2001 United States Grand Prix

United States  2001 United States Grand Prix
Race details
Race 16 of 17 in the 2001 Formula One season

Date September 30, 2001
Official name XXX SAP United States Grand Prix
Location Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis, Indiana
Course Permanent racing facility
4.195 km (2.606 mi)
Distance 73 laps, 306.235 km (190.238 mi)
Weather Sunny, cool, Air Temp: 19°C
Pole position
Driver Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari
Time 1:11.708
Fastest lap
Driver Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW
Time 1:14.448 on lap 36
Podium
First Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes
Second Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari
Third United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes

The 2001 United States Grand Prix (formally the XXX SAP United States Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on September 30, 2001 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana in the United States. The race, contested over 73 laps, was the sixteenth and penultimate round of the 2001 Formula One season and was won by Mika Häkkinen. It was the first international sport/race event held in the USA after the September 11, 2001 attacks. It was also the final Grand Prix commentated by Murray Walker for British television.

Summary

Finland's Mika Häkkinen overcame some early race day adversity and captured the second United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis by 11 seconds over newly crowned World Champion and pole-sitter Michael Schumacher before a season-high crowd estimated at 175,000. "This Grand Prix is definitely one of my important victories," Häkkinen said. "Because I rate Monaco, Silverstone and Indianapolis, I think, as the Grands Prix a Grand Prix driver wants to win. It's something special. So this is something I'm never going to forget." It was the twentieth win of Häkkinen's career, and the last before fulfilling his stated plan to take a year off from racing which wound up being retirement at the end of the season.

After waging a tremendous qualifying battle with Schumacher on Saturday and securing a front-row starting position, Häkkinen dug himself a hole on cool but sunny race day: First, he slid off the track into the guardrail at the end of the infield straight in the morning warmup, damaging his McLaren's suspension and requiring a heroic job by his crew to get the car ready to race. Three hours later, he learned that his failure to wait for the green light to begin the warmup session had caused his best qualifying lap to be taken away, dropping him from second to fourth position on the grid.

At the start, crowd favorite Juan Montoya pulled his Williams from third spot around the outside of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari into Turn 1. Side by side through the initial right-hander, the two avoided contact by inches as Schumacher closed the door and seized the advantage into the left-handed Turn 2. It soon became clear, however, that the fastest car on the track was the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello, ostensibly carrying a light fuel load and on a two-stop strategy. The Brazilian took second from Montoya beginning Lap 3, then passed Schumacher two laps later for the lead.

While Barrichello was making his way to the front, three of the field's youngest drivers, Sauber teammates Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Räikkönen, along with Jordan's Jarno Trulli, entered the braking zone for Turn 1 three-wide on the second lap. Räikkönen became the meat in the sandwich and had his front wing broken by contact with Trulli. He retired immediately after pitting for repairs, while Heidfeld and Trulli were undamaged and both eventually ended up in the points.

Juan Pablo Montoya leads Michael Schumacher through the infield section during the 2001 United States Grand Prix

Once in the lead, Barrichello quickly opened up a considerable gap back to Schumacher, and by his first pit stop on Lap 27, he led by 12.5 seconds. He returned from the pits in fifth place, behind the two McLarens, as Schumacher returned to the lead. Montoya, meanwhile, was flying as his Michelin tires began to gain traction and provide him an advantage. On Lap 34, just a lap after nearly losing control in Turn 4, Montoya took the lead by outbraking Schumacher down the inside of Turn 1 as they approached the Minardi of Alex Yoong. "I was trying to get close enough coming into the straight," Montoya said later, "and that time I knew I was going to get close enough because of traffic. I just went for it." Michael Schumacher said later, "I don't know where he came from." Almost immediately, Montoya built a 2.3-second advantage, recording the fastest lap of the race before pitting on Lap 36 and returning in fifth. Once again, Schumacher led, this time from Häkkinen, with neither car having visited the pits.

Just two laps later, immediately after Ralf Schumacher had spun and stalled his Williams in Turn 6, the crowd on the front straight groaned as Montoya moved over to the pit wall and rolled to a stop. "It (the Williams) was really good," Montoya said a few minutes later, at the back of his garage. "The car was really competitive. I wanted to really go for the win here, and it's a big disappointment we couldn't finish the race. I think the engine was running really strong. I don't know, I think it was a hydraulic (problem) because I lost all the gears and everything. When I stopped, the engine was still running."

When Schumacher stopped on Lap 39, the McLarens were briefly first and second ahead of Barrichello. David Coulthard surrendered second place by pitting on Lap 42 and returned in fourth, while Häkkinen took control of the race by staying out until Lap 46. At Häkkinen's stop, Barrichello led again until his second stop on Lap 50, when Häkkinen took the lead for good, having won the strategy battle with the World Champions.

