Michael Schumacher won the 2000 Canadian Grand Prix by a tenth of a second

Michael Schumacher took the 2000 Canadian Grand Prix after starting from pole, with his Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello one-tenth of a second behind. It was his fifth win of 2000 and the 40th of his career, and Giancarlo Fisichella took third for Benetton.

The championship and circuit before the race

Schumacher led the drivers' championship with 46 points before the race, ahead of McLaren's David Coulthard on 34 and his team-mate Hakkinen on 29. Barrichello was fourth on 22 points, and Fisichella fifth on 14.

Ferrari led the constructors' championship with 68 points, ahead of McLaren on 63. Williams were third on 15, Benetton fourth on 14 and Jordan fifth on nine. The Canadian race was the eighth of seventeen events in the 2000 season, and the 38th Canadian Grand Prix.

A ten-second penalty and a grid stall shaped a Montreal race that Schumacher won by a tenth of a second.

How did Coulthard's penalty shape the early race?

Coulthard's McLaren stalled on the formation lap, and the mechanics restarted the car in breach of the FIA's safety rules. The stewards gave him a ten-second stop-go penalty on lap ten, which he served on lap 14, and he rejoined in tenth place.

Before the penalty Coulthard had battled Michael Schumacher for the lead. He made the better start of the two, but Schumacher held his position going into the first corner. The mechanics had restarted Coulthard's car even though the McLaren team radio had warned them not to, a breach of the FIA's safety regulations.

Villeneuve progressed from sixth to third on the first lap by passing on the outside, while Verstappen moved from 13th to 10th. Once Villeneuve's move had pushed Hakkinen wide, Barrichello went past him on the outside for fourth into the second corner.

How did the race swing between the leaders?

Michael Schumacher took an early pit stop just before half-distance, which allowed Barrichello to lead until his own stop on lap 43. Schumacher was then back in front, and he stayed there. Rain had begun to fall by that point, and drivers had switched to wet-weather tyres.

Schumacher kept the lead to the flag, finishing one-tenth of a second clear of Barrichello. On lap four he had begun trading fastest laps with Coulthard, while Villeneuve held third and delayed three drivers behind him.

Schumacher then pulled away from Villeneuve, and Barrichello and Hakkinen could not match Villeneuve's straight-line speed. Verstappen pressured Fisichella into a braking error and passed him for tenth on the same lap.

Button's engine began to cut out at maximum revolutions because of a fuel pick-up fault,.

What did the Monza testing show?

The Monza running came straight after the Monaco Grand Prix on 4 June, as the teams tested their low-downforce set-ups between 6 and 8 June. Barrichello was quickest on day one at Monza, with McLaren's Olivier Panis close behind, and Hakkinen was fastest on the second day.

Testing was halted when Prost's Nick Heidfeld and Luciano Burti suffered engine and electronic failures. BAR's Ricardo Zonta lost control and crashed into the barriers at the Parabolica, which limited his running while repairs were made.

Williams' Jenson Button was quickest on the third day. Ferrari's test driver Luca Badoer also worked at the private Fiorano circuit, practising pit stops and starts, testing components and running on an artificially wet track.

What was the paddock dealing with before the race?

The Societe de Transport de la Communaute Urbaine de Montreal (STCUM) declared that it would hold strikes over pension contributions throughout the Grand Prix weekend. The strike threat hung over the whole weekend, not just one session. The city's transport network was classed as an essential service for the weekend.

The road leading to the circuit was going to be closed to spectators, so the STCUM went before the Essential Services Council on 9 June to discuss a contingency plan. The aim was to make sure spectators could reach the race with full services running.

On 13 June a deal was agreed, with 60% of transport workers voting in favour of increased pay and pensions, and the race went ahead unaffected.

How did the teams and drivers prepare?

Ralf Schumacher had crashed at Sainte Devote in the previous race, leaving a 3 in (76 mm) gash on his left calf that needed stitches. Williams had Bruno Junqueira ready as a stand-in, but Ralf confirmed two days before the race that he would take part.

Teams approached the event by concentrating on brake cooling, and most installed larger air intakes to meet the demands of the circuit's braking zones. McLaren fitted power steering to both race cars after six months of research into a low-weight solution.

BAR tried power steering on Villeneuve's car only in Friday's free practice, as it planned to bring the system in at later races. Arrows, Minardi, Prost and Sauber had no power steering at all.

Jaguar left off the high-load downforce bonnet it had used at Monaco. Benetton used new front and rear ailerons, and Sauber installed a Ferrari qualifying engine from the 1999 Japanese Grand Prix.

What did the first practice sessions reveal?

Practice amounted to four sessions, with two hour-long runs on Friday and two 45-minute runs on Saturday before Sunday's race. Michael Schumacher was fastest in the first session at 1:21.304, almost a tenth of a second faster than his team-mate Barrichello.

