2001 Canadian F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Canadian Grand Prix
Track: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

Ralf SCHUMACHER won his 2nd F1 World Championship race at the 2001 Canadian F1 GP. The Williams-BMW driver started from 2nd on the grid and won at Montreal after passing brother Michael Schumacher in the pit-stop sequence. It was the 105th win for the Williams F1 team and BMWs 11th F1 win.

Schumacher versus Schumacher, on the front row

Montreal on 10 June 2001 opened with a family front row. Michael Schumacher took pole with a 1:15.782 lap for Ferrari, 0.515 seconds clear of brother Ralf's Williams-BMW. Coulthard qualified third for McLaren, Trulli fourth for Jordan, and Barrichello fifth for the second Ferrari. It was only the second front-row lockout by the Schumacher brothers in F1 history.

Michael led the opening 45 laps at the sort of Canadian pace he had made his own since his first Ferrari win at Montreal in 1997. Ralf shadowed him closely with Williams-BMW's straight-line pace advantage, but the elder brother never quite lost the front. The race turned in the pit-stop sequence.

Ralf's pit-stop pass, and BMW's second win in three races

Ralf pitted first, on a lighter fuel load, and rejoined running with fresh Michelins. Michael pitted one lap later and, on a heavier second-stint fuel load, could not match Ralf's pace. When they emerged from the pit sequence Ralf was ahead by around three seconds, and the gap only grew across the following stint. Ralf led the final 24 laps unchallenged and crossed the flag 20.235 seconds ahead of Michael for his second Grand Prix victory in three races.

It was Williams-BMW's second win of the season after Ralf's Imola breakthrough, and it made him the fourth different winner from the first eight races of 2001. Michael took second for Ferrari, ahead of Mika Hakkinen's McLaren in third at 40 seconds. Ralf set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:17.205 on lap 50, sealing a dominant Williams weekend.

Raikkonen fourth, Alesi points for Prost

Kimi Raikkonen took his best result of the rookie season with fourth for Sauber, ahead of Jean Alesi's Prost-Acer in fifth, one of only two points scores of the year for the French team. Pedro de la Rosa took the final point for Jaguar. Coulthard, who had qualified third, retired his McLaren with an engine failure on lap 54. Barrichello also failed to finish, retiring the second Ferrari from a strong points position.

Championship fallout: Ferrari lead intact, Williams-BMW close

Ralf's ten points pulled him to third in the drivers' championship, and Williams-BMW to a strong constructors' third behind Ferrari and McLaren. Michael Schumacher's six points kept him well ahead in the drivers' fight over Coulthard, whose zero from a mechanical retirement had cost him another chance to close the gap. The Nurburgring in two weeks would test whether the Williams-BMW package could add a second victory in a row.

Classification 2001 Canadian F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	5	RalfSchumacher	Williams	Williams FW23BMW P80	2	69	24	1:34:31.522	10
2	1	MichaelSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari F2001Ferrari 050	1	69	45	1:34:51.757+20.235s	6
3	3	MikaHäkkinen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/16Mercedes FO 110	8	69		1:35:12.194+40.672s	4
4	17	KimiRäikkönen	Sauber	Sauber C20 Petronas 01A	7	69		1:35:39.638+1:08.116	3
5	22	JeanAlesi	Prost	Prost AP04Acer 01A	16	69		1:35:41.957+1:10.435	2
6	19	Pedrode la Rosa	Jaguar	Jaguar R2Cosworth CR-3	14	68		+1 lap	1
7	11	RicardoZonta	Jordan	Jordan EJ11Honda RA001E	12	68		+1 lap
8	23	LucianoBurti	Prost	Prost AP04Acer 01A	19	68		+1 lap
9	20	TarsoMarques	Minardi	Minardi PS01European 3.0 V10	21	66		+3 laps
10	14	JosVerstappen	Arrows	Arrows A22Asiatech 001	13	65		Brakes
11	12	JarnoTrulli	Jordan	Jordan EJ11Honda RA001E	4	63		Brakes
DNF	4	DavidCoulthard	McLaren	McLaren MP4/16Mercedes FO 110	3	54		Engine
DNF	9	OlivierPanis	BAR	BAR 003Honda RA001E	6	38		Brakes
DNF	10	JacquesVilleneuve	BAR	BAR 003Honda RA001E	9	34		Halfshaft
DNF	15	EnriqueBernoldi	Arrows	Arrows A22Asiatech 001	17	24		Engine
DNF	6	Juan-PabloMontoya	Williams	Williams FW23BMW P80	10	19		Accident
DNF	2	RubensBarrichello	Ferrari	Ferrari F2001Ferrari 050	5	19		Spun off
DNF	8	JensonButton	Benetton	Benetton B201Renault RS21	20	17		Oil Leak
DNF	21	FernandoAlonso	Minardi	Minardi PS01European 3.0 V10	22	7		Transmission
DNF	16	NickHeidfeld	Sauber	Sauber C20 Petronas 01A	11	1		Collision
DNF	18	EddieIrvine	Jaguar	Jaguar R2Cosworth CR-3	15	1		Collision
DNF	7	GiancarloFisichella	Benetton	Benetton B201Renault RS21	18	0		Collision

Fastest lap: 1:17.205 min. by Ralf Schumacher

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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