Michael Schumacher won from pole at Sepang, Ferrari took the constructors' crown and a jump-start penalty reshaped the race.
The 2000 Malaysian Grand Prix was the 17th and final race of the 2000 Formula One World Championship, held at Sepang on 22 October 2000. Michael Schumacher won the 56-lap race from pole position, David Coulthard was second and Rubens Barrichello third, and Ferrari took the constructors' title.
The 2000 Malaysian Grand Prix closed the season at Sepang with Michael Schumacher winning from pole and Ferrari clinching the constructors' championship. A jump-start penalty for Mika Hakkinen and a first-lap pile-up shaped the race, and it marked the final Formula One starts of Johnny Herbert and Pedro Diniz.
Why was the title race already decided before Sepang?
Schumacher had already won the drivers' championship at the Japanese Grand Prix, so Sepang was about the constructors' title and the minor places. Schumacher led the drivers' table with 98 points and Hakkinen was second with 86. Only 10 points were on offer in the final race, which was not enough for Hakkinen to catch him.
The constructors' battle was tighter. Ferrari led on 156 points and McLaren had 143, with a maximum of 16 points still available. McLaren needed to finish first and second in the race to take the title, while Ferrari only needed one of its drivers to finish second, or to score three points by finishing fourth.
Coulthard was third in the drivers' table, 67 points behind Schumacher and Hakkinen, and 58 points ahead of Ferrari's Barrichello. Barrichello could only finish third overall if he won the race and Coulthard finished outside the top six.
The season ended with Schumacher's win, Ferrari's constructors' title and a jump-start penalty that changed the race.
Did protests threaten the Malaysian weekend?
Protests over the imprisonment of Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim were reported ahead of the race, and the campaign group Free Anwar said it would use the event to press for his release. The campaign's director, Raja Petra Kamarudin, later announced that the event would go ahead untouched.
The weekend also marked the departures of Johnny Herbert and Pedro Diniz. Herbert had switched to CART and had turned down an offer to test for Williams, while Diniz's future was uncertain, with reports that he was in talks with Prost.
What changed on the cars after Japan?
Six teams tested at European circuits between 10 and 13 October. Ferrari's test driver Luca Badoer spent four days working through new mechanical parts at Fiorano and Mugello, while McLaren tested tyres at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo with Olivier Panis. Arrows joined them there with a modified A21 fitted with an Asia Motor Technic V10 engine.
The changes for Sepang were small, as most teams were already working on their 2001 cars. The main focus was cooling for the humid Malaysian climate, with several teams adding extra slots at the rear sides of the car. Benetton fitted a new engine specification and a revised weight distribution in Alexander Wurz's car. Schumacher was the bookmakers' favourite for the race.
How did the practice sessions go?
Michael Schumacher was fastest in the first Friday session, at 1 minute 40.290 seconds, while Hakkinen set the day's quickest time in the afternoon session at 1:40.262. On Saturday, Alexander Wurz led the third session at 1:38.318, and Coulthard set the best time of the final session at 1:38.109.
Friday was hot and dry, but several teams reported poor radio reception, which they blamed on the large grandstands around the track. Barrichello was carrying flu symptoms, yet the Ferraris remained quick. Mika Salo lost control of his Sauber at Sunway Lagoon corner, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen's engine sensor failed on his installation lap, which stopped him from setting a time.
On Saturday the top 19 drivers were all within 1.879 seconds of Wurz's time, which pointed to a tight field for qualifying. Wurz was in his final race for Benetton that weekend.
How did Schumacher take pole?
Michael Schumacher took pole with 1:37.397, his ninth of the season and 32nd of his career. He set the time with three minutes left, after a second attempt with a rear wing change was cancelled because of a flat-spotted tyre. Hakkinen was 0.463 seconds behind on the front row.
Coulthard was third, but a loose fuel line caused a fire during a refuelling stop, and petrol splashed into his eye. Barrichello, still suffering from flu, was demoted from second to fourth in the final seconds. Wurz took fifth, his best qualifying result of the season, and Villeneuve sixth despite a loss of power at the end of his final run. Irvine was seventh, Ralf Schumacher eighth, and Trulli and Frentzen ninth and tenth.
Zonta missed the top ten by two-tenths of a second. Herbert started 12th in his final race, with Fisichella 13th and de la Rosa 14th. Verstappen, Button, Salo, Alesi and Heidfeld made up the next group, and Diniz was 20th after understeer and a tyre mix-up. Marc Gene and Mazzacane completed the grid in 21st and 22nd.
What happened at the start?
Hakkinen, starting alongside Michael Schumacher, moved early and appeared to jump the start, then took the lead. Coulthard went round the outside of Michael Schumacher into the first corner, and the race was broken up by a multi-car crash at the second turn that brought out the safety car. The stewards later gave Hakkinen a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for the jump.
