The 2000 German Grand Prix (formally the Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland 2000) was a Formula One motor race contested on 30 July 2000, at the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in front of 102,000 people. It was the 62nd German Grand Prix and the 11th round of the 2000 Formula One World Championship. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello won the 45-lap race after starting 18th. McLaren's Mika Häkkinen finished second, with teammate David Coulthard third.
Before the race, Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship and Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship. Coulthard began alongside Michael Schumacher on pole position after qualifying fastest. Coulthard's teammate Häkkinen started fourth. At the first corner, Michael Schumacher moved to the left, colliding with Giancarlo Fisichella, and both drivers retired. Häkkinen took the race lead, which he retained until lap 25 when an intruder breached circuit limits, forcing drivers to pit under safety car conditions. Meanwhile, until the first safety car period, Barrichello had gained thirteen positions to fifth. After Coulthard's stop on lap 27, Häkkinen reclaimed the lead. Barrichello stayed out on dry slick tyres, moving into the lead and retaining it to achieve his maiden Formula One victory.
Barrichello's victory was widely celebrated among the Formula One paddock as it came after a career setback. The race result tied Häkkinen and Coulthard for second, but it decreased Schumacher's championship points lead in the World Drivers' Championship to two. Barrichello trailed the McLaren drivers by eight championship points. With six races remaining in the season, McLaren was four championship points behind Ferrari and 76 championship points ahead of Williams in the World Constructors' Championship. The track intruder, named as 47-year-old Frenchman Robert Sehli, eventually apologised and was fined by track administration.
Background On 30 July 2000, the eleventh of seventeen rounds of the 2000 Formula One World Championship was held at the clockwise Hockenheimring near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. There were eleven teams (each representing a different constructor), each with two drivers and were the same as those on the season entry list. Sole tyre supplier Bridgestone provided soft and medium dry tyre compounds, as well as intermediate and full wet-weather compounds to the race.
Before the race, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 56 championship points, followed by McLaren's David Coulthard and teammate Mika Häkkinen with 50 and 48 championship points, respectively. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was fourth with 36 championship points, while Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella was fifth with 18 championship points. Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 92 championship points, McLaren and Williams were second and third with 88 and 19 championship points, respectively, Benetton was fourth with 18 championship points, and British American Racing (BAR) was fifth with 12 championship points.
Following the on 16 July, the teams tested at three circuits from 18 to 21 July to prepare for the event. McLaren, Benetton, Jordan, Jaguar, Sauber and BAR went to Silverstone over three days, working on low-drag racing setups. Olivier Panis, McLaren's test driver, led testing's first day. Jaguar test driver Luciano Burti damaged his car's suspension, front and rear wings, and sidepod in an accident at Stowe corner. Testing was briefly stopped and Jaguar shipped a spare car for the next day's testing. Panis remained fastest on the second day. Jarno Trulli damaged his suspension and rear wing, resulting in repairs which limited his team's testing time. Burti's right rear wheel detached. Fisichella led the third and final day's running. Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer spent four days at the Fiorano Circuit focused on engine and aerodynamic development, while Michael Schumacher did practice starts and component testing on the fourth day. Arrows did not test during this period and instead focused on technical problems with the aim of improving reliability at its Leafield headquarters for the race in Germany.
Michael Schumacher went to Germany as the championship leader with his team Ferrari under scrutiny because he had scored ten championship points over the past four races as a result of three retirements and a win in Canada while Coulthard had scored 20 championship points, reducing Schumacher's lead to six championship points. Jaguar's Eddie Irvine Jaguar was passed fit in the days before to the race. He arrived at the previous race ill with suspected appendicitis and withdrew at the conclusion of the Friday practice sessions. Burti replaced him. Irvine was later admitted to a London hospital and diagnosed with a swollen intestine. Irvine said he felt ready to race again: "I'm looking forward to Hockenheim. I have been keeping tabs on the team's Silverstone test this week and we're all encouraged by what has been achieved."
Teams setup their cars for the long straights of the Hockenheimring circuit, necessitating reducing aerodynamic downforce and increasing aerodynamic efficiency. The Jaguar team included multiple characteristics in its cars. It replaced the huge panels mounted behind the front wheels with smaller screens mounted between the suspension. They also returned to the bodywork seen at the and installed a new uprated Cosworth engine. Jordan's new car, the EJ10B, was also introduced that weekend; the team had previously raced with their primary 2000 car, the EJ10. Originally scheduled to debut at the previous race in Austria, the vehicle was required to complete Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) safety tests on its bodywork and Jordan wished to create extra spare components for the EJ10B, postponing the car's race début.
