2001 German Grand Prix Race Report
Behind Villeneuve, very close behind in fact, were the Benetton's of Fisichella and Button in 4th and 5th places respectively followed by Jean Alesi in the Prost. Though Fisischella has already scored this season, Sunday's race marked Button's first top six finish since Suzuka last year, and his first for Benetton in what has been a trying five months. "This isn't a result we obtained just because lots of cars fell off, we genuinely had good pace," commented the Brit. "I didn't think we would be in the points, but I thought we'd be very consistent. It's just great that both Giancarlo and I were in the points and I think this is the biggest boost the team has had all year." Indeed it was, for the 2001 season has been something of a nightmare for all concerned at Benetton and there was a genuine feeling that progress had finally been made at Hockenhiem.
The forecast during the week suggested a high chance of rain throughout the weekend, but as it turned out, not a single drop fell and come Saturday's qualifying session, blue skies abounded. Long before the cars rolled out to start the one hour session, it was expected that unless there was a BMW engine behind you, pole would be out of reach - and so it proved, for there were only two men in contention. In the end, it was a battle royal between Ralf Schumacher and Montoya, with the Colombian edging his team mate out by 0.019 seconds with a 1:38.177s lap, with Ralf on a 1:38.236s. An elated Montoya stepped from his car declaring, "Everybody worked so hard for this. This proves again we have the right package and that everyone at Williams, BMW and Michelin have been doing a great job. It was a good lap." Behind the front two - and a distant seven tenths adrift, Hakkinen took third with a 1:38.811s with Michael Schumacher next up with a 1:38.941. The defending champion was philosophical when questioned about his position, "I was hoping to be closer to the guys in front, but this is the situation we now face and we have to live with it. However, I prefer to have the Williams eight tenths in front of me than (championship rival) Coulthard." His McLaren struggling to take a smooth line through Hockenheim's chicanes, Coulthard took 5th position with a 1:39.574s lap, closely
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