2001 Austrian GP: Coulthard's strategy beats both Ferraris

At the 2001 Austrian GP at the A1-Ring in Spielberg, today's Red Bull Ring, David Coulthard drove his McLaren from 7th on the grid to victory. Behind him, the two Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello crossed the line. They only finished in that order, though, because Barrichello moved aside on team orders just before the finish line.

The race was decided in the pit stops: Coulthard stayed out three laps longer than Barrichello and rejoined ahead of both Ferraris.

Schumacher was on pole position, with Juan Pablo Montoya alongside and Ralf Schumacher behind. Both Williams cars got away better. Montoya took the lead, and Ralf also slipped past his brother in the first corner. Coulthard shot forward from 7th, very nearly made it to third and was P5 after the first corner.

Further back, the launch control systems of that season showed their pitfalls: Mika Häkkinen in the second McLaren, both Jordans of Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jarno Trulli, and Nick Heidfeld in the Sauber were left stranded on the grid. The marshals could not push the cars away quickly enough, so the Safety Car came out at the end of the first lap.

Frentzen never made it into the race, officially because of the gearbox. Häkkinen later completed just a single lap before parking the McLaren, with a transmission problem according to the classification. Trulli and Heidfeld started from the pit lane. Among those to benefit was Jos Verstappen: running light on fuel in the Arrows, he even ran as high as P2 at one stage.

Montoya held the lead, and in his first season at that. Behind him, Ralf Schumacher's race was over early: his Williams gradually lost rear brake pressure, and he retired after lap 10.

Michael Schumacher then sat right on the Colombian's tail. On lap 16 it came to a showdown at Turn 2: Schumacher was almost alongside Montoya, who braked extremely late, locked his rear wheels, and both slid wide off the track. P1 and P2 became P7 for Montoya and P6 for Schumacher. The one to profit was Barrichello, who led from lap 16. Schumacher was visibly annoyed: “Be sure I will have a word with him.” (source 3)

There was nothing left for Montoya after that. After 41 laps he retired with a hydraulic failure.

Barrichello led from lap 16 to 46, but Coulthard was lying in wait. By his own account, the Scot had been saving fuel and could therefore stay out particularly long. As the tank emptied, the McLaren got quicker and quicker.

Schumacher came in at the end of lap 46 for his only stop, with Barrichello following on lap 47. That handed Coulthard the lead. He put in a few more fast laps and only pitted on lap 50. The plan worked: he rejoined just ahead of both Ferraris and did not give up the lead again until the finish.

Kimi Räikkönen also had bad luck in the pit lane: his left rear wheel did not go on properly straight away at his stop. Even so, he held on to 4th place ahead of Olivier Panis in the BAR. Verstappen had to pit early because of his two-stop strategy and dropped back.

Coulthard was heading for victory, but most eyes were on the battle between the two Ferraris for P2. Team principal Jean Todt told Barrichello over the radio to let Schumacher through for the sake of the championship, and did so several times. The radio traffic was even broadcast live on Italian television. Barrichello ignored the instruction for a long time. Only at the end of the final lap did he lift off before the finish line and let Schumacher pass.

The swap had a clear value: Schumacher got 6 points instead of 4. Opinions were divided. Niki Lauda thought it was the right move because Schumacher was leading the championship. Others shook their heads. Coulthard won by a little over two seconds, while Barrichello finished just fractions of a second behind his team-mate.

The retirements at a glance (lap as classified):

• Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan): gearbox, without completing a lap
• Mika Häkkinen (McLaren): transmission, after lap 1
• Giancarlo Fisichella (Benetton): engine, after lap 3
• Ralf Schumacher (Williams): brakes, after lap 10
• Enrique Bernoldi (Arrows): hydraulics, after lap 17
• Tarso Marques (Minardi): gearbox, after lap 25
• Fernando Alonso (Minardi): gearbox, after lap 38
• Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams): hydraulics, after lap 41
• Pedro de la Rosa (Jaguar): transmission, after lap 48
• Jenson Button (Benetton): engine, after lap 60. His Renault engine went up in flames in the final corner, and Button spun on his own oil.

Trulli was disqualified after 14 laps. He had left the pit exit on a red light during the Safety Car period and was shown the black flag for it. Jacques Villeneuve collided with Eddie Irvine in the first corner on lap 10 and spun. He later received a stop-and-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane and finished eighth.

Winners of the day were Verstappen and Jean Alesi in the Prost: both gained ten places. Verstappen finished sixth to score Arrows' first point of the season, while Alesi climbed from 20th on the grid to 10th. Räikkönen and Panis each gained five places. Irvine went from 13th on the grid to 7th in the Jaguar.

The losers were Ralf Schumacher (16 places lost), Häkkinen (13) and Montoya (12). There was a postscript too: BAR lodged a protest, claiming Räikkönen had overtaken under yellow flags. The stewards rejected the protest. The FIA Court of Appeal later upheld the result.

With the win, Coulthard closed in on Schumacher. In the 2001 standings, Schumacher led with 42 points after the sixth round, with Coulthard next on 38. Behind them were Barrichello with 18 and Ralf Schumacher with 12 points. In the constructors' standings, Ferrari had 60 points, McLaren 42 and Williams 18.

For Coulthard it was his second win of the season and the eleventh of his career. That the title race remained so tight heading into the Monaco GP was also down to the two points Ferrari's team orders had given Schumacher. There was no champagne on the podium: Coulthard did without it out of respect for Paul Morgan. The Ilmor co-founder had been killed in a plane crash the day before the race.

You'll find all lap counts, grid positions and points on our page with the results and data for the 2001 Austrian GP.