2000 Italian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Häkkinen leads with 74 points, six ahead of Schumacher on 68. Coulthard is third on 61. Häkkinen has won three of the past four races; Schumacher won in Belgium but finished second in two others. The season’s final four races are a straight fight, with McLaren holding the upper hand.

Previous race

At Spa, Häkkinen started from pole and led until spinning at Stavelot on lap 13. He recovered, lapped faster than Schumacher, and passed him on the final straight while both were lapping Zonta — a manoeuvre McLaren’s Ron Dennis called “one of the greatest in Formula One history,” and one that Häkkinen told Schumacher in parc fermé had been “a life and death situation.” Schumacher remained defiant: “With six points between us and four more races to go, I am still optimistic.”

Between-race developments

The FIA has banned the use of cooled fuel during races “with immediate effect,” announced on 7 September. There is heightened concern about safety at the newly reconfigured Monza chicanes: some drivers have warned that the tight new entry angles create conditions for multi-car accidents at the first corner.

Track changes

Monza’s management reconfigured the circuit to encourage overtaking. The main straight was straightened, and both the Prima Variante and Seconda Variante chicanes were redesigned with narrower, slower corners. Run-off areas were expanded and tight kerbs removed. Some drivers are concerned the new layout will cause multi-car accidents at the first corner.

Weather

Sunny, up to 29 °C.

Tyre choices

Bridgestone brings the hardest available compounds: medium and hard dry.

Practice

Friday is hot and dry. Barrichello leads FP1 at 1:25.057; Häkkinen sits out with a slipping clutch, resolved for FP2. In FP2, Alesi has a hydraulic leak limiting him to three laps. Wurz stops at Parabolica with the same issue. Coulthard spins under braking into Lesmo 2, breaking his McLaren’s left-rear suspension arm and ending his running early.

Saturday is again sunny. Schumacher leads FP3 at 1:24.262; Button sets second-fastest time on a late flying lap. Frentzen damages his front-left corner against the Parabolica tyre wall; Häkkinen runs onto the gravel and barely retains control. Schumacher leads FP4 at 1:23.904; Irvine suffers a rear suspension failure but regains control; Mazzacane’s engine loses air pressure and he stops on track; Wurz records no laps due to a fuel pick-up issue.