The 2001 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the Gran Premio Warsteiner di San Marino 2001) was a Formula One motor race held before between 80,000 and 100,000 spectators at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy on 15 April 2001. It was the fourth race of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the 21st San Marino Grand Prix. Williams's Ralf Schumacher won the 62-lap race, starting from third. McLaren's David Coulthard finished second, and Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello finished third.
Going into the event, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship from Coulthard while Ferrari led McLaren in the World Constructors' Championship. After setting the fastest lap in the one-hour qualifying session, Coulthard started the race on pole position alongside teammate Mika Häkkinen. Ralf Schumacher from third overtook both McLaren drivers into the Tamburello chicane and retained the lead for the entire race, taking his maiden victory and Williams's first since the 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix; Coulthard ended 4.3 seconds back in second place. Barrichello finished third after switching from a two– to a one–pit stop strategy.
Coulthard's second-place finish put him in the joint lead of the World Drivers' Championship with Michael Schumacher, but Schumacher retained the lead overall because he had won two races to Coulthard's one despite retiring from the race. Barrichello was third, 12 championship points behind the two, but Ralf Schumacher's victory moved him from seventh to fourth. McLaren decreased Ferrari's World Constructors' Championship lead to ten championship points, while Williams moved from sixth to third with 13 races remaining in the season.
Background
The 2001 San Marino Grand Prix was the race's 21st edition, the fourth of seventeen races in the 2001 Formula One World Championship, the season's first European round, and one of two in Italy. It was held on 15 April 2001 at the 17-turn, anti-clockwise Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, outside of San Marino which lacks the facilities to host Formula One races. There were eleven teams (each representing a different constructor) with two drivers each for the Grand Prix, with no changes from the season entry list. It was the last race before the legal reintroduction of electronic driver aids at the following in late April.
Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 26 championship points heading into the race, with McLaren driver David Coulthard second on 20 championship points. Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher's Ferrari teammate, was third with 10 championship points, ahead of Sauber's Nick Heidfeld in fourth with seven championship points and Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen in fifth with six championship points. Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 36 championship points, 15 ahead of second-placed McLaren. Sauber was third with eight championship points, followed by Jordan with seven championship points and British American Racing (BAR) on three championship points.
Following the on 1 April, almost every team tested their cars, setups, tyres and car components on European racing tracks with their racing driver and test drivers in preparation for the San Marino Grand Prix. BAR, Jordan and McLaren tested for three days in inclement weather at Northamptonshire's Silverstone Circuit. Jordan's test driver Ricardo Zonta led the first day, while BAR's Jacques Villeneuve and McLaren's test driver Alexander Wurz were fastest on the second and third days. Arrows, Prost, Sauber and Williams tested for three days in variable weather at France's Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. Williams test driver Marc Gené was fastest on the first day, followed by Prost's Jean Alesi on the second day and Heidfeld on the third. Benetton tested for three days at Spain's Circuito de Jerez, with Jaguar joining on the second and third days. Ferrari tested for five days at its private Fiorano Circuit in Italy, with test driver Luca Badoer developing traction control systems in an F1-2000 car for the Spanish Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher tested tyre and aerodynamic developments in an F2001 car for three days for the race in Imola. Arrows collected aerodynamic data from driver Jonny Kane during straight line speed testing at France's Lurcy-Lévis track. Minardi did not test since it was awaiting the arrival of equipment from Brazil.
After Michael Schumacher won the first two races in Australia and Malaysia, Coulthard won in Brazil by passing Schumacher in the race, trailing the latter by six championship points and ending his six-race win streak. Coulthard stated he was satisfied with how the first three races went and spoke about his prospects of victory at Imola, "I have won here before and there is no reason why I cannot do so again." Michael Schumacher, the pre-race bookmakers' favourite, acknowledged that it was normal to not win every race in a season and said his team could return to form at Imola. Williams won six races at Imola in the 1990s. Driver Juan Pablo Montoya was acquainted with Imola from International Formula 3000 in 1998 and felt his car would be suited to the circuit but not performing as well as in Brazil, adding, "I have only been here once before in my life. It doesn't make a great difference, but it does help a little bit."
Multiple teams updated their cars for the race, while several squads experimented with different brake ducts for improved cooling and installed downforce-reliant aerodynamic packages. After being outpowered by the BMW engine, Ferrari created a more powerful Type 050 V10 engine by increasing its revolutions per minute limit. McLaren made various changes to the MP4-16 to improve its handling when mounting kerbs. It also debuted a redesigned rear wing and a stronger Mercedes V10 engine. BAR modified the 003's bodywork to incorporate new wings and narrower side flip-ups in the rear wheel. Arrows fitted a front wing with a wider flap to increase downforce while Jos Verstappen's car had a minor suspension modification made of steel rather than carbon fibre due to a lack of time. Sauber did not modify their car nor use Brembo calipers or power steering because they had not been thoroughly tested. Prost modified the front wing's endplate flip-ups since they damaged the front tyres when the cars were carried into the garage on full-lock. Minardi lacked a revised aerodynamic package as their cars arrived late from Brazil.
