2000 German F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results
Event: German Grand Prix
Track: Hockenheimring
Weather: mixed, cool, late-race rain
Rubens BARRICHELLO won his 1st F1 World Championship race at the 2000 German F1 GP. The Ferrari driver started from 18th on the grid and won at Hockenheim after a rain-soaked tyre call and a Safety Car deployment triggered by a track invader. It was the 131st win for the Ferrari F1 team and Barrichellos maiden victory after 124 Grand Prix starts.
Barrichello starts 18th, Schumacher out on lap one
Hockenheim on 30 July 2000 opened with two very different Ferrari stories. Michael Schumacher qualified second, only 1.366 seconds behind David Coulthard's pole McLaren, and looked set for a home podium. Rubens Barrichello, on the other Ferrari, had suffered a mechanical issue in qualifying and would start from 18th on the grid after failing to set a competitive lap on new tyres. The paddock arithmetic for Sunday looked simple: Schumacher would fight the McLarens; Barrichello would try to salvage points from way back.
The arithmetic collapsed on lap one. Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton locked up into the first chicane, speared into the side of Schumacher's Ferrari and put both cars out on the spot. The championship leader's home race was over before he had turned two full corners. Ferrari's race strategy shifted, unwillingly, entirely to their number two, still sitting 18th.
Barrichello carves through, rain and a track invader reshape the race
Barrichello drove one of the most consistent recovery drives of the season across the opening 20 laps, climbing from 18th to inside the top six through a combination of clean overtakes at the stadium section and a strong first pit stop. On lap 25 the rain, which had been threatening all afternoon, began falling on the back half of the Hockenheim forest section but not on the stadium loop, creating a split-track dilemma. Then, on the same lap sequence, a dismissed Mercedes worker named Robert Sehli walked onto the circuit in the forest, forcing Race Control to deploy the Safety Car.
Barrichello, on Ferrari's call, gambled on dry tyres for the mixed conditions and pitted only once more. The McLarens split their strategy, and by the time the rain intensified in the final third of the race the McLarens on dry tyres were struggling for grip while the Ferrari on its correct rubber was pulling away. Barrichello led the final ten laps unchallenged.
Barrichello wins his 124th Grand Prix
The Ferrari crossed the flag 7.452 seconds clear of Hakkinen for Rubens Barrichello's first Formula 1 victory. The Brazilian had waited 124 Grand Prix starts, since his F1 debut with Jordan at South Africa 1993, and won it at Michael Schumacher's home race after starting 18th. He set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:44.300 on lap 20 during his recovery drive, and was on the podium in tears through the whole ceremony.
Hakkinen took second for McLaren, controlling the race from the front for 33 of the 45 laps before the strategy played out. Coulthard, on pole, could only manage third after his own dry-tyre gamble was compromised by the changing conditions. Jenson Button took fourth for Williams-BMW in another impressive rookie drive, Mika Salo fifth for Sauber and Pedro de la Rosa sixth for Arrows.
Championship fallout: title race back to Ferrari
Barrichello's ten points pushed him into third overall in the drivers' championship, and Ferrari widened its constructors' lead over McLaren to eight points despite Schumacher's zero. In the drivers' standings, the German's lead over Hakkinen was cut to two points and over Coulthard to eight. The narrative had shifted again. What had looked like a McLaren revival at Magny-Cours and the A1-Ring had become, in the space of one weekend, a Ferrari story with two winning drivers. Hungary in seven days would be the next test.
Classification 2000 German F1 GP
Fastest lap: 1:44.300 min. by Rubens Barrichello
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