As Barrichello returned from his second stop in second place, he seemed to be the only one with a chance to challenge Häkkinen. Both Williams were gone, and the teammates of the two front-runners were showing no signs of mounting an attack, but it seemed the Brazilian might indeed have the speed to chase down the Finn's McLaren. The gap dropped steadily, down to 2.2 seconds on Lap 61, until smoke started to appear intermittently at the back of car number 2. The engine note on the long front straight each time by made it clear that the usually bulletproof Ferrari was on its last legs. On Lap 71, with Coulthard closing in, Schumacher could hope no longer that his teammate would limp home in second. The German took second from Barrichello, and on the next lap, Coulthard took third, just a few turns before the Ferrari seized and spun on the infield straight.

It was a disappointing end for Barrichello, whose chance for second place in the Driver's Championship slipped further away, but a tremendously popular and rewarding win for Mika Häkkinen. Having endured a frustrating and unproductive season, not a Championship contender for the first time in four years, and one race away from a voluntary "sabbatical" from racing, Häkkinen basked in the crowd's glow, for what would prove to be the last time.

Jarno Trulli's three points for fourth place moved Jordan ahead of fellow Honda-powered BAR in the Constructor's Championship, a result that endured after the final race in Japan. Eddie Irvine finished fifth, his first time in the points since making the podium in Monaco, and Nick Heidfeld's sixth place was a fitting reward for a fine weekend.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Lap Gap
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:11.708
2 5 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:11.986 +0.278
3 6 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:12.252 +0.544
4 3 Finland Mika Häkkinen* McLaren-Mercedes 1:12.309 +0.601
5 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:12.327 +0.619
6 16 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:12.434 +0.726
7 4 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:12.500 +0.792
8 11 Italy Jarno Trulli Jordan-Honda 1:12.605 +0.897
9 12 France Jean Alesi Jordan-Honda 1:12.607 +0.899
10 8 United Kingdom Jenson Button Benetton-Renault 1:12.805 +1.097
11 17 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Sauber-Petronas 1:12.881 +1.173
12 7 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Renault 1:12.942 +1.234
13 9 France Olivier Panis BAR-Honda 1:13.122 +1.414
14 18 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth 1:13.189 +1.481
15 22 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Prost-Acer 1:13.281 +1.573
16 19 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth 1:13.679 +1.971
17 21 Spain Fernando Alonso Minardi-European 1:13.991 +2.283
18 10 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:14.012 +2.304
19 15 Brazil Enrique Bernoldi Arrows-Asiatech 1:14.129 +2.421
20 14 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Arrows-Asiatech 1:14.138 +2.430
21 23 Czech Republic Tomáš Enge Prost-Acer 1:14.185 +2.477
22 20 Malaysia Alex Yoong Minardi-European 1:15.247 +3.539

Notes

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 3 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 73 1:32:42.840 4 10
2 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 73 +11.046 1 6
3 4 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 73 +12.043 7 4
4 11 Italy Jarno Trulli Jordan-Honda 73 +57.423 8 3
5 18 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth 73 +1:12.434 14 2
6 16 Germany Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 73 +1:12.996 6 1
7 12 France Jean Alesi Jordan-Honda 72 +1 Lap 9  
8 7 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Renault 72 +1 Lap 12  
9 8 United Kingdom Jenson Button Benetton-Renault 72 +1 Lap 10  
10 22 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Prost-Acer 72 +1 Lap 15  
11 9 France Olivier Panis BAR-Honda 72 +1 Lap 13  
12 19 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth 72 +1 Lap 16  
13 15 Brazil Enrique Bernoldi Arrows-Asiatech 72 +1 Lap 19  
14 23 Czech Republic Tomáš Enge Prost-Acer 72 +1 Lap 21  
15 2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 71 Engine 5  
Ret 10 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 45 Suspension 18  
Ret 14 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Arrows-Asiatech 44 Engine 20  
Ret 6 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 38 Hydraulics 3  
Ret 20 Malaysia Alex Yoong Minardi-European 38 Gearbox 22  
Ret 5 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 36 Spun off 2  
Ret 21 Spain Fernando Alonso Minardi-European 36 Driveshaft 17  
Ret 17 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Sauber-Petronas 2 Driveshaft 11  

Notes

A tribute to the US by Jordan Grand Prix

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Germany Michael Schumacher 113
2 United Kingdom David Coulthard 61
3 Brazil Rubens Barrichello 54
4 Germany Ralf Schumacher 48
5 Finland Mika Häkkinen 34

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Italy Ferrari 167
2 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 95
3 United Kingdom Williams-BMW 73
4 Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 21
5 Republic of Ireland Jordan-Honda 19

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Coordinates: 39°47′42″N 86°14′05″W / 39.79500°N 86.23472°W