2001 Australian Grand Prix

  2001 Australian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 1 of 17 in the 2001 Formula One season
Date	4 March 2001
Official name	LXVI Qantas Australian Grand Prix
Location	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit Melbourne, Australia
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.303 km (3.30 mi)
Distance	58 laps, 307.574 km (191.12 mi)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:26.892
Fastest lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:28.214 on lap 30
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Second	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Third	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari

The 2001 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 4 March 2001 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. It was the 66th running of the Australian Grand Prix and the first race of the 2001 Formula One season. The race was won by German driver Michael Schumacher driving a Ferrari F2001, but the race was perhaps better known for the death of track marshal Graham Beveridge during the race. This was the last trackside death in Formula One until the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix.

Race report

Despite rolling his car during a practice session, Michael Schumacher led the race from pole. Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher's team mate, got off to a poor start, dropping from second to fifth by the first corner. Whilst attempting to regain position Barrichello tried to pass Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Jordan, knocking Frentzen into a spin. Mika Häkkinen had second at this point.

The newcomer Enrique Bernoldi, racing for Arrows, retired on lap three after colliding with the wall out of the first corner. A lap later, Jacques Villeneuve's BAR ran into the back of Ralf Schumacher's Williams at high speed whilst Schumacher was braking into turn three. The collision launched Villeneuve's car into the air toward the track-side concrete barriers, shedding wheels and bodywork as it cart-wheeled along the wall to a halt deep in the gravel trap. Ralf Schumacher spun into the same gravel trap after bottoming across the track and kerbs, with a missing rear wing and apparently compromised rear-left suspension, incapable of rejoining the race.

Track marshal Graham Beveridge was fatally injured when he was struck by a fast-moving wheel from Villeneuve's car that had passed through a gap in the safety fence. The race was not halted, but the safety car was rapidly deployed and was out for 10 laps whilst medics attended to Beveridge. He was moved to the hospital, where he was declared dead.

After the restart Schumacher led away again from Häkkinen and Barrichello, though Häkkinen's race was to end on lap 25 when his front-right suspension broke under braking and he spun off into a tyre barrier. Michael Schumacher continued to pull away at the front, whilst David Coulthard rapidly passed Barrichello (who would later mention that he suffered from handling problems during the race). Schumacher led until the finish, crossing the line ahead of Coulthard and Barrichello. Schumacher was delighted at first, unaware of the death of the marshal. The top three drivers were informed of this before stepping out onto the podium, and all three stood in sombre mood. No champagne was sprayed as a sign of respect to Beveridge and his family.

Nick Heidfeld finished fourth for Sauber, scoring his first points in Formula One, and his new team mate Kimi Räikkönen finished sixth in his debut race, only his 24th race in a motor car. Olivier Panis and Jos Verstappen were penalised 25 seconds for overtaking under yellow flags. (Panis finished 4th "on the road" and Verstappen 9th)

The 2001 Australian Grand Prix was notable for the fact that two future World Champions, Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso both made their Formula 1 debuts.

This was the first race for the Michelin tyre company's return to the sport. Luciano Burti's Jaguar was the highest placed Michelin runner in eighth place, two places out of the points.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Lap	Gap
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:26.892	-
2	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1:27.263	+0.371
3	3	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:27.461	+0.569
4	11	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan-Honda	1:27.658	+0.766
5	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	1:27.719	+0.827
6	4	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:28.010	+1.118
7	12	Jarno Trulli	Jordan-Honda	1:28.377	+1.485
8	10	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	1:28.435	+1.543
9	9	Olivier Panis	BAR-Honda	1:28.518	+1.626
10	16	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	1:28.615	+1.723
11	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	1:28.738	+1.846
12	18	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:28.965	+2.073
13	17	Kimi Räikkönen	Sauber-Petronas	1:28.993	+2.101
14	22	Jean Alesi	Prost-Acer	1:29.893	+3.001
15	14	Jos Verstappen	Arrows-Asiatech	1:29.934	+3.042
16	8	Jenson Button	Benetton-Renault	1:30.035	+3.143
17	7	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Renault	1:30.209	+3.317
18	15	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows-Asiatech	1:30.520	+3.628
19	21	Fernando Alonso	Minardi-European	1:30.657	+3.765
20	23	Gaston Mazzacane	Prost-Acer	1:30.798	+3.906
21	19	Luciano Burti	Jaguar-Cosworth	1:30.978	+4.086
107% time: 1:32.974
22	20	Tarso Marques	Minardi-European	1:33.228	+6.3361

1. - Tarso Marques set a time outside 107%, but was allowed to race.

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	58	1:38:26.533	1	10
2	4	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	58	+1.717	6	6
3	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	58	+33.491	2	4
4	16	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	58	+1:11.479	10	3
5	11	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan-Honda	58	+1:12.807	4	2
6	17	Kimi Räikkönen	Sauber-Petronas	58	+1:24.143	13	1
7	9	Olivier Panis	BAR-Honda	58	+1:27.050	9
8	19	Luciano Burti	Jaguar-Cosworth	57	+1 Lap	21
9	22	Jean Alesi	Prost-Acer	57	+1 Lap	14
10	14	Jos Verstappen	Arrows-Asiatech	57	+1 Lap	15
11	18	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar-Cosworth	57	+1 Lap	12
12	21	Fernando Alonso	Minardi-European	56	+2 Laps	19
13	7	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Renault	55	+3 Laps	17
14	8	Jenson Button	Benetton-Renault	52	Electrical	16
Ret	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	40	Engine	11
Ret	12	Jarno Trulli	Jordan-Honda	38	Clutch	7
Ret	3	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	25	Spun off	3
Ret	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	4	Collision damage	5
Ret	10	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	4	Collision	8
Ret	20	Tarso Marques	Minardi-European	3	Battery	22
Ret	15	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows-Asiatech	2	Spun off	18
Ret	23	Gastón Mazzacane	Prost-Acer	0	Brakes	20

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher 10 2 David Coulthard 6 3 Rubens Barrichello 4 4 Nick Heidfeld 3 5 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 2

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 14 2 McLaren-Mercedes 6 3 Sauber-Petronas 4 4 Jordan-Honda 2

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

Previous race: 2000 Malaysian Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 2001 season	Next race: 2001 Malaysian Grand Prix
Previous race: 2000 Australian Grand Prix	Australian Grand Prix	Next race: 2002 Australian Grand Prix

This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 2001 Australian Grand Prix. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.