2000 Austrian F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Austrian Grand Prix
Track: MotorSportResultsReport::msr_circuit:Unknown shortcode $shortcode

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

Mika HAKKINEN won his 16th F1 World Championship race at the 2000 Austrian F1 GP. The McLaren driver started from pole and won at the A1-Ring after Michael Schumachers Ferrari was eliminated at Turn 2 on lap one. McLaren later lost the constructors points from the victory because Hakkinens electronic control box did not have the required seals.

Schumacher out at Turn 2 on lap one

The A1-Ring on 16 July 2000 delivered a first-lap disaster that reshaped the championship arithmetic. Mika Hakkinen took pole with a 1:10.410 lap, David Coulthard was second on the grid, and Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher lined up on row two. Off the line the McLarens made a clean getaway, but chaos unfolded behind them. Ricardo Zonta lost control of his BAR into Remus at Turn 2, ran wide, then rejoined the pack at the wrong angle and clipped Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. The German spun into the gravel, and Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella were caught up in the same accident. Three drivers were out on lap one, including the championship leader.

For Schumacher, running with a comfortable championship lead, it was a costly retirement he had not caused. For McLaren it was the perfect scenario: no threat from the Ferrari, and the two silver cars first and second on the road.

Hakkinen breaks a two-race drought

Hakkinen led 38 laps unchallenged, handed the lead briefly to Coulthard during his pit stop, then retook the front on lap 43 and controlled the rest of the race with the sort of Finnish calm that had defined his championship run. Coulthard, on identical strategy and identical car, finished 12.535 seconds behind for a comfortable McLaren 1-2 on the road. It was Hakkinen's first win since Spain and his 16th career victory.

Rubens Barrichello took third for Ferrari to preserve some championship dignity for the Scuderia, 30.795 seconds behind Hakkinen. Coulthard set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:11.783 on lap 67, cementing his position as the strongest of the two McLarens across the year to that point.

The FIA takes McLaren's constructors' points

The story of the weekend was rewritten in scrutineering. The FIA discovered that the electronic control box on Hakkinen's McLaren did not have the required number of official seals in place. Under the strictest interpretation of the regulations that was a technical infringement, and the stewards ruled that McLaren would lose the constructors' points scored by Hakkinen. Coulthard's six points were preserved, and, critically, Hakkinen kept his drivers' championship points as the FIA judged the driver blameless. The team was fined 50,000 US dollars.

The net effect: Hakkinen took 10 championship points, moved to third overall behind Coulthard and Schumacher, but McLaren's constructors' effort earned only six points from a race they had dominated.

Championship fallout: Hakkinen back in the fight

The A1-Ring result rewrote the drivers' standings. Schumacher retained the lead by two points over Coulthard, but Hakkinen jumped into striking distance in third. Ferrari led McLaren by only two points in the constructors' after the electronic-box penalty took the edge off McLaren's dominant weekend. Hockenheim was next, in seven days, and Ferrari's title-defence programme was already scheduling emergency reliability meetings in Maranello for the flight home.

Classification 2000 Austrian F1 GP

Fastest lap: 1:11.783 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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