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2001 Australian Grand Prix

2001 Australian Grand Prix
Race 1 of 18 in the 2001 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	March 4, 2001
Official name	Qantas Australian Grand Prix
Location	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit Melbourne, Australia
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.303 km (3.30 miles)
Distance	58 laps, 307.574 km (191.12 miles)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:26.892
Fastest lap
Driver	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:28.214 on lap 8
Podium
First	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW
Second	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW
Third	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes

Qualifying

World Champion Michael Schumacher started the defence of his title in style, with a dominant pole position, over half a second ahead of anyone else. David Coulthard edged Ralf Schumacher to take second. Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher's teammate looked lacklustre in fourth but was still ahead of debutant Juan Pablo Montoya and Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Mika Häkkinen, whose engine blew up on his first run and got blocked by traffic on his last two runs still managed to set a time on his second run which was enough to beat Jarno Trulli in the battle for seventh.

Race

From pole position, Michael Schumacher was unchallenged into the first corner but there was action behind, with Mika Häkkinen charging up and Ralf Schumacher pushing David Coulthard wide to take second. Rubens Barrichello dropped backwards, losing three places while Häkkinen made a superb pass on the outside of Juan Pablo Montoya into Turn 6. Schumacher was leading from Ralf, Coulthard, Häkkinen, Montoya, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Barrichello and Jarno Trulli. Coulthard waved teammate Häkkinen through at the first corner and he went after Ralf, making another superb overtaking manoeuvre, again on the outside of Turn 6. This put him right behind Schumacher, and he completed his charge by taking the lead by going up the inside of Schumacher at the start of lap 4. With a clear track, he set the fastest lap on lap 8, a time in which no one could beat at the end of the race but still Schumacher started to reel him back in. On lap 13, Schumacher retook the lead by passing up the inside on Turn 3.

The two stayed together and pitted on lap 17, but Häkkinen was slow and Schumacher rejoined a second ahead. Montoya pitted later than Coulthard and was ahead of him after the stops. Barrichello and Frentzen pitted together on lap 19 and Barrichello was shortfueled in order to get ahead. The plan worked. Schumacher and Häkkinen were first and second, with the gap stabilizing at a second until Häkkinen retired with transmission troubles on lap 24. Schumacher then increased his lead to 15 seconds but he coasted to a halt on the start-finish straight at the end of lap 37 with a hydraulic failure. The main interest was now in the form of Barrichello closing up on Coulthard. He was right on Coulthard's tail with 2 laps to go but was unable to pass. Ralf won with Montoya a fine second to have a Williams 1-2 to start the season. Coulthard held of Barrichello with Frentzen, Trulli, Jenson Button and Olivier Panis rounding off the point scorers.

After the race, Barrichello was given a 25-second time penalty for ignoring yellow flags in the race (he set his personal fastest lap on a lap in which there were yellow flags at Turn 11). This meant that he dropped from fourth to sixth, with Frentzen and Trulli promoted to fourth and fifth.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	58	1:38:26.533	3	10
2	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	58	+17.514	5	8
3	4	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	58	+27.342	2	6
4	11	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan-Honda	58	+35.481	6	5
5	12	Jarno Trulli	Jordan-Honda	58	+46.114	8	4
6	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	58	+52.765	4	3
7	8	Jenson Button	Benetton-Renault	57	+1 Lap	9	2
8	9	Olivier Panis	BAR-Honda	57	+1 Lap	12	1
9	16	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	57	+1 Lap	17
10	19	Luciano Burti	Jaguar-Cosworth	57	+1 Lap	13
11	20	Tarso Marques	Minardi-European	56	+2 Laps	21
12	15	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows-Asiatech	56	+2 Laps	18
13	23	Gaston Mazzacane	Prost-Acer	56	+2 Laps	20
Ret	10	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	44	Gearbox	11
Ret	17	Kimi Räikkönen	Sauber-Petronas	38	Spun off	14
Ret	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	37	Hydraulics	1
Ret	21	Fernando Alonso	Minardi-European	35	Engine	22
Ret	7	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Renault	32	Suspension	10
Ret	22	Jean Alesi	Prost-Acer	28	Collision	15
Ret	14	Jos Verstappen	Arrows-Asiatech	28	Collision	16
Ret	3	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	23	Transmission	7
Ret	18	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar-Cosworth	1	Spun off	19

Notes

• Lap Leaders: Michael Schumacher 26 (1-3, 14-17, 19-37), Mika Häkkinen 10 (4-13), Rubens Barrichello 1 (18) and Ralf Schumacher 21 (38-58)
• Mika Häkkinen, who had started seventh was leading the race by the end of lap 4.
• Rubens Barrichello was given a 25-second time penalty for ignoring yellow flags (he set his personal fastest lap at that time). This dropped him from fourth to sixth.
• Juan Pablo Montoya matched Jacques Villeneuve's record for the best result on his debut by finishing second.

Standings after Grand Prix

Drivers

• 1. Ralf Schumacher - 10
• 2. Juan Pablo Montoya - 8
• 3. David Coulthard - 6
• 4. Heinz-Harald Frentzen - 5
• 5. Jarno Trulli - 4
• 6. Rubens Barrichello - 3
• 7. Jenson Button - 2
• 8. Olivier Panis - 1

Constructors

• 1. Williams-BMW - 18
• 2. Jordan-Honda - 9
• 3. McLaren-Mercedes - 6
• 4. Ferrari - 3