The 2001 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the 2001 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix)[5] was a Formula One motor race held at the Suzuka Circuit on 14 October 2001 at 14:30 JST (UTC+9). It was the seventeenth and final race of the 2001 Formula One season. It was the 27th running of the Japanese Grand Prix and the 17th held at Suzuka.
| 2001 Japanese Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 17 of 17 in the 2001 Formula One World Championship
| |||||
 | |||||
| Race details | |||||
| Date | October 14, 2001 | ||||
| Official name | 2001 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix | ||||
| Location | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 5.859[1] km (3.641[2] miles) | ||||
| Distance | 53 laps, 310.331[1][3] km (192.831 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Cloudy, mild, dry, air temp: 24°C | ||||
| Attendance | 310,000[4] | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||||
| Time | 1:32.484 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |
 Ralf Schumacher | Williams-BMW | |||
| Time | 1:36.944 on lap 46 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Ferrari | ||||
| Second | Williams-BMW | ||||
| Third | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
|
Lap leaders | |||||
The race was won by the World Champion, German driver Michael Schumacher driving after starting from pole position. It was Schumacher's fourth victory in the Japanese Grand Prix (expanding his own record), his third for Ferrari and his ninth for the 2001 season. Schumacher won by three seconds over Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya. Third was taken by British driver David Coulthard, having overtaken his teammate Mika Häkkinen late in the race. Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher completed the points finishers.
Schumacher set a new record for points in a season with 123 and biggest point margin to second-placed Coulthard with 58.
Report
editBackground
editAfter the Hungarian Grand Prix, both Michael Schumacher and Ferrari were already crowned drivers and constructors' world champions. After the US Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher led the drivers' championship with 52 points ahead of David Coulthard and 59 points ahead of Rubens Barrichello. Ferrari led the constructors' championship with 72 points over McLaren-Mercedes and with 94 points over Williams-BMW.
Jean Alesi and Mika Häkkinen contested their last Grand Prix. For Alesi it was the 201st race start and for Häkkinen the 161st. It was, additionally, the last race for the French Prost Grand Prix team as they went bankrupt and closed down during the following off-season. It brought an end to the team which began as Équipe Ligier after 26 years of Formula One racing. This was also the last Grand Prix start for the Benetton team, after 15 years of competition (the team continued in 2002 under the name Renault).
Race
editAt the start, Michael Schumacher claimed first place ahead of Montoya, Ralf Schumacher, Barrichello, Giancarlo Fisichella, Häkkinen and Coulthard. In the early laps, the Ferraris appeared to be significantly more competitive than the Williams, as the Bridgestone tires performed better compared to the Michelin tires their rivals fitted in the early laps of the race. Schumacher immediately built a good lead, while Barrichello overtook both Williams drivers on the first two laps, but was overtaken by Montoya on the third lap. Fisichella also spun on the third lap, causing him to lose several positions. The Roman rider overtook several times in the following laps to make up for lost ground.
Kimi Räikkönen spun off on lap five caused by left-rear suspension failure, forcing Alesi off in avoidance at the Dunlop Curve (Turn 7). It was Alesi's only retirement of the season.
About ten laps later, Barrichello made the first pit stop of the race, followed by his teammate on lap 18. Montoya and Ralf Schumacher pitted on laps 21 and 23, respectively. After Häkkinen's pit stop on lap 24, Schumacher took the lead again.
On lap 29, Ralf Schumacher returned to the pits to serve a stop-and-go penalty imposed on him for driving through the chicane. At the same time, Barrichello made his second stop. When starting again, the Brazilian had problems with the speed limiter, which blocked: Ralf Schumacher then managed to overtake him, albeit with a borderline maneuver. Four laps later, however, the Brazilian regained fifth place with a nice overtaking maneuver. From this point on, almost nothing happened and the second series of pit stops did not lead to a change in position. In the final laps, Häkkinen, who had moved up to third place, slowed down, letting Coulthard pass and giving him the podium. Michael Schumacher won the race ahead of Montoya, Coulthard, Häkkinen, Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher.
Classification
editQualifying
edit
Race
edit- Notes
- ^1 – Enrique Bernoldi and Alex Yoong started the race from the pitlane.
Championship standings after the race
edit
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
- Bold text and an asterisk indicates the 2001 World Champions.
References
edit- ^ a b Official race classification (FIA)
- ^ "2001 Japanese Grand Prix | Motorsport Database".
- ^ "2013 Japanese Grand Prix: Official Media Kit" (PDF). FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ^ "Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 – Media Kit" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
- ^ "Japanese". Formula1.com. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
- ^ "Japan 2001 – Qualifications". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
- ^ "2001 Japanese Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula1.com Limited. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
- ^ "2001 Japanese Grand Prix – Race Results & History". GPArchive.com. 14 October 2001. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ a b "Japan 2001 – Championship". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.