2001 Monaco F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Monaco Grand Prix
Track: Monaco Circuit

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

Michael SCHUMACHER won his 48th F1 World Championship race at the 2001 Monaco F1 GP. The Ferrari driver started from 2nd on the grid and won at Monte Carlo after David Coulthard was compromised at the start from his 12th and last career pole. It was the 139th win for the Ferrari F1 team and Jaguars first F1 podium with Eddie Irvine third.

Coulthard's last F1 pole, Ferrari 2-4 on the grid

Monte Carlo on 27 May 2001 gave David Coulthard his 12th career pole with a 1:17.430 lap, 0.201 seconds clear of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. Mika Hakkinen qualified third and Rubens Barrichello fourth. It would prove to be the Scot's final pole position in Formula 1 despite four more seasons at the front of the McLaren team. Coulthard led away, but a slow start dropped him behind Schumacher into Ste Devote on the opening lap, and from that moment forward the race belonged to Ferrari.

Schumacher controls, Barrichello briefly leads during pit stops

Schumacher led the first 54 laps at the sort of controlled Monte Carlo pace only he could produce. Barrichello took over during the German's pit-stop window (55-59), then Schumacher was back at the head from lap 60 to the flag. The gap at the chequered was 0.431 seconds, one of the smallest Ferrari 1-2 margins of the year and a hint that Ross Brawn had ordered a controlled team finish rather than open racing on the narrowest circuit of the calendar.

Irvine takes Jaguar's first F1 podium

The paddock story of the afternoon was Eddie Irvine's Jaguar taking third at 30.698 seconds. It was Jaguar Racing's first Formula 1 podium after eighteen months of struggling since Ford had rebranded the Stewart team for 2000. Jacques Villeneuve took fourth for BAR-Honda, less than two seconds behind Irvine, and Coulthard could only recover to fifth after his poor start. Jean Alesi picked up a rare point for Prost with sixth, and Kimi Raikkonen brought his Sauber home tenth.

Coulthard set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:19.424 on lap 68, without ever getting close enough to the Ferraris to make it a race-day threat. Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli both retired from strong positions, and Fernando Alonso brought his Minardi home 13th after a long afternoon of watching the leaders lap him.

Championship fallout: Schumacher stretches his lead

Schumacher's 10 points pushed his drivers' championship lead over Coulthard back to 24 points. Ferrari's constructors' margin over McLaren grew as well, and the Scuderia arrived at Montreal in two weeks confident that the Ferrari-Coulthard title picture had swung firmly back to Ferrari. Jaguar's Monaco podium became the paddock talking point, and Eddie Irvine flew home with a piece of the Coventry team's first genuine achievement in Formula 1.

Classification 2001 Monaco F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	1	MichaelSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari F2001Ferrari 050	2	78	73	1:47:22.561	10
2	2	RubensBarrichello	Ferrari	Ferrari F2001Ferrari 050	4	78	5	1:47:22.992+0.431s	6
3	18	EddieIrvine	Jaguar	Jaguar R2Cosworth CR-3	6	78		1:47:53.259+30.698s	4
4	10	JacquesVilleneuve	BAR	BAR 003Honda RA001E	9	78		1:47:55.015+32.454s	3
5	4	DavidCoulthard	McLaren	McLaren MP4/16Mercedes FO 110	1	77		+1 lap	2
6	22	JeanAlesi	Prost	Prost AP04Acer 01A	11	77		+1 lap	1
7	8	JensonButton	Benetton	Benetton B201Renault RS21	17	77		+1 lap
8	14	JosVerstappen	Arrows	Arrows A22Asiatech 001	19	77		+1 lap
9	15	EnriqueBernoldi	Arrows	Arrows A22Asiatech 001	20	76		+2 laps
10	17	KimiRäikkönen	Sauber	Sauber C20 Petronas 01A	15	73		+5 laps
DNF	5	RalfSchumacher	Williams	Williams FW23BMW P80	5	57		Electrical
DNF	20	TarsoMarques	Minardi	Minardi PS01European 3.0 V10	22	56		Transmission
DNF	21	FernandoAlonso	Minardi	Minardi PS01European 3.0 V10	18	54		Gearbox
DNF	11	Heinz-HaraldFrentzen	Jordan	Jordan EJ11Honda RA001E	13	49		Accident
DNF	7	GiancarloFisichella	Benetton	Benetton B201Renault RS21	10	43		Gearbox
DNF	12	JarnoTrulli	Jordan	Jordan EJ11Honda RA001E	8	30		Hydraulics
DNF	23	LucianoBurti	Prost	Prost AP04Acer 01A	21	24		Gearbox
DNF	19	Pedrode la Rosa	Jaguar	Jaguar R2Cosworth CR-3	14	18		Hydraulics
DNF	3	MikaHäkkinen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/16Mercedes FO 110	3	15		Steering
DNF	9	OlivierPanis	BAR	BAR 003Honda RA001E	12	13		Steering
DNF	6	Juan-PabloMontoya	Williams	Williams FW23BMW P80	7	2		Spun off
DNF	16	NickHeidfeld	Sauber	Sauber C20 Petronas 01A	16	0		Collision

Fastest lap: 1:19.424 min. by David Coulthard

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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