Coulthard qualified on pole but stalled on the formation lap, and Michael Schumacher led the rest of the way to win the 59th Monaco Grand Prix for Ferrari.
The 2001 Monaco Grand Prix was won by Michael Schumacher for Ferrari, with Barrichello second and Irvine third for Jaguar. Coulthard started from the back after a launch control stall on the formation lap, and the 78-lap race was decided by Schumacher's steady pace.
The 2001 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 27 May 2001 around the streets of Monte Carlo before 100,000 spectators. It was the 59th Monaco Grand Prix, and Michael Schumacher won the 78-lap race for Ferrari, despite pole sitter David Coulthard stalling on the formation lap and starting from the back of the grid.
Who won the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix?
Michael Schumacher won the race for Ferrari. Rubens Barrichello finished second, 0.431 seconds behind in a staged finish, and Eddie Irvine took third for Jaguar. It was Schumacher's fourth win of the season and his 48th in Formula One.
Irvine's third place was Jaguar's first podium since the team's debut in Formula One, and it was also the first points finish of the season for the team. Schumacher led the final nine laps after the pit stops had been completed.
A launch control stall put Coulthard at the back of the grid, but Michael Schumacher's steady pace gave him a Monaco win for Ferrari.
What was the championship situation before Monaco?
Michael Schumacher led the drivers' championship with 42 points, ahead of McLaren's David Coulthard on 38. Barrichello was third on 18 points, Ralf Schumacher fourth on 12, and Nick Heidfeld fifth on 8.
In the constructors' championship, Ferrari led with 60 points, McLaren were second on 42, and Williams third on 18. Schumacher had won three of the six races before Monaco and taken pole in five of them, and he was hoping to equal Graham Hill's record of five Monaco wins.
Why was the launch control system such a worry?
Following the Austrian Grand Prix two weeks earlier, four cars had stalled at the start because of launch control failures. Patrick Head of Williams and Jarno Trulli of Jordan voiced concerns about driver safety, because a stalled car could cause a major accident.
Max Mosley, the FIA president, advised teams to switch off launch control if they doubted its reliability, but he ruled out a ban for Monaco. Jordan deactivated launch control on its EJ11s and used a manual system, because of the narrow nature of the circuit. The FIA warned of severe penalties for teams that set up the system incorrectly.
How did the cars and teams prepare for Monaco?
The low average speed and the many low-speed corners, together with a low-grip road surface, meant that every team set its car up for maximum downforce and mechanical grip. Prost gave Jean Alesi's car new front and rear wings, an undertray and a rear crash structure, while Benetton fitted a revised aerodynamic package to its B201s.
Arrows and Jordan both fitted elevated nose wings that sat on two uprights in front of the driver. The FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer judged them an infringement, and both teams were ordered to remove them, with a warning that they could be excluded if the devices were used again.
What happened in practice?
Both Thursday sessions were dry and warm. Michael Schumacher was fastest in the morning at 1:21.577, 0.827 seconds faster than Coulthard. De la Rosa damaged the front-left corner of his Jaguar on a barrier at Portier, and Marques spun his Minardi into a wall at La Rascasse.
In the afternoon Hakkinen was quickest at 1:19.853, with Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher and Barrichello close behind. Coulthard broke a track rod after striking a barrier at Tabac, and Alonso spun into a wall at La Rascasse and curtailed his session. Montoya damaged his rear at La Rascasse, which led to a four-minute stoppage.
Saturday's practice was clear. Ralf Schumacher, who had complained of head and neck pain after his crash, lapped quickest in the third session at 1:21.036. Hakkinen then set the fastest time of the fourth session at 1:18.282, ahead of Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher. Bernoldi's front wing became lodged in Hakkinen's front suspension after a separate crash of his own.
How did qualifying decide the grid?
Coulthard took pole with a time of 1:17.430, his second of the season and the 12th of his career. It broke the unofficial track record that Frentzen had set in 1997. Michael Schumacher was second, 0.201 seconds slower, after aborting his first timed lap when Bernoldi caught him off guard exiting the tunnel.
Hakkinen was third after changing his set-up for a final run that gave him excess understeer. Barrichello was fourth after flat-spotting a front-right tyre at Sainte Devote, and Ralf Schumacher was fifth as the best of the Michelin runners. Irvine was sixth after being delayed on his third timed lap.
| Grid | Driver | Team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Coulthard | McLaren | 1:17.430, 12th career pole |
| 2 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 0.201 seconds slower |
| 3 | Mika Hakkinen | McLaren | Excess understeer on final run |
| 4 | Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | Flat-spotted tyre at Sainte Devote |
| 5 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams | Best Michelin runner |
| 6 | Eddie Irvine | Jaguar | Delayed on his third timed lap |
Montoya was seventh, his first appearance at Monaco since the 1998 International Formula 3000 Championship. Trulli took eighth, and Villeneuve ninth. Fisichella was tenth after adding front wing angle to balance his car, and Alesi was the fastest driver outside the top ten.