Practice The race was preceded by four practice sessions, two one-hour sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday. The first practice session began on a damp, wet track after overnight rain had left parts of the circuit wet, causing spray to be raised off the ground due to the inclement weather. Drivers used wet-weather tyres at first, but lap times improved as the circuit dried swiftly, and they switched to slicks late in practice.
Barrichello recorded the fastest time of 1:31.998, ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher. McLaren's Mika Häkkinen and Coulthard were third and fourth, followed by the Jordan pairing of Jarno Trulli and Frentzen, Sauber's Kimi Räikkönen, BAR's Olivier Panis, Jaguar's Eddie Irvine and Panis's teammate Villeneuve in fifth to tenth. Three drivers lost control of their cars at the wet turn 17 during the session. Verstappen was unable to set a lap time when his car stopped, owing to a drop in fuel pressure on his first lap after leaving the pit lane. Minardi's Fernando Alonso stopped his car on track with a hydraulic issue that resulted in a gearbox malfunction.
The track had dried sufficiently after the first session, allowing teams to mount slick tyres on their cars for the second session, which provided a more accurate indicator of the pace of drivers. With around 15 minutes to go, Michael Schumacher set the day's quickest time of 1:25.095, with his teammate Barrichello second. Williams's Ralf Schumacher, Häkkinen, Panis, Räikkönen, Irvine, Villeneuve, Trulli and Jaguar's Luciano Burti were in the next eight placings. Coulthard went off the circuit after losing control of his car and becoming stuck in the Acque Minerali corner's gravel trap with 13 minutes left in the session due to a gear selection issue. This meant McLaren's engineers worked overnight to repair Coulthard's car. Montoya suffered an engine problem caused by a piece of gauze dropping into the engine early in the session. He was unable to continue driving as the Williams engineers replaced the engine in his car.
The third practice session on Saturday morning was cold and wet due to overnight rain, resulting in lap times that were around 11 seconds slower than the 2000 pole position lap time. The cooler air caused the track to dry slowly. Michael Schumacher lapped fastest at 1:35.633, followed by his teammate Barrichello. Häkkinen, Coulthard, Trulli, Frentzen, Räikkönen, Heidfeld, Villeneuve, and Montoya rounded out the top ten. Several drivers were taken off guard on the wet track as their cars lost traction. On his second lap of the session, Burti lost control of his car's rear entering Tosa corner, severely damaging the front suspension hitting the tyre barrier. Burti exited the car unhurt, although he did not compete in the final session because his mechanics repaired the vehicle before qualifying.
It became sunny for the final session as the circuit gradually dried, and nearly every driver lapped faster than the previous session. Most drivers used wet-weather tyres, and some lost control of their car on the wet circuit. Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap of 1:30.737, followed by teammate Barrichello in second. Coulthard, Räikkönen, Frentzen, Heidfeld, Ralf Schumacher, Panis, Arrows's Enrique Bernoldi and Häkkinen occupied positions three to ten.
Qualifying
Each driver was limited to twelve laps during Saturday's one-hour qualifying session, with the starting order determined by their fastest laps. The 107% rule was in force during this session, which required each driver to set a time within 107% of the fastest lap to qualify for the race. The track had dried sufficiently after practice ended but was still damp in some places. There were dark clouds over Imola just before qualifying began, so most drivers, except Coulthard, set lap times early in case it rained. As the course dried, lap times improved as the surface provided more grip to cars. Coulthard adjusted his car's setup for his final run after rear-end stability issues and took the 11th pole position of his career with a time of 1:23.054 on his final qualifying lap late on. He broke Villeneuve's outright track lap record from 1997 and prevented Michael Schumacher from equalling Ayrton Senna's record of eight consecutive poles set between the and seasons. Coulthard was 0.228 seconds faster than teammate Häkkinen in the final runs, setting his time late in qualifying's final runs. Ralf Schumacher qualified third, feeling his Michelin tyres were quite competitive. The Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello took fourth and sixth, respectively, after choosing the slower, more durable harder Bridgestone tyre compound over the better-performing softer option because they believed the softer tyres to wear too quickly and expected inclement weather for the race. Michael Schumacher, who adjusted the rear wing settings to increase downforce, lost time through two driver errors, while Barrichello was delayed by slower cars. Trulli took his time and separated the Ferraris, qualifying fifth with a late lap. Montoya, seventh, lost seven-tenths of a second by going wide onto the grass at the Variante Alta chicane on his final run.