Brazilian GP 2001: Coulthard wins, Verstappen stops Montoya

David Coulthard won the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix for McLaren. He finished ahead of Michael Schumacher, who had started from pole position in the Ferrari, and Nick Heidfeld in the Sauber. For much of the race, though, someone else was out front: rookie Juan Pablo Montoya led until a backmarker took him out on lap 39. After that, the arrival of rain at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace settled the duel between Coulthard and Schumacher. Coulthard went past on lap 50 and never gave up the lead.

The chaos began before the first corner. Mika Häkkinen stalled his McLaren from third on the grid and didn't move a metre. He raised his hands to warn the drivers behind him, and a multi-car pile-up was avoided. The stranded car brought out the Safety Car. Coulthard had to abandon his planned start because his team-mate was stationary in front of him. But Ralf Schumacher made a poor getaway from second on the grid, so the Scot was still able to pass him on the inside.

Shortly after the restart, the home favourite's race ended on lap 3. Rubens Barrichello missed his braking point at the end of the straight and ran into the back of Ralf Schumacher, whose Williams had just been forced off line by Jarno Trulli. The Ferrari lost a front wheel and its front wing and ended up in the gravel. Barrichello was out after lap 2. Ralf Schumacher came into the pits without a rear wing and spent a long time being repaired, dropping several laps down. The stewards ruled it a racing incident and gave both drivers a warning.

At the restart, Montoya made the first big statement of the race. In only his third Grand Prix, the Colombian outbraked Michael Schumacher into the Senna S on lap 3 and took the lead. The two touched, and the world champion had to go across the grass. Schumacher said afterwards that Montoya had braked very late. From then on, Montoya held the lead comfortably.

On lap 39, his dream of a first win was over. Braking for the Reta Oposta, the lapped Jos Verstappen in the Arrows slammed into the back of the leading Williams. Both were out of the race. According to Wikipedia, Verstappen was fined $15,000, and Arrows later withdrew its appeal. The crash handed the lead to Coulthard. Montoya's Williams team-mate Ralf Schumacher later spun in the rain and retired after lap 54, so the team went home without points.

According to Wikipedia, the first drops fell from around lap 35, and the rain got heavier around lap 45. The teams were on different strategies: Ferrari had planned two stops for Schumacher, while McLaren and Williams went for one. Michael Schumacher pitted earlier to switch to intermediates. McLaren, on the other hand, left Coulthard out for one more lap to wait for the rain. According to Wikipedia, that cost him around 13 seconds. Coulthard confirmed after the race that Schumacher had gained time on that lap. That put the Ferrari driver back in front from lap 48.

The joy did not last long, though. On the wet track, Schumacher slid on a white line, and Coulthard closed up. On lap 50, while lapping Tarso Marques in the Minardi, the McLaren driver found a gap and went past at Turn 1. By his own account, Schumacher had two moments in the wet and complained that his car had not behaved the way he wanted. Coulthard brought the win home safely. According to Wikipedia, he finished 16.1 seconds clear, with every other driver at least one lap down. McLaren team principal Ron Dennis called his driver's performance “outstanding”.

Only eleven of the 22 starters were classified, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen classified eleventh even though he retired. The key retirements:

• Mika Häkkinen (McLaren): stalled at the start, no laps completed.
• Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari): collision with Ralf Schumacher, after lap 2.
• Enrique Bernoldi (Arrows): hydraulics, after lap 15. According to Wikipedia, a fault in the gearbox hydraulics was to blame.
• Fernando Alonso (Minardi): electrics, after lap 25. According to Wikipedia, a throttle pedal sensor failed.
• Luciano Burti (Jaguar): engine, after lap 30.
• Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams) and Jos Verstappen (Arrows): collision on lap 39.
• Eddie Irvine (Jaguar): stuck on a kerb after a slide at Turn 5, after lap 52.
• Ralf Schumacher (Williams): spun in the rain, after lap 54.
• Gastón Mazzacane (Prost): clutch, after lap 54.
• Kimi Räikkönen (Sauber): went off in the rain, after lap 55.
• Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan): electrics, after lap 63. He was running ahead of Heidfeld at the time.

The other winner of the day was Nick Heidfeld. He started ninth, ran a dry-weather set-up and handled the wet phase well on intermediates. Along the way he passed Trulli, then inherited third place when Frentzen retired. It was his first podium in Formula 1 and, according to Wikipedia, Sauber's first since the 1998 Belgian GP. He managed it despite a slow pit stop in which the fuel nozzle jammed.

Behind him, Olivier Panis finished fourth from eleventh on the grid to score the first points for BAR, while team-mate Jacques Villeneuve came home seventh. Trulli salvaged two points for Jordan in fifth. The biggest charge among the points finishers came from Giancarlo Fisichella: he went from 18th on the grid to sixth, scoring the first point for Benetton. In pure numbers, Tarso Marques gained the most places, 13 in total, climbing from 22nd on the grid to ninth. Jean Alesi finished eighth and Jenson Button tenth.

On the losing side were Häkkinen, who started third on the grid and retired without completing a single lap, and Barrichello, who went out early in front of his home crowd. Above all, though, it was Montoya, who had a possible first win taken from him by a backmarker.

Coulthard took his tenth Grand Prix win and his first since the 2000 French GP. In doing so, he ended Ferrari's run of six wins in a row. For Schumacher, it was his first defeat after six wins. According to Wikipedia, Michael and Ralf Schumacher had also become the first brothers to share the front row of the grid at a world championship race.

In the 2001 standings, Michael Schumacher led after three races with 26 points. Coulthard moved up to second with 20 points, while Barrichello (10) dropped to third. Heidfeld (7) and Frentzen (5) followed. In the constructors' standings, Ferrari led with 36 points from McLaren (21), Sauber (8), Jordan (7) and BAR (3). After Schumacher's wins in Australia and Malaysia, Interlagos showed two things: McLaren could keep up, and Williams with Montoya was quick enough to put Ferrari under real pressure. Ron Dennis himself said at the time that McLaren faced a real fight with Williams.