2001 German Grand Prix Race Report
make mistakes and today it was my turn," announced the Spaniard. "As I approached the first chicane, the cars in front of me bunched up very quickly and before I knew it, I was heading into the back of the bottleneck. I braked well before the 100 meter board, but underestimated how close Nick Heidfeld was. In the end there was little I could do." Back at the front and as lap 1 was completed, it was Montoya leading with Schumacher R 1.4s behind, followed by Michael Schumacher, Hakkinen, Barrichello and Coulthard. His Ferrari clearly on a two stopper, the Brazilian passed DC's McLaren around the outside of the right hander leading into the stadium section. The crowd applauded the move and by lap three, Rubens was ahead of Hakkinen - taking the Finn at the Ostkurve chicane.
Lap 6 and Montoya's lead was now up to 4.2 seconds with Ralf a similar distance ahead of the Ferrari's. With memories of his victory twelve months previous still fresh in the mind, Barrichello was now on a mission and the Brazilian passed Schumacher M into the third chicane and set about catching the leading Williams'. Having run into the back of Verstappen's car a lap earlier, Ricardo Zonta, subbing for the recently sacked Heinz Harald Frentzen, pulled his Jordan off the track on lap 7 and into retirement. It had been a lacklustre performance by Ricardo, and one can only assume his seat in Hungary, three weeks from now, is in jeopardy.
Lap 10 and the order at the front remained unchanged with Montoya leading from Schumacher R, 6.2s behind the Colombian, then Barrichello, Schumacher M, Hakkinen and Coulthard. The enthralling battle for ninth place between Olivier Panis and Jarno Trulli intensified with Panis passing the Italian under braking for the first chicane. Enraged by the questionable manoeuvre, Trulli attempted to re-gain position at the Ostkurve, but merely lost his Jordan on the entry to the chicane and clumsily spun. "Olivier tried to overtake me at the first chicane but he overshot the corner and jumped the chicane," said Trulli. "The regulations say that he should have let me have my position back, so I tried to overtake him at the next chicane but he closed the door, which I didn't expect. I had to turn quickly to avoid an accident and unfortunately spun off, losing valuable time and positions." Two laps later and
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