Coulthard went quickest in the second session at 1:20.602 with 20 minutes left. Schumacher and Barrichello sat second and third, Herbert was fourth and Hakkinen fifth.

Heidfeld damaged his left front suspension in an early crash, and Zonta twice lost control by pushing hard. Irvine was fifth in the first session, and Villeneuve and Fisichella completed the top ten.

On Saturday morning the weather turned breezier, cooler and cloudy. Most teams fine-tuned their aerodynamics and tried new and worn tyres at both ends of the car.

Hakkinen led the third session at 1:19.115, with Barrichello 0.089 seconds slower. Michael Schumacher was third fastest, ahead of Ralf Schumacher, Villeneuve, Frentzen, Fisichella, Verstappen and Herbert.

Coulthard set no lap in that session, because his engine was changed after a malfunctioning electrical system. Ralf Schumacher had a new engine fitted after oil pressure problems, and extra downforce was added to his considerably modified car.

In the final session Coulthard enjoyed a trouble-free run and was fastest just under halfway through at 1:18.654. That was less than half a second slower than the circuit record set in qualifying for the 1998 race.

Who took pole at Montreal in 2000?

Michael Schumacher took pole with a time of 1:18.439 set on his final lap, his third pole of the 2000 season and the 26th of his career. Coulthard qualified second, just 0.098 seconds slower, after the two had battled for grid position throughout the session.

Barrichello qualified third after traffic and a stoppage, and Hakkinen was fourth. Hakkinen had encountered traffic during his runs and ran with a defective front wing.

Michael Schumacher understeered onto the grass on his second timed lap, damaging his undertray on the corrugations of a high-mounted kerb. He finished qualifying in the spare Ferrari.

Frentzen was fifth, after struggling to find his braking point at the L'Epingle hairpin in heavy winds. Trulli was seventh, Villeneuve sixth after locking his front tyres at the first chicane, and Zonta eighth.

Arrows' Pedro de la Rosa and Fisichella were ninth and tenth. Fisichella had excess understeer and a lack of traction.

Herbert missed the top ten by two hundredths of a second, and Ralf Schumacher set the 12th-quickest lap despite lacking mechanical grip. Verstappen damaged his front suspension at turn four, which caused a five-minute delay.

Wurz was 14th after losing time in the aftermath of that accident, and Salo was 15th with Irvine's Jaguar behind him. Alesi qualified 17th despite an engine failure, and Button was 18th after his engine cut out at maximum revolutions.

Diniz was 19th, Gene 20th in the faster Minardi and Heidfeld 21st. Mazzacane went through the gravel and crashed at the first chicane, and he finished the grid in 22nd after driving the spare Minardi and then Gene's race car.

Warm-up and the conditions

The 30-minute warm-up started at 09:30 Eastern Daylight Time, in cloudy, windy conditions below 15 C (59 F). Schumacher topped the session in his Ferrari, lapping in 1:18.932, with Barrichello second and the McLaren pair third and fourth.

The engine cover came off Heidfeld's car on the main straight. Zonta's engine failed on his first lap out of the pit lane, so he set no time, and Irvine was spotted on wet-weather tyres on a dry circuit.

Some 100,000 spectators watched the 69 laps, covering 305.049 km (189.549 mi), begin at 14:00 local time. The pre-race weather was dry and cloudy, with the air at 17 C (63 F) and the track at 21 C (70 F), and forecasters had predicted a 70 per cent chance of rain.

How did the race start go?

On the formation lap, Coulthard's car stalled, and his mechanics restarted it so that it was back in place before the field passed. When the lights went out, Michael Schumacher held his place into the first corner despite Coulthard's better start.

Villeneuve, who had been sixth, passed on the outside to run third, and Verstappen moved from 13th to 10th on the first lap. A clutch failure stranded Irvine on the grid, and marshals pushed his car to the pit lane exit.

Unlike races in previous years, no cars were damaged in a multi-car accident on the first lap. At the end of lap one the top six were Michael Schumacher, Coulthard, Villeneuve, Barrichello, Hakkinen and Frentzen.

Coulthard set the race's fastest lap, 1:21.335, on lap two while closing in on Schumacher. On the same lap De la Rosa got past Frentzen for sixth at the hairpin.

Herbert retired on lap 15 with a gearbox problem, becoming the race's first retirement. By lap 22 Michael Schumacher had extended his lead over Villeneuve to 22 seconds.

Light rain arrived on lap 23 and cost Schumacher two seconds a lap for a pair of laps. Trulli took sixth from Zonta a lap later.

Final result

What did the win mean for the championship?

Schumacher's win increased his lead in the drivers' championship to 22 points over Coulthard, with Hakkinen two points further back. It was his fifth victory of 2000 and the 40th of his career, which left him well placed at the top of the table.

Ferrari extended its constructors' lead over McLaren to 18 points. Benetton's third place for Fisichella moved the team above Williams, with nine races remaining in the season. Fisichella had started tenth, so the podium was a strong recovery for Benetton that afternoon.