circumspect..[30]:  317  [44] Button was the final classified finisher, two laps behind Ralf Schumacher.[59] Just 12 of the 22 starters finished the race.[85]

Post-race

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in the subsequent press conference.[33]: 220–221  Ralf Schumacher praised his car setup and the engine and believed his win could mark the start of a three-way duel for the World Championship.[87] He said of the victory "it's a great experience, and I hope for it to be one of many. I've waited long enough for it, I guess. Since I joined Williams, we've had a lot of work to see that and it paid off today."[87] Coulthard said he thought he was happy to finish second relative to other races in the season, adding "it was definitely the most difficult to try to achieve a balance with respect to the tyres, there was quite a big variation" since there was a minor inconsistency with each set of tyres.[87] Barrichello was happy with his Ferrari's balance and revealed he eased off in the final laps since he was someway behind Coulthard.[87] Asked if Ferrari's tyre selection was the correct one, he replied "at the end of the day we had a good tire for the race, but we may have been slow a little bit in qualifying, and that was probably a mistake."[87]

Williams' victory was popular amongst the paddock.[88] Jaguar team principal and three-time world champion Niki Lauda heralded Ralf Schumacher's win as "the perfect race", adding, "The first Grand Prix win is always the most difficult. The next ones come easier. It will be a big boost for his confidence."[89] Williams technical director Patrick Head characterised Schumacher's form at Imola as "perfect", "Winning for the first time helps you a lot. What's happened will be very good for him."[89] BMW Motorsport director Gerhard Berger said, "Ralf was strong wasn't he? It was a very good race, a really strong and convincing performance."[88] Willi Weber, the Schumacher brothers's manager, said Ralf Schumacher's win would help him grow in confidence as a driver and that it came at the right time due to the increasing attention his teammate Montoya had attracted.[90]

Häkkinen said his opportunity to win the race ended at the start but was happy to finish fourth, "It is very pleasant to get some points, although unfortunately the overall position was not very good for me. It would have been nice to win, but I am happy."[91] Trulli called his fifth-place finish "a good result" and that he "was able to show once more that when I have a good car and everything is working well, I can be right there."[92] Frentzen attributed a slow start as the reason for him not being able to contend for an improved finishing position but said "Scoring a point for sixth place was some consolation but, to be honest, we need to step up our performance a bit more."[92] Michael Schumacher said that it was not a good race meeting because of his slow start and gear selection issue.[93] Montoya said he could have possibly finished on the podium and revealed he was told of a clutch issue five laps before his second pit stop via a cockpit warning light.[94]

Coulthard's second place finish and him finishing on the podium in the first four races put him in the joint lead of the World Drivers' Championship alongside Michael Schumacher with 26 points each; Schumacher had won two races to Coulthard's one and so remained first overall.[95] Barrichello remained in third with 14 points while Ralf Schumacher's victory promoted him from seventh to fourth. Heidfeld's failure to score dropped him from fourth to fifth.[9] Ferrari remained in the lead of the World Constructors' Championship with 40 points but McLaren reduced their advantage to ten points. Williams went from sixth to third as Jordan maintained fourth while Sauber dropped from third to fifth with 13 races of the season remaining.[9]

Race classification

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  
Sources:[2][96]

Championship standings after the race

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

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

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