Diniz tried to pass Heidfeld, who was alongside De la Rosa, but he overshot the entry and hit the rear of Alesi's car. Alesi was spun round and made contact with Heidfeld, who pushed De la Rosa into the wall. Diniz, De la Rosa and Heidfeld retired immediately, while Alesi carried on. Ralf Schumacher was forced onto the grass by Irvine, and Trulli damaged his front wing in contact with the Jaguar. Verstappen spun off as well.
Hakkinen let his team-mate Coulthard through for the lead on lap three, and he served his penalty on lap five. The pit lane entry was on the outside of the last corner, so the stop cost him about 23.8 seconds, and he rejoined in 19th.
How did the middle of the race unfold?
Coulthard led from lap three and pulled away from Michael Schumacher, reaching a lead of 3.6 seconds by lap seven. Then he ran wide at turn six, and grass blocked his radiator inlet and overheated the engine. An early stop cleared the debris and resolved the problem, and he rejoined sixth, but the McLaren pair were now on different strategies.
Frentzen retired on lap seven after a power steering failure, followed by a hydraulic problem. Button's engine failed on lap 19, and Michael Schumacher kept setting fast laps. He had an 8.8-second lead over Barrichello when he stopped on lap 24, having become worried that Coulthard was quicker than him.
Herbert made his only pit stop in the same phase of the race, stalled on the way out and rejoined in 12th. Mazzacane's engine piston failed on lap 54, the final retirement of the season.
How did the final stint decide the race?
After Michael Schumacher's stop on lap 24, Barrichello led for one lap, and Barrichello's own stop on the following lap returned the lead to Michael Schumacher. Coulthard came within two seconds by lap 45, and Michael Schumacher nursed his tyres to keep the advantage. Coulthard's second stop at the end of lap 38 put him back on a set of scrubbed front tyres.
Herbert's race ended late on, when his right driveshaft broke and caused a rear suspension failure under braking for turn four. He went through the gravel and into the tyre barrier, but he left the car unaided. Ralf Schumacher was called into the garage to retire, after the electronics warned of an engine oil supply problem.
Michael Schumacher crossed the line first on lap 56, 0.7 seconds ahead of Coulthard, in a time of 1 hour 35 minutes 54.235 seconds. His average speed was 194.199 km/h (120.670 mph).
Schumacher said afterwards that team strategy had made the difference once he realised Coulthard was quicker than him. He also expressed hope that the year's success would usher in a new era for Ferrari, while stressing that the team would need to keep building to stay at the front.
Top ten classification
| Position | Driver | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | Ninth win of the season, from pole |
| 2 | David Coulthard | McLaren | 0.7 seconds behind |
| 3 | Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | Flu during the weekend |
| 4 | Mika Hakkinen | McLaren | Ten-second penalty for jumping the start |
| 5 | Jacques Villeneuve | BAR | Third points finish in a row |
| 6 | Eddie Irvine | Jaguar | 1.8 seconds behind fifth |
| 7 | Alexander Wurz | Benetton | Final race for Benetton |
| 8 | Mika Salo | Sauber | Finished the race |
| 9 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Benetton | Finished the race |
| 10 | Jos Verstappen | Arrows | Finished the race |
Verstappen was followed by Jean Alesi and Jarno Trulli, who had a slow puncture. Gaston Mazzacane, who had retired late with a piston failure, was also among the final classified finishers. The rest of the order was shaped by the early crashes and the retirements.
What did the result mean for the championships?
Michael Schumacher's ninth win of the season equalled his own record from 1995 and Nigel Mansell's from 1992. It was also his 44th Formula One win. The victory sealed Ferrari's constructors' championship, which was their 10th in Formula One. Coulthard's second place lifted him past Barrichello into third in the drivers' table.
McLaren could not overhaul Ferrari's total, and Ferrari celebrated at the Mugello Circuit before 50,000 people. Ross Brawn said the team had to build on the success, while Ron Dennis congratulated Ferrari on winning both titles.
Farewells for Herbert and Diniz
Johnny Herbert said he was disappointed to have his final race ruined by a failure, and he left Formula One after 12 years and 161 race starts, with 3 wins. Jaguar's technical director, Gary Anderson, traced the failure to a broken link on the rear right suspension rod. Herbert went on to race at Le Mans and in the American Le Mans Series, and he joined Arrows as a test driver in February 2001.
Pedro Diniz could not find a race seat for 2001, so he became a shareholder in the Prost team instead. Hakkinen believed he would have won without the jump-start penalty, while Villeneuve was pleased with fifth place after an unhappy early season, and Irvine finished the year with a single point.
