2001 San Marino Grand Prix Race Report
Ralf Schumacher handed Williams their 104th Grand Prix victory and their first for three and a half years when he won Sunday's San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in dominating style. Having threatened to win last time out in Brazil, it was inevitable Williams with their BMW engines and Michelin tyres, would taste victory this season sooner rather than later.
Friday's practice sessions suggested both Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya would be on the pace again and would be a step closer to Ferrari and McLaren after a heavy two week testing schedule prior to Imola. Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen constantly traded provisional pole position for most of Saturday's qualifying session, however, it was not until the dying seconds that the order for Sunday's race was settled. With barely seconds remaining, Coulthard hurled his McLaren Mercedes around Imola in 1:23.054 seconds, closely followed by the Ferrari of Schumacher. The defending champion was fastest in the first two sectors but could only manage a 1:23.593s lap having made a slight mistake at Rivazza. Hakkinen was next up and set a 1:23.282s to claim 2nd and demote Schumacher down to 3rd. The Williams pair were on track at the same time, Ralf Schumacher posting a 1:23.357 and Montoya a 1:24.141 to claim 3rd and 7th places respectively. Jordan's Jarno Trulli set a 1:23.658 to relegate Rubens Barrichello to 6th who had posted a 1:23.786s lap.
Sunday's forecast was sunny, which was great news for the Michelin runners, especially the Williams of Schumacher. Ferrari had decided to use Bridgestone's harder compound in the hope that with a one stop strategy, they could sneak a win under the noses of McLaren and increase Michael Schumacher's lead at the top of the drivers championship.
At the start Ralf Schumacher, as he did last year, took to the grass and leapfrogged both McLaren's into 1st place at the Tamburello chicane closely followed by Coulthard. Hakkinen dropped to 4th courtesy of Jarno Trulli's lightening start from 5th position, whilst Michael Schumacher made a slow getaway and was down to 5th by the first corner followed closely by the Williams of Montoya, up from 7th on the grid.
The order at the end of the first lap read, Schumacher R, Coulthard, Trulli, Hakkinen, Schumacher M, Montoya. The leading Williams was 0.967 seconds clear of Coulthard's McLaren at the start of lap two, and increased to 1.4s as they started lap 3. Coming onto the pit straight to start lap 4, Schumacher's Ferrari temporarily slowed allowing Montoya and Panis to pass without any trouble. It was clear Schumacher had had some sort of gear selection problem but he was quickly back on his way having now dropped to 7th. Rubens Barrichello then passed the German's stricken Ferrari a few corners later demoting the champion to 8th position.
Latest Articles