2001 Italian Grand Prix

2001 Italian Grand Prix
2001 Italian Grand Prix
Race 15 of 18 in the 2001 Formula One World Championship
	Autodromo Nazionale Monza
Race details
Date	23 September 2001
Official name	LXXVIII Gran Premio d'Italia
Location	Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.793 km (3.6 miles)
Distance	53 laps, 306.720 km (190.58 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Rubens Barrichello;
Time	1:24.468
Fastest lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher
Time	1:24.532 on lap 49
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher;
Second	Juan Pablo Montoya;
Third	Jean Alesi;

Qualifying

Ferrari rose up to expectations in qualifying, locking out the front row again with Rubens Barrichello on pole position ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher, and the Italian crowd went wild. Thus, Ralf Schumacher had to be content with third but behind him the sensational Jean Alesi was more than happy with fourth, as he eclipsed title contender David Coulthard. Juan Pablo Montoya and Mika Häkkinen, the two drivers who were battling for fifth in the championship, had to be content with sixth anad seventh (Montoya ahead) with Jarno Trulli eighth.

Race

Both the Ferraris bogged down heavily at the startline, and Ralf Schumacher took the lead at the first corner with David Coulthard and Jean Alesi side by side. Coulthard took second and Alesi was pushed wide, allowing the recovering Rubens Barrichello to take third. Alesi was fourth with Juan Pablo Montoya in fifth ahead of Michael Schumacher with Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella in seventh and eighth. Behind, Eddie Irvine and Luciano Burti touched at the Varinte Ascari, and Burti samshed into the tyre wall heavily, and his car got stuck under the tyres. The race was stopped. Once the tyres were removed, Burti got out of his car with the help of marshals and went to an ambulance.

With less than two laps complete before the red flag, the race was restarted in the usual grid position. Ferrari solved their startline problems nd Barrichello took off into the lead ahead of Schumacher. Coulthard charged up to third ahed of Alesi with Mika Häkkinen moving up to fifth after a fine start. This became fourth after a fine manoever on Alesi at the Variante Ascari. Thus, the order at the end of the first lap ws Barrichello leading from Schumacher, Coulthard, Häkkinen, Alesi, Ralf, Montoya and Trulli. Montoya soon got by Ralf on the second lap. At the front, the top four pulled away from the rest, with Häkkinen taking third on lap 3. Montoya and Alesi were together, the Colombian taking fifth when Alesi went wide at a corner. Behind, Ralf was clearly dropping back and holding up a string of cars, with Trulli taking him for seventh.

Schumacher was under pressure from Häkkinen, but instead made Barrichello soak it up by passing the Brazilian at Turn 1 on lap 8. Häkkinen attacked, and took second on the next lap followed by an amazing passing manoever on Schumacher at lap 10 to lead. Coulthardincresed thw woe of the Ferraris by taking third from Barrichello at the same time. For 5 laps, the order settled down at Häkkinen leading from Schumacher, Coulthard and Barrichello until Coulthard made it a McLaren 1-2 on lap 15 by outbraking Schumacher on the Lesmos. Coulthard led for two laps breifly in a battle with Häkkinen with Barrichello leading the Ferrari challenge by taking Schumacher on lap 20. The only round of stops changed nothinguntil on lap 29 when Schumacher used a sudden source of inspiration to go from fourth to first in one lap, taking Barrichello at the second chicne, Coulthard at the second Lesmo and Häkkinen at the Parabolica. This lasted for only two lps until Häkkinen rettok the lead. Barrichello now used what Schumacer did before on lap 33, going from fourth to first by taking Coulthard at the first Lesmo, Schumacher at the Variante Ascari and Häkkinen at the Parabolica to lead.

On lap 35, it was a Ferrari 1-2 again as Schumacher took second from Häkkinen but that lasted for only 1 lap because a wheel fell off Barrichello's car and he retired. Coulthard spun while trying to avoid the wheel and got stuck in the gravel trap. He gestured to the marshals to get him racing but they refused. Coulthrd got the car rolling on his own, but he was down in seventh. At the same time, Häkkinen got the run on Schumacher, and took the lead. The two exchnged lead again on lps 39 and 40 with Schumacher taking the lead on lap 46. At that time, they came to lap a four-car battle between Ralf, Jacques Villeneuve, Jenson Button and Pedro de la Rosa. Häkkinen took the lead on lap 47, but Schumacher took it on lap 48 at Turn 1. As they were about to inish lap 49, Schumacher had lapped all four, while Häkkinen was yet to get by Ralf. Häkkinen went too fast in the corner, and spun off, retiring. Schumacher thus won ahead of Montoya, Alesi, Nick Heidfeld, the recoveing Coulthard, Villeneuve, Button and de la Rosa.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	53	1:17:58.493	2	10
2	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	53	+46.744	6	8
3	12	Jean Alesi	Jordan-Honda	53	+52.581	4	6
4	16	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	53	+1:02.326	13	5
5	4	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+1:02.663	5	4
6	10	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	52	+1 Lap	9	3
7	8	Jenson Button	Benetton-Renault	52	+1 Lap	14	2
8	19	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar-Cosworth	52	+1 Lap	12	1
9	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	52	+1 Lap	3
10	22	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Prost-Acer	51	+2 Laps	17
11	15	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows-Asiatech	51	+2 Laps	19
12	14	Jos Verstappen	Arrows-Asiatech	51	+2 Laps	16
13	20	Tarso Marques	Minardi-European	51	+2 Laps	21
Ret	3	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	48	Spun off	7
Ret	9	Olivier Panis	BAR-Honda	40	Gearbox	11
Ret	17	Kimi Räikkönen	Sauber-Petronas	37	Suspension	15
Ret	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	35	Wheel	1
Ret	11	Jarno Trulli	Jordan-Honda	21	Crankshaft	8
Ret	21	Fernando Alonso	Minardi-European	14	Accident	22
Ret	7	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Renault	8	Fuel Pressure	10
Ret	18	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar-Cosworth	0	Damage	18
DNS	23	Luciano Burti	Prost-Acer	0	Injured	20

Notes

This race was started twice after a first lap collision between Eddie Irvine and Luciano Burti, in which Burti suffered minor injuries.
Mika Häkkinen spun off while trying to lap Ralf Schumacher, and waved an accusing finger at Ralf while walking back to his garage.
David Coulthard spun off and asked the marshals to put him back on the track. The marshals refused, and so Coulthard treid until he got it nto the track in 30 seconds.
This was the first F1 race held after the September 11, 2001 attacks; the Ferraris ran without any sponsorship livery and had matte black nose-cones in remembrance.
The pre-race build-up was notable for the fact that Ralf Schumacher attempted to organise a pact that would see the drivers treat the first lap as if it were taking place behind the safety car. The plan failed, with Jacques Villeneuve and Benetton's Flavio Briatore refusing to accept the pact. Schumacher had been keen to avoid any accidents at the start, due to a combination of the effects of the September 11, 2001 attacks earlier that week; the death of a marshal in a pile-up at the beginning of the previous year's race; and the horrific accident in the previous day's ChampCar race in Germany, in which former F1 driver Alex Zanardi was critically injured, leading to the amputation of both legs.

Standings after Grand Prix

Drivers

Constructors

1. Ferrari - 165
2. McLaren-Mercedes - 119
3. Williams-BMW - 116
4. Jordan-Honda - 73