2000 Spanish GP: Ferrari pit chaos as Häkkinen wins

Mika Häkkinen won the 2000 Spanish GP at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. His team-mate David Coulthard completed a one-two for McLaren, while Rubens Barrichello finished third for Ferrari. The race was decided in the Ferrari pit box: two botched pit stops and a slow puncture dropped pole-sitter Michael Schumacher back to fifth place.

Schumacher started from pole with Häkkinen alongside him. According to Wikipedia, the Ferrari driver did not get away well but immediately moved across to the inside, keeping the Finn behind him. Further back, Ralf Schumacher made a strong start in the Williams: from fifth place on the grid he passed Coulthard and Barrichello to move up to third. Ralf and Häkkinen also made contact in the dusty first corner, but both carried on.

Michael Schumacher set the pace in the opening phase. He stayed in front until the first round of stops, with Häkkinen within striking distance.

Schumacher's first stop went wrong. He pulled away with the fuel hose still attached and hit Ferrari chief mechanic Nigel Stepney. Stepney suffered a leg injury. Wikipedia speaks of a broken shin, while ESPN and Atlas F1 reported a leg injury in more general terms at the time. Häkkinen briefly took the lead from lap 24. After his own stop, however, Schumacher was back in front from lap 27.

The incident had consequences. According to Wikipedia, the fuel hose had jammed during the first stop and was difficult to release. At the second stop a stand-in held the fuel nozzle, and according to ESPN and Atlas F1 Schumacher was stationary for around 17.5 seconds. On top of that came what Häkkinen called a first-class strategy from McLaren. As a result, the Finn led from lap 42 and did not give up the lead all the way to the flag.

And that was not all: Schumacher's Ferrari was slowly losing air from the left rear. Coulthard closed in quickly. On lap 47, according to Atlas F1, he tried to get past, but Schumacher shut the door late. Coulthard called the move “not entirely fair” (Atlas F1) and criticised it as far too close. At his next attempt he went round the outside.

Then came the battle of the brothers. Ralf attacked Michael but, according to Wikipedia's account, was blocked and had to go wide. Barrichello took advantage and passed both Schumachers in one go. In the end Michael had to pit a third time because of the puncture and dropped behind his brother to fifth place. The final point went to Heinz-Harald Frentzen in sixth for Jordan.

• Pedro Diniz (Sauber): According to Wikipedia, he spun into the gravel trap on the very first lap after running wide into the dirt.
• Jean Alesi (Prost) and Pedro de la Rosa (Arrows): The two collided in the early stages, and both were out after one lap. De la Rosa had to start his home race from the very back anyway. According to ESPN, he had been sent to the back of the field because his fuel from qualifying was found to be irregular.
• Jacques Villeneuve (BAR): He had started sixth on the grid and retired after 21 laps with a hydraulic failure.
• Jos Verstappen (Arrows): His race ended after 25 laps with a gearbox failure.
• Jenson Button (Williams): A bitter blow for the rookie. According to ESPN, he was running sixth when his engine blew shortly before the finish. Having completed 61 laps, he was still classified 17th.

Winners: According to Wikipedia, Häkkinen took his first win of the season and the 15th of his career. By his own account, it was his third successive win in Barcelona. According to ESPN, Coulthard finished second just five days after surviving a plane crash in France. Wikipedia says he had cracked ribs in the accident. The biggest gainers were Ricardo Zonta (BAR) and Alexander Wurz (Benetton) with eight places each: Zonta went from 16 to 8, Wurz from 18 to 10. Mika Salo in seventh and Giancarlo Fisichella in ninth also missed out on points despite strong recoveries. Further back, Eddie Irvine and Johnny Herbert (Jaguar) finished 11th and 13th, along with Minardi drivers Marc Gené and Gastón Mazzacane in 14th and 15th, and Nick Heidfeld in 16th.

Losers: Michael Schumacher lost four places from pole. Jarno Trulli fared even worse, dropping from seventh on the grid to twelfth. Villeneuve and Button suffered the biggest setbacks with their retirements.

Michael Schumacher remained at the top of the drivers' championship on 36 points. Häkkinen jumped to second with 22, just ahead of Coulthard on 20. Behind them came Barrichello with 13 and Ralf Schumacher with 12 points. In the constructors' championship Ferrari still led on 49 points ahead of McLaren on 42, but the gap had shrunk to seven points.

After his setbacks at the start of the season, it was Häkkinen's first win of the year. Ferrari, on the other hand, had a painful absence to deal with: according to Wikipedia, Stepney missed the next two races.