Formula 1: The 2000s
Created | Updated Dec 27, 2002
The 2000s Overview:
Will be entered Jan 1st, 2010
The Tracks of the 2000s:
Notes: The San Marino Grand Prix is not actually held in San Marino as Imola is in Italy. Also the European Grand Prix was held at the Nurburgring in 2000 and 2001. The track used for the European Grand Prix may be found listed under the country it is located in.
2000:
This season opened with a lot of questions, several of which centered around the Williams team. Would their new drvier Jenson Button who had almost no actual car racing experience fair better than Alex Zanardi did last year and would the new BMW powerplant improve the team any? Also among the preseason questions were could Ferrari maintain some dominence this season and actually take thier first drivers title in 21 years, could Jordan maintain thrid place in the constructors battle, and would being a factory backed Honda team help BAR this year?
Melbourne answered most of these questions from preseason with Schumacher and Barrichello leading a Ferrari one-two finish ahead of Ralf Schumacher in the BMW power Williams. Both BARs also scored points while both McLarens faild to finish with engine failures and Jesnon Button had worked his way from a near back row starting position to a points paying sixth position when his engine blew near the end. Brazil was next and again McLaren suffered problems showing they were no longer the top form team from 1998 with Hakkinen retiring for mechanical reasons and Couthard being disqualified for a technical infringement from second place moving Fisichella up into second behind Micheal Schumacher with both Jordans taking third and fourth and Button scoring points in only his second Formula One race. At the start of the European tour McLaren appear to have fixed their early season mechanical woes and claim a strong second and third but it is Micheal Schumacher who takes the win, his third in the first three races and Villeneuve again scores points in the BAR showing that they have some semblence of a car this season.
With Silverstone being moved to an early slot in year weather became an issue not only for drivers but for fans. The race however was held in fine weather and saw a dominating performance by Barrichello until hydraulic failure put him out of the race handing it to Hakkinen ahead of Couthard and the sole suriving Ferrari. McLaren continue their resurgence at Spain with a repeat of the previous race with Barrichello in third and Ralf Schumacher giving the BMW engine another few points in fourth. Micheal finnaly returns to the top step of the podium at his home race at the Nurburgring where changing weather allowed him to outdo the McLarens who finished second and third and Pedro De La Rosa gives Arrows a point with a sixth place finish. Qulaifying for the next race at Monaco held a pleasent surprise for the Jordan team with their new driver for the season Jarno Trulli qulifying a close second behind Micheal Schumacher. The race however, after several attempted starts, would go to Couthard ahead of Barrichello, Fisichella in the Benneton, and Eddie Irvine who's fourth plave gave Jaguar their first points.
Canada was up next and was the scene of Micheal Schumachers fourtieth career win. Barrichello also continued to prove his ability to be number two to Schumacher with a second place finish and Fisichella again showed that he was a strong runner in Montreal with yet another podium finish. The story of the race however was Villeneuve who had a strong start and was running as high as second for a long while holding up those behind him, but doing a strong drive in the BAR until contact with Ralf Schumacher took him out of the race. France was next on the calender and David Couthard after being able to take advantage of good pitstop strategy and a rare Ferrari engine failure in Micheal Schumacher's car while Hakkinen makes it a top two for McLaren over the reamaining Ferrari and Villeneuve in the BAR. The next race in Austria saw Micheal Schumacher eliminated at the first corner and a similar finish order to the last race with the only difference being Hakkinen winning over Couthard. Gene ran one of Minardi's strongest races all year finishing a strong eigth place and the Prost team had yet another wretched weekend with both cars running into eachother and eliominating the whole team in one corner.
Qualifying for the net race at Hockenheim was held in very changable conditions and resulted in the strangest grid of the year. De La Rosa was fifth in his Arrows and Fisichella was third in the Benneton while Barrichello had to struggle to make the one hundred and seven percent rule and started a dismal eighteenth. This poor grid spot however would not stop Barichello from driving a masterful race, sometimes running "slicks" in the rain, and claiming the first win of his career. Micheal Schumacher was again eliminated at the first corner after a collision with Fisichella. The weather changed from dry to wet seemingly every other lap which allowed Barichello to fight all the way up through the field and pit stop strategy solidified his lead. De La Rosa showed that his qualifying position was no fluke and took home points for Arrows and Salo brough home points for Sauber. Hungary was the scene of another weekend to forget for the Prost team with their cars finishing last again while Hakkinen went on to claim the win. Micheal Schumacher finnishes his frist race since missing points in the last three and Couthard winds out the podium.
NEEDS TO BE FINISHED
2001:
This season would see the return of Michelin to the world of Formula One to contest the Bridgestone monopoly. The off season was full of plenty of excitement with the awaited debut of Juan Montoya, the fact that Honda would have two teams this year, and that Minardi, after having no sponsor, drivers, engines, or testing over the winter got a new owner in the Australian Paul Stoddard and produced two cars in under six weeks and made it to the first race on time! There was also great aprehension as to what the new regulations on aerodynamic would do to the cars and the lap speeds the FIA were so wanting to decrease.
The season opened with Micheal Schmacher taking pole position and victory in Australia ahead of David Couthard in the McLaren. Of note is the fact that Micheals pole time was over two seconds faster than the previous lap record, so much for slowing things down. The next race was held in Malasya and Schumacher again took pole position and won the race. During the race however a monsoon hit the track sending water pouring down and cars spinning off every direction. Malaysia was Micheal Schmacher's sixth win and sixth pole in a row. Brazil was the end of Schmachers streak of wins with David Couthard taking the win in another wet race though Schumacher extended his pole streak to seven races. The story of the race was however Juan Montoya and Ralf Schumacher in the Williams. Ralf qualified second to Micheal who was on pole making it the first all brother front row in Formula One history and Montoya led the race and passed Micheal Schumacher near the start and seemed on his way to victory when, like Ralf, he was hit from behind entering a corner.
The European leg of the season began at Imola and qualifying was surprising with Couthard on pole and Micheal Schumacher all the way back in fourth, even behind his brother who was thrid on the grid. Ralf would go on to win his first ever race at Imola ahead of Couthard and Barrichelo. Ralf's win was Williams first since 1997 and the first for Michelin in only their fourth race back. The next race in Spain saw the return of electronic drivers aids to Formula One for the first time since the early 1990s. Times were again well below the previous track record with Micheal Schumacher taking the pole but Hakkinen looked on track to win the race until his engine expired five turns from the end of the race giving the win to Michael Schumacher and Juan-Pablo Montoya took his first ever podium in second ahead of Villeneuve who gave BAR their first ever podium finish. Austria was next and it saw Micheal Schumacher take his 37th pole and Juan Montoya take his first front row start.