Practice Two one-hour sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday preceded Sunday's race. The Friday practices were held in dry, cloudy weather, becoming damp during the day, making the track slippery. Michael Schumacher set the first session's fastest time of 1:43.532, almost six-tenths of a second faster than Häkkinen. Barrichello was third, slightly behind Häkkinen, with Coulthard fourth; both Barrichello and Coulthard led during the session. Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen, BAR driver Ricardo Zonta, Fisichella, Sauber's Mika Salo, Williams' Ralf Schumacher and Herbert followed in the top ten. Few incidents occurred during practice as some drivers went off the circuit. Trulli's engine failed after 20 minutes at the Ostkurve turn and marshals relocated his car with yellow flags. Jenson Button spun and slammed against the inside barriers at the pit lane entry after practice ended and rain fell, removing his car's front wing.
Heavy rain made the track wet and dusty, slowing lap times in the second practice session. The slick surface and wet-weather tyres become familiar to drivers. After nearly three-quarters of the session had passed and the track dried, competitive lap times began to be set. Michael Schumacher's lap time did not improve, but remained the fastest. Frentzen lapped quicker and was second-fastest. Although both McLaren drivers were testing race set-up and brake performance, Häkkinen finished third and Coulthard fifth. Barrichello separated them. Trulli, Zonta, Villeneuve, Fisichella, and Salo completed the top ten. Several drivers entered the gravel traps during the session. The two Minardi drivers crashed. Gastón Mazzacane hit the barrier in the stadium section and Marc Gené beached his car in the last turn's gravel trap. Ralf Schumacher missed half of the session as his team switched the engine in his car.
The Saturday morning sessions were held in damp weather with occasional rain. Most of practice saw the circuit dry with sunlight appearing through the clouds. Häkkinen set the third session's fastest lap, a 1:44.144, one-tenth of a second quicker than Arrows' Pedro de la Rosa. Coulthard, Frentzen, Salo. Trulli, Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Villeneuve and Fisichella completed the top ten. Ralf Schumacher, who completed just one lap in the session's second half, lost control of his car after crossing the start/finish line on a damp area and hit the turn one tyre barrier as the racing line began drying. Jean Alesi simultaneously beached his Prost car in the gravel due to a rear suspension failure on the damp circuit.
The track became completely dry during the last practice session and lap times fell as drivers found more grip on it. Nearly every driver exited the pit lane in the first minutes, giving teams a final chance to significantly adjust their cars before qualifying. Häkkinen set the day's quickest time, a 1:41.658, with 15 minutes remaining; his teammate Coulthard finished third. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello were second and fourth, respectively. Frentzen fell to fifth, with Fisichella, sixth, pleased with the feel of his car. Button, Salo, Villeneuve, and Trulli were seventh to tenth. Fisichella's car billowed smoke because of an engine failure in the final seconds at the North Kurve turn. Michael Schumacher went backwards into the Opel Kurve corner wall in the stadium section after the session. Schumacher drove the spare Ferrari in qualifying.
Qualifying During Saturday's one-hour qualifying session, each driver was limited to twelve laps, with the starting order determined by the fastest laps. The 107% rule was in force during this session, requiring each driver to lap within 107% of the fastest time to qualify for the race. The session was held in damp weather with intermittent rain, which resulted in a mixed-up starting order in places. Drivers used grooved and wet-weather compound tyres with drivers initially hesitant to go onto the track. With a lap time of 1:45.697 set on his first try, Coulthard earned his second pole position of the season after the and 10th overall. Michael Schumacher joined him on the front row, 1.3 seconds slower than Coulthard but three-tenths of a second faster than his previous best lap to move from fourth to second. Fisichella qualified third in a spare Benetton car with incorrect gear ratios. He spun on his first run but retained second until Michael Schumacher's lap as the rain stopped. Fisichella was fined $5,000 for failing to place his car at the pit-lane weighbridge so that the FIA could check if it was within the legal minimum weight limit. Häkkinen, who qualified fourth, three hundredths of a second slower than Fisichella, admitted the weather made him cautious about going off the track. In his then-career-best qualifying performance, De la Rosa took fifth in the spare Arrows car while his race car was being prepared. Trulli (the faster Jordan driver) and Wurz were satisfied to qualify sixth and seventh. Herbert was the quicker Jaguar driver in eighth. Villeneuve secured ninth in BAR's spare car after losing control of his car and stalling at the Jim Clark chicane, disrupting Frentzen's running. Irvine, tenth, was slowed by Gené midway attempting to lap quicker.