How did the race start?
The race started at 14:00 local time in dry and sunny conditions, with the air at 23 degrees C (73 degrees F) and the track between 36 and 39 degrees C (97 and 102 degrees F). Several teams began on soft tyres, and a one-stop strategy was considered ideal.
At the start of the formation lap an electronic launch control software glitch stalled Coulthard's engine. The McLaren mechanics restarted it, but he had to begin from the back of the grid. His team-mate Hakkinen was stuck behind him and drove away before the final car passed, so he was allowed to start from third.
Michael Schumacher made a clean start to lead into Sainte Devote, ahead of Hakkinen and Barrichello. Verstappen lost control and made contact with Burti, which dropped him to 20th. On the run to Portier, Heidfeld and Bernoldi collided and Heidfeld was launched into a barrier, becoming the first retirement on lap one.
At the end of the first lap Michael Schumacher led Hakkinen by 1.5 seconds. Hakkinen then came under pressure from Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher, and Schumacher extended his lead to 1.6 seconds by the start of lap three.
What were the key phases of the race?
Montoya shifted down a gear and collected understeer at the entrance to the Swimming Pool complex, hitting a barrier on lap three. Panis retired on lap 14 with a steering problem, and Hakkinen retired two laps later after a persistent problem.
Barrichello passed Hakkinen for second on lap 13 at the tunnel exit, after Hakkinen's car started to pull to the right. Barrichello then drove in clear air while Michael Schumacher set the pace at the front, and Coulthard spent much of the race stuck behind Bernoldi.
Bernoldi defended his position for 35 laps against Coulthard. Coulthard tried several times to pass at Tabac and up the hill, but Bernoldi kept his line, and Coulthard's pace suffered as a result.
De la Rosa retired on lap 18 with a hydraulics fault, and Burti retired on lap 26 after his reverse gear failed. Trulli retired from fifth at La Rascasse on lap 31, when a loss of engine hydraulic pressure set his car alight. That elevated Fisichella to sixth.
Fisichella later had a hydraulic failure at Sainte Devote on lap 43, and his front-left wheel came off in the tyre wall. Michael Schumacher set a new official lap record of 1:20.770 on lap 38, then improved it to 1:20.422 four laps later, extending his lead over Barrichello to 18.3 seconds.
How did the pit stops play out?
Michael Schumacher made his pit stop from the lead, and that promoted Barrichello into first. Barrichello made his stop from first position on lap 60, which returned the lead to his team-mate. Irvine made his stop during the same phase and kept third place.
Coulthard made his stop after the field had settled, and he emerged in front of Button in sixth. He set the race's fastest lap of 1:19. Prost called Alesi into the pits for new tyres, but Alesi was delayed and rejoined behind Coulthard in sixth.
How did the finish unfold?
Michael Schumacher led the last nine laps and took the fourth win of his season, his 48th overall, by 0.431 seconds from Barrichello in a staged finish. Irvine achieved Jaguar's first podium since the team's debut, ahead of the faster Villeneuve in fourth.
Coulthard finished one lap behind in fifth, and Alesi took sixth. Button was seventh, and he could not get closer to Alesi, who finished 28 seconds ahead of him. Verstappen and Bernoldi were eighth and ninth, and Raikkonen was the last finisher, five laps down.
The attrition rate was high, with 12 of the 22 drivers failing to finish the race.
What did the drivers say?
Michael Schumacher said he felt little emotion on the podium because he had taken a straightforward win, and that the circuit was still hard to drive quickly. Barrichello said his cramp had gone after his pit stop, and that the car had been brilliant. He had to save so much fuel, he said, that he could not do anything else.
Irvine said he was delighted to finish third and hoped to carry Jaguar's form into the Canadian Grand Prix. Alesi said he had a great result for himself and Prost, and that a flat tyre had cost him fifth place points.
Bernoldi alleged that McLaren's Ron Dennis and Mercedes-Benz director of motorsport Norbert Haug had approached him and threatened to shorten his career. Dennis denied this, and an audio tape released by McLaren on 11 June seemed to support his account.
Coulthard felt that Bernoldi was over-defensive and said he would raise the matter at the next Grand Prix Drivers' Association meeting. Bernoldi said he had been running a normal race and was there to improve his driving.
Where did the championship stand afterwards?
Michael Schumacher's lead in the drivers' championship grew to 12 points over Coulthard. Barrichello consolidated third place, while Ralf Schumacher's non-finish left him fourth. Heidfeld was fifth in the table.
Ferrari extended their advantage over McLaren in the constructors' championship to 32 points, while Williams and Jordan kept third and fourth. Sauber were fifth, with ten races remaining in